Read the New Testament in 24 Weeks
Yeshua Greater than Moses
3 Therefore, holy brothers and sisters, partners in a heavenly calling, take notice of Yeshua—the Emissary and Kohen Gadol we affirm. 2 He was faithful to the One who appointed Him in His house—as was Moses also. [a] 3 For He has been considered worthy of more glory than Moses, even as the builder of the house has more honor than the house. 4 For every house is built by someone, but the builder of all things is God. 5 Now Moses surely was faithful in all God’s house as a servant, for a witness of things to be spoken later. 6 But Messiah, as Son, is over God’s house—and we are His house, if we hold firm to our boldness and what we are proud to hope.
Listen and Obey, or Harden and Fall Away
7 Therefore, just as the Ruach ha-Kodesh says,
“Today if you hear His voice,
8 do not harden your hearts
as in the rebellion,[b]
on the day of testing[c] in the wilderness.
9 There your fathers put Me to the test,
though they saw My works for forty years.
10 Therefore I was provoked by this generation,
and I said, ‘They always go astray in their heart,
and they have not known My ways.’
11 As I swore in my wrath,
‘They shall not enter My rest.’”[d]
12 Take care, brothers and sisters, that none of you has an evil heart of unbelief that falls away from the living God. 13 But encourage one another day by day—as long as it is called “Today”—so that none of you may be hardened by the deceitfulness of sin. 14 For we have become partners of Messiah, if we hold our original conviction firm until the end. 15 As it is said,
“Today if you hear His voice,
do not harden your hearts as in the rebellion.”[e]
16 Now which ones heard and rebelled? Indeed, was it not all who came out of Egypt with Moses? 17 And with whom was He provoked for forty years? Was it not with those who sinned, whose bodies fell in the wilderness? 18 And to whom did He swear that they would not enter His rest? Was it not to those who were disobedient? 19 So we see that they were not able to enter in because of lack of trust.
Make Every Effort to Enter God’s Rest
4 Let us fear then! Though a promise of entering His rest is left open, some of you would seem to have fallen short. 2 For we also have had Good News proclaimed to us, just as they did. But the word they heard did not help them, because they were not unified with those who listened in faith. 3 For we who have trusted are entering into that rest. It is just as God has said,
“So in My wrath I swore,
‘They shall never enter My rest,’”[f]
even though His works were finished since the foundation of the world. 4 For somewhere He has spoken about the seventh day in this way: “And God rested on the seventh day from all His works,” [g] 5 and again in this passage:
“They shall never enter My rest.”[h]
6 So then it remains for some to enter into it; yet those who formerly had Good News proclaimed to them did not enter because of disobedience. 7 Again, God appoints a certain day—“Today”—saying through David after so long a time, just as it has been said before,
“Today, if you hear His voice,
do not harden your hearts.”[i]
8 For if Joshua had given them rest, God would not have spoken of another day later on. 9 So there remains a Shabbat rest for the people of God. 10 For the one who has entered God’s rest has also ceased from his own work, just as God did from His.
11 Let us, therefore, make every effort to enter that rest, so that no one may fall through the same pattern of disobedience. 12 For the word of God is living and active and sharper than any two-edged sword—piercing right through to a separation of soul and spirit, joints and marrow, and able to judge the thoughts and intentions of the heart. 13 No creature is hidden from Him, but all are naked and exposed to the eyes of Him to whom we must give account.[j]
Yeshua, Our Compassionate Kohen Gadol
14 Therefore, since we have a great Kohen Gadol who has passed through the heavens, Yeshua Ben-Elohim, let us hold firmly to our confessed allegiance. 15 For we do not have a kohen gadol who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but One who has been tempted in all the same ways—yet without sin. 16 Therefore let us draw near to the throne of grace with boldness, so that we may receive mercy and find grace for help in time of need.
5 For every kohen gadol taken from among men is appointed to act on behalf of people in matters relating to God,[k] so that he may offer gifts and sacrifices for sins. 2 He is able to empathize with the ignorant and deluded, since he himself also is subject to weakness. 3 For this reason he has to make offerings for sins—just as for the people, so also for himself. [l] 4 And no one takes this honor for himself, but only when he is called by God, as Aaron was.[m]
5 So also Messiah did not glorify Himself to be made Kohen Gadol; rather, it was God who said to Him,
“You are My Son;
today I have become Your Father.”[n]
6 And He says in a different passage,
“You are a kohen forever,
according to the order of Melchizedek.”[o]
7 In the days of His life on earth,[p] Yeshua offered up both prayers and pleas, with loud crying and tears, to the One able to save Him from death; and He was heard because of His reverence. 8 Though He was a Son, He learned obedience from what He suffered. 9 And once made perfect, He became the source of eternal salvation to all who obey Him— 10 called by God Kohen Gadol “according to the order of Melchizedek.”[q]
Moving on to Maturity
11 About this subject there is much for us to say, and it is hard to explain since you have become sluggish in hearing. 12 For although you ought to be teachers by this time, again you need someone to teach you the basics of God’s sayings. You have come to need milk, not solid food. 13 For anyone living on milk is inexperienced with the teaching about righteousness—he is an infant. [r] 14 But solid food is for the mature, who through practice have their senses trained to discern both good and evil.
Tree of Life (TLV) Translation of the Bible. Copyright © 2015 by The Messianic Jewish Family Bible Society.