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Hebrews 4:4-16
New American Bible (Revised Edition)
Hebrews 4:4-16
New American Bible (Revised Edition)
4 For he has spoken somewhere about the seventh day in this manner, “And God rested on the seventh day from all his works”;(A) 5 and again, in the previously mentioned place, “They shall not enter into my rest.”(B) 6 Therefore, since it remains that some will enter into it, and those who formerly received the good news did not enter because of disobedience, 7 he once more set a day, “today,” when long afterwards he spoke through David, as already quoted:(C)
“Oh, that today you would hear his voice:
‘Harden not your hearts.’”
8 Now if Joshua had given them rest, he would not have spoken afterwards of another day.(D) 9 Therefore, a sabbath rest still remains for the people of God. 10 And whoever enters into God’s rest, rests from his own works as God did from his. 11 Therefore, let us strive to enter into that rest, so that no one may fall after the same example of disobedience.
12 Indeed, the word of God is living and effective, sharper than any two-edged sword, penetrating even between soul and spirit, joints and marrow, and able to discern reflections and thoughts of the heart.(E) 13 No creature is concealed from him, but everything is naked and exposed to the eyes of him to whom we must render an account.(F)
Jesus, Compassionate High Priest. 14 [a]Therefore, since we have a great high priest who has passed through the heavens, Jesus, the Son of God, let us hold fast to our confession.(G) 15 For we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but one who has similarly been tested in every way, yet without sin.(H) 16 So let us confidently approach the throne of grace to receive mercy and to find grace for timely help.(I)
Read full chapterFootnotes
- 4:14–16 These verses, which return to the theme first sounded in Hb 2:16–3:1, serve as an introduction to the section that follows. The author here alone calls Jesus a great high priest (Hb 4:14), a designation used by Philo for the Logos; perhaps he does so in order to emphasize Jesus’ superiority over the Jewish high priest. He has been tested in every way, yet without sin (Hb 4:15); this indicates an acquaintance with the tradition of Jesus’ temptations, not only at the beginning (as in Mk 1:13) but throughout his public life (cf. Lk 22:28). Although the reign of the exalted Jesus is a theme that occurs elsewhere in Hebrews, and Jesus’ throne is mentioned in Hb 1:8, the throne of grace (Hb 4:16) refers to the throne of God. The similarity of Hb 4:16 to Hb 10:19–22 indicates that the author is thinking of our confident access to God, made possible by the priestly work of Jesus.
Hebrews 4:4-16
Good News Translation
Hebrews 4:4-16
Good News Translation
4 (A)For somewhere in the Scriptures this is said about the seventh day: “God rested on the seventh day from all his work.” 5 (B)This same matter is spoken of again: “They will never enter that land where I would have given them rest.” 6 Those who first heard the Good News did not receive that rest, because they did not believe. There are, then, others who are allowed to receive it. 7 (C)This is shown by the fact that God sets another day, which is called “Today.” Many years later he spoke of it through David in the scripture already quoted:
“If you hear God's voice today,
do not be stubborn.”
8 (D)If Joshua had given the people the rest that God had promised, God would not have spoken later about another day. 9 As it is, however, there still remains for God's people a rest like God's resting on the seventh day. 10 (E)For those who receive that rest which God promised will rest from their own work, just as God rested from his. 11 Let us, then, do our best to receive that rest, so that no one of us will fail as they did because of their lack of faith.
12 The word of God is alive and active, sharper than any double-edged sword. It cuts all the way through, to where soul and spirit meet, to where joints and marrow come together. It judges the desires and thoughts of the heart. 13 (F)There is nothing that can be hid from God; everything in all creation is exposed and lies open before his eyes. And it is to him that we must all give an account of ourselves.
Jesus the Great High Priest
14 Let us, then, hold firmly to the faith we profess. For we have a great High Priest who has gone into the very presence of God—Jesus, the Son of God. 15 Our High Priest is not one who cannot feel sympathy for our weaknesses. On the contrary, we have a High Priest who was tempted in every way that we are, but did not sin. 16 Let us have confidence, then, and approach God's throne, where there is grace. There we will receive mercy and find grace to help us just when we need it.
