Revised Common Lectionary (Semicontinuous)

Praise God Who Judges and Saves

David’s song from the time he acted crazy so Abimelech would send him away. And David did leave.

Messengers from Babylon

¹² At that time Merodach-Baladan, son of Baladan, was king of Babylon. He sent letters and a gift to Hezekiah. He did this because he had heard that Hezekiah had been sick. ¹³ Hezekiah was happy to see the messengers. So he showed them what was in his storehouses: the silver, gold, spices and expensive perfumes. He showed them his swords and shields. He showed them all his wealth. He showed them everything in his palace and his kingdom.

¹⁴ Then Isaiah the prophet went to King Hezekiah. Isaiah asked him, “What did these men say? Where did they come from?”

Hezekiah said, “They came from a faraway country. They came to me from Babylon.”

¹⁵ So Isaiah asked him, “What did they see in your palace?”

Hezekiah said, “They saw everything in my palace. I showed them all my wealth.”

¹⁶ Then Isaiah said to Hezekiah, “Listen to the words of the Lord: ¹⁷ ‘In the future everything in your palace will be taken away to Babylon. Everything your ancestors have stored up until this day will be taken away. Nothing will be left,’ says the Lord. ¹⁸ ‘Some of your own children will be taken away. Those who will be born to you will be taken away. And they will become eunuchs in the palace of the king of Babylon.’”

¹⁹ Hezekiah told Isaiah, “These words from the Lord are good.” He said this because he thought, “There will be peace and security while I am king.”

The Priest Melchizedek

7 Melchizedek^[a] was the king of Salem and a priest for the Most High God. He met Abraham when Abraham was coming back after defeating the kings. When they met, Melchizedek blessed Abraham. ² And Abraham gave Melchizedek a tenth of everything he had brought back from the battle. First, Melchizedek’s name means “king of goodness.” Also, he is king of Salem, which means “king of peace.” ³ No one knows who Melchizedek’s father or mother was.^[b] No one knows where he came from. And no one knows when he was born or when he died. Melchizedek is like the Son of God; he continues being a priest forever.

⁴ You can see that Melchizedek was very great. Abraham, the great father, gave Melchizedek a tenth of everything that Abraham won in battle. ⁵ Now the law says that those in the tribe of Levi who become priests must get a tenth from the people. The priests collect it from their own people, even though the priests and the people are both from the family of Abraham. ⁶ Melchizedek was not from the tribe of Levi. But he got a tenth from Abraham. And he blessed Abraham, the man who had God’s promises. ⁷ And everyone knows that the more important person blesses the less important person. ⁸ Those priests get a tenth, but they are only men who live and then die. But Melchizedek, who got a tenth from Abraham, continues living, as the Scripture says. ⁹ It is Levi who gets a tenth from the people. But we might even say that when Abraham paid Melchizedek a tenth, then Levi also paid it. ¹⁰ Levi was not yet born. But Levi was in the body of his ancestor Abraham when Melchizedek met Abraham.