Hebrews 7
1 [Now I will say more about] this [man] Melchizedek. He was the king of Salem [city and was] a priest of God, the one who is greater [than anyone else]. He met Abraham who was returning [home] after [he and his men] had defeated the [armies of four] kings [SYN]. Melchizedek [asked God to] bless Abraham.
Denne Melkisedek var konge i byen Salem og prest for den Høyeste Gud. Det var han som møtte Abraham, den gangen Abraham kom tilbake etter å ha vunnet et stort slag mot flere konger. Melkisedek ba til Gud om at han skulle gi Abraham alt godt.
2 Then Abraham gave to him one tenth of all [the spoils he] took after winning [the battle. Melchizedek’s name] means firstly ‘king [who rules] righteously’, and since Salem means ‘peace’, he was the ‘king [who rules] peacefully’.
Abraham på sin side tok en tiendedel av alt han hadde vunnet i krigen, og ga til Melkisedek. Navnet Melkisedek betyr”kongen som gjør Guds vilje”. Han var også”fredens konge”, etter som Salem betyr fred.
3 [In the Scriptures there is] no [record of who his] father [was], nor [is there any record of who his] mother [was], nor [is there any record of who his] ancestors [were]. There is no [record of when he was] born, nor [is there any record of when he] died. [For these reasons], [it is as though] he continues to be a priest forever, and for this reason he is like God’s Son.
Det står ikke noe i Skriften om Melkisedek sin far eller mor eller forfedre. Livet hans blir omtalt som om det ikke hadde noen begynnelsen eller slutt. Derfor er han prest for evig, akkurat som Guds sønn.
4 You can realize how great this [man Melchizedek was] from the fact that Abraham, [our famous] ancestor, gave him (a tithe/one tenth) of the spoils [from the battle].
At Melkisedek fikk stor ære, kan vi forstå, etter som Abraham selv, stammefaren til oss jøder, ga Melkisedek en tiendedel av det beste krigsbyttet.
5 According to the laws [God gave Moses], the descendants of [Abraham’s great-grandson] Levi, who were priests, should take tithes from [God’s] people who were their relatives, even though those people also were Abraham’s descendants.
Langt seinere fikk Abraham sine etterkommere ta imot Moseloven som sier at de skal gi en tiendedel av alt til prestene, som alltid blir valgt fra Levis stamme.
6 But this man [Melchizedek], who was not among the descendants [of Levi], took tithes from Abraham. He also [asked God to] bless Abraham, the man to whom [God] promised [many descendants].
Men Melkisedek hørte ikke til denne presteslekten. Likevel fikk han ta imot en tiendedel av Abraham sitt bytte. Melkisedek måtte også be om at Gud skulle gi Abraham alt godt, det til tross for at det var Abraham som hadde fått Guds løfter.
7 We know for certain that it is the more [important people] who [ask God to] bless the less important people. [And Melchizedek blessed Abraham. So we conclude that Melchizedek was greater than Abraham].
Alle vet jo at det er en større ære å få be Gud om å gi et annen menneske alt godt, enn det er å være det menneske som selv får ta imot gaven.
8 In the case of [the priests who are descendants of Levi], men who some day will die receive tithes. But in the case of [Melchizedek it is as if God] testifies that he was still living, [since there is no record in Scriptures about his death].
De jødiske prestene, som langt seinere fikk ta imot en tiendedel av alt, var vanlige, dødelige mennesker. Med Melkisedek var det annerledes. Det er som om Gud ville vise oss at han fortsatt lever, etter som det ikke står noe i Skriften om hans død.
9 And it was as though Levi himself, and [all the priests descended from him]—who received tithes [from the people]—paid tithes [to Melchizedek]. And when Abraham paid tithes, it [was as though Levi and all the priests descended from him acknowledged that the work Melchizedek did as a priest was greater than the work Levi did],
Vi kan til og med si at Levi, stammefaren til alle jødiske prester som får ta imot en tiendedel av alt, også ga en tiendedel av alt til Melkisedek gjennom Abraham.
10 since [the sperm from which all those priests were eventually born] was still in Abraham’s body [EUP] when Melchizedek met Abraham.
Selv om ikke Levi var født da Abraham møtte Melkisedek, fantes likevel bakgrunnen for hans røtter hos Abraham.
11 [God] gave his laws to his people at the same time he gave regulations about the priests. So, if what the priests who were descended from Levi did could have provided a way for God to completely [forgive] people [for disobeying those laws], certainly no other priest like Melchizedek would have been necessary. [RHQ] Instead, priests who were descended from Aaron, [Levi’s descendant, would have been adequate].
Jødene har for lenge siden hatt en lov som bygger på at prestene fra Levis stamme gjør tjeneste for Gud. Dersom tjenesten deres kunne gjøre oss feilfrie, behøvde ikke Gud å sende en annen prest, en som var lik Melkisedek, og ikke lik Aron, den første presten fra Levis stamme.
12 [But we know they were not adequate, because a new type of priest like Melchizedek has come]. And since [God] has appointed a new type of priest, he also had to change the regulations [concerning how priests were appointed] {[he appointed priests]}.
Når Gud forandret hele dette regelverket for hvordan prestene skulle bli valgt, og lot en annen prest gjøre tjeneste for ham, da må også Moseloven erstattes med noe nytt.
13 [Jesus], the one about whom I am saying these things, is a descendant of someone else, [not a descendant of Levi]. None of the men from whom Jesus descended ever served as priests [MTY].
Den presten vi snakker om her, tilhører ikke Levis stamme, men en annen stamme som aldri har tjent Gud og ofret på hans alter.
