Hebrews 11 — NETB
11Verse 1Now faith is being sure of what we hope for, being convinced of what we do not see.Verse 2For by it the people of old received God’s commendation.Verse 3By faith we understand that the worlds were set in order at God’s command, so that the visible has its origin in the invisible.Verse 4By faith Abel offered God a greater sacrifice than Cain, and through his faith he was commended as righteous, because God commended him for his offerings. And through his faith he still speaks, though he is dead.Verse 5By faith Enoch was taken up so that he did not see death, and he was not to be found because God took him up. For before his removal he had been commended as having pleased God.Verse 6Now without faith it is impossible to please him, for the one who approaches God must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who seek him.Verse 7By faith Noah, when he was warned about things not yet seen, with reverent regard constructed an ark for the deliverance of his family. Through faith he condemned the world and became an heir of the righteousness that comes by faith.Verse 8By faith Abraham obeyed when he was called to go out to a place he would later receive as an inheritance, and he went out without understanding where he was going.Verse 9By faith he lived as a foreigner in the promised land as though it were a foreign country, living in tents with Isaac and Jacob, who were fellow heirs of the same promise.Verse 10For he was looking forward to the city with firm foundations, whose architect and builder is God.Verse 11By faith, even though Sarah herself was barren and he was too old, he received the ability to procreate, because he regarded the one who had given the promise to be trustworthy.Verse 12So in fact children were fathered by one man – and this one as good as dead – like the number of stars in the sky and like the innumerable grains of sand on the seashore.Verse 13These all died in faith without receiving the things promised, but they saw them in the distance and welcomed them and acknowledged that they were strangers and foreigners on the earth.Verse 14For those who speak in such a way make it clear that they are seeking a homeland.Verse 15In fact, if they had been thinking of the land that they had left, they would have had opportunity to return.Verse 16But as it is, they aspire to a better land, that is, a heavenly one. Therefore, God is not ashamed to be called their God, for he has prepared a city for them.Verse 17By faith Abraham, when he was tested, offered up Isaac. He had received the promises, yet he was ready to offer up his only son.Verse 18God had told him, “Through Isaac descendants will carry on your name,”Verse 19and he reasoned that God could even raise him from the dead, and in a sense he received him back from there.Verse 20By faith also Isaac blessed Jacob and Esau concerning the future.Verse 21By faith Jacob, as he was dying, blessed each of the sons of Joseph and worshiped as he leaned on his staff as he leaned on his staff.Verse 22By faith Joseph, at the end of his life, mentioned the exodus of the sons of Israel and gave instructions about his burial.Verse 23By faith, when Moses was born, his parents hid him for three months, because they saw the child was beautiful and they were not afraid of the king’s edict.Verse 24By faith, when he grew up, Moses refused to be called the son of Pharaoh’s daughter,Verse 25choosing rather to be ill-treated with the people of God than to enjoy sin’s fleeting pleasure.Verse 26He regarded abuse suffered for Christ to be greater wealth than the treasures of Egypt, for his eyes were fixed on the reward.Verse 27By faith he left Egypt without fearing the king’s anger, for he persevered as though he could see the one who is invisible.Verse 28By faith he kept the Passover and the sprinkling of the blood, so that the one who destroyed the firstborn would not touch them.Verse 29By faith they crossed the Red Sea as if on dry ground, but when the Egyptians tried it, they were swallowed up.Verse 30By faith the walls of Jericho fell after the people marched around them for seven days.Verse 31By faith Rahab the prostitute escaped the destruction of the disobedient, because she welcomed the spies in peace.Verse 32And what more shall I say? For time will fail me if I tell of Gideon, Barak, Samson, Jephthah, of David and Samuel and the prophets.Verse 33Through faith they conquered kingdoms, administered justice, gained what was promised, shut the mouths of lions,Verse 34quenched raging fire, escaped the edge of the sword, gained strength in weakness, became mighty in battle, put foreign armies to flight,Verse 35and women received back their dead raised to life. But others were tortured, not accepting release, to obtain resurrection to a better life.Verse 36And others experienced mocking and flogging, and even chains and imprisonment.Verse 37They were stoned, sawed apart, murdered with the sword; they went about in sheepskins and goatskins; they were destitute, afflicted, ill-treatedVerse 38(the world was not worthy of them); they wandered in deserts and mountains and caves and openings in the earth.Verse 39And these all were commended for their faith, yet they did not receive what was promised.Verse 40For God had provided something better for us, so that they would be made perfect together with us.