Hebrews 3-4

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) ²He was faithful to the one who appointed him, just as Moses was faithful in all God’s house.^(E) ³Jesus has been found worthy of greater honor than Moses,^(F) just as the builder of a house has greater honor than the house itself. ⁴For 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. ⁶But 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

⁷So, 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,
⁹where your ancestors tested and tried me,
    though for forty years they saw what I did.^(P)
¹⁰That is why I was angry with that generation;
    I said, ‘Their hearts are always going astray,
    and they have not known my ways.’
¹¹So I declared on oath in my anger,^(Q)
    ‘They shall never enter my rest.’ ^(R)”^[b]^(S)

¹²See to it, brothers and sisters, that none of you has a sinful, unbelieving heart that turns away from the living God.^(T) ¹³But 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) ¹⁴We have come to share in Christ, if indeed we hold^(W) our original conviction firmly to the very end.^(X) ¹⁵As has just been said:

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

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

A Sabbath-Rest for the People of God

4 Therefore, since the promise of entering his rest still stands, let us be careful that none of you be found to have fallen short of it.^(AE) ²For we also have had the good news proclaimed to us, just as they did; but the message they heard was of no value to them, because they did not share the faith of those who obeyed.^[d]^(AF) ³Now we who have believed enter that rest, just as God has said,

“So I declared on oath in my anger,
‘They shall never enter my rest.’”^[e]^(AG)

And yet his works have been finished since the creation of the world. ⁴For somewhere he has spoken about the seventh day in these words: “On the seventh day God rested from all his works.”^[f]^(AH) ⁵And again in the passage above he says, “They shall never enter my rest.”^(AI)

⁶Therefore since it still remains for some to enter that rest, and since those who formerly had the good news proclaimed to them did not go in because of their disobedience,^(AJ) ⁷God again set a certain day, calling it “Today.” This he did when a long time later he spoke through David, as in the passage already quoted:

“Today, if you hear his voice,
do not harden your hearts.”^[g]^(AK)

⁸For if Joshua had given them rest,^(AL) God would not have spoken^(AM) later about another day. ⁹There remains, then, a Sabbath-rest for the people of God; ¹⁰for anyone who enters God’s rest also rests from their works,^[h]^(AN) just as God did from his.^(AO) ¹¹Let us, therefore, make every effort to enter that rest, so that no one will perish by following their example of disobedience.^(AP)

¹²For the word of God^(AQ) is alive^(AR) and active.^(AS) Sharper than any double-edged sword,^(AT) it penetrates even to dividing soul and spirit, joints and marrow; it judges the thoughts and attitudes of the heart.^(AU) ¹³Nothing in all creation is hidden from God’s sight.^(AV) Everything is uncovered and laid bare before the eyes of him to whom we must give account.

Jesus the Great High Priest

¹⁴Therefore, since we have a great high priest^(AW) who has ascended into heaven,^[i]^(AX) Jesus the Son of God,^(AY) let us hold firmly to the faith we profess.^(AZ) ¹⁵For we do not have a high priest^(BA) who is unable to empathize with our weaknesses, but we have one who has been tempted in every way, just as we are^(BB)—yet he did not sin.^(BC) ¹⁶Let us then approach^(BD) God’s throne of grace with confidence,^(BE) so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help us in our time of need.

Footnotes

Hebrews 3:5 Num. 12:7
Hebrews 3:11 Psalm 95:7-11
Hebrews 3:15 Psalm 95:7,8
Hebrews 4:2 Some manuscripts because those who heard did not combine it with faith
Hebrews 4:3 Psalm 95:11; also in verse 5
Hebrews 4:4 Gen. 2:2
Hebrews 4:7 Psalm 95:7,8
Hebrews 4:10 Or labor
Hebrews 4:14 Greek has gone through the heavens

Proverbs 7

New International Version

Warning Against the Adulterous Woman

7 My son,^(A) keep my words
    and store up my commands within you.
²Keep my commands and you will live;^(B)
    guard my teachings as the apple of your eye.
³Bind them on your fingers;
    write them on the tablet of your heart.^(C)
⁴Say to wisdom, “You are my sister,”
    and to insight, “You are my relative.”
⁵They will keep you from the adulterous woman,
    from the wayward woman with her seductive words.^(D)

⁶At the window of my house
    I looked down through the lattice.
⁷I saw among the simple,
    I noticed among the young men,
    a youth who had no sense.^(E)
⁸He was going down the street near her corner,
    walking along in the direction of her house
⁹at twilight,^(F) as the day was fading,
    as the dark of night set in.

¹⁰Then out came a woman to meet him,
    dressed like a prostitute and with crafty intent.
¹¹(She is unruly^(G) and defiant,
    her feet never stay at home;
¹²now in the street, now in the squares,
    at every corner she lurks.)^(H)
¹³She took hold of him^(I) and kissed him
    and with a brazen face she said:^(J)

¹⁴“Today I fulfilled my vows,
    and I have food from my fellowship offering^(K) at home.
¹⁵So I came out to meet you;
    I looked for you and have found you!
¹⁶I have covered my bed
    with colored linens from Egypt.
¹⁷I have perfumed my bed^(L)
    with myrrh,^(M) aloes and cinnamon.
¹⁸Come, let’s drink deeply of love till morning;
    let’s enjoy ourselves with love!^(N)
¹⁹My husband is not at home;
    he has gone on a long journey.
²⁰He took his purse filled with money
    and will not be home till full moon.”

²¹With persuasive words she led him astray;
    she seduced him with her smooth talk.^(O)
²²All at once he followed her
    like an ox going to the slaughter,
like a deer^[a] stepping into a noose^[b]^(P)
²³    till an arrow pierces^(Q) his liver,
like a bird darting into a snare,
    little knowing it will cost him his life.^(R)

²⁴Now then, my sons, listen^(S) to me;
    pay attention to what I say.
²⁵Do not let your heart turn to her ways
    or stray into her paths.^(T)
²⁶Many are the victims she has brought down;
    her slain are a mighty throng.
²⁷Her house is a highway to the grave,
    leading down to the chambers of death.^(U)