¶The Lord has sworn and will not change His mind, “You are a priest forever According to the order of Melchizedek.”
Parallel translations
- WEB Yahweh has sworn, and will not change his mind: “You are a priest forever in the order of Melchizedek.”
- KJV The LORD hath sworn, and will not repent, Thou art a priest for ever after the order of Melchizedek.
- BSB The LORD has sworn and will not change His mind: “You are a priest forever in the order of Melchizedek.”
- NKJV The Lord has sworn And will not relent, “You are a priest forever According to the order of Melchizedek.”
- NLT The Lord has taken an oath and will not break his vow: “You are a priest forever in the order of Melchizedek.”
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
Scripture quotations taken from the (NASB®) New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995, 2020 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. All rights reserved. lockman.org
Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.
Quick answer
God swears an unchangeable oath that the Messiah is a priest forever in Melchizedek's order. The King is also an eternal priest, a role Hebrews applies fully to Christ.
Overview
Uniquely, this King is also a perpetual priest, not from Aaron's line but after the order of Melchizedek (Genesis 14:18). Hebrews 5-7 expounds this: because Christ's priesthood rests on an irrevocable divine oath and on indestructible life, it is superior and permanent, able to save completely. Jesus alone unites the offices of King and Priest forever.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 13
- Heb 7:17for it is testified, “You are a priest forever, according to the order of Melchizedek.”
- Heb 5:6As he says also in another place, “You are a priest forever, after the order of Melchizedek.”
- Heb 7:21(for they indeed have been made priests without an oath), but he with an oath by him that says of him, “The Lord swore and will not change his mind, ‘You are a priest forever, according to the order of Melchizedek.’”
- Gen 14:18Melchizedek king of Salem brought out bread and wine: and he was priest of God Most High.
- Heb 6:20where as a forerunner Jesus entered for us, having become a high priest forever after the order of Melchizedek.
- Heb 7:28For the law appoints men as high priests who have weakness, but the word of the oath which came after the law appoints a Son forever who has been perfected.
- Heb 7:11Now if there were perfection through the Levitical priesthood (for under it the people have received the law), what further need was there for another priest to arise after the order of Melchizedek, and not be called after the order of Aaron?
- Num 23:19God is not a man, that he should lie, nor the son of man, that he should repent. Has he said, and will he not do it? Or has he spoken, and will he not make it good?
- Rev 1:6and he made us to be a Kingdom, priests to his God and Father; to him be the glory and the dominion forever and ever. Amen.
- Zech 6:13even he shall build Yahweh’s temple; and he shall bear the glory, and shall sit and rule on his throne; and he shall be a priest on his throne; and the counsel of peace shall be between them both.
- Heb 6:13–18For when God made a promise to Abraham, since he could swear by no one greater, he swore by himself,
- Ps 89:34–36I will not break my covenant, nor alter what my lips have uttered.
- Ps 132:11Yahweh has sworn to David in truth. He will not turn from it: “I will set the fruit of your body on your throne.
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Christ at the center
The Psalms are Christ's own prayer book and a gallery of his portraits — the suffering one of Psalm 22, the risen Lord of Psalm 16, the priest-king of Psalm 110, the Son to whom the nations are given.
How Psalms 110:4 points to him is part of the one story that runs through all Scripture — meet Jesus at the heart of the web, or follow a trail that traces him from Genesis to Revelation.
Original language
Each word below is tagged with its Strong’s number — tap one to see the underlying Hebrew word, its meaning, and every verse that uses it.