The Perfect High Priest (Psalm 110:1–7)
1 UDB When God chooses a high priest, he selects a man from the people. This man must serve God for the people; he must bring God gifts and sacrifice animals to him for the people's sins. BSB BSB: Every high priest is appointed from among men to represent them in matters relating to God, to offer gifts and sacrifices for sins.
2 UDB A high priest can be gentle with those who know little about God and with those who sin against him. This is because the high priest himself is weak with sin. BSB BSB: He is able to deal gently with those who are ignorant and misguided, since he himself is subject to weakness.
3 UDB As a result, he also must sacrifice animals because he sins just like the people do. BSB BSB: That is why he is obligated to offer sacrifices for his own sins, as well as for the sins of the people.
4 UDB But no one can honor himself by deciding to become the high priest. Instead, God chose each man to become a high priest, as he chose Aaron to be the first high priest. BSB BSB: No one takes this honor upon himself; he must be called by God, just as Aaron was.
5 UDB Similarly, Christ also did not honor himself by becoming high priest. Instead, God the Father appointed him by saying to him what the psalmist wrote in the scriptures: "You are my son! Today I have declared that I am your father!" BSB BSB: So also Christ did not take upon Himself the glory of becoming a high priest, but He was called by the One who said to Him: “You are My Son; today I have become Your Father.”
6 UDB And he also said to Christ what the psalmist wrote in another scripture passage: "You are a priest eternally in the way that Melchizedek was a priest." BSB BSB: And in another passage God says: “You are a priest forever in the order of Melchizedek.”
7 UDB In the days when Christ was living here in the world, he prayed to God and cried out loudly in tears to him who could save him from dying. And God listened to him because Christ honored him and obeyed him. BSB BSB: During the days of Jesus’ earthly life, He offered up prayers and petitions with loud cries and tears to the One who could save Him from death, and He was heard because of His reverence.
8 UDB Although Christ is God's own son, he learned to obey God by suffering and dying. BSB BSB: Although He was a Son, He learned obedience from what He suffered.
9 UDB By accomplishing everything that God wanted him to do, he has now become fully able to save eternally all who obey him. BSB BSB: And having been made perfect, He became the source of eternal salvation to all who obey Him
10 UDB God has designated him to be our high priest in the way that Melchizedek was a high priest. BSB BSB: and was designated by God as high priest in the order of Melchizedek.
Milk and Solid Food (1 Corinthians 3:1–9)
11 UDB I want to tell you much about the many ways in which Christ resembles Melchizedek. This is hard for me to explain to you because you find it so difficult to understand. BSB BSB: We have much to say about this, but it is hard to explain, because you are dull of hearing.
12 UDB You became Christians long ago. So by now you should be teaching God's truths to others. But you still need someone to teach you again the elementary truths of the words of God from the scriptures, starting from the beginning. You need those basic truths like babies need milk. You are not ready to learn more difficult things, things that are like the solid food that mature people need. BSB BSB: Although by this time you ought to be teachers, you need someone to reteach you the basic principles of God’s word. You need milk, not solid food!
13 UDB Remember that those who are still learning these elementary truths do not understand what God says about becoming righteous. Neither do they yet know right from wrong. They are just like babies who need milk! BSB BSB: For everyone who lives on milk is still an infant, inexperienced in the message of righteousness.
14 UDB But the more difficult spiritual truth is for people who know God better, just like solid food is for people who are adults. They can tell the difference between what is good and what is evil because they have trained themselves by learning what is right and what is wrong. BSB BSB: But solid food is for the mature, who by constant use have trained their senses to distinguish good from evil.
Select verses for actions: Enter goes to them and Escape comes back.