Therefore we ought to give the more earnest heed to the things which we have heard, lest at any time we should let them slip.
Parallel translations
- WEB Therefore we ought to pay greater attention to the things that were heard, lest perhaps we drift away.
- BSB We must pay closer attention, therefore, to what we have heard, so that we do not drift away.
- NKJV Therefore we must give the more earnest heed to the things we have heard, lest we drift away.
- NASB For this reason we must pay much closer attention to what we have heard, so that we do not drift away from it.
- NLT So we must listen very carefully to the truth we have heard, or we may drift away from it.
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
Scripture quotations taken from the (NASB®) New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995, 2020 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. All rights reserved. lockman.org
Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.
Quick answer
Because the Son is so great, we must pay closer attention to His message so we do not drift away. The first of Hebrews' solemn warnings urges careful attention to the gospel.
Overview
This 'therefore' draws a practical conclusion from chapter 1's exaltation of the Son: a greater revelation demands greater attentiveness. 'Drift away' pictures a boat carried off course by neglect rather than open rebellion. The author warns that spiritual carelessness, not just outright apostasy, can carry a person away from the salvation Christ has won.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 24
- Luke 8:15But that on the good ground are they, which in an honest and good heart, having heard the word, keep it, and bring forth fruit with patience.
- 2 Pet 1:12–13Wherefore I will not be negligent to put you always in remembrance of these things, though ye know them, and be established in the present truth.
- Prov 7:1–2My son, keep my words, and lay up my commandments with thee.
- Prov 2:1–6My son, if thou wilt receive my words, and hide my commandments with thee;
- Deut 4:9Only take heed to thyself, and keep thy soul diligently, lest thou forget the things which thine eyes have seen, and lest they depart from thy heart all the days of thy life: but teach them thy sons, and thy sons’ sons;
- Heb 1:1–2God, who at sundry times and in divers manners spake in time past unto the fathers by the prophets,
- 2 Pet 3:1This second epistle, beloved, I now write unto you; in both which I stir up your pure minds by way of remembrance:
- 2 Pet 1:15Moreover I will endeavour that ye may be able after my decease to have these things always in remembrance.
- Josh 23:11–12Take good heed therefore unto yourselves, that ye love the LORD your God.
- Prov 3:21My son, let not them depart from thine eyes: keep sound wisdom and discretion:
- Prov 4:20–22My son, attend to my words; incline thine ear unto my sayings.
- Prov 4:1–4Hear, ye children, the instruction of a father, and attend to know understanding.
- Ps 119:9Wherewithal shall a young man cleanse his way? by taking heed thereto according to thy word.
- Deut 32:46–47And he said unto them, Set your hearts unto all the words which I testify among you this day, which ye shall command your children to observe to do, all the words of this law.
- 1 Chr 22:13Then shalt thou prosper, if thou takest heed to fulfil the statutes and judgments which the LORD charged Moses with concerning Israel: be strong, and of good courage; dread not, nor be dismayed.
- Heb 12:5And ye have forgotten the exhortation which speaketh unto you as unto children, My son, despise not thou the chastening of the Lord, nor faint when thou art rebuked of him:
- Deut 4:23Take heed unto yourselves, lest ye forget the covenant of the LORD your God, which he made with you, and make you a graven image, or the likeness of any thing, which the LORD thy God hath forbidden thee.
- Matt 16:9Do ye not yet understand, neither remember the five loaves of the five thousand, and how many baskets ye took up?
- Mark 8:18Having eyes, see ye not? and having ears, hear ye not? and do ye not remember?
- Heb 2:2–4For if the word spoken by angels was stedfast, and every transgression and disobedience received a just recompence of reward;
- Heb 12:25–26See that ye refuse not him that speaketh. For if they escaped not who refused him that spake on earth, much more shall not we escape, if we turn away from him that speaketh from heaven:
- Hab 2:16Thou art filled with shame for glory: drink thou also, and let thy foreskin be uncovered: the cup of the LORD’s right hand shall be turned unto thee, and shameful spewing shall be on thy glory.
- Luke 9:44Let these sayings sink down into your ears: for the Son of man shall be delivered into the hands of men.
- Hab 1:6For, lo, I raise up the Chaldeans, that bitter and hasty nation, which shall march through the breadth of the land, to possess the dwellingplaces that are not theirs.
Themes, concepts, people & topics
Resources, by level
Commentaries & study tools
Free animated overview and word-study videos for this book.
Sermons and teaching on this passage from across YouTube.
Clear, readable, conservative exposition — the best free place to start on any passage.
Matthew Henry, Barnes, Gill, the Pulpit Commentary, Ellicott, Cambridge, and more — stacked on one page for this exact verse.
The beloved Puritan exposition of this whole book — warm, devotional, and verse by verse (free, CCEL).
Hebrew/Greek interlinear, word definitions, and cross-references for this verse.
Christ at the center
Hebrews is sustained worship of Christ: better than angels, Moses, and the priests; the great High Priest after Melchizedek who by one sacrifice perfects forever those he saves.
How Hebrews 2:1 points to him is part of the one story that runs through all Scripture — meet Jesus at the heart of the web, or follow a trail that traces him from Genesis to Revelation.
Original language
Each word below is tagged with its Strong’s number — tap one to see the underlying Greek word, its meaning, and every verse that uses it.