Hebrews 4
4
1And we still have the promise that God gave those people. That promise is that we can enter his place of rest. So we should be very careful that none of you fails to get that promise. 2Yes, the good news about it was told to us just as it was to them. But the message they heard did not help them. They heard it but did not accept it with faith. 3Only we who believe it are able to enter God’s place of rest. As God said,
“I was angry and made a promise:
‘They will never enter my place of rest.’” Psalm 95:11
But God’s work was finished from the time he made the world. 4Yes, somewhere in the Scriptures he talked about the seventh day of the week. He said, “So on the seventh day God rested from all his work.”#Quote from Gen. 2:2. 5But in the Scripture above God said, “They will never enter my place of rest.”
6So the opportunity is still there for some to enter and enjoy God’s rest. But those who first heard the good news about it did not enter, because they did not obey. 7So God planned another special day. It is called “today.” He spoke about that day through David a long time later using the words we quoted before:
“If you hear God’s voice today,
don’t be stubborn.” Psalm 95:7-8
8We know that Joshua did not lead the people into the place of rest that God promised. We know this because God spoke later about another day for rest. 9This shows that the seventh-day rest#4:9 seventh-day rest Literally, “Sabbath rest,” meaning a sharing in the rest God began after he created the world. for God’s people is still to come. 10God rested after he finished his work. So everyone who enters God’s place of rest will also have rest from their own work just as God did. 11So let us try as hard as we can to enter God’s place of rest. We must try hard so that none of us will be lost by following the example of those who refused to obey God.
12God’s word#4:12 God’s word God’s teachings and commands. is alive and working. It is sharper than the sharpest sword and cuts all the way into us. It cuts deep to the place where the soul and the spirit are joined. God’s word cuts to the center of our joints and our bones. It judges the thoughts and feelings in our hearts. 13Nothing in all the world can be hidden from God. He can clearly see all things. Everything is open before him. And to him we must explain the way we have lived.
Jesus Christ Is Our High Priest
14We have a great high priest who has gone to live with God in heaven. He is Jesus the Son of God. So let us continue to express our faith in him. 15Jesus, our high priest, is able to understand our weaknesses. When Jesus lived on earth, he was tempted in every way. He was tempted in the same ways we are tempted, but he never sinned. 16With Jesus as our high priest, we can feel free to come before God’s throne where there is grace. There we receive mercy and kindness to help us when we need it.
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© 1987, 2004 Bible League International
Hebrews 4
4
The Rest that Remains for the People of God
1 Therefore let us fear, while there#*Here “while” is supplied as a component of the participle (“remains”) which is understood as temporal remains a promise of entering into his rest, that none of you appear to fall short of it. 2For we also have had the good news proclaimed to us#Literally “for we are also having had the good news proclaimed”, just as those also did, but the message they heard#Literally “of hearing” did not benefit them, because they#*Here “because” is supplied as a component of the participle (“united”) which is understood as causal were not united with those who heard it in faith. 3For we who have believed enter into rest,#Some manuscripts have “that rest” just as he has said,
“As I swore in my anger,
‘They will never enter#Literally “if they will enter” into my rest.’ ”#A quotation from Ps 95:11
And yet these works have been accomplished from the foundation of the world. 4For he has spoken somewhere about the seventh day in this way: “And God rested on the seventh day from all his works,”#A quotation from Gen 2:2 5and in this passage again, ‘They will never enter#Literally “if they will enter” into my rest.’ ”#A quotation from Ps 95:11 6Since therefore it remains for some to enter into it, and the ones to whom the good news was proclaimed previously did not enter because of disobedience, 7again he ordains a certain day, today, speaking by David after so long a time, just as had been said before,
“Today, if you hear his voice,
do not harden your hearts.”#A quotation from Ps 95:7b-8 (see also Heb 3:7–8, 15)
8For if Joshua had caused them to rest, he would not have spoken about another day after these things. 9Consequently a sabbath rest remains for the people of God. 10For the one who has entered into his rest has also himself rested from his works, just as God did from his own works.
11Therefore, let us make every effort to enter into that rest, in order that no one may fall in the same pattern of disobedience. 12For the word of God is living and active and sharper than any double-edged sword, and piercing as far as the division of soul and spirit, both joints and marrow, and able to judge the reflections and thoughts of the heart. 13And no creature is hidden in the sight of him, but all things are naked and laid bare to the eyes of him to whom we must give our account#Literally “our account”.
Jesus Our Great High Priest
14Therefore, because we have a great high priest who has gone through the heavens, Jesus the Son of God, let us hold fast to our confession. 15For we do not have a high priest who is not able to sympathize with our weaknesses, but who has been tempted in all things in the same way, without sin. 16Therefore let us approach with confidence to the throne of grace, in order that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need.
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