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Hebrews 3
New English Translation

Jesus and Moses

3 Therefore, holy brothers and sisters,[a] partners in a heavenly calling, take note of Jesus, the apostle and high priest whom we confess,[b] 2 who is faithful to the one who appointed him, as Moses was also in God’s[c] house.[d] 3 For he has come to deserve greater glory than Moses, just as the builder of a house deserves greater honor than the house itself! 4 For every house is built by someone, but the builder of all things is God. 5 Now Moses was faithful in all God’s[e] house[f] as a servant, to testify to the things that would be spoken. 6 But Christ[g] is faithful as a son over God’s[h] house. We are of his house,[i] if in fact we hold firmly[j] to our confidence and the hope we take pride in.[k]

Exposition of Psalm 95: Hearing God’s Word in Faith

7 Therefore, as the Holy Spirit says,[l]

“Oh, that today you would listen as he speaks![m]
8 “Do not harden your hearts as in the rebellion, in the day of testing in the wilderness.
9 “There your fathers tested me and tried me,[n] and they saw my works for forty years.
10 “Therefore, I became provoked at that generation and said, ‘Their hearts are always wandering[o] and they have not known my ways.’
11 “As I swore in my anger, ‘They will never enter my rest!’”[p]

12 See to it,[q] brothers and sisters,[r] that none of you has[s] an evil, unbelieving heart that forsakes[t] the living God.[u] 13 But exhort one another each day, as long as it is called “Today,” that none of you may become hardened by sin’s deception. 14 For we have become partners with Christ, if in fact we hold our initial confidence[v] firm until the end. 15 As it says,[w] “Oh, that today you would listen as he speaks![x] Do not harden your hearts as in the rebellion.”[y] 16 For which ones heard and rebelled? Was it not all who came out of Egypt under Moses’ leadership?[z] 17 And against whom was God[aa] provoked for forty years? Was it not those who sinned, whose dead bodies fell in the wilderness?[ab] 18 And to whom did he swear they would never enter into his rest, except those who were disobedient? 19 So[ac] we see that they could not enter because of unbelief.

Footnotes

  1. Hebrews 3:1 tn Grk “brothers.” See note on the phrase “brothers and sisters” in 2:11.
  2. Hebrews 3:1 tn Grk “of our confession.”
  3. Hebrews 3:2 tn Grk “his”; in the translation the referent (God) has been specified for clarity.
  4. Hebrews 3:2 tc ‡ The reading adopted by the translation follows a few early mss and some versions (P13,46vid B vgms co Ambr). The majority of mss (א A C D Ψ 0243 0278 33 1739 1881 M lat sy) insert “all” (“in all his house”), apparently in anticipation of Heb 3:5 which quotes directly from Num 12:7. On balance, the omission better explains the rise of ὅλῳ (holō, “all”) than vice versa. NA28 puts ὅλῳ in brackets, indicating doubts as to its authenticity.
  5. Hebrews 3:5 tn Grk “his”; in the translation the referent (God) has been specified for clarity.
  6. Hebrews 3:5 sn A quotation from Num 12:7.
  7. Hebrews 3:6 sn The Greek makes the contrast between v. 5 and v. 6a more emphatic and explicit than is easily done in English.
  8. Hebrews 3:6 tn Grk “his”; in the translation the referent (God) has been specified for clarity.
  9. Hebrews 3:6 tn Grk “whose house we are,” continuing the previous sentence.
  10. Hebrews 3:6 tc The reading adopted by the translation is found in P13,46 B sa, while the vast majority of mss (א A C D Ψ 0243 0278 33 1739 1881 M latt) add μέχρι τέλους βεβαίαν (mechri telous bebaian, “secure until the end”). The external evidence for the omission, though minimal, has excellent credentials. Considering the internal factors, B. M. Metzger (TCGNT 595) finds it surprising that the feminine adjective βεβαίαν should modify the neuter noun καύχημα (kauchēma, here translated “we take pride”), a fact that suggests that even the form of the word was borrowed from another place. Since the same phrase occurs at Heb 3:14, it is likely that later scribes added it here at Heb 3:6 in anticipation of Heb 3:14. While these words belong at 3:14, they seem foreign to 3:6.
  11. Hebrews 3:6 tn Grk “the pride of our hope.”
  12. Hebrews 3:7 sn The following quotation is from Ps 95:7b-11.
  13. Hebrews 3:7 tn Grk “today if you hear his voice.”
  14. Hebrews 3:9 tn Grk “tested me by trial.”
  15. Hebrews 3:10 tn Grk “they are wandering in the heart.”
  16. Hebrews 3:11 tn Grk “if they shall enter my rest,” a Hebrew idiom expressing an oath that something will certainly not happen.
  17. Hebrews 3:12 tn Or “take care.”
  18. Hebrews 3:12 tn Grk “brothers.” See note on the phrase “brothers and sisters” in 2:11.
  19. Hebrews 3:12 tn Grk “that there not be in any of you.”
  20. Hebrews 3:12 tn Or “deserts,” “rebels against.”
  21. Hebrews 3:12 tn Grk “in forsaking the living God.”
  22. Hebrews 3:14 tn Grk “the beginning of the confidence.”
  23. Hebrews 3:15 tn Grk “while it is said.”
  24. Hebrews 3:15 tn Grk “today if you hear his voice.”
  25. Hebrews 3:15 sn A quotation from Ps 95:7b-8.
  26. Hebrews 3:16 tn Grk “through Moses.”
  27. Hebrews 3:17 tn Grk “he”; in the translation the referent (God) has been specified for clarity.
  28. Hebrews 3:17 sn An allusion to God’s judgment pronounced in Num 14:29, 32.
  29. Hebrews 3:19 tn Here καί (kai) has been translated as “So” to indicate a summary or conclusion to the argument of the preceding paragraph.
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Hebrews 3
Living Bible

3 Therefore, dear brothers whom God has set apart for himself—you who are chosen for heaven—I want you to think now about this Jesus who is God’s Messenger and the High Priest of our faith.

