Jesus Our High Priest

Therefore, (A)holy brothers and sisters, partakers of a (B)heavenly calling, consider (C)the Apostle and (D)High Priest of our (E)confession: Jesus; [a]He was faithful to Him who appointed Him, as (F)Moses also was in all His house. (G)For He has been counted worthy of more glory than Moses, by just so much as the builder of the house has more honor than the house. For every house is built by someone, but the builder of all things is God. Now (H)Moses was faithful in all [b]God’s house as (I)a servant, (J)for a testimony of those things (K)which were to be spoken later; but Christ was faithful as (L)a Son over His house—(M)whose house we are, (N)if we hold firmly to our (O)confidence and the boast of our [c](P)hope.

Therefore, just as (Q)the Holy Spirit says,

(R)Today if you hear His voice,
(S)Do not harden your hearts as [d]when they provoked Me,
As on the day of trial in the wilderness,
(T)Where your fathers put Me to the test,
And saw My works for (U)forty years.
10 (V)Therefore I was angry with this generation,
And said, ‘They always go astray in their heart,
And they did not know My ways’;
11 (W)As I swore in My anger,
They certainly shall not enter My rest.’”

The Danger of Unbelief

12 (X)Take care, brothers and sisters, that there will not be in any one of you an evil, unbelieving heart [e]that falls away from (Y)the living God. 13 But (Z)encourage one another every day, as long as it is still called “today,” so that none of you will be hardened by the (AA)deceitfulness of sin. 14 For we have become partakers of Christ (AB)if we keep the beginning of our [f](AC)commitment firm until the end, 15 while it is said,

(AD)Today if you hear His voice,
Do not harden your hearts, as [g]when they provoked Me.”

16 For who (AE)provoked Him when they had heard? Indeed, (AF)did not all those who came out of Egypt led by Moses? 17 And with whom was He angry for forty years? Was it not with those who sinned, (AG)whose dead bodies fell in the wilderness? 18 And to whom did He swear (AH)that they would not enter His rest, but to those who were (AI)disobedient? 19 And so we see that they were not able to enter because of (AJ)unbelief.

Footnotes

  1. Hebrews 3:2 Lit being faithful
  2. Hebrews 3:5 Lit His
  3. Hebrews 3:6 One early ms adds firm until the end
  4. Hebrews 3:8 Lit in the provocation
  5. Hebrews 3:12 Or that leaves the; lit in falling away from
  6. Hebrews 3:14 Or assurance
  7. Hebrews 3:15 Lit in the rebellion

So then, brethren, consecrated and set apart for God, who share in the heavenly calling, [thoughtfully and attentively] consider Jesus, the Apostle and High Priest Whom we confessed [as ours when we embraced the Christian faith].

[See how] faithful He was to Him Who appointed Him [Apostle and High Priest], as Moses was also faithful in the whole house [of God].(A)

Yet Jesus has been considered worthy of much greater honor and glory than Moses, just as the builder of a house has more honor than the house [itself].

For [of course] every house is built and furnished by someone, but the Builder of all things and the Furnisher [of the entire equipment of all things] is God.

And Moses certainly was faithful in the administration of all God’s house [but it was only] as a ministering servant. [In his entire ministry he was but] a testimony to the things which were to be spoken [the revelations to be given afterward in Christ].(B)

But Christ (the Messiah) was faithful over His [own Father’s] house as a Son [and Master of it]. And it is we who are [now members] of this house, if we hold fast and firm to the end our joyful and exultant confidence and sense of triumph in our hope [in Christ].

Therefore, as the Holy Spirit says: Today, if you will hear His voice,

Do not harden your hearts, as [happened] in the rebellion [of Israel] and their provocation and [a]embitterment [of Me] in the day of testing in the wilderness,

Where your fathers tried [My patience] and tested [My forbearance] and [b]found I stood their test, and they saw My works for forty years.

10 And so I was provoked (displeased and sorely grieved) with that generation, and said, They always err and are led astray in their hearts, and they have not perceived or recognized My ways and become progressively better and more experimentally and intimately acquainted with them.

