---
title: "Hebrews 7 – Catholic Bible (CPDV) & Latin Vulgate · Bless"
url: https://blessbible.app/bible/hebrews/7/
description: "The priesthood of Christ according to the order of Melchisedech excels the… Hebrews 7 in the Catholic Public Domain Version, with the Latin Vulgate."
---

# Hebrews 7

Hebrews 7 is chapter 7 of 13 in the Letter to the Hebrews. Here are all 28 verses in the Catholic Public Domain Version, with the Latin of the Clementine Vulgate beside them.

> The priesthood of Christ according to the order of Melchisedech excels the Levitical priesthood and puts an end both to that and to the law.
>
> — Bp. Richard Challoner, chapter summary

## Hebrews 7 (Catholic Public Domain Version)

1. For this Melchizedek, king of Salem, priest of the Most High God, met Abraham, as he was returning from the slaughter of the kings, and blessed him.
2. And Abraham divided to him a tenth part of everything. And in translation his name is first, indeed, king of justice, and next also king of Salem, that is, king of peace.
3. Without father, without mother, without genealogy, having neither beginning of days, nor end of life, he is thereby likened to the Son of God, who remains a priest continuously.
4. Next, consider how great this man is, since the Patriarch Abraham even gave tithes to him from the principal things.
5. And indeed, those who are from the sons of Levi, having received the priesthood, hold a commandment to take tithes from the people in accord with the law, that is, from their brothers, even though they also went forth from the loins of Abraham.
6. But this man, whose lineage is not enumerated with them, received tithes from Abraham, and he blessed even the one who held the promises.
7. Yet this is without any contradiction, for what is less should be blessed by what is better.
8. And certainly, here, men who receive tithes still die; but there, he bears witness that he lives.
9. And so it may be said that even Levi, who received tithes, was himself a tithe through Abraham.
10. For he was still in the loins of his father, when Melchizedek met him.
11. Therefore, if consummation had occurred through the Levitical priesthood (for under it the people received the law), then what further need would there be for another Priest to rise up according to the order of Melchizedek, one who was not called according to the order of Aaron?
12. For since the priesthood has been transferred, it is necessary that the law also be transferred.
13. For he about whom these things have been spoken is from another tribe, in which no one attends before the altar.
14. For it is evident that our Lord arose out of Judah, a tribe about which Moses said nothing concerning priests.
15. And yet it is far more evident that, according to the likeness of Melchizedek, there rises up another priest,
16. who was made, not according to the law of a carnal commandment, but according to the virtue of an indissoluble life.
17. For he testifies: “You are a priest forever, according to the order of Melchizedek.”
18. Certainly, there is a setting aside of the former commandment, because of its weakness and lack of usefulness.
19. For the law led no one to perfection, yet truly it introduced a better hope, through which we draw near to God.
20. Moreover, it is not without an oath. For certainly, the others were made priests without an oath.
21. But this man was made a priest with an oath, by the One who said to him: “The Lord has sworn and he will not repent. You are a priest forever.”
22. By so much, Jesus has been made the sponsor of a better testament.
23. And certainly, so many of the others became priests because, due to death, they were prohibited from continuing.
24. But this man, because he continues forever, has an everlasting priesthood.
25. And for this reason, he is able, continuously, to save those who approach God through him, since he is ever alive to make intercession on our behalf.
26. For it was fitting that we should have such a High Priest: holy, innocent, undefiled, set apart from sinners, and exalted higher than the heavens.
27. And he has no need, daily, in the manner of other priests, to offer sacrifices, first for his own sins, and then for those of the people. For he has done this once, by offering himself.
28. For the law appoints men as priests, though they have infirmities. But, by the word of the oath that is after the law, the Son has been perfected for eternity.

## Hebrews 7 in Latin (Clementine Vulgate, 1592)

1. Hic enim Melchisedech, rex Salem, sacerdos Dei summi, qui obviavit Abrahæ regresso a cæde regum, et benedixit ei:
2. cui et decimas omnium divisit Abraham: primum quidem qui interpretatur rex justitiæ: deinde autem et rex Salem, quod est, rex pacis,
3. sine patre, sine matre, sine genealogia, neque initium dierum, neque finem vitæ habens, assimilatus autem Filio Dei, manet sacerdos in perpetuum.
4. Intuemini autem quantus sit hic, cui et decimas dedit de præcipuis Abraham patriarcha.
5. Et quidem de filiis Levi sacerdotium accipientes, mandatum habent decimas sumere a populo secundum legem, id est, a fratribus suis: quamquam et ipsi exierint de lumbis Abrahæ.
6. Cujus autem generatio non annumeratur in eis, decimas sumpsit ab Abraham, et hunc, qui habebat repromissiones, benedixit.
7. Sine ulla autem contradictione, quod minus est, a meliore benedicitur.
8. Et hic quidem, decimas morientes homines accipiunt: ibi autem contestatur, quia vivit.
9. Et (ut ita dictum sit) per Abraham, et Levi, qui decimas accepit, decimatus est:
10. adhuc enim in lumbis patris erat, quando obviavit ei Melchisedech.
11. Si ergo consummatio per sacerdotium Leviticum erat (populus enim sub ipso legem accepit) quid adhuc necessarium fuit secundum ordinem Melchisedech, alium surgere sacerdotem, et non secundum ordinem Aaron dici?
12. Translato enim sacerdotio, necesse est ut et legis translatio fiat.
13. In quo enim hæc dicuntur, de alia tribu est, de qua nullus altari præsto fuit.
14. Manifestum est enim quod ex Juda ortus sit Dominus noster: in qua tribu nihil de sacerdotibus Moyses locutus est.
15. Et amplius adhuc manifestum est: si secundum similitudinem Melchisedech exsurgat alius sacerdos,
16. qui non secundum legem mandati carnalis factus est, sed secundum virtutem vitæ insolubilis.
17. Contestatur enim: Quoniam tu es sacerdos in æternum, secundum ordinem Melchisedech.
18. Reprobatio quidem fit præcedentis mandati, propter infirmitatem ejus, et inutilitatem:
19. nihil enim ad perfectum adduxit lex: introductio vero melioris spei, per quam proximamus ad Deum.
20. Et quantum est non sine jurejurando (alii quidem sine jurejurando sacerdotes facti sunt,
21. hic autem cum jurejurando per eum, qui dixit ad illum: Juravit Dominus, et non pœnitebit eum: tu es sacerdos in æternum):
22. in tantum melioris testamenti sponsor factus est Jesus.
23. Et alii quidem plures facti sunt sacerdotes, idcirco quod morte prohiberentur permanere:
24. hic autem eo quod maneat in æternum, sempiternum habet sacerdotium.
25. Unde et salvare in perpetuum potest accedentes per semetipsum ad Deum: semper vivens ad interpellandum pro nobis.
26. Talis enim decebat ut nobis esset pontifex, sanctus, innocens, impollutus, segregatus a peccatoribus, et excelsior cælis factus:
27. qui non habet necessitatem quotidie, quemadmodum sacerdotes, prius pro suis delictis hostias offerre, deinde pro populi: hoc enim fecit semel, seipsum offerendo.
28. Lex enim homines constituit sacerdotes infirmitatem habentes: sermo autem jurisjurandi, qui post legem est, Filium in æternum perfectum.

