Limitless Word
Wherefore I was grieved with that generation, and said, They do alway err in their heart; and they have not known my ways.
Hebrews 3:10 · King James Version
Parallel translations
  • WEB Therefore I was displeased with that generation, and said, ‘They always err in their heart, but they didn’t know my ways;’
  • BSB Therefore I was angry with that generation, and I said, ‘Their hearts are always going astray, and they have not known My ways.’
  • NKJV Therefore I was angry with that generation, And said, ‘They always go astray in their heart, And they have not known My ways.’
  • NASB “Therefore I was angry with this generation, And said, ‘They always go astray in their heart, And they did not know My ways’;
  • NLT So I was angry with them, and I said, ‘Their hearts always turn away from me. They refuse to do what I tell them.’

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

God was displeased with that generation, whose hearts continually went astray and who did not know His ways. Chronic waywardness drew God's displeasure.

Overview

Psalm 95 records God's grief and anger over a generation whose hearts persistently wandered. Their failure was not mere ignorance but a settled refusal to learn and walk in God's ways. The passage warns the readers that a straying heart, left unchecked, leads to God's righteous displeasure.

Cross-references & the web

Cross-references · 19

  • Ps 95:10Forty years long was I grieved with this generation, and said, It is a people that do err in their heart, and they have not known my ways:
  • 2 Th 2:10–12And with all deceivableness of unrighteousness in them that perish; because they received not the love of the truth, that they might be saved.
  • Eph 4:30And grieve not the holy Spirit of God, whereby ye are sealed unto the day of redemption.
  • Jer 4:22For my people is foolish, they have not known me; they are sottish children, and they have none understanding: they are wise to do evil, but to do good they have no knowledge.
  • Ps 78:8And might not be as their fathers, a stubborn and rebellious generation; a generation that set not their heart aright, and whose spirit was not stedfast with God.
  • Ps 67:2That thy way may be known upon earth, thy saving health among all nations.
  • Isa 63:10But they rebelled, and vexed his holy Spirit: therefore he was turned to be their enemy, and he fought against them.
  • Hos 4:12My people ask counsel at their stocks, and their staff declareth unto them: for the spirit of whoredoms hath caused them to err, and they have gone a whoring from under their God.
  • Heb 3:12Take heed, brethren, lest there be in any of you an evil heart of unbelief, in departing from the living God.
  • Isa 28:7But they also have erred through wine, and through strong drink are out of the way; the priest and the prophet have erred through strong drink, they are swallowed up of wine, they are out of the way through strong drink; they err in vision, they stumble in judgment.
  • Mark 3:5And when he had looked round about on them with anger, being grieved for the hardness of their hearts, he saith unto the man, Stretch forth thine hand. And he stretched it out: and his hand was restored whole as the other.
  • Judg 10:16And they put away the strange gods from among them, and served the LORD: and his soul was grieved for the misery of Israel.
  • John 8:45And because I tell you the truth, ye believe me not.
  • Ps 147:20He hath not dealt so with any nation: and as for his judgments, they have not known them. Praise ye the LORD.
  • Gen 6:6And it repented the LORD that he had made man on the earth, and it grieved him at his heart.
  • Ps 78:40How oft did they provoke him in the wilderness, and grieve him in the desert!
  • John 3:19–20And this is the condemnation, that light is come into the world, and men loved darkness rather than light, because their deeds were evil.
  • Rom 3:7For if the truth of God hath more abounded through my lie unto his glory; why yet am I also judged as a sinner?
  • Rom 1:28And even as they did not like to retain God in their knowledge, God gave them over to a reprobate mind, to do those things which are not convenient;

Themes, concepts, people & topics

Topics (7)

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 3:10YouTube · 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 3:10 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.