Hebrews 1 - 4 — Legacy Standard Bible

God’s Final Word in His Son

1God, having ^aspoken long ago to the fathers in ^bthe prophets in many portions and ^cin many ways, ²¹^,^ain these last days ^bspoke to us ²in ^cHis Son, whom He appointed ^dheir of all things, ^ethrough whom also He made the ³^,^fworlds, ³who is the radiance of His glory and the exact ^arepresentation of His nature, and ¹^,^bupholds all things by the word of His power; who, having accomplished ^ccleansing for sins, ^dsat down at the right hand of the ^eMajesty on high, ⁴having become so much better than the angels, as He has inherited a more excellent ^aname than they.

⁵For to which of the angels did He ever say, “^aYou are My Son,Today I have begotten You”? And again,“^bI will be a Father to HimAnd He shall be a Son to Me”?

⁶And ¹when He again ^abrings the firstborn into ²^,^bthe world, He says, “^cAnd let all the angels of God worship Him.”

⁷And of the angels He says, “^aWho makes His angels winds,And His ministers flaming fire.”

⁸But of the Son He says, “^aYour throne, O God, is forever and ever,And the scepter of uprightness is the scepter of ¹Your kingdom.

⁹“^aYou have loved righteousness and hated lawlessness;^bTherefore God, Your God, has ^canointed YouWith the oil of gladness above Your companions.”

¹⁰And, “^aYou, Lord, in the beginning founded the earth,And the heavens are the works of Your hands;

¹¹^aThey will perish, but You remain;^bAnd they all will wear out like a garment,¹²^aAnd like a mantle You will roll them up;Like a garment they will also be changed.But You are ^bthe same,And Your years will not come to an end.”

¹³But to which of the angels has He ever said, “^aSit at My right hand,^bUntil I put Your enemiesAs a footstool for Your feet”?

¹⁴Are they not all ^aministering spirits, sent to render service for the sake of those who will ^binherit ^csalvation?

Warning Against Neglecting Salvation

2For this reason we must pay much closer attention to ¹what we have heard, lest ^awe drift away. ²For if the word ^aspoken through ^bangels proved ¹unalterable, and ^cevery trespass and disobedience received a just ²^,^dpenalty, ³^ahow will we escape if we neglect so great a ^bsalvation? That salvation, first ^cspoken by the Lord, was ^dconfirmed to us by those who heard, ⁴God also testifying with them, both by ^asigns and wonders and by ^bvarious ¹miracles and by ²^,^cgifts of the Holy Spirit ^daccording to His own will.

Jesus, the Author of Salvation

⁵For He did not subject to angels ¹^,^athe world to come, concerning which we are speaking. ⁶But one has testified ^asomewhere, saying, “^bWhat is man, that You remember him?Or the son of man, that You are concerned about him?

⁷“^aYou have made ¹him for a little while lower than the angels;You have crowned him with glory and honor,²And have appointed him over the works of Your hands;⁸^aYou have put all things in subjection under his feet.” For in subjecting all things to him, He left nothing that is not subject to him. But now ^bwe do not yet see all things subjected to him.

⁹But we do see Him who was ^amade ¹for a little while lower than the angels—Jesus, ^bbecause of the suffering of death ^ccrowned with glory and honor, so that ^dby the grace of God He might ^etaste death ^ffor everyone.

¹⁰For ^ait was fitting for Him, ^bfor whom are all things, and through whom are all things, in bringing many sons to glory, to ^cperfect the ¹^,^dauthor of their salvation through sufferings. ¹¹For both He who ^asanctifies and those who ^bare being sanctified are all ^cof One; for which reason He is not ashamed to call them ^dbrothers, ¹²saying, “^aI will recount Your name to My brothers,In the midst of the assembly I will sing Your praise.”

¹³And again, “^aI will put My trust in Him.” And again,“^bBehold, I and the children whom God has given Me.”

¹⁴Therefore, since the children share in ¹^,^aflesh and blood, ^bHe Himself likewise also partook of the same, that ^cthrough death He might render powerless ^dhim who had the ²power of death, that is, the devil, ¹⁵and might free those who through ^afear of death were subject to slavery all their lives. ¹⁶For assuredly He does not ¹give help to angels, but He gives help to the seed of Abraham. ¹⁷Therefore, He ¹had ^ato be made like His brothers in all things, so that He might ^bbecome a merciful and faithful ^chigh priest in ^dthings pertaining to God, to ^emake propitiation for the sins of the people. ¹⁸For since He Himself was ^atempted in that which He has suffered, He is able to come to help those who are tempted.

