³² It will not be like the covenant that I made with their ancestors when I took them by the hand to bring them out of the land of Egypt—a covenant that they broke, though I was their husband, says the Lord.^(A)

²⁴ Now this is an allegory: these women are two covenants. One woman, in fact, is Hagar, from Mount Sinai, bearing children for slavery.

²³ He took the blind man by the hand and led him out of the village, and when he had put saliva on his eyes and laid his hands on him, he asked him, “Can you see anything?”^(A)

¹⁸ Hence not even the first covenant was inaugurated without blood.^{(A) 19} For when every commandment had been told to all the people by Moses in accordance with the law, he took the blood of calves and goats,^[a] with water and scarlet wool and hyssop, and sprinkled both the scroll itself and all the people,^{(B) 20} saying, “This is the blood of the covenant that God has ordained for you.”

The Promise to Abraham

¹⁵ Brothers and sisters, I give an example from daily life: once a person’s will^[a] has been ratified, no one adds to it or annuls it.^{(A) 16} Now the promises were made to Abraham and to his offspring;^[b] it does not say, “And to offsprings,”^[c] as of many, but it says, “And to your offspring,”^[d] that is, to one person, who is Christ.^{(B) 17} My point is this: the law, which came four hundred thirty years later, does not annul a covenant previously ratified by God, so as to nullify the promise.^{(C) 18} For if the inheritance comes from the law, it no longer comes from the promise, but God granted it to Abraham through the promise.^(D)

The Purpose of the Law

¹⁹ Why then the law? It was added because of transgressions, until the offspring^[e] would come to whom the promise had been made, and it was ordained through angels by a mediator.^(E)

¹¹ And now listen—the hand of the Lord is against you, and you will be blind for a while, unable to see the sun.” Immediately mist and darkness came over him, and he fumbled about for someone to lead him by the hand.^(A)

⁸ Saul got up from the ground, and though his eyes were open, he could see nothing;^[a] so they led him by the hand and brought him into Damascus.

¹³ And this you do as well: You cover the Lord’s altar with tears, with weeping and groaning because he no longer regards the offering or accepts it with favor at your hand.