¹⁸ And to whom was God speaking when he took an oath that they would never enter his rest? Wasn’t it the people who disobeyed him? ¹⁹ So we see that because of their unbelief they were not able to enter his rest.

⁶ I took a solemn oath that day that I would bring them out of Egypt to a land I had discovered and explored for them—a good land, a land flowing with milk and honey, the best of all lands anywhere.

³² “But even after all he did, you refused to trust the Lord your God,

³¹ “‘You said your children would be carried off as plunder. Well, I will bring them safely into the land, and they will enjoy what you have despised.

⁶ So God’s rest is there for people to enter, but those who first heard this good news failed to enter because they disobeyed God.

⁵ So I want to remind you, though you already know these things, that Jesus^[a] first rescued the nation of Israel from Egypt, but later he destroyed those who did not remain faithful.

¹⁶ Make sure that no one is immoral or godless like Esau, who traded his birthright as the firstborn son for a single meal.

² For this good news—that God has prepared this rest—has been announced to us just as it was to them. But it did them no good because they didn’t share the faith of those who listened to God.^[a]

¹² Be careful then, dear brothers and sisters.^[a] Make sure that your own hearts are not evil and unbelieving, turning you away from the living God.