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New Testament Reading - The Inheritance of the Promises

¹³For instance, there was God’s promise to Abraham: God took an oath in his own name, since there was no one greater to swear by, ¹⁴that he would bless Abraham again and again, and give him a son and make him the father of a great nation of people. ¹⁵Then Abraham waited patiently until finally God gave him a son, Isaac, just as he had promised.

¹⁶When a man takes an oath, he is calling upon someone greater than himself to force him to do what he has promised or to punish him if he later refuses to do it; the oath ends all argument about it. ¹⁷God also bound himself with an oath, so that those he promised to help would be perfectly sure and never need to wonder whether he might change his plans.

¹⁸He has given us both his promise and his oath, two things we can completely count on, for it is impossible for God to tell a lie. Now all those who flee to him to save them can take new courage when they hear such assurances from God; now they can know without doubt that he will give them the salvation he has promised them.

¹⁹This certain hope of being saved is a strong and trustworthy anchor for our souls, connecting us with God himself behind the sacred curtains of heaven, ²⁰where Christ has gone ahead to plead for us from his position as our High Priest,[a] with the honor and rank of Melchizedek.

1. Literally, “having become our High Priest.”