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God’s Promises Bring Hope

13 For example, there was God’s promise to Abraham. Since there was no one greater to swear by, God took an oath in his own name, saying:

14 “I will certainly bless you,
    and I will multiply your descendants beyond number.”[a]

15 Then Abraham waited patiently, and he received what God had promised.

16 Now when people take an oath, they call on someone greater than themselves to hold them to it. And without any question that oath is binding. 17 God also bound himself with an oath, so that those who received the promise could be perfectly sure that he would never change his mind. 18 So God has given both his promise and his oath. These two things are unchangeable because it is impossible for God to lie. Therefore, we who have fled to him for refuge can have great confidence as we hold to the hope that lies before us. 19 This hope is a strong and trustworthy anchor for our souls. It leads us through the curtain into God’s inner sanctuary. 20 Jesus has already gone in there for us. He has become our eternal High Priest in the order of Melchizedek.

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Footnotes

  1. 6:14 Gen 22:17.

God’s Promise is Reliable

13 For when God made his promise to Abraham, he swore an oath by himself, since he had no one greater to swear by. 14 He said, “I will certainly bless you and give you many descendants.”[a] 15 And so he obtained what he had been promised, because he patiently waited for it. 16 For people swear by someone greater than themselves, and an oath given as confirmation puts an end to all argument. 17 In the same way, when God wanted to make the unchangeable character of his purpose perfectly clear to the heirs of his promise, he guaranteed it with an oath, 18 so that by these two unchangeable things, in which it is impossible for God to prove false, we who have taken refuge in him might be encouraged to seize the hope set before us. 19 That hope,[b] firm and secure like an anchor for our souls, reaches behind the curtain 20 where Jesus, our forerunner, has gone on our behalf, having become a high priest forever according to the order of Melchizedek.

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Footnotes

  1. Hebrews 6:14 Cf. Gen 22:17
  2. Hebrews 6:19 The Gk. lacks hope