## Catechism of the Catholic Church

Paragraph numbers and the Catechism's own section headings (never quoted); text at vatican.va.
- CCC ¶ 58: The Stages of Revelation ([vatican.va index](https://www.vatican.va/archive/ENG0015/_INDEX.HTM))
- CCC ¶ 1537: Why Is This Sacrament Called "Orders"? ([vatican.va index](https://www.vatican.va/archive/ENG0015/_INDEX.HTM))
- CCC ¶ 648: On the Third Day He Rose From the Dead ([vatican.va index](https://www.vatican.va/archive/ENG0015/_INDEX.HTM))
- CCC ¶ 1366: The Sacramental Sacrifice Thanksgiving, Memorial, Presence ([vatican.va index](https://www.vatican.va/archive/ENG0015/_INDEX.HTM))
- CCC ¶ 1564: The Three Degrees of the Sacrament of Holy Orders ([vatican.va index](https://www.vatican.va/archive/ENG0015/_INDEX.HTM))
- CCC ¶ 662: "He Ascended Into Heaven and Is Seated At the Right Hand of the Father" ([vatican.va index](https://www.vatican.va/archive/ENG0015/_INDEX.HTM))
- CCC ¶ 2634: Prayer of Intercession ([vatican.va index](https://www.vatican.va/archive/ENG0015/_INDEX.HTM))
- CCC ¶ 2741: Filial Trust ([vatican.va index](https://www.vatican.va/archive/ENG0015/_INDEX.HTM))
- cf. CCC ¶ 820: The Church Is One, Holy, Catholic, and Apostolic ([vatican.va index](https://www.vatican.va/archive/ENG0015/_INDEX.HTM))
- cf. CCC ¶ 1364: The Sacramental Sacrifice Thanksgiving, Memorial, Presence ([vatican.va index](https://www.vatican.va/archive/ENG0015/_INDEX.HTM))
- CCC ¶ 1544: The Sacrament of Holy Orders in the Economy of Salvation ([vatican.va index](https://www.vatican.va/archive/ENG0015/_INDEX.HTM))
- CCC ¶ 1085: Christ's Work in the Liturgy ([vatican.va index](https://www.vatican.va/archive/ENG0015/_INDEX.HTM))
- CCC ¶ 1540: The Sacrament of Holy Orders in the Economy of Salvation ([vatican.va index](https://www.vatican.va/archive/ENG0015/_INDEX.HTM))

## Bishop Challoner's notes

Bp. Richard Challoner, notes on the Douay-Rheims (1750); they comment on its older wording.
- Verse 3: “Without father” … Not that he had no father, etc., but that neither his father, nor his pedigree, nor his birth, nor his death, are set down in scripture.
- Verse 23: The apostle notes this difference between the high priests of the law, and our high priest Jesus Christ; that they being removed by death, made way for their successors; whereas our Lord Jesus is a priest for ever, and hath no successor; but liveth and concurreth for ever with his ministers, the priests of the new testament, in all their functions. Also, that no one priest of the law, nor all of them together, could offer that absolute sacrifice of everlasting redemption, which our one high priest Jesus Christ has offered once, and for ever.
- Verse 25: “Make intercession” … Christ, as man, continually maketh intercession for us, by representing his passion to his Father.

## Read at Mass (US)

- Wed, Jan 20, 2027: Wednesday of the Second Week in Ordinary Time — First Reading, Hebrews 7:1-3, 15-17
- Thu, Jan 21, 2027: St. Agnes, Virgin and Martyr — First Reading, Hebrews 7:25—8:6
- Sun, Oct 31, 2027 (computed): Thirty-first Sunday in Ordinary Time — Second Reading, Hebrews 7:23-28

Citations as published in the USCCB liturgical calendar (principal Mass, first option). Dates after May 31, 2027 are computed by Bless from the US Lectionary cycle — confirm with your parish.

Source: Catholic Public Domain Version (Ronald L. Conte Jr., 2009), public domain; Latin: Clementine Vulgate (1592).