A Sabbath-rest for the people of God
1Therefore, since the promise of entering his rest still stands, let us be careful that none of you be found to have fallen short of it. 2For we also have had the good news proclaimed to us, just as they did; but the message they heard was of no value to them, because they did not share the faith of those who obeyed.4:2 Some manuscripts because those who heard did not combine it with faith 3Now we who have believed enter that rest, just as God has said,
‘So I declared on oath in my anger,
“They shall never enter my rest.” ’4:3 Psalm 95:11; also in verse 5
And yet his works have been finished since the creation of the world. 4For somewhere he has spoken about the seventh day in these words: ‘On the seventh day God rested from all his works.’4:4 Gen. 2:2 5And again in the passage above he says, ‘They shall never enter my rest.’
6Therefore since it still remains for some to enter that rest, and since those who formerly had the good news proclaimed to them did not go in because of their disobedience, 7God again set a certain day, calling it ‘Today’. This he did when a long time later he spoke through David, as in the passage already quoted:
‘Today, if you hear his voice,
do not harden your hearts.’4:7 Psalm 95:7,8
8For if Joshua had given them rest, God would not have spoken later about another day. 9There remains, then, a Sabbath-rest for the people of God; 10for anyone who enters God’s rest also rests from their works,4:10 Or labour just as God did from his. 11Let us, therefore, make every effort to enter that rest, so that no-one will perish by following their example of disobedience.
12For the word of God is alive and active. Sharper than any double-edged sword, it penetrates even to dividing soul and spirit, joints and marrow; it judges the thoughts and attitudes of the heart. 13Nothing in all creation is hidden from God’s sight. Everything is uncovered and laid bare before the eyes of him to whom we must give account.
Jesus the great high priest
14Therefore, since we have a great high priest who has ascended into heaven,4:14 Greek has gone through the heavens Jesus the Son of God, let us hold firmly to the faith we profess. 15For we do not have a high priest who is unable to feel sympathy for our weaknesses, but we have one who has been tempted in every way, just as we are – yet he did not sin. 16Let us then approach God’s throne of grace with confidence, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help us in our time of need.
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።
