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

The Messiah is Superior to Moses

Therefore, holy brothers, partners in a heavenly calling, keep your focus on Jesus, the apostle and high priest of our confession. He was faithful to the one who appointed him, just as Moses was in all God’s[a] household, because he is worthy of greater glory than Moses in the same way that the builder of a house has greater honor than the house itself. After all, every house is built by someone, but God is the builder of everything. Moses was faithful in all God’s[b] household as a servant who was to testify to what would be said later, but the Messiah[c] was faithful[d] as the Son in charge of God’s[e] household, and we are his household if we hold on to our courage and the hope in which we rejoice.[f]

A Rest for the People of God

Therefore, as the Holy Spirit says,

“Today, if you hear his voice,
do not harden your hearts
as they did when they provoked me
    during the time of testing in the wilderness.
There your ancestors tested me,
even though they had seen my actions 10     for 40 years.
That is why I was indignant with that generation and said,
    ‘They are always going astray in their hearts,
        and they have not known my ways.’
11 So in my anger I swore a solemn oath
    that they would never enter my rest.”[g]

12 See to it, my brothers, that no evil, unbelieving heart is found in any of you, as shown by your turning away from the living God. 13 Instead, continue to encourage one another every day, as long as it is called “Today,” so that none of you may be hardened by the deceitfulness of sin, 14 because we are the Messiah’s[h] partners only if we hold on to our original confidence to the end.[i] 15 As it is said,

“Today, if you hear his voice,
    do not harden your hearts
        as they did when they provoked me.”[j]

16 Now who heard him and provoked him? Was it not all those who came out of Egypt led[k] by Moses? 17 And with whom was he angry for 40 years? Was it not with those who sinned and whose bodies fell dead in the wilderness? 18 And to whom did he swear that they would never enter his rest? It was to those who disobeyed him, was it not? 19 So we see that they were unable to enter because of their unbelief.

Footnotes

  1. Hebrews 3:2 Lit. his
  2. Hebrews 3:5 Lit. his
  3. Hebrews 3:6 Or Christ
  4. Hebrews 3:6 The Gk. lacks was faithful
  5. Hebrews 3:6 Lit. his
  6. Hebrews 3:6 Lit. the boast of our hope
  7. Hebrews 3:11 Cf. Ps 95:7-11
  8. Hebrews 3:14 Or Christ’s
  9. Hebrews 3:14 Other mss. lack to the end
  10. Hebrews 3:15 Cf. Ps 95:7-8
  11. Hebrews 3:16 The Gk. lacks led