Revised Common Lectionary (Complementary)

126 When Jehovah brought back his exiles to Jerusalem, it was like a dream! ² How we laughed and sang for joy. And the other nations said, “What amazing things the Lord has done for them.”

³ Yes, glorious things! What wonder! What joy! ⁴ May we be refreshed^[a] as by streams in the desert.

⁵ Those who sow tears shall reap joy. ⁶ Yes, they go out weeping, carrying seed for sowing, and return singing, carrying their sheaves.

⁹ My heart is broken for the false prophets, full of deceit. I awake with fear and stagger as a drunkard does from wine because of the awful fate awaiting them,^[a] for God has decreed holy words of judgment against them. ¹⁰ For the land is full of adultery, and the curse of God is on it. The land itself is mourning—the pastures are dried up—for the prophets do evil, and their power is used wrongly.

¹¹ The priests are like the prophets, all ungodly, wicked men. I have seen their despicable acts right here in my own Temple, says the Lord. ¹² Therefore, their paths will be dark and slippery; they will be chased down dark and treacherous trails and fall. For I will bring evil upon them and see to it, when their time has come, that they pay their penalty in full for all their sins.

¹³ I knew the prophets of Samaria were unbelievably evil, for they prophesied by Baal and led my people Israel into sin; ¹⁴ but the prophets of Jerusalem are even worse! The things they do are horrible; they commit adultery and love dishonesty. They encourage and compliment those who are doing evil instead of turning them back from their sins. These prophets are as thoroughly depraved as the men of Sodom and Gomorrah were.

¹⁵ Therefore the Lord Almighty says: I will feed them with bitterness and give them poison to drink. For it is because of them that wickedness fills this land.

7 This Melchizedek was king of the city of Salem and also a priest of the Most High God. When Abraham was returning home after winning a great battle against many kings, Melchizedek met him and blessed him; ² then Abraham took a tenth of all he had won in the battle and gave it to Melchizedek.

Melchizedek’s name means “Justice,” so he is the King of Justice; and he is also the King of Peace because of the name of his city, Salem, which means “Peace.” ³ Melchizedek had no father or mother^[a] and there is no record of any of his ancestors. He was never born and he never died but his life is like that of the Son of God—a priest forever.

⁴ See then how great this Melchizedek is:

(a) Even Abraham, the first and most honored of all God’s chosen people, gave Melchizedek a tenth of the spoils he took from the kings he had been fighting. ⁵ One could understand why Abraham would do this if Melchizedek had been a Jewish priest, for later on God’s people were required by law to give gifts to help their priests because the priests were their relatives. ⁶ But Melchizedek was not a relative, and yet Abraham paid him.

(b) Melchizedek placed a blessing upon mighty Abraham, ⁷ and as everyone knows, a person who has the power to bless is always greater than the person he blesses.

⁸ (c) The Jewish priests, though mortal, received tithes; but we are told that Melchizedek lives on.

⁹ (d) One might even say that Levi himself (the ancestor of all Jewish priests, of all who receive tithes), paid tithes to Melchizedek through Abraham. ¹⁰ For although Levi wasn’t born yet, the seed from which he came was in Abraham when Abraham paid the tithes to Melchizedek.