Limitless Word
So we must listen very carefully to the truth we have heard, or we may drift away from it.
Hebrews 2:1 · New Living Translation
Parallel translations
  • WEB Therefore we ought to pay greater attention to the things that were heard, lest perhaps we drift away.
  • KJV 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.
  • 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.

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 8:15That in the good ground, these are such as in an honest and good heart, having heard the word, hold it tightly, and produces fruit with patience.
  • 2 Pet 1:12–13Therefore I will not be negligent to remind you of these things, though you know them, and are established in the present truth.
  • Prov 7:1–2My son, keep my words. Lay up my commandments within you.
  • Prov 2:1–6My son, if you will receive my words, and store up my commandments within you;
  • Deut 4:9Only be careful, and keep your soul diligently, lest you forget the things which your eyes saw, and lest they depart from your heart all the days of your life; but make them known to your children and your children’s children;
  • Heb 1:1–2God, having in the past spoken to the fathers through the prophets at many times and in various ways,
  • 2 Pet 3:1This is now, beloved, the second letter that I have written to you; and in both of them I stir up your sincere mind by reminding you;
  • 2 Pet 1:15Yes, I will make every effort that you may always be able to remember these things even after my departure.
  • Josh 23:11–12Take good heed therefore to yourselves, that you love Yahweh your God.
  • Prov 3:21My son, let them not depart from your eyes. Keep sound wisdom and discretion:
  • Prov 4:20–22My son, attend to my words. Turn your ear to my sayings.
  • Prov 4:1–4Listen, sons, to a father’s instruction. Pay attention and know understanding;
  • Ps 119:9How can a young man keep his way pure? By living according to your word.
  • Deut 32:46–47He said to them, “Set your heart to all the words which I testify to you today, which you shall command your children to observe to do, all the words of this law.
  • 1 Chr 22:13Then you will prosper, if you observe to do the statutes and the ordinances which Yahweh gave Moses concerning Israel. Be strong and courageous. Don’t be afraid, and don’t be dismayed.
  • Heb 12:5and you have forgotten the exhortation which reasons with you as with children, “My son, don’t take lightly the chastening of the Lord, nor faint when you are reproved by him;
  • Deut 4:23Be careful, lest you forget the covenant of Yahweh your God, which he made with you, and make yourselves an engraved image in the form of anything which Yahweh your God has forbidden you.
  • Matt 16:9Don’t you yet perceive, neither remember the five loaves for the five thousand, and how many baskets you took up?
  • Mark 8:18Having eyes, don’t you see? Having ears, don’t you hear? Don’t you remember?
  • Heb 2:2–4For if the word spoken through angels proved steadfast, and every transgression and disobedience received a just recompense;
  • Heb 12:25–26See that you don’t refuse him who speaks. For if they didn’t escape when they refused him who warned on the earth, how much more will we not escape who turn away from him who warns from heaven,
  • Hab 2:16You are filled with shame, and not glory. You will also drink, and be exposed! The cup of Yahweh’s right hand will come around to you, and disgrace will cover your glory.
  • Luke 9:44“Let these words sink into your ears, for the Son of Man will be delivered up into the hands of men.”
  • Hab 1:6For, behold, I raise up the Chaldeans, that bitter and hasty nation, that march through the width of the earth, to possess dwelling places that are not theirs.

Themes, concepts, people & topics

Topics (3)

Resources, by level

Commentaries & study tools

  • VideoBibleProject — Hebrews videosBibleProject · Lay · Free · evangelical

    Free animated overview and word-study videos for this book.

  • VideoWatch teaching on Hebrews 2:1YouTube · Lay · Free

    Sermons and teaching on this passage from across YouTube.

  • CommentaryEnduring Word — verse-by-verseDavid Guzik · Lay · Free · evangelical

    Clear, readable, conservative exposition — the best free place to start on any passage.

  • CommentaryClassic commentaries for this verseBibleHub (20+ works) · Pastoral · Free

    Matthew Henry, Barnes, Gill, the Pulpit Commentary, Ellicott, Cambridge, and more — stacked on one page for this exact verse.

  • CommentaryMatthew Henry on HebrewsMatthew Henry · Pastoral · Free · evangelical

    The beloved Puritan exposition of this whole book — warm, devotional, and verse by verse (free, CCEL).

  • ReferenceInterlinear, lexicon & Strong'sBlue Letter Bible · Seminary · Free

    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.