11 Accordingly, I swore in My wrath and indignation, They shall not enter into My rest.(C)

12 [Therefore beware] brethren, take care, lest there be in any one of you a wicked, unbelieving heart [which refuses to cleave to, trust in, and rely on Him], leading you to turn away and desert or stand aloof from the living God.

13 But instead warn (admonish, urge, and encourage) one another every day, as long as it is called Today, that none of you may be hardened [into settled rebellion] by the deceitfulness of sin [by the fraudulence, the stratagem, the trickery which the delusive glamor of his sin may play on him].

14 For we [c]have become fellows with Christ (the Messiah) and share in all He has for us, if only we hold our first newborn confidence and original assured expectation [in virtue of which we are believers] firm and unshaken to the end.

15 Then while it is [still] called Today, if you would hear His voice and when you hear it, do not harden your hearts as in the rebellion [in the desert, when the people provoked and irritated and embittered God against them].(D)

16 For who were they who heard and yet were rebellious and provoked [Him]? Was it not all those who came out of Egypt led by Moses?

17 And with whom was He irritated and provoked and grieved for forty years? Was it not with those who sinned, whose [d]dismembered bodies were strewn and left in the desert?

18 And to whom did He swear that they should not enter His rest, but to those who disobeyed [who had not listened to His word and who refused to be compliant or be persuaded]?

19 So we see that they were not able to enter [into His rest], because of their unwillingness to adhere to and trust in and rely on God [unbelief had shut them out].(E)

Footnotes

  1. Hebrews 3:8 Alexander Souter, Pocket Lexicon of the Greek New Testament.
  2. Hebrews 3:9 Charles B. Williams, The New Testament: A Translation in the Language of the People.
  3. Hebrews 3:14 Marvin Vincent, Word Studies.
  4. Hebrews 3:17 Marvin Vincent, Word Studies.

Jesus Is Greater Than Moses

And so, dear brothers and sisters who belong to God and[a] are partners with those called to heaven, think carefully about this Jesus whom we declare to be God’s messenger[b] and High Priest. For he was faithful to God, who appointed him, just as Moses served faithfully when he was entrusted with God’s entire[c] house.

But Jesus deserves far more glory than Moses, just as a person who builds a house deserves more praise than the house itself. For every house has a builder, but the one who built everything is God.

Moses was certainly faithful in God’s house as a servant. His work was an illustration of the truths God would reveal later. But Christ, as the Son, is in charge of God’s entire house. And we are God’s house, if we keep our courage and remain confident in our hope in Christ.[d]

That is why the Holy Spirit says,

“Today when you hear his voice,
    don’t harden your hearts
as Israel did when they rebelled,
    when they tested me in the wilderness.
There your ancestors tested and tried my patience,
    even though they saw my miracles for forty years.
10 So I was angry with them, and I said,
‘Their hearts always turn away from me.
    They refuse to do what I tell them.’
11 So in my anger I took an oath:
    ‘They will never enter my place of rest.’”[e]

12 Be careful then, dear brothers and sisters.[f] Make sure that your own hearts are not evil and unbelieving, turning you away from the living God. 13 You must warn each other every day, while it is still “today,” so that none of you will be deceived by sin and hardened against God. 14 For if we are faithful to the end, trusting God just as firmly as when we first believed, we will share in all that belongs to Christ. 15 Remember what it says:

“Today when you hear his voice,
    don’t harden your hearts
    as Israel did when they rebelled.”[g]

16 And who was it who rebelled against God, even though they heard his voice? Wasn’t it the people Moses led out of Egypt? 17 And who made God angry for forty years? Wasn’t it the people who sinned, whose corpses lay in the wilderness? 18 And to whom was God speaking when he took an oath that they would never enter his rest? Wasn’t it the people who disobeyed him? 19 So we see that because of their unbelief they were not able to enter his rest.

Footnotes

  1. 3:1a Greek And so, holy brothers who.
  2. 3:1b Greek God’s apostle.
  3. 3:2 Some manuscripts do not include entire.
  4. 3:6 Some manuscripts add faithful to the end.
  5. 3:7-11 Ps 95:7-11.
  6. 3:12 Greek brothers.
  7. 3:15 Ps 95:7-8.