6. Although Melchizedek wasn't a descendant of Levi, Abraham gave him a tenth of what he had. Then Melchizedek blessed Abraham, who had been given God's promise.
7. Everyone agrees that a person who gives a blessing is greater than the one who receives the blessing.
8. Priests are given a tenth of what people earn. But all priests die, except Melchizedek, and the Scriptures teach that he is alive.
9. Levi's descendants are now the ones who receive a tenth from people. We could even say that when Abraham gave Melchizedek a tenth, Levi also gave him a tenth.
10. This is because Levi was born later into the family of Abraham, who gave a tenth to Melchizedek.
11. Even though the Law of Moses says that the priests must be descendants of Levi, those priests cannot make anyone perfect. So there needs to be a priest like Melchizedek, rather than one from the priestly family of Aaron.
12. And when the rules for selecting a priest are changed, the Law must also be changed.