Hebrews 3-4

Contemporary English Version

Jesus Is Greater than Moses

3 My friends, God has chosen you to be his holy people. So think about Jesus, the one we call our apostle and high priest! ^2 (A) Jesus was faithful to God, who appointed him, just as Moses was faithful in serving all^[a] God's people. ³ But Jesus deserves more honor than Moses, just as the builder of a house deserves more honor than the house. ⁴ Of course, every house is built by someone, and God is really the one who built everything.

⁵ Moses was a faithful servant and told God's people what would be said in the future. ⁶ But Christ is the Son in charge of God's people. And we are those people, if we keep on being brave and don't lose hope.

A Rest for God's People

^7 (B) It is just as the Holy Spirit says,

¹² My friends, watch out! Don't let evil thoughts or doubts make any of you turn from the living God. ¹³ You must encourage one another each day. And you must keep on while there is still a time that can be called “today.” If you don't, then sin may fool some of you and make you stubborn. ¹⁴ We were sure about Christ when we first became his people. So let's hold tightly to our faith until the end. ^15 (C) The Scriptures say,

^16 (D) Who were those people that heard God's voice and rebelled? Weren't they the same ones that came out of Egypt with Moses? ¹⁷ Who were the people that made God angry for 40 years? Weren't they the ones that sinned and died in the desert? ¹⁸ And who did God say would never enter his place of rest? Weren't they the ones that disobeyed him? ¹⁹ We see that those people did not enter the place of rest because they did not have faith.

4 The promise to enter the place of rest is still good, and we must take care that none of you miss out. ² We have heard the message, just as they did. But they failed to believe what they heard, and the message did not do them any good. ^3 (E) Only people who have faith will enter the place of rest. It is just as the Scriptures say,

God said this, even though everything has been ready from the time of creation. ^4 (F) In fact, somewhere the Scriptures say that by the seventh day, God had finished his work, and so he rested. ^5 (G) We also read that he later said, “You people will never enter my place of rest!” ⁶ This means that the promise to enter is still good, because those who first heard about it disobeyed and did not enter. ^7 (H) Much later God told David to make the promise again, just as I have already said,

^8 (I) If Joshua had really given the people rest, there would not be any need for God to talk about another day of rest. ⁹ But God has promised us a Sabbath when we will rest, even though it has not yet come. ^10 (J) On that day God's people will rest from their work, just as God rested from his work.

¹¹ We should do our best to enter the place of rest, so none of us will disobey and miss going there, as they did. ¹² God's word is alive and powerful! It is sharper than any double-edged sword. His word can cut through our spirits and souls and through our joints and marrow, until it discovers the desires and thoughts of our hearts. ^13 (K) Nothing is hidden from God! He sees through everything, and we will have to tell him the truth.

Jesus Is the Great High Priest

¹⁴ We have a great high priest, who has gone into heaven, and he is Jesus the Son of God. This is why we must hold on to what we have said about him. ¹⁵ Jesus understands every weakness of ours, because he was tempted in every way that we are. But he did not sin! ¹⁶ So whenever we are in need, we should come bravely before the throne of our merciful God. There we will be treated with undeserved grace, and we will find help.