Hebrews 3
New Life Version
Jesus Was Greater Than Moses
3 Christian brothers, you have been chosen and set apart by God. So let us think about Jesus. He is the One God sent and He is the Religious Leader of our Christian faith. 2 Jesus was faithful in God’s house just as Moses was faithful in all of God’s house. 3 The man who builds a house gets more honor than the house. That is why Jesus gets more honor than Moses. 4 Every house is built by someone. And God is the One Who has built everything. 5 Moses was a faithful servant owned by God in God’s house. He spoke of the things that would be told about later on. 6 But Christ was faithful as a Son Who is Head of God’s house. We are of God’s house if we keep our trust in the Lord until the end. This is our hope. 7 The Holy Spirit says, “If you hear His voice today, 8 do not let your hearts become hard as your early fathers did when they turned against Me. It was at that time in the desert when they put Me to the test. 9 Your early fathers tempted Me and tried Me. They saw the work I did for forty years. 10 For this reason, I was angry with the people of this day. And I said to them, ‘They always think wrong thoughts. They have never understood what I have tried to do for them.’ 11 I was angry with them and said to Myself, ‘They will never go into My rest.’” (A)
12 Christian brothers, be careful that not one of you has a heart so bad that it will not believe and will turn away from the living God. 13 Help each other. Speak day after day to each other while it is still today so your heart will not become hard by being fooled by sin. 14 For we belong to Christ if we keep on trusting Him to the end just as we trusted Him at first. 15 The Holy Writings say, “If you hear His voice today, do not let your hearts become hard as your early fathers did when they turned against Me.” (B)
16 Who heard God’s voice and turned against Him? Did not all those who were led out of the country of Egypt by Moses? 17 Who made God angry for forty years? Was it not those people who had sinned in the desert? Was it not those who died and were buried there? 18 Who did He say could never go into His rest? Was it not those who did not obey Him? 19 So we can see that they were not able to go into His rest because they did not put their trust in Him.
Hebrews 3
Expanded Bible
Jesus Is Greater than Moses
3 ·So all of you [L Therefore] holy brothers and sisters, who ·were called by God [are partners/partakers in a heavenly calling], ·think about [consider; focus on] Jesus, who ·was sent to us [or is our apostle; C a commissioned messenger] and is the high priest ·of our faith [or whom we acknowledge/confess; L of our confession]. 2 Jesus was faithful to God who appointed him just as Moses was faithful in God’s ·family [household; house]. 3 Jesus ·has [deserves; is worthy of] more honor than Moses, just as the builder of a house has more honor than the house itself. 4 [L For] Every house is built by someone, but the builder of everything is God himself. 5 Moses was faithful in ·God’s family [L all of God’s house; Num. 12:7] as a servant, and he ·told [testified to] what God would say in the future. 6 But Christ is faithful as a Son over God’s house. And we are God’s house if we ·confidently maintain our hope [or maintain our courage and confident hope].
We Must Continue to Follow God
7 So it is as the Holy Spirit says:
“Today ·listen to what he says [L if you hear his voice…].
8 Do not ·be stubborn [L harden your hearts] as in the past
·when you turned against God [L as in the rebellion; Ex. 17:1–7],
when you tested God in the desert.
9 There your ancestors tried me and tested me
and saw the things I did for forty years.
10 I was angry with ·them [L that generation].
I said, ‘·They are not loyal to me [L Their hearts are always wandering]
and have not ·understood my ways [or discerned/obeyed my will].’
11 I was angry and ·made a promise [L swore an oath],
‘They will never enter my rest [Ps. 95:7–11; C referring to the generation of Israel that disobeyed God and so were not allowed to enter the Promised Land (Num. 14:23)].’”
12 So brothers and sisters, ·be careful [see to it] that none of you has an evil, unbelieving heart that will ·turn you away from [desert; forsake] the living God. 13 But encourage each other every day while it is “today” [C meaning the time of opportunity to be saved; v. 7]. ·Help [Encourage] each other so none of you will become hardened ·because sin has tricked you [by sin’s deception]. 14 [L For] We all ·share in [or have become partners with] Christ if [indeed; in fact] we ·keep [hold firm] till the end the sure ·faith [conviction; confidence] we had in the beginning. 15 This is what the Scripture says:
“Today ·listen to what he says [L if you hear his voice…].
Do not ·be stubborn [L harden your hearts] as in the past
·when you turned against God [L as in the rebellion; Ps. 95:7–8; C referring to Ex. 17:1–7].”
16 Who heard God’s voice and ·was against [rebelled against; provoked] him? ·It was [L Was it not…?] all those people Moses led out of Egypt. 17 And with whom was God angry for forty years? ·He was angry [L Was it not…?] with those who sinned, ·who died [L whose corpses/bodies fell] in the desert [Num. 14:29, 32]. 18 And to whom ·was God talking when he promised [L did he swear] that they would never enter his rest [v. 11]? He was talking to those who did not ·obey [or believe] him. 19 So we see they were not allowed to enter [C the Promised Land and God’s promised rest] because ·they did not believe [of unbelief/faithlessness].
Hebrews 3
Amplified Bible, Classic Edition
3 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].
2 [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)
3 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].
4 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.
5 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)
6 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].
7 Therefore, as the Holy Spirit says: Today, if you will hear His voice,
8 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,
9 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
- Hebrews 3:8 Alexander Souter, Pocket Lexicon of the Greek New Testament.
- Hebrews 3:9 Charles B. Williams, The New Testament: A Translation in the Language of the People.
- Hebrews 3:14 Marvin Vincent, Word Studies.
- Hebrews 3:17 Marvin Vincent, Word Studies.
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