2 For Jesus was faithful to God who appointed him High Priest, just as Moses also faithfully served in God’s house. 3 But Jesus has far more glory than Moses, just as a man who builds a fine house gets more praise than his house does. 4 And many people can build houses, but only God made everything.

5 Well, Moses did a fine job working in God’s house, but he was only a servant; and his work was mostly to illustrate and suggest those things that would happen later on. 6 But Christ, God’s faithful Son, is in complete charge of God’s house. And we Christians are God’s house—he lives in us!—if we keep up our courage firm to the end, and our joy and our trust in the Lord.

7-8 And since Christ is so much superior, the Holy Spirit warns us to listen to him, to be careful to hear his voice today and not let our hearts become set against him, as the people of Israel did. They steeled themselves against his love and complained against him in the desert while he was testing them. 9 But God was patient with them forty years, though they tried his patience sorely; he kept right on doing his mighty miracles for them to see. 10 “But,” God says, “I was very angry with them, for their hearts were always looking somewhere else instead of up to me, and they never found the paths I wanted them to follow.”

11 Then God, full of this anger against them, bound himself with an oath that he would never let them come to his place of rest.

12 Beware then of your own hearts, dear brothers, lest you find that they, too, are evil and unbelieving and are leading you away from the living God. 13 Speak to each other about these things every day while there is still time so that none of you will become hardened against God, being blinded by the glamor[a] of sin. 14 For if we are faithful to the end, trusting God just as we did when we first became Christians, we will share in all that belongs to Christ.

15 But now is the time. Never forget the warning, “Today if you hear God’s voice speaking to you, do not harden your hearts against him, as the people of Israel did when they rebelled against him in the desert.”

16 And who were those people I speak of, who heard God’s voice speaking to them but then rebelled against him? They were the ones who came out of Egypt with Moses their leader. 17 And who was it who made God angry for all those forty years? These same people who sinned and as a result died in the wilderness. 18 And to whom was God speaking when he swore with an oath that they could never go into the land he had promised his people? He was speaking to all those who disobeyed him. 19 And why couldn’t they go in? Because they didn’t trust him.

Footnotes

  1. Hebrews 3:13 glamor, literally, “deceitfulness.”
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Hebrews 3
New International Version

Jesus Greater Than Moses

3 Therefore, holy brothers and sisters,(A) who share in the heavenly calling,(B) fix your thoughts on Jesus, whom we acknowledge(C) as our apostle and high priest.(D) 2 He was faithful to the one who appointed him, just as Moses was faithful in all God’s house.(E) 3 Jesus has been found worthy of greater honor than Moses,(F) just as the builder of a house has greater honor than the house itself. 4 For every house is built by someone, but God is the builder of everything.(G) 5 “Moses was faithful as a servant(H) in all God’s house,”[a](I) bearing witness to what would be spoken by God in the future. 6 But Christ is faithful as the Son(J) over God’s house. And we are his house,(K) if indeed we hold firmly(L) to our confidence and the hope(M) in which we glory.

Warning Against Unbelief

7 So, as the Holy Spirit says:(N)

“Today, if you hear his voice,
8     do not harden your hearts(O)
as you did in the rebellion,
    during the time of testing in the wilderness,
9 where your ancestors tested and tried me,
    though for forty years they saw what I did.(P)
10 That is why I was angry with that generation;
    I said, ‘Their hearts are always going astray,
    and they have not known my ways.’
11 So I declared on oath in my anger,(Q)
    ‘They shall never enter my rest.’ (R)”[b](S)

12 See to it, brothers and sisters, that none of you has a sinful, unbelieving heart that turns away from the living God.(T) 13 But encourage one another daily,(U) as long as it is called “Today,” so that none of you may be hardened by sin’s deceitfulness.(V) 14 We have come to share in Christ, if indeed we hold(W) our original conviction firmly to the very end.(X) 15 As has just been said:

“Today, if you hear his voice,
    do not harden your hearts
    as you did in the rebellion.”[c](Y)

16 Who were they who heard and rebelled? Were they not all those Moses led out of Egypt?(Z) 17 And with whom was he angry for forty years? Was it not with those who sinned, whose bodies perished in the wilderness?(AA) 18 And to whom did God swear that they would never enter his rest(AB) if not to those who disobeyed?(AC) 19 So we see that they were not able to enter, because of their unbelief.(AD)

Footnotes

  1. Hebrews 3:5 Num. 12:7
  2. Hebrews 3:11 Psalm 95:7-11
  3. Hebrews 3:15 Psalm 95:7,8
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