Psalm 95:7–11
To Day If Ye Will Hear His Voice
Wording onlyQuoted by the apostles in Hebrews 3:7–11, 15, in the older Greek wording
Hebrews moves the forty years, and two place names turn into plain words.
Side by Side
The Older Text
Septuagint, translated before Messiah
To-day, if ye will hear his voice, harden not your hearts, as in the provocation, according to the day of irritation in the wilderness: where your fathers tempted me, proved me, and saw my works. Forty years was I grieved with this generation, and said, They do always err in their heart, and they have not known my ways.
The Later Text
Masoretic, plain rendering with the place names kept
To day if ye will hear his voice, harden not your heart, as at Meribah, as in the day of Massah in the wilderness: when your fathers tempted me, proved me, and saw my work. Forty 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.
Quoted in Hebrews 3:8–10
The apostle’s Old Testament
Harden not your hearts, as in the provocation, in the day of temptation in the wilderness: When your fathers tempted me, proved me, and saw my works forty years. Wherefore I was grieved with that generation, and said, They do alway err in their heart; and they have not known my ways.
Your KJV reads: “the provocation” in both places, because in Psalm 95 the King James also turned the place names into plain words, as the Greek did. The forty years still fall differently.
See what changed and why ↓What Your Bible Says
When your fathers tempted me, proved me, and saw my works forty years. Wherefore I was grieved with that generation, and said, They do alway err in their heart; and they have not known my ways.
Hebrews 3:9–10 KJV
In Hebrews, the forty years belong to what Israel saw. They watched Yahuah’s works for forty years and still hardened their hearts.
What the Psalm Says
Forty 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.
Psalm 95:10 KJV
In the Psalm, the forty years belong to Yahuah’s grief. And behind “the provocation” and “the day of temptation” stand two real places: Meribah, which means strife, and Massah, which means testing (Exodus 17:7).
What Changed
The Greek turned the two place names into plain words, “provocation” and “temptation.” It also says “They do always err” where the Hebrew says “It is a people that do err.”
Hebrews follows the Greek, then adds one word, “Wherefore,” which moves the forty years to the line before.
Who Is Speaking?
Hebrews opens the quote with “as the Holy Ghost saith” (Hebrews 3:7). A chapter later it says Elohim spoke these words “in David” (Hebrews 4:7). The Spirit is Yahuah’s own breath speaking through His prophet, not a second speaker beside Him.
Purpose of the Change
No motive evident: wording variation only. It matters because Hebrews quoted the Greek wording, which is why your KJV tells this warning two slightly different ways.
The Bottom Line
Hebrews moved the forty years to make its point. The warning is the same: do not harden your heart today.
The rest Israel missed is still open: “Here are they that keep the commandments of God … Blessed are the dead which die in the Lord … that they may rest from their labours” (Revelation 14:12–13).
Dig Deeper The evidence, for anyone who wants it
Both Forty Years Are True
Hebrews itself uses the Psalm’s order a few verses later: “But with whom was he grieved forty years?” (Hebrews 3:17). Israel saw His works for forty years, and He was grieved for forty years. The apostle used both readings.
A Rest That Remains
Hebrews draws its point from this Psalm: “There remaineth therefore a rest to the people of God” (Hebrews 4:9). The Greek word there means a keeping of Sabbath. The rest is entered by belief, and then walked in by keeping His commandments. Israel fell in the wilderness because they would not hear His voice.