Jesus Greater than Moses

3Therefore, ^aholy brothers, partakers of a ^bheavenly calling, consider ^cthe Apostle and ^dHigh Priest of our ^econfession—Jesus, ²who was faithful to Him who appointed Him, as ^aMoses also was in all His house. ³^aFor He has been counted worthy of more glory than Moses, in so much as the builder of the house has more honor than the house. ⁴For every house is built by someone, but the builder of all things is God. ⁵Now ^aMoses was faithful in all His house as ^ba servant, ^cfor a testimony of those things ^dwhich were to be spoken later, ⁶but Christ was faithful as ^aa Son over His house—^bwhose house we are, ^cif we hold fast our ^dconfidence and the boast of our ^ehope.

⁷Therefore, just as ^athe Holy Spirit says, “^bToday if you hear His voice,

⁸^aDo not harden your hearts as ¹when they provoked Me,As in the day of trial in the wilderness,⁹^aWhere your fathers tried Me by testing Me,And saw My works for ^bforty years.¹⁰“^aTherefore I was angry with this generation,And said, ‘They always go astray in their heart,And they did not know My ways’;¹¹^aAs I swore in My wrath,‘They shall not enter My rest.’”

Warning Against Unbelief

¹²^aSee to it brothers, that there not be in any one of you an evil, unbelieving heart ¹that falls away from ^bthe living God. ¹³But ^aencourage one another day after day, as long as it is still called “Today,” so that none of you will be hardened by the ^bdeceitfulness of sin. ¹⁴For we have become partakers of Christ, ^aif we hold fast the beginning of our ^bassurance firm until the end, ¹⁵while it is said, “^aToday if you hear His voice,Do not harden your hearts, as ¹when they provoked Me.”

¹⁶For who ^aprovoked Him when they had heard? Indeed, ^bdid not all those who came out of Egypt led by Moses? ¹⁷And with whom was He angry for forty years? Was it not with those who sinned, ^awhose corpses fell in the wilderness? ¹⁸And to whom did He swear ^athat they would not enter His rest, but to those who were ^bdisobedient? ¹⁹So we see that they were not able to enter because of ^aunbelief.

The Believer’s Rest

4Therefore, let us fear, lest, while a promise remains of entering His rest, any one of you may seem to have ^afallen short of it. ²For indeed we have had good news proclaimed to us, just as they also; but ^athe word ¹that was heard did not profit those ²who were not united with faith among those who heard. ³For we who have believed enter that rest, just as He has said, “^aAs I swore in My wrath,They shall not enter My rest,” although His works were finished ^bfrom the foundation of the world.⁴For He has spoken ^asomewhere in this way concerning the seventh day: “^bAnd God ^crested on the seventh day from all His works”; ⁵and again in this passage, “^aThey shall not enter My rest.” ⁶Therefore, since it remains for some to enter it, and those who formerly had good news proclaimed to them failed to enter because of ^adisobedience, ⁷He again determines a certain day, “Today,” saying ¹through David after so long a time just ^aas has been said before, “^bToday if you hear His voice,Do not harden your hearts.”

⁸For ^aif ¹Joshua had given them rest, He would not have spoken of another day after that. ⁹So there remains a Sabbath rest for the people of God. ¹⁰For the one who has entered His rest has himself also ^arested from his works, as ^bGod did from His. ¹¹Therefore let us be diligent to enter that rest, lest anyone fall into the same ^aexample of ^bdisobedience. ¹²For ^athe word of God is ^bliving and ^cactive and sharper than any two-edged ^dsword, and piercing as far as the division of ^esoul and ^fspirit, of both joints and marrow, and ^gable to judge the thoughts and intentions of the heart. ¹³And ^athere is no creature hidden from His sight, but all things are ¹^,^buncovered and laid bare to the eyes of Him to whom we have an account to give.

Jesus Our Great High Priest

¹⁴Therefore, since we have a great ^ahigh priest who has ^bpassed through the heavens, Jesus ^cthe Son of God, let us take hold of our ^dconfession. ¹⁵For we do not have ^aa high priest who cannot sympathize with our weaknesses, but One who has been ^btempted in all things like we are, yet ^cwithout sin. ¹⁶Therefore let us ^adraw near with ^bconfidence to the throne of grace, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need.