New American Standard Bible NAS
New International Version NIV
12 so that you will not be sluggish, but imitators of those who through faith and patience inherit the promises.
12
We do not want you to become lazy, but to imitate those who through faith and patience inherit what has been promised.
13 For when God made the promise to Abraham, since He could swear by no one greater, He swore by Himself,
13
When God made his promise to Abraham, since there was no one greater for him to swear by, he swore by himself,
14 saying, "I WILL SURELY BLESS YOU AND I WILL SURELY MULTIPLY YOU."
14
saying, “I will surely bless you and give you many descendants.”
15 And so, having patiently waited, he obtained the promise.
15
And so after waiting patiently, Abraham received what was promised.
16 For men swear by one greater than themselves, and with them an oath given as confirmation is an end of every dispute.
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People swear by someone greater than themselves, and the oath confirms what is said and puts an end to all argument.
17 In the same way God, desiring even more to show to the heirs of the promise the unchangeableness of His purpose, interposed with an oath,
17
Because God wanted to make the unchanging nature of his purpose very clear to the heirs of what was promised, he confirmed it with an oath.
18 so that by two unchangeable things in which it is impossible for God to lie, we who have taken refuge would have strong encouragement to take hold of the hope set before us.
18
God did this so that, by two unchangeable things in which it is impossible for God to lie, we who have fled to take hold of the hope set before us may be greatly encouraged.
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Scripture quoted by permission. Quotations designated (NIV) are from THE HOLY BIBLE: NEW INTERNATIONAL VERSION®. NIV®. Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica. All rights reserved worldwide.