Living_Oracles(i)
13 For when God made promise to Abraham, since he could swear by no one greater, he swore by himself-
14 saying, "Surely, blessing, I will bless you, and multiplying, I will multiply you";
15 and so, having patiently waited, he obtained the promise.
16 For men, indeed, swear by the greater; and an oath for confirmation is, to them, an end of all contradiction.
17 Therefore, God, willing more abundantly to show to their heirs of promise the immutability of his purpose, confirmed it with an oath;
18 that, by two immutable things, in which it was impossible for God to lie, we might have strong consolation, who have fled away to lay hold on the hope set before us;