14 [We know that] since it is obvious that it is from [the tribe of] Judah that our Lord was descended. Moses never said that any of Judah’s descendants would [become] priests.
Vår Herre kom fra Juda stamme, som dere alle vet, og det står ingenting i Moseloven om noen prester fra denne stammen.
15 Furthermore, [we know that the priests who were descended from Levi were inadequate, since] it is even more obvious that another priest has appeared who is like Melchizedek.
At noe helt nytt har kommet og erstattet den gamle ordningen med at prester skal blir valgt ut fra Levis stamme, er helt klart, etter som denne nye presten er lik Melkisedek, og ikke de andre prestene.
16 Jesus became a priest, but not because [he fulfilled] what [God’s] law required [about being a descendant of Levi]. Instead, he has the kind of power that [came from a] life that nothing can destroy (OR, [enabled him to] live [again after he was] killed).
Jesus ble ikke valgt ut til prest fordi han tilhørte Levis stamme, slik som Moseloven krever, men fordi livet hans aldri tar slutt.
17 [We know this] since [God] confirmed it in [the Scripture passage in which he said to his Son], You [(sg)] are a priest eternally just like Melchizedek was a priest. (aiōn g165)
Det står i Skriften om ham:”Du er prest til evig tid, på samme måte som Melkisedek.” (aiōn g165)
18 On the one hand, God canceled what he commanded previously [concerning the priests] because it failed in every way to enable anyone [to become all that God intended].
Moseloven har altså blitt erstattet med noe bedre, etter som loven ikke kunne hjelpe oss til å følge Guds vilje og komme nær ham.
19 Remember that no one was able to become all that God intended [by obeying] the laws [that God gave Moses]. On the other hand, [God caused that we could] confidently expect better things [than we could expect by obeying God’s laws]. [He did that by his establishing Christ as priest]. Now by means of [Christ sacrificing himself for us] we can come near to God.
Ingen mennesker har noen gang blitt fullkomne ved å være lydig mot loven. Men nå har Jesus ført oss nær til Gud og gitt oss et sikkert håp om at vi en dag skal bli frelst for evig.
20 Furthermore, [when God appointed Christ, it was when God] solemnly declared [that Christ would be a priest] [LIT]. When [God appointed former] priests, it was not by his solemnly declaring [that they would be priests].
Gud har sverget en ed på at Jesus for alltid skal være presten vår.
21 However, when he [appointed Christ to be a priest], it was by these words that [the Psalmist wrote in Scripture]: The Lord has solemnly declared [to the Messiah], —and he will not change his mind— “You will be a priest forever!” (aiōn g165)
Noe slikt har han aldri gjort med de andre prestene. Det er bare Jesus som har fått høre Gud si:”Herren har sverget en ed som han ikke vil bryte:’Du er prest for evig.’” (aiōn g165)
22 Because of that, Jesus guarantees that [the new] covenant will be better [than the old one].
Denne eden er garantien for at den nye og bedre pakten som Jesus har opprettet mellom Gud og menneskene skal stå fast.
23 And formerly, the priests could not keep serving [as priests], because they all died [PRS]. So there were many priests [to take the place of the ones who died].
En annen forskjell er at de i den gamle ordningen med prester fra Levis stamme hele tiden måtte tilsette nye prester, etter som døden satte en stopper for tjenesten deres.
24 But because [Jesus] lives eternally, he will continue to be a Supreme Priest forever. (aiōn g165)
Jesus derimot fortsetter å tjene som prest, etter som han lever for evig. (aiōn g165)
25 So, he can completely and eternally save those who come to God by [trusting in what Jesus has done for them], since he lives forever to plead [with God] to help them.
Derfor kan han også i all framtid frelse de som kommer til Gud på grunn av det han gjorde. Han lever for alltid og kan appellere til Gud for hvert menneske.
26 Jesus is the kind of Supreme Priest that we need. He was holy; he did no wrong; he was completely innocent. [God] has now taken him up to the highest heaven separated from [living among] sinners.
Jesus er en slik øversteprest som vi virkelig trengte. En som er hellig og uten skyld og aldri har gjort noe galt. Derfor er han også skilt fra verdens onde mennesker og har blitt tatt opp til Gud i himmelen.
27 [The other] Supreme Priests need to sacrifice [animals] day by day [as well as year by year]. They do this, firstly, [to atone] for their own sins, and then [to atone for other] people [who have sinned]. [But because Jesus never sinned], he does not need to atone for his own sin. The only thing [he needed to do to save people] was to sacrifice himself once!
Han ligner ikke de andre øversteprestene som hver dag må ofre til Gud. Først for å få tilgivelse for sine egne synder, så for at folket skal få tilgivelse for sine. Nei, Jesus ofret seg selv på korset en gang for alle, for at vi skal få tilgivelse for syndene.
28 [We need a Supreme Priest like] him, because in the laws [that God gave Moses] [PRS] the ones who would be appointed to be priests would be men who tended [to sin easily]. But [God] solemnly [declared] [PRS] after [he had given] his laws [to Moses] that [he would appoint] (his Son/the man who is also God) [to be a Supreme Priest. Now] ([his Son/the man who is also God]) has forever become all that God intends him to be. (aiōn g165)
De øversteprestene som har blitt tilsatt i tråd med Moseloven er vanlige syndige mennesker. Nå har altså Gud, ved å sverge en ed, satt Moseloven til side og innført en ny ordning. Han har innsatt sin sønn som fullkommen øversteprest til evig tid. (aiōn g165)
