So [then], we [Christians] should pay closer attention to the things we have heard, so that we do not drift away from [believing and practicing] them.

how will we escape [punishment] if we neglect such a great salvation? [For it was] first announced [to people] by the Lord and then confirmed to us [i.e., the writer and other Christians] by those who heard Him [i.e., the original apostles].

do not have a stubborn heart like you did when you provoked [God] during the time you tested [His patience] in the desert,

Pay attention, brothers, so that there will not be in any one of you an evil heart of unbelief, [resulting] in falling away from the living God.

As it has been said [Psa. 95:7], "Today, if you hear His [i.e., God's] voice, do not have a stubborn heart like you did when you provoked [God]."

For who were they who heard [God] and provoked [Him]? Was it not everyone who was led out of Egypt by Moses?

For we [Christians] have had the good news [about resting with God] preached to us, just as the Israelites [had good news proclaimed to them. See 1:16-19]. But the message they heard did not benefit them, because it was not coupled with faith by those who heard it.

God again identified a certain day, [calling it] "Today," in David's [writings], a long time later (just as it was referred to above) [Psa. 95:7-8], "Today, if you hear His [i.e., God's] voice, do not have a stubborn heart."

For God's word is alive and active and sharper than any double-edged sword. It penetrates [deep enough] even to divide [a person's] soul [from his] spirit, and his joints [from his] bone marrow [Note: This is figurative language describing the penetrating effect of God's word into a person's spiritual, inner being] and is able to judge the thoughts and intentions of a person's heart.

During His life on earth Jesus offered up prayers and special requests with loud crying and tears to God, who was able to save Him from dying, and He was heard because of His [earnest] devotion [to God].

[Now] we have many things to say about Melchizedek, but because of your slowness to grasp things, they are hard to explain.

we should draw close [to God] with a sincere heart and a fully assured faith, having had our hearts sprinkled from a guilty conscience [See 9:13-14] and having had our bodies washed with clean water [i.e., in our immersion].