Hebrews 3
The Message
The Centerpiece of All We Believe
3 1-6 So, my dear Christian friends, companions in following this call to the heights, take a good hard look at Jesus. He’s the centerpiece of everything we believe, faithful in everything God gave him to do. Moses was also faithful, but Jesus gets far more honor. A builder is more valuable than a building any day. Every house has a builder, but the Builder behind them all is God. Moses did a good job in God’s house, but it was all servant work, getting things ready for what was to come. Christ as Son is in charge of the house.
6-11 Now, if we can only keep a firm grip on this bold confidence, we’re the house! That’s why the Holy Spirit says,
Today, please listen;
don’t turn a deaf ear as in “the bitter uprising,”
that time of wilderness testing!
Even though they watched me at work for forty years,
your ancestors refused to let me do it my way;
over and over they tried my patience.
And I was provoked, oh, so provoked!
I said, “They’ll never keep their minds on God;
they refuse to walk down my road.”
Exasperated, I vowed,
“They’ll never get where they’re going,
never be able to sit down and rest.”
12-14 So watch your step, friends. Make sure there’s no evil unbelief lying around that will trip you up and throw you off course, diverting you from the living God. For as long as God’s still calling it Today, keep each other on your toes so sin doesn’t slow down your reflexes. If we can only keep our grip on the sure thing we started out with, we’re in this with Christ for the long haul.
These words keep ringing in our ears:
Today, please listen;
don’t turn a deaf ear as in the bitter uprising.
15-19 For who were the people who turned a deaf ear? Weren’t they the very ones Moses led out of Egypt? And who was God provoked with for forty years? Wasn’t it those who turned a deaf ear and ended up corpses in the wilderness? And when he swore that they’d never get where they were going, wasn’t he talking to the ones who turned a deaf ear? They never got there because they never listened, never believed.
Hebrews 3
New International Reader's Version
Jesus Is Greater Than Moses
3 Holy brothers and sisters, God chose you to be his people. So keep thinking about Jesus. We embrace him as our apostle and our high priest. 2 Moses was faithful in everything he did in the house of God. In the same way, Jesus was faithful to the God who appointed him. 3 The person who builds a house has greater honor than the house itself. In the same way, Jesus has been found worthy of greater honor than Moses. 4 Every house is built by someone. But God is the builder of everything. 5 “Moses was faithful as one who serves in the house of God.” (Numbers 12:7) He was a witness to what God would say in days to come. 6 But Christ is faithful as the Son over the house of God. And we are his house if we hold tightly to what we are certain about. We must also hold tightly to the hope we boast in.
A Warning Against Unbelief
7 The Holy Spirit says,
“Listen to his voice today.
8 If you hear it, don’t be stubborn.
You were stubborn when you opposed me.
You did that when you were tested in the desert.
9 There your people of long ago tested me.
Yet for 40 years they saw what I did.
10 That is why I was angry with them.
I said, ‘Their hearts are always going astray.
They have not known my ways.’
11 So when I was angry, I made a promise.
I said, ‘They will never enjoy the rest I planned for them.’ ” (Psalm 95:7–11)
12 Brothers and sisters, make sure that none of you has a sinful heart. Do not let an unbelieving heart turn you away from the living God. 13 But build one another up every day. Do it as long as there is still time. Then none of you will become stubborn. You won’t be fooled by sin’s tricks. 14 We belong to Christ if we hold tightly to the faith we had at first. But we must hold it tightly until the end. 15 It has just been said,
“Listen to his voice today.
If you hear it, don’t be stubborn.
You were stubborn when you opposed me.” (Psalm 95:7,8)
16 Who were those who heard and refused to obey? Weren’t they all the people Moses led out of Egypt? 17 Who was God angry with for 40 years? Wasn’t it with those who sinned? They died in the desert. 18 God promised that those people would never enjoy the rest he planned for them. God gave his word when he made that promise. Didn’t he make that promise to those who didn’t obey? 19 So we see that they weren’t able to enter. That’s because they didn’t believe.
Hebrews 3
New King James Version
The Son Was Faithful
3 Therefore, holy brethren, partakers of the heavenly calling, consider the Apostle and High Priest of our confession, Christ Jesus, 2 who was faithful to Him who appointed Him, as (A)Moses also was faithful in all His house. 3 For this One has been counted worthy of more glory than Moses, inasmuch as (B)He who built the house has more honor than the house. 4 For every house is built by someone, but (C)He who built all things is God. 5 (D)And Moses indeed was faithful in all His house as (E)a servant, (F)for a testimony of those things which would be spoken afterward, 6 but Christ as (G)a Son over His own house, (H)whose house we are (I)if we hold fast the confidence and the rejoicing of the hope [a]firm to the end.
Be Faithful(J)
7 Therefore, as (K)the Holy Spirit says:
(L)“Today, if you will hear His voice,
8 Do not harden your hearts as in the rebellion,
In the day of trial in the wilderness,
9 Where your fathers tested Me, tried Me,
And saw My works forty years.
10 Therefore I was angry with that generation,
And said, ‘They always go astray in their heart,
And they have not known My ways.’
11 So I swore in My wrath,
‘They shall not enter My rest.’ ”
12 Beware, brethren, lest there be in any of you an evil heart of unbelief in departing from the living God; 13 but [b]exhort one another daily, while it is called “Today,” lest any of you be hardened through the deceitfulness of sin. 14 For we have become partakers of Christ if we hold the beginning of our confidence steadfast to the end, 15 while it is said:
(M)“Today, if you will hear His voice,
Do not harden your hearts as in the rebellion.”
Failure of the Wilderness Wanderers
16 (N)For who, having heard, rebelled? Indeed, was it not all who came out of Egypt, led by Moses? 17 Now with whom was He angry forty years? Was it not with those who sinned, (O)whose corpses fell in the wilderness? 18 And (P)to whom did He swear that they would not enter His rest, but to those who did not obey? 19 So we see that they could not enter in because of (Q)unbelief.
Footnotes
- Hebrews 3:6 NU omits firm to the end
- Hebrews 3:13 encourage
Copyright © 1993, 2002, 2018 by Eugene H. Peterson
Copyright © 1995, 1996, 1998, 2014 by Biblica, Inc.®. Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
