Hebrews 4:16 — Bible Verse Meaning & Context

Hebrews 4:16 reads: "Let us therefore draw near with boldness to the throne of grace, that we may receive mercy, and may find grace for help in time of need." — from the New Testament, Hebrews (General epistle). The full verse is shown above with both the World English Bible (WEB) and King James Version (KJV) translations side by side.

Hebrews 4:16 is in the book of Hebrews, traditionally attributed to Unknown (Paul, Apollos, and Barnabas have all been suggested) and written around c. 60–69 AD. Hebrews is general epistle in the New Testament, originally addressed to Jewish Christians tempted to abandon Christ and return to Judaism. Best known for the "Hall of Faith" (Hebrews 11) and Jesus as our great high priest.

Hebrews 4:16 is primarily a Bible verse about Prayer. Within Hebrews, Hebrews argues for the absolute supremacy of Christ — superior to angels, Moses, the priesthood, and the entire Old Covenant sacrificial system. Read the full passage above with surrounding context.

Hebrews 4:16 in the World English Bible (WEB) reads: "Let us therefore draw near with boldness to the throne of grace, that we may receive mercy, and may find grace for help in time of need.". The King James Version (KJV) reads: "Let us4334 therefore3767 come4334 boldly3326 3954 unto the throne2362 of grace5485, that2443 we may obtain2983 mercy1656, and2532 find2147 grace5485 to help996 in1519 time of need2121.". The WEB is a modern public-domain translation that updates the KJV's 1611 English while keeping a similar formal-equivalence style. Both render the same underlying Greek or Hebrew text.

Hebrews 4:16 is 27 words in the WEB translation (136 characters), broken into 3 clauses. It is a longer verse, often broken into smaller phrases for memorisation. Estimated reading time is about 8 seconds.

To memorise Hebrews 4:16, split it into its 3 natural clauses and learn one at a time. Repeat the full verse out loud five times, then write it from memory. Saving the verse as a photo wallpaper using our verse image studio helps daily review — the visual association with a memorable background dramatically improves recall.

Hebrews argues for the absolute supremacy of Christ — superior to angels, Moses, the priesthood, and the entire Old Covenant sacrificial system. The High Priestly work of Christ is the book's central concept. Chapter 11 is the famous "Hall of Faith," and the closing call is "let us run with endurance the race set before us, looking to Jesus" (12:1-2). Hebrews 4:16 sits within this larger story — Hebrews as a whole emphasises supremacy of Christ, priesthood, faith.

Many readers use Hebrews 4:16 as a daily reminder verse — saving it as a phone wallpaper, sharing it on Pinterest, or memorising it for prayer. The verse studio on this page lets you download Hebrews 4:16 on 52 different backgrounds for free. Pair the verse with the surrounding chapter context shown above to understand its full meaning before applying it.