የሰንበት ዕረፍት ለእግዚአብሔር ሕዝብ
1እንግዲህ ወደ ዕረፍቱ ለመግባት የተሰጠው ተስፋ አሁንም የተጠበቀ ስለሆነ፣ ከእናንተ ማንም ለዚያ ሳይበቃ እንዳይቀር እንጠንቀቅ፤ 2ለእነዚያ እንደ ተሰበከ ለእኛም ደግሞ የምሥራቹ ቃል ተሰብኮልናልና። ነገር ግን ሰሚዎቹ ቃሉን ከእምነት ጋር ስላላዋሐዱት4፥2 ወይም ከታዘዙት ጋር ስላላመኑ አልጠቀማቸውም። 3እኛ ያመንነው ግን ወደዚያ ዕረፍት እንገባለን፤ እግዚአብሔርም፣
“ስለዚህ በቍጣዬ እንዲህ ብዬ ማልሁ፤
‘ወደ ዕረፍቴ ከቶ አይገቡም’ ” ብሏል።
ይሁን እንጂ ዓለም ከተፈጠረ ጀምሮ የእርሱ ሥራ ተከናውኗል። 4ስለ ሰባተኛውም ቀን በአንድ ስፍራ፣ “በሰባተኛውም ቀን እግዚአብሔር ከሥራው ሁሉ ዐረፈ” ብሏልና።
5ቀደም ባለው ክፍል ደግሞ፣
“ወደ ዕረፍቴ ከቶ አይገቡም” ይላል።
6ወደ ዕረፍቱ ገና የሚገቡ አንዳንዶች አሉ፤ ቀድሞ የምሥራቹ ቃል የተሰበከላቸው ባለመታዘዛቸው ምክንያት ወደ ዕረፍት አልገቡም። 7ስለዚህ እግዚአብሔር፣ “ዛሬ” ብሎ እንደ ገና አንድን ቀን ወሰነ፤ ይህም ከብዙ ዘመን በኋላ በዳዊት በኩል፣
“ዛሬ ድምፁን ብትሰሙ፣
ልባችሁን አታደንድኑ”
ተብሎ ቀደም ሲል እንደ ተነገረው ነው።
8ኢያሱ ዕረፍትን ሰጥቷቸው ቢሆን ኖሮ፣ ከዚያ በኋላ እግዚአብሔር ስለ ሌላ ቀን ባልተናገረ ነበር። 9ስለዚህ የሰንበት ዕረፍት ለእግዚአብሔር ሕዝብ ገና ቀርቶለታል፤ 10ምክንያቱም ወደ እግዚአብሔር ዕረፍት የሚገባ ሁሉ፣ እግዚአብሔር ከሥራው እንዳረፈ፣ እርሱም ደግሞ ከሥራው ያርፋል። 11እንግዲህ ማንም የእነዚያን አለመታዘዝ ምሳሌ ተከትሎ እንዳይወድቅ፣ ወደዚያ ዕረፍት ለመግባት እንትጋ።
12የእግዚአብሔር ቃል ሕያውና የሚሠራ ነውና፤ በሁለት በኩል ስለት ካለው ሰይፍ ሁሉ ይልቅ የተሳለ ነው፤ ነፍስንና መንፈስን፣ ጅማትንና ቅልጥምን እስኪለያይ ድረስ ዘልቆ ይወጋል፤ የልብንም ሐሳብና ምኞት ይመረምራል። 13ከእግዚአብሔር ዐይን የተሰወረ ምንም ፍጥረት የለም፤ ስለ ራሳችን መልስ መስጠት በሚገባን በእርሱ ፊት ሁሉም ነገር የተራቈተና የተገለጠ ነው።
ታላቁ ሊቀ ካህናት ኢየሱስ
14እንግዲህ ወደ ሰማያት ያረገ4፥14 ወይም ወደ ሰማይ የሄደ ታላቅ ሊቀ ካህናት የእግዚአብሔር ልጅ ኢየሱስ ስላለን፣ እምነታችንን አጥብቀን እንያዝ። 15በድካማችን የማይራራልን ሊቀ ካህናት የለንምና፤ ነገር ግን እንደ እኛ በማንኛውም ነገር የተፈተነ ሊቀ ካህናት አለን፤ ይሁን እንጂ ምንም ኀጢአት አልሠራም። 16እንግዲህ ምሕረትን እንድንቀበልና በሚያስፈልገንም ጊዜ የሚረዳንን ጸጋ እንድናገኝ፣ ወደ ጸጋው ዙፋን በእምነት እንቅረብ።
God’s People Enter His Sabbath Rest
1God’s promise of enjoying his rest still stands. So be careful that none of you fails to receive it. 2The good news was announced to our people of long ago. It has also been preached to us. The message they heard didn’t have any value for them. That’s because they didn’t share the faith of those who obeyed. 3Now we who have believed enjoy that rest. God said,
“When I was angry, I made a promise.
I said, ‘They will never enjoy the rest I planned for them.’ ” (Psalm 95:11)
Ever since God created the world, his works have been finished. 4Somewhere he spoke about the seventh day. He said, “On the seventh day God rested from all his works.” (Genesis 2:2) 5In the part of Scripture I talked about earlier God spoke. He said, “They will never enjoy the rest I planned for them.” (Psalm 95:11)
6It is still true that some people will enjoy this rest. But those who had the good news announced to them earlier didn’t go in. That’s because they didn’t obey. 7So God again chose a certain day. He named it Today. He did this when he spoke through David a long time later. Here is what was written in the Scripture already given.
“Listen to his voice today.
If you hear it, don’t be stubborn.” (Psalm 95:7,8)
8Suppose Joshua had given them rest. If he had, God would not have spoken later about another day. 9So there is still a Sabbath rest for God’s people. 10God rested from his work. Those who enjoy God’s rest also rest from their works. 11So let us make every effort to enjoy that rest. Then no one will die by disobeying as they did.
12The word of God is alive and active. It is sharper than any sword that has two edges. It cuts deep enough to separate soul from spirit. It can separate bones from joints. It judges the thoughts and purposes of the heart. 13Nothing God created is hidden from him. His eyes see everything. He will hold us responsible for everything we do.
Jesus Is the Great High Priest
14We have a great high priest. He has gone up into heaven. He is Jesus the Son of God. So let us hold firmly to what we say we believe. 15We have a high priest who can feel it when we are weak and hurting. We have a high priest who has been tempted in every way, just as we are. But he did not sin. 16So let us boldly approach God’s throne of grace. Then we will receive mercy. We will find grace to help us when we need it.
