The Reliability of God’s Promise

13 For when[a] God made a promise to Abraham, since he had no one greater to swear by, he swore by himself, 14 saying,

“Surely I will greatly bless[b] you, and I will greatly multiply[c] you.”

15 And so, by[d] persevering, he obtained the promise. 16 For people swear by what is greater than themselves, and the oath for confirmation is the end of all dispute for them. 17 In the same way God, because he[e] wanted to show even more to the heirs of the promise the unchangeableness of his resolve, guaranteed it with an oath, 18 in order that through two unchangeable things, in which it is impossible for God to lie, we who have taken refuge may have powerful encouragement to hold fast to the hope set before us, 19 which we have like an anchor of the soul, both firm and steadfast, and entering into the inside of the curtain, 20 where Jesus, the forerunner for us, entered, because he[f] became a high priest forever[g] according to the order of Melchizedek.

Read full chapter

Footnotes

  1. Hebrews 6:13 Here “when” is supplied as a component of the temporal participle (“made a promise”)
  2. Hebrews 6:14 Literally “blessing I will bless”
  3. Hebrews 6:14 Literally “multiplying I will multiply”
  4. Hebrews 6:15 Here “by” is supplied as a component of the participle (“persevering”) which is understood as means
  5. Hebrews 6:17 Here “because” is supplied as a component of the participle (“wanted”) which is understood as causal
  6. Hebrews 6:20 Here “because” is supplied as a component of the participle (“became”) which is understood as causal
  7. Hebrews 6:20 Literally “to the age”