Therefore, holy brothers and sisters, who share in the heavenly calling, [thoughtfully and attentively] consider the Apostle and High Priest whom we confessed [as ours when we accepted Him as Savior], namely, Jesus; He was faithful to Him who appointed Him [Apostle and High Priest], as Moses also was faithful in all God’s house. [Num 12:7] Yet Jesus has been considered worthy of much greater glory and honor than Moses, just as the builder of a house has more honor than the house. For every house is built by someone, but the builder of all things is God. Now Moses was faithful in [the administration of] all God’s house, [but only] as a ministering servant, [his ministry serving] as a testimony of the things which were to be spoken afterward [the revelation to come in Christ]; [Num 12:7] but Christ is faithful as a Son over His [Father’s] house. And we are His house if we hold fast our confidence and sense of triumph in our hope [in Christ].
Therefore, just as the Holy Spirit says,
“TODAY IF YOU HEAR HIS VOICE,
DO NOT HARDEN YOUR HEARTS AS [your fathers did] IN THE REBELLION [of Israel at Meribah],
ON THE DAY OF TESTING IN THE WILDERNESS,
WHERE YOUR FATHERS TRIED ME BY TESTING [My forbearance and tolerance],
AND SAW MY WORKS FOR FORTY YEARS
[And found I stood their test].
“THEREFORE I WAS ANGERED WITH THIS GENERATION,
AND I SAID, ‘THEY ALWAYS GO ASTRAY IN THEIR HEART,
AND THEY DID NOT KNOW MY WAYS [nor become progressively better and more intimately acquainted with them]’;
SO I SWORE [an oath] IN MY WRATH,
‘THEY SHALL NOT ENTER MY REST [the promised land].’ ” [Ps 95:7-11]
Take care, brothers and sisters, that there not be in any one of you a wicked, unbelieving heart [which refuses to trust and rely on the Lord, a heart] that turns away from the living God. But continually encourage one another every day, as long as it is called “Today” [and there is an opportunity], so that none of you will be hardened [into settled rebellion] by the deceitfulness of sin [its cleverness, delusive glamour, and sophistication]. For we [believers] have become partakers of Christ [sharing in all that the Messiah has for us], if only we hold firm our newborn confidence [which originally led us to Him] until the end