Hebrews 6:13-20
Legacy Standard Bible
13 For (A)when God made the promise to Abraham, since He could swear by no one greater, He (B)swore by Himself, 14 saying, “(C)I will greatly bless you and I will greatly multiply you.” 15 And so, (D)having patiently waited, he obtained the promise. 16 (E)For men swear by [a]one greater than themselves, and with them (F)an oath given as confirmation is an end of every dispute. 17 [b]In the same way God, desiring even more to show to (G)the heirs of the promise (H)the unchangeableness of His purpose, guaranteed it with an oath, 18 so that by two unchangeable things in which (I)it is impossible for God to lie, we who have taken refuge would have strong encouragement to take hold of (J)the hope set before us. 19 [c]This (K)hope we have as an anchor of the soul, a hope both sure and confirmed and one which (L)enters [d]within the veil, 20 (M)where a forerunner has entered for us—Jesus, having become a (N)high priest forever according to the order of Melchizedek.
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- Hebrews 6:16 Or Him who is greater
- Hebrews 6:17 Lit In which
- Hebrews 6:19 Lit Which hope we have
- Hebrews 6:19 Or inside
Hebrews 6:13-20
New English Translation
13 Now when God made his promise to Abraham, since he could swear by no one greater, he swore by himself, 14 saying, “Surely I will bless you greatly and multiply your descendants abundantly.”[a] 15 And so by persevering, Abraham[b] inherited the promise. 16 For people[c] swear by something greater than themselves,[d] and the oath serves as a confirmation to end all dispute.[e] 17 In the same way[f] God wanted to demonstrate more clearly to the heirs of the promise that his purpose was unchangeable,[g] and so he intervened with an oath, 18 so that we who have found refuge in him[h] may find strong encouragement to hold fast to the hope set before us through two unchangeable things, since it is impossible for God to lie. 19 We have this hope as an anchor for the soul, sure and steadfast, which reaches inside behind the curtain,[i] 20 where Jesus our forerunner entered on our behalf, since he became a priest forever in the order of Melchizedek.[j]
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- Hebrews 6:14 tn Grk “in blessing I will bless you and in multiplying I will multiply you,” the Greek form of a Hebrew idiom showing intensity.sn A quotation from Gen 22:17.
- Hebrews 6:15 tn Grk “he”; in the translation the referent (Abraham) has been specified for clarity.
- Hebrews 6:16 tn The plural Greek term ἄνθρωποι (anthrōpoi) is used here in a generic sense, referring to both men and women, and is thus translated “people.”
- Hebrews 6:16 tn Grk “by something greater”; the rest of the comparison (“than themselves”) is implied.
- Hebrews 6:16 tn Grk “the oath for confirmation is an end of all dispute.”
- Hebrews 6:17 tn Grk “in which.”
- Hebrews 6:17 tn Or “immutable” (here and in v. 18); Grk “the unchangeableness of his purpose.”
- Hebrews 6:18 tn Grk “have taken refuge”; the basis of that refuge is implied in the preceding verse.
- Hebrews 6:19 sn The curtain refers to the veil or drape in the temple that separated the holy place from the holy of holies.
- Hebrews 6:20 sn A quotation from Ps 110:4, picked up again from Heb 5:6, 10.
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