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Hebrews 4:4-16
New American Standard Bible
Hebrews 4:4-16
New American Standard Bible
4 For He has said (A)somewhere concerning the seventh day: “(B)And God (C)rested on the seventh day from all His works”; 5 and again in this passage, “(D)They certainly shall not enter My rest.” 6 Therefore, since it remains for some to enter it, and those who previously had good news preached to them failed to enter because of (E)disobedience, 7 He again sets a certain day, “Today,” saying [a]through David after so long a time just (F)as has been said before,
“(G)Today if you hear His voice,
Do not harden your hearts.”
8 For (H)if [b]Joshua had given them rest, He would not have spoken of another day after that. 9 Consequently, there remains a Sabbath rest for the people of God. 10 For the one who has entered His rest has himself also (I)rested from his works, as (J)God did from His. 11 Therefore let’s make every effort to enter that rest, so that no one will fall by following the same (K)example of (L)disobedience. 12 For (M)the word of God is (N)living and (O)active, and sharper than any two-edged (P)sword, even penetrating as far as the division of (Q)soul and (R)spirit, of both joints and marrow, and (S)able to [c]judge the thoughts and intentions of the heart. 13 And (T)there is no creature hidden from His sight, but all things are (U)open and laid bare to the eyes of Him to whom [d]we must answer.
14 Therefore, since we have a great (V)high priest who has (W)passed through the heavens, Jesus (X)the Son of God, let’s hold firmly to our (Y)confession. 15 For we do not have (Z)a high priest who cannot sympathize with our weaknesses, but One who has been (AA)tempted in all things just as we are, yet (AB)without sin. 16 Therefore let’s (AC)approach the throne of grace with (AD)confidence, so that we may receive mercy and find grace for help at the time of our need.
Read full chapterFootnotes
- Hebrews 4:7 Or in
- Hebrews 4:8 Gr Jesus
- Hebrews 4:12 Or discern
- Hebrews 4:13 Lit is our word
Hebrews 4:4-16
New International Version
Hebrews 4:4-16
New International Version
4 For somewhere he has spoken about the seventh day in these words: “On the seventh day God rested from all his works.”[a](A) 5 And again in the passage above he says, “They shall never enter my rest.”(B)
6 Therefore since it still remains for some to enter that rest, and since those who formerly had the good news proclaimed to them did not go in because of their disobedience,(C) 7 God again set a certain day, calling it “Today.” This he did when a long time later he spoke through David, as in the passage already quoted:
8 For if Joshua had given them rest,(E) God would not have spoken(F) later about another day. 9 There remains, then, a Sabbath-rest for the people of God; 10 for anyone who enters God’s rest also rests from their works,[c](G) just as God did from his.(H) 11 Let us, therefore, make every effort to enter that rest, so that no one will perish by following their example of disobedience.(I)
12 For the word of God(J) is alive(K) and active.(L) Sharper than any double-edged sword,(M) it penetrates even to dividing soul and spirit, joints and marrow; it judges the thoughts and attitudes of the heart.(N) 13 Nothing in all creation is hidden from God’s sight.(O) Everything is uncovered and laid bare before the eyes of him to whom we must give account.
Jesus the Great High Priest
14 Therefore, since we have a great high priest(P) who has ascended into heaven,[d](Q) Jesus the Son of God,(R) let us hold firmly to the faith we profess.(S) 15 For we do not have a high priest(T) who is unable to empathize with our weaknesses, but we have one who has been tempted in every way, just as we are(U)—yet he did not sin.(V) 16 Let us then approach(W) God’s throne of grace with confidence,(X) so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help us in our time of need.
Footnotes
- Hebrews 4:4 Gen. 2:2
- Hebrews 4:7 Psalm 95:7,8
- Hebrews 4:10 Or labor
- Hebrews 4:14 Greek has gone through the heavens
New American Bible (Revised Edition) (NABRE)
Scripture texts, prefaces, introductions, footnotes and cross references used in this work are taken from the New American Bible, revised edition © 2010, 1991, 1986, 1970 Confraternity of Christian Doctrine, Inc., Washington, DC All Rights Reserved. No part of this work may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system, without permission in writing from the copyright owner.
Good News Translation (GNT) 
Good News Translation® (Today’s English Version, Second Edition) © 1992 American Bible Society. All rights reserved. For more information about GNT, visit www.bibles.com and www.gnt.bible.
New American Standard Bible (NASB) 
New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995, 2020 by The Lockman Foundation. All rights reserved.
New International Version (NIV) 
Holy Bible, New International Version®, NIV® Copyright ©1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.® Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.
NIV Reverse Interlinear Bible: English to Hebrew and English to Greek. Copyright © 2019 by Zondervan.