Hebrews 3

1 Therefore, holy brothers, partakers of a heavenly calling, consider the Apostle and High Priest of our confession: Jesus,

2 who was faithful to him who appointed him, as also Moses was in all his house.

3 For he has been counted worthy of more glory than Moses, because he who built the house has more honor than the house.

4 For every house is built by someone; but he who built all things is God.

5 Moses indeed was faithful in all his house as a servant, for a testimony of those things which were afterward to be spoken,

6 but Christ is faithful as a Son over his house. We are his house, if we hold fast our confidence and the glorying of our hope firm to the end.

7 Therefore, even as the Holy Spirit says, “Today if you will hear his voice,

8 don’t harden your hearts as in the rebellion, in the day of the trial in the wilderness,

9 where your fathers tested me and tried me, and saw my deeds for forty years.

10 Therefore I was displeased with that generation, and said, ‘They always err in their heart, but they didn’t know my ways.’

11 As I swore in my wrath, ‘They will not enter into my rest.’”

12 Beware, brothers, lest perhaps there might be in any one of you an evil heart of unbelief, in falling away from the living God;

13 but exhort one another day by day, so long as it is called “today”, lest any one of you be hardened by the deceitfulness of sin.

14 For we have become partakers of Christ, if we hold the beginning of our confidence firm to the end,

15 while it is said, “Today if you will hear his voice, don’t harden your hearts, as in the rebellion.”

16 For who, when they heard, rebelled? Wasn’t it all those who came out of Egypt led by Moses?

17 With whom was he displeased forty years? Wasn’t it with those who sinned, whose bodies fell in the wilderness?

18 To whom did he swear that they wouldn’t enter into his rest, but to those who were disobedient?

19 We see that they weren’t able to enter in because of unbelief.

Around Hebrews 3

Context

Context for this book is being written. A note appears here only once it names its sources.

AI explanation

Hebrews 3 · Written by an AI model · Not reviewed by a theological reader

This explanation was written by an AI model to help you get started. It names no sources and can contain mistakes. Scripture comes first, and context with sources is shown separately on this page.

What this chapter says

The writer asks his readers to look closely at Jesus, the apostle and high priest of their confession. Jesus was faithful to the one who appointed him, as Moses was faithful in all God’s house. But Jesus is counted worthy of more glory, as the builder of a house has more honor than the house. Moses was faithful as a servant, but Christ is faithful as a Son over his house, and “We are his house, if we hold fast our confidence”.

Then the writer turns to Psalm 95 and the story of the wilderness. “Today if you will hear his voice, don’t harden your hearts”. The fathers tested God for forty years even though they saw his works, and God swore that they would not enter his rest. The writer asks who it was that rebelled, and answers that it was all those who came out of Egypt under Moses. They could not enter because of unbelief.

So the readers are to encourage one another day by day, as long as it is called today, so that none is hardened.

Background

The writer sets Jesus beside Moses, the most honored figure in Israel’s history, to show that Jesus is greater and that his readers should stay faithful. The wilderness story is told in Numbers 14, and the psalm is Psalm 95. Christians differ on what the condition if we hold fast means. Some say it describes the mark of true believers, others that believers can fall away. The author is unknown, and the letter is usually dated to the first century.

About this explanation

Written by Claude Sonnet 5.5, an AI model, on 18 October 2026. It draws on the WEB text and general knowledge and was not checked against sources by a person. Every quotation from Scripture is checked automatically against the WEB text.

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World English Bible. Public-domain source and edition notes