Jesus Greater Than Moses

Therefore, holy brothers,[a] you who share in (A)a heavenly calling, consider Jesus, (B)the apostle and high priest of our confession, who was faithful to him who appointed him, (C)just as Moses also was faithful in all God's[b] house. For Jesus has been counted worthy of more glory than Moses—as much more glory as the builder of a house has more honor than the house itself. (For every house is built by someone, but (D)the builder of all things is God.) (E)Now Moses was faithful in all God's house (F)as a servant, (G)to testify to the things that were to be spoken later, but Christ is faithful over God's house as (H)a son. And (I)we are his house, if indeed we (J)hold fast our confidence and our boasting in our hope.[c]

A Rest for the People of God

Therefore, as the Holy Spirit says,

(K)“Today, if you hear his voice,
do not harden your hearts as in the rebellion,
    on the day of testing in the wilderness,
where your fathers put me to the test
    and saw my works for (L)forty years.
10 Therefore I was provoked with that generation,
and said, ‘They always go astray in their heart;
    they have not known my ways.’
11 (M)As I swore in my wrath,
    ‘They shall not enter my rest.’”

12 Take care, brothers, lest there be in any of you an evil, unbelieving heart, leading you to fall away from (N)the living God. 13 But (O)exhort one another every day, as long as it is called “today,” that none of you may be hardened by (P)the deceitfulness of sin. 14 For we have come to share in Christ, (Q)if indeed we hold our original confidence firm to the end. 15 As it is said,

(R)“Today, if you hear his voice,
do not harden your hearts as in the rebellion.”

16 For (S)who were those who heard and yet rebelled? Was it not (T)all those who left Egypt led by Moses? 17 And with whom was he provoked for forty years? Was it not with those who sinned, (U)whose bodies fell in the wilderness? 18 And to whom did he swear that (V)they would not enter his rest, but to those who were disobedient? 19 So we see that (W)they were unable to enter because of unbelief.

Footnotes

  1. Hebrews 3:1 Or brothers and sisters; also verse 12
  2. Hebrews 3:2 Greek his; also verses 5, 6
  3. Hebrews 3:6 Some manuscripts insert firm to the end

We are Jesus’ house

Therefore, brothers and sisters who are partners in the heavenly calling, think about Jesus, the apostle and high priest of our confession. Jesus was faithful to the one who appointed him just like Moses was faithful in God’s house. But he deserves greater glory than Moses in the same way that the builder of the house deserves more honor than the house itself. Every house is built by someone, but God is the builder of everything. Moses was faithful in all God’s house as a servant in order to affirm the things that would be spoken later. But Jesus was faithful over God’s house as a Son. We are his house if we hold on to the confidence and the pride that our hope gives us.

Respond to Jesus’ voice now

So, as the Holy Spirit says,

Today, if you hear his voice,
    don’t have stubborn hearts
        as they did in the rebellion,
        on the day when they tested me in the desert.
That is where your ancestors challenged and tested me,
        though they had seen my work for forty years.
10 So I was angry with them.
I said,Their hearts always go off course,
        and they don’t know my ways.
11 Because of my anger I swore:
        They will never enter my rest![a]

12 Watch out, brothers and sisters, so that none of you have an evil, unfaithful heart that abandons the living God. 13 Instead, encourage each other every day, as long as it’s called “today,” so that none of you become insensitive to God because of sin’s deception. 14 We are partners with Christ, but only if we hold on to the confidence we had in the beginning until the end.

15 When it says,

Today, if you hear his voice, don’t have stubborn hearts
        as they did in the rebellion.[b]

16 Who was it who rebelled when they heard his voice? Wasn’t it all of those who were brought out of Egypt by Moses? 17 And with whom was God angry for forty years? Wasn’t it with the ones who sinned, whose bodies fell in the desert? 18 And against whom did he swear that they would never enter his rest, if not against the ones who were disobedient? 19 We see that they couldn’t enter because of their lack of faith.