¹¹ And it had strong rods for the scepters of those who bore rule and its height was exalted among the thick branches and into the clouds, and it was seen in its height among the multitude of its branches and was conspicuous.

¹² But the vine was plucked up in God’s wrath [by His agent the Babylonian king] and it was cast down to the ground; the east wind dried up its fruit; its strong rods were broken off and withered; the fire [of God’s judgment] consumed them.

¹³ And now it is transplanted in the wilderness, in a dry and thirsty land [Babylon].

¹⁴ And fire went out of a rod [Zedekiah] of its branches which has consumed the vine’s fruit, so that it has in it no [longer a] strong rod to be a scepter for ruling. This is a lamentation and shall be for a lamentation and a dirge.

¹⁷ And they took Jesus and led [Him] away; so He went out, bearing His own cross, to the spot called The Place of the Skull—in Hebrew it is called Golgotha.

¹⁸ There they crucified Him, and with Him two others—one on either side and Jesus between them.^(A)

¹⁹ And Pilate also wrote a title (an inscription on a placard) and put it on the cross. And the writing was: Jesus the Nazarene, the King of the Jews.

²⁰ And many of the Jews read this title, for the place where Jesus was crucified was near the city, and it was written in Hebrew, in Latin, [and] in Greek.

²¹ Then the chief priests of the Jews said to Pilate, Do not write, The King of the Jews, but, He said, I am King of the Jews.

²² Pilate replied, What I have written, I have written.

²³ Then the soldiers, when they had crucified Jesus, took His garments and made four parts, one share for each soldier, and also the tunic (the long shirtlike undergarment). But the tunic was seamless, woven [in one piece] from the top throughout.

²⁴ So they said to one another, Let us not tear it, but let us cast lots to decide whose it shall be. This was to fulfill the Scripture, They parted My garments among them, and for My clothing they cast lots. So the soldiers did these things.^(B)

4 Therefore, while the promise of entering His rest still holds and is offered [today], let us be afraid [^[a]to distrust it], lest any of you should ^[b]think he has come too late and has come short of [reaching] it.

² For indeed we have had the glad tidings [Gospel of God] proclaimed to us just as truly as they [the Israelites of old did when the good news of deliverance from bondage came to them]; but the message they heard did not benefit them, because it was not mixed with faith (with ^[c]the leaning of the entire personality on God in absolute trust and confidence in His power, wisdom, and goodness) by those who heard it; ^[d]neither were they united in faith with the ones [Joshua and Caleb] who heard (did believe).

³ For we who have believed (adhered to and trusted in and relied on God) do enter that rest, ^[e]in accordance with His declaration that those [who did not believe] should not enter when He said, As I swore in My wrath, They shall not enter My rest; and this He said although [His] works had been completed and prepared [and waiting for all who would believe] from the foundation of the world.^(A)

⁴ For in a certain place He has said this about the seventh day: And God rested on the seventh day from all His works.^(B)

⁵ And [they forfeited their part in it, for] in this [passage] He said, They shall not enter My rest.^(C)

⁶ Seeing then that the promise remains over [from past times] for some to enter that rest, and that those who formerly were given the good news about it and the opportunity, failed to appropriate it and did not enter because of disobedience,

⁷ Again He sets a definite day, [a new] Today, [and gives another opportunity of securing that rest] saying through David after so long a time in the words already quoted, Today, if you would hear His voice and when you hear it, do not harden your hearts.^(D)

⁸ [This mention of a rest was not a reference to their entering into Canaan.] For if Joshua had given them rest, He [God] would not speak afterward about another day.

⁹ So then, there is still awaiting a full and complete Sabbath-rest reserved for the [true] people of God;

¹⁰ For he who has once entered [God’s] rest also has ceased from [the weariness and pain] of human labors, just as God rested from those labors ^[f]peculiarly His own.^(E)