11Verse 1Now faith is a realization of things being hoped for, an evidence of things not seen.+Verse 2By it the ancients were approved.Verse 3By faith we understand that the ages+were created by a word from God, so that the things that are seen were made out of things invisible.
Abel, Enoch, Noah
Verse 4By faith Abel offered to God a better sacrifice than did Cain, through which he obtained witness that he was righteous,+God testifying concerning his gifts; and by means of it he still speaks, even though being dead.Verse 5By faith Enoch was transferred so as not to see death, and could not be found because God had translated him; before his translation he had obtained witness that he was pleasing to God.+Verse 6Now without faith it is impossible to please Him, because the one approaching God must believe that He exists and that He becomes a rewarder of those who earnestly seek Him.+Verse 7By faith Noah, being divinely warned of things not yet seen,+moved with godly fear, prepared an ark for the salvation of his household, by which he condemned the world and became an heir of the righteousness that is according to faith.+
Abraham and Sarah
Verse 8By faith Abraham, upon being called to go forth to the place that he would receive as an inheritance, obeyed and went, though not being acquainted with where he was going.+Verse 9By faith he migrated into the land of promise as into a foreign country, dwelling in tents, along with Isaac and Jacob, the fellow heirs of the same promise;Verse 10for he was waiting expectantly for the city with the real foundations, whose designer and builder is God.Verse 11By faith Sarah herself also received power to conceive seed, and she bore a child+when she was past the normal age, since she judged Him faithful who had promised.Verse 12And so from one man, actually an impotent,+were begotten descendants as numerous as the stars in the sky, and as countless as the sand on the seashore.
Seeking a heavenly homeland
Verse 13These all died believing—not having received the promises, but having seen and welcomed them from a distance, thus confessing that they were aliens and sojourners on the earth.Verse 14Now those who say such things make it clear that they are seeking a homeland.Verse 15If they were actually remembering that land from which they had departed, they would have had opportunity to return.Verse 16Instead they are aspiring to a better home—a heavenly one.+Therefore God is not ashamed to be called their God; in fact He has prepared a city for them.
Patriarchs
Verse 17By faith Abraham, upon being tested, offered up Isaac; yes, he who had received the promises was about to sacrifice his only begotten,+Verse 18of whom it had been said, “Through Isaac will your seed be reckoned,”+Verse 19calculating that God was indeed able to raise him from the dead; from whence in fact he did receive him, figuratively speaking.Verse 20By faith Isaac blessed Jacob and Esau concerning things to come.Verse 21By faith Jacob, when he was dying, blessed each of Joseph's sons and worshiped, leaning on the top of his staff.+Verse 22By faith Joseph, near the end, thought of the exodus of the sons of Israel and gave orders concerning his bones.+
Moses
Verse 23By faith Moses was hidden for three months by his parents, after he was born, because they saw he was a fine child, and they were not afraid of the king's edict.Verse 24By faith Moses, when he had grown up, refused to be called the son of Pharaoh's daughter,+Verse 25choosing rather to be maltreated along with God's people than to have the temporary pleasure of sin,Verse 26considering the reproach of Christ+to be greater riches than the treasures of Egypt; because he was looking ahead to the reward.Verse 27By faith he left Egypt behind, not fearing the king's rage,+because he persevered as though seeing Him who is invisible.Verse 28By faith he kept the Passover and the sprinkling of the blood, so that the destroyer of the firstborn would not touch them.Verse 29By faith they passed through the Red Sea as on dry ground, whereas the Egyptians, attempting to do so, were swallowed up.+Verse 30By faith the walls of Jericho fell down, having been encircled for seven days.+Verse 31By faith the prostitute Rahab, having received the spies in peace, did not perish with the disobedient.+
Exploits achieved through faith
Verse 32And what more shall I say? For the time would fail me to tell about Gideon, about Barak and Samson and Jephtha, about David and Samuel and the prophets,Verse 33who through faith subdued kingdoms, administered justice, obtained promises, closed lions' mouths,Verse 34quenched the power of fire, escaped the edge of the sword, out of weakness were made strong, became mighty in battle, put to flight foreign armies.Verse 35Women received their dead back by resurrection; while others were tortured, not accepting their deliverance, so that they might obtain a better resurrection.+Verse 36Still others were tried by mockings and scourgings, and even by chains and imprisonment.Verse 37They were stoned, they were sawed in two, they were tempted, they were murdered by sword. They went about in sheepskins and goatskins; being destitute, afflicted, mistreatedVerse 38—of whom the world was not worthy—wandering in deserts and mountains and caves and holes in the ground.+Verse 39Now all these did not receive the promise, though having been approved through faith,Verse 40God having planned something better for us,+so that they should not be perfected without us.