Then the Lord said to Abram, “You should know these things: Your descendants will live in a country that is not their own. They will be strangers there. And the people there will make them slaves and do bad things to them for 400 years.
Galatians 3:17 - Easy To Read Version This is what I mean: The agreement \{that God gave to Abraham\} was made official long before the law {\cf2\super [38]} came. The law came 430 years later. So the law could not take away the agreement and change God’s promise. Tuilleadh leaganachaKing James Version (Oxford) 1769 And this I say, that the covenant, that was confirmed before of God in Christ, the law, which was four hundred and thirty years after, cannot disannul, that it should make the promise of none effect. Amplified Bible - Classic Edition This is my argument: The Law, which began 430 years after the covenant [concerning the coming Messiah], does not and cannot annul the covenant previously established (ratified) by God, so as to abolish the promise and make it void. [Exod. 12:40.] American Standard Version (1901) Now this I say: A covenant confirmed beforehand by God, the law, which came four hundred and thirty years after, doth not disannul, so as to make the promise of none effect. Common English Bible I’m saying this: the Law, which came four hundred thirty years later, doesn’t invalidate the agreement that was previously validated by God so that it cancels the promise. Catholic Public Domain Version But I say this: the testament confirmed by God, which, after four hundred and thirty years became the Law, does not nullify, so as to make the promise empty. Douay-Rheims version of The Bible - 1752 version Now this I say, that the testament which was confirmed by God, the law which was made after four hundred and thirty years, doth not disannul, to make the promise of no effect. |
Then the Lord said to Abram, “You should know these things: Your descendants will live in a country that is not their own. They will be strangers there. And the people there will make them slaves and do bad things to them for 400 years.
So on that day, the Lord made a promise and an agreement with Abram. The Lord said, “I will give this land to your descendants. I will give them the land between the River of Egypt [88] and the great river Euphrates.
God said, “No! I said that your wife Sarah will have a son. You will name him Isaac. [100] I will make my agreement with him. That agreement will be an agreement that continues forever with all his descendants. [101]
“Job, do you think that I am not fair?\par You say that I am guilty of doing wrong\par so that you will appear innocent!\par
God made an Agreement with Abraham.\par God made a promise to Isaac.\par
The Lord can make everyone’s advice useless.\par He can ruin all their plans.\par
When the Lord makes a plan, no person can stop that plan. When the Lord raises his arm to punish people, no person can stop him.
Your agreement with death will be erased. Your contract with Sheol {\cf2\super [261]} will not help you.
God is not a man; he will not lie. God is not a human being; his decisions will not change. If the Lord says he will do something, then he will do it. If the Lord makes a promise, then he will do the thing he promised.
But if the husband hears about the promise and refuses to let her keep her promise, then the wife does not have to do the thing she promised. Her husband broke the promise—he did not let her do the thing she said. So the Lord will forgive her.
The law was given through Moses. But grace and \{the way of\} truth came through Jesus Christ.
This is what God said to him: ‘Your descendants {\cf2\super [123]} will live in another country. They will be strangers. The people there will make them slaves and do bad things to them for 400 years.
God gave Jesus as a way to forgive people’s sins through faith. God forgives by the blood (death) of Jesus. God gave Jesus to show that he always does what is right and fair. God was right in the past when he was patient and did not punish people for their sins.
It is true that some Jews were not faithful to God. But will that stop God from doing what he promised?
This is what I mean: One of you says, “I follow Paul,” and another person says, “I follow Apollos.” Another person says, “I follow Cephas (Peter),” and another person says, “I follow Christ.”
Christ did not give me the work of baptizing people. Christ gave me the work of telling the Good News. {\cf2\super [4]} But Christ sent me to tell the Good News without using words of worldly wisdom. If I used worldly wisdom to tell the Good News, then the cross {\cf2\super [5]} of Christ would lose its power.
\{So, what about food that is sacrificed to idols {\cf2\super [73]} ?\} Am I saying that sacrifices to idols are the same as those Jewish sacrifices? No, because an idol is nothing, and the things offered to idols are worth nothing.
Brothers and sisters, this is what I mean: We don’t have much time left. So starting now, people who have wives should use their time \{to serve the Lord\} like they don’t have wives.
The “Yes” to all of God’s promises is in Christ. And that is why we say “Amen {\cf2\super [3]} ” through Christ to the glory of God.
Remember this: The person who plants little will harvest only a little. But the person who plants much will harvest much.
Brothers and sisters, let me give you an example: Think about an agreement that one person makes with another person. After that agreement is made official, no person can stop that agreement or add anything to it. And no person can ignore that agreement.
Does this mean that the law {\cf2\super [41]} is against God’s promises? No! If there was a law that could give life to people, then we could be made right by following law.
So I tell you: Live by following the Spirit. {\cf2\super [71]} Then you will not do the evil things your sinful selves want.
If you try to be made right with God through the law, then your life with Christ is finished—you have left God’s grace (kindness).
Remember that in the past you were without Christ. You were not citizens of Israel. {\cf2\super [11]} And you did not have the agreements {\cf2\super [12]} with the promise \{that God made to his people\}. You had no hope, and you did not know God.
For the Lord I tell you this. I warn you: Don’t continue living like those people who don’t believe. Their thoughts are worth nothing.
I tell you these things so that no person can fool you by telling you ideas that seem good, but are false.
All those great men continued living with faith until they died. Those men did not get the things that God promised his people. The men only saw those things coming far in the future and were glad. Those men accepted the fact that they were like visitors and strangers on earth.
Christ was chosen before the world was made. But he was shown \{to the world\} in these last times for you.