For as in Adam all die, even so in Christ all will be made alive. But each in his own order: Christ the first-fruit, and afterward they who are Christ's at His coming; then is the end, when He delivers the kingdom to God, even the Father; when He makes to cease all rule and all authority and power. for it is right for Him to reign until He has put all the enemies under His feet. The last enemy made to cease is death. For He put all things under His feet. But when He says that all things have been put under His feet, it is plain that it excepts Him who has put all things under Him. But when all things are subjected to Him, then the Son Himself also will be subject to Him who has subjected all things to Him, so that God may be all things in all.
In the days of his flesh, he offered up prayers and appeals with loud cries and tears to the one who was able to save him from death, and he was heard because of his devotion to God. Son though he was, he learned obedience through his sufferings and, once made perfect, he became the source of eternal salvation for all who obey him, having been designated by God to be a high priest according to the order of Melchizedek.
Now if perfection could have been attained through the Levitical priesthood-for on this basis the people received the law-what further need would there be to speak of appointing another kind of priest according to the order of Melchizedek, not one according to the order of Aaron? For when a change in the priesthood takes place, there must also be a change in the law. For the person we are talking about belonged to a different tribe, and no one from that tribe has ever served at the altar. For it is obvious that our Lord was a descendant of Judah, and Moses said nothing about priests coming from that tribe. This point is even more obvious in that another priest who is like Melchizedek has appeared who was appointed to be a priest, not on the basis of a regulation concerning his ancestry, but rather on the basis of the power of an indestructible life. For it is declared about him, "You are a priest forever according to the order of Melchizedek."