12 My brothers, take care that there is not by chance in any one of you an evil heart without belief, turning away from the living God:
The heart is a twisted thing, not to be searched out by man: who is able to have knowledge of it?
But they took no note and did not give ear, but were guided by the thoughts and the pride of their evil hearts, going back and not forward.
This is what the Lord has said: Cursed is the man who puts his faith in man, and makes flesh his arm, and whose heart is turned away from the Lord.
See that you give ear to his voice which comes to you. For if those whose ears were shut to the voice which came to them on earth did not go free from punishment, what chance have we of going free if we give no attention to him whose voice comes from heaven?
Looking with care to see that no man among you in his behaviour comes short of the grace of God; for fear that some bitter root may come up to be a trouble to you, and that some of you may be made unclean by it;
So let him who seems to himself to be safe go in fear of a fall.
For my people have done two evils; they have given up me, the fountain of living waters, and have made for themselves water-holes, cut out from the rock, broken water-holes, of no use for storing water.
But the upright man will be living by his faith; and if he goes back, my soul will have no pleasure in him.
And Jesus said to them in answer, Take care that you are not tricked.
So that I was angry with this generation, and I said, Their hearts are in error at all times, and they have no knowledge of my ways;
Because from inside, from the heart of men, come evil thoughts and unclean pleasures, The taking of goods and of life, broken faith between husband and wife, the desire of wealth, wrongdoing, deceit, sins of the flesh, an evil eye, angry words, pride, foolish acts: All these evil things come from inside, and make the man unclean.
The start of the word of the Lord by Hosea: And the Lord said to Hosea, Go, take for yourself a wife of loose ways, and children of the same, for the land has been untrue to the Lord.
At that time Jerusalem will be named the seat of the Lord's kingdom; and all the nations will come together to it, to the name of the Lord, to Jerusalem: and no longer will their steps be guided by the purposes of their evil hearts.
For I have kept the ways of the Lord; I have not been turned away in sin from my God.
Though they said to God, Go away from us, for we have no desire for the knowledge of your ways.
And when the sweet smell came up to the Lord, he said in his heart, I will not again put a curse on the earth because of man, for the thoughts of man's heart are evil from his earliest days; never again will I send destruction on all living things as I have done.
For this reason there is the more need for us to give attention to the things which have come to our ears, for fear that by chance we might be slipping away. Because if the word which came through the angels was fixed, and in the past every evil act against God's orders was given its full punishment; What will come on us, if we do not give our minds to such a great salvation? a salvation of which our fathers first had knowledge through the words of the Lord, and which was made certain to us by those to whom his words came;
For they themselves give the news of how we came among you; and how you were turned from images to God, to the worship of a true and living God,
For, if God did not have mercy on the natural branches, he will not have mercy on you.
But take care; see, I have made all things clear to you before the time.
We have gone against the Lord, and been false to him, turning away from our God, our words have been uncontrolled, and in our hearts are thoughts of deceit.
Worthy.Bible » Commentaries » Matthew Henry Commentary » Commentary on Hebrews 3
Commentary on Hebrews 3 Matthew Henry Commentary
Chapter 3
In this chapter the apostle applies what he had said in the chapter foregoing concerning the priesthood of Christ,
Hbr 3:1-6
In these verses we have the application of the doctrine laid down in the close of the last chapter concerning the priesthood of our Lord Jesus Christ. And observe,
Hbr 3:7-19
Here the apostle proceeds in pressing upon them serious counsels and cautions to the close of the chapter; and he recites a passage out of Ps. 95:7, etc., where observe,