Hebrews 3–4

The Superiority of Jesus to Moses

3Therefore, holy brothers, sharers in a heavenly calling, consider Jesus, the apostle and high priest of our confession, ²who was faithful to the one who appointed him, as Moses also was in his household.^{a 3}For this one is considered worthy of greater glory than Moses, inasmuch as the one who builds it has greater honor than the house. ⁴For every house is built by someone, but the one who built all things is God. ⁵And Moses was faithful in all his house as a servant, for a testimony to the things that would be spoken, ⁶but Christ was faithful^* as a son over his house, whose house we are, if^b we hold fast to our confidence and the hope we can be proud of.

A Serious Warning Against Unbelief

⁷Therefore, just as the Holy Spirit says,

“Today, if you hear his voice,

⁸do not harden your hearts as in the rebellion,

in the day of testing in the wilderness,

⁹where your fathers tested me by trial

and saw my works ¹⁰for forty years.

Therefore I was angry with this generation,

and I said, ‘They always go astray in their heart,

and they do not know my ways.’

¹¹As I swore in my anger,

‘They will never enter^c into my rest.’ ”^d

¹²Watch out, brothers, lest there be in some of you an evil, unbelieving heart, with the result that you fall away^* from the living God. ¹³But encourage one another day by day^e, as long as it is called “today,” so that none of you become hardened^f by the deception of sin. ¹⁴For we have become partners of Christ, if indeed we hold fast the beginning of our commitment steadfast until the end, ¹⁵while it is said^g,

“Today, if you hear his voice,

do not harden your hearts as in the rebellion.”^h

¹⁶For who, when they^* heard it, were disobedient? Surely it was not all who went out from Egypt through Moses? ¹⁷And with whom was he angry for forty years? Was it not with those who sinned, whose dead bodies fell in the wilderness? ¹⁸And to whom did he swear they would not enter into his rest, except those who were disobedient? ¹⁹And so we see that they were not able to enter because of unbelief.

The Rest that Remains for the People of God

4Therefore let us fear, while there^* remains a promise of entering into his rest, that none of you appear to fall short of it. ²For we also have had the good news proclaimed to us^a, just as those also did, but the message they heard^b did not benefit them, because they^* were not united with those who heard it in faith. ³For we who have believed enter into rest,^c just as he has said,

“As I swore in my anger,

‘They will never enter^d into my rest.’ ”^e

And yet these works have been accomplished from the foundation of the world. ⁴For he has spoken somewhere about the seventh day in this way: “And God rested on the seventh day from all his works,”^{f 5}and in this passage again, ‘They will never enter^g into my rest.’ ”^{h 6}Since therefore it remains for some to enter into it, and the ones to whom the good news was proclaimed previously did not enter because of disobedience, ⁷again he ordains a certain day, today, speaking by David after so long a time, just as had been said before,

“Today, if you hear his voice,

do not harden your hearts.”ⁱ

⁸For if Joshua had caused them to rest, he would not have spoken about another day after these things. ⁹Consequently a sabbath rest remains for the people of God. ¹⁰For the one who has entered into his rest has also himself rested from his works, just as God did from his own works.

¹¹Therefore, let us make every effort to enter into that rest, in order that no one may fall in the same pattern of disobedience. ¹²For the word of God is living and active and sharper than any double-edged sword, and piercing as far as the division of soul and spirit, both joints and marrow, and able to judge the reflections and thoughts of the heart. ¹³And no creature is hidden in the sight of him, but all things are naked and laid bare to the eyes of him to whom we must give our account^j.

Jesus Our Great High Priest

¹⁴Therefore, because we have a great high priest who has gone through the heavens, Jesus the Son of God, let us hold fast to our confession. ¹⁵For we do not have a high priest who is not able to sympathize with our weaknesses, but who has been tempted in all things in the same way, without sin. ¹⁶Therefore let us approach with confidence to the throne of grace, in order that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need.