It is only the collection of laws --- the theory --- which allows us to explain and predict.
So a theory is a collection of laws. But that cannot be because you say earlier:
a theory often consists of several laws (though it may have just one).
If it's just one, it's not a collection. The Law of Gravity does not "explain and predict"? Does it not explain and predict that if you lose your balance on a ladder, that you will fall (not merely hang up in space or float away)?