11 And we desire that each one of you show the same diligence 1so as to realize the afull assurance of bhope until the end,

12 so that you will not be sluggish, but aimitators of those who through bfaith and patience cinherit the promises.

13 For awhen God made the promise to Abraham, since He could swear by no one greater, He bswore by Himself,

14 saying, “aI will surely bless you and I will surely multiply you.”

15 And so, ahaving patiently waited, he obtained the promise.

16 aFor men swear by 1one greater than themselves, and with them ban oath given as confirmation is an end of every dispute.

17 1In the same way God, desiring even more to show to athe heirs of the promise bthe unchangeableness of His purpose, 2interposed with an oath,

18 so that by two unchangeable things in which ait is impossible for God to lie, we who have 1taken refuge would have strong encouragement to take hold of bthe hope set before us.

19 1This ahope we have as an anchor of the soul, a hope both sure and steadfast and one which benters 2within the veil,

20 awhere Jesus has entered as a forerunner for us, having become a bhigh priest forever according to the order of Melchizedek.

Chapter 7

Melchizedek’s Priesthood Like Christ’s

1 For this aMelchizedek, king of Salem, priest of the bMost High God, who met Abraham as he was returning from the slaughter of the kings and blessed him,

2 to whom also Abraham apportioned a tenth part of all the spoils, was first of all, by the translation of his name, king of righteousness, and then also king of Salem, which is king of peace.

3 Without father, without mother, awithout genealogy, having neither beginning of days nor end of life, but made like bthe Son of God, he remains a priest perpetually.