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God’s Promised Rest

Therefore we must be wary[a] that, while the promise of entering his rest remains open, none of you may seem to have come short of it. For we had good news proclaimed to us just as they did. But the message they heard did them no good, since they did not join in[b] with those who heard it in faith.[c] For we who have believed enter that rest, as he has said, “As I swore in my anger, ‘They will never enter my rest!’”[d] And yet God’s works[e] were accomplished from the foundation of the world. For he has spoken somewhere about the seventh day in this way: “And God rested on the seventh day from all his works,”[f] but to repeat the text cited earlier:[g]They will never enter my rest!

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Footnotes

  1. Hebrews 4:1 tn Grk “let us fear.”
  2. Hebrews 4:2 tn Or “they were not united.”
  3. Hebrews 4:2 tc A few mss (א and a few versional witnesses) have the nominative singular participle συγκεκερασμένος (sunkekerasmenos, “since it [the message] was not combined with faith by those who heard it”), a reading that refers back to the ὁ λόγος (ho logos, “the message”). There are a few other variants here (e.g., συγκεκεραμμένοι [sunkekerammenoi] in 104, συγκεκεραμένους [sunkekeramenous] in 1881 M), but the accusative plural participle συγκεκερασμένους (sunkekerasmenous), found in P13vid,46 A B C D* Ψ 0243 0278 33 81 1739 2464, has by far the best external credentials. This participle agrees with the previous ἐκείνους (ekeinous, “those”), a more difficult construction grammatically than the nominative singular. Thus, both on external and internal grounds, συγκεκερασμένους is preferred.
  4. Hebrews 4:3 sn A quotation from Ps 95:11.
  5. Hebrews 4:3 tn Grk “although the works,” continuing the previous reference to God. The referent (God) is specified in the translation for clarity.
  6. Hebrews 4:4 sn A quotation from Gen 2:2.
  7. Hebrews 4:5 tn Grk “and in this again.”

Let’s fear therefore, lest perhaps anyone of you should seem to have come short of a promise of entering into his rest. For indeed we have had good news preached to us, even as they also did, but the word they heard didn’t profit them, because it wasn’t mixed with faith by those who heard. For we who have believed do enter into that rest, even as he has said, “As I swore in my wrath, they will not enter into my rest;”Psalm 95:11 although the works were finished from the foundation of the world. For he has said this somewhere about the seventh day, “God rested on the seventh day from all his works;”Genesis 2:2 and in this place again, “They will not enter into my rest.”Psalm 95:11

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