¹⁷ And this I say, that the law, ^(A)which was four hundred and thirty years later, cannot annul the covenant that was confirmed before by God ^[a]in Christ, ^(B)that it should make the promise of no effect.

³⁹ And all these, ^(A)having obtained a good testimony through faith, did not receive the promise, ⁴⁰ God having provided something better for us, that they should not be ^(B)made perfect apart from us.

God’s Infallible Purpose in Christ

¹³ For when God made a promise to Abraham, because He could swear by no one greater, ^(A)He swore by Himself, ¹⁴ saying, ^(B)“Surely blessing I will bless you, and multiplying I will multiply you.” ¹⁵ And so, after he had patiently endured, he obtained the ^(C)promise. ¹⁶ For men indeed swear by the greater, and ^(D)an oath for confirmation is for them an end of all dispute. ¹⁷ Thus God, determining to show more abundantly to ^(E)the heirs of promise ^(F)the ^[a]immutability of His counsel, ^[b]confirmed it by an oath, ¹⁸ that by two ^[c]immutable things, in which it is impossible for God to ^(G)lie, we ^[d]might have strong consolation, who have fled for refuge to lay hold of the hope ^(H)set before us.

The Promise Granted Through Faith

¹³ For the promise that he would be the ^(A)heir of the world was not to Abraham or to his seed through the law, but through the righteousness of faith. ¹⁴ For ^(B)if those who are of the law are heirs, faith is made void and the promise made of no effect,

¹³ Then He said to Abram: “Know certainly ^(A)that your descendants will be strangers in a land that is not theirs, and will serve them, and ^(B)they will afflict them four hundred years.