HebrewsChapter 11

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¹Faith is being sure of what we hope for. It is being certain of what we cannot see. ²This is why God was pleased with people long ago. ³By faith we understand that God made the universe by his command. So what we see was not made out of things that could be seen. ⁴By faith Abel offered God a better sacrifice than Cain did. Because of his faith, God said Abel was righteous. God was pleased with his gifts. And by faith Abel still speaks, even though he is dead. ⁵By faith Enoch was taken up so that he did not die. "No one could find him, because God had taken him away." Before he was taken, he was known as someone who pleased God. ⁶Without faith it is impossible to please God. Anyone who comes to God must believe that he is real. And they must believe that he rewards those who truly look for him. ⁷By faith Noah built an ark to save his family. God had warned him about things no one had seen yet. Noah honored God and obeyed. By his faith he showed the world was guilty. And he received the right standing with God that comes by faith. ⁸By faith Abraham obeyed when God called him to go to a new place. God would later give him that place as his own. Abraham went, even though he didn't know where he was going. ⁹By faith he lived in the promised land like a stranger in a foreign country. He lived in tents. So did Isaac and Jacob. They would receive the same promise with him. ¹⁰Abraham was looking forward to the city with strong foundations. God planned that city and built it. ¹¹By faith Sarah was able to have a child, even though she could not have children and was too old. That's because she believed that God, who made the promise, was faithful. ¹²So from one man, who was almost dead, came more descendants than anyone could count. They were as many as the stars in the sky. They were like the sand on the seashore that no one can count. ¹³All these people were still living by faith when they died. They had not received the things God promised. But they saw them coming far off and were glad. And they said that they were strangers and outsiders on the earth. ¹⁴People who say things like that show they are looking for a country of their own. ¹⁵If they had been thinking about the country they had left, they could have gone back. ¹⁶Instead, they longed for a better country. They longed for a country in heaven. So God is not ashamed to be called their God. He has made a city ready for them. ¹⁷By faith Abraham offered up Isaac when God tested him. Abraham had received God's promises. Yet he was ready to offer his one and only son on the altar. ¹⁸He did this even though God had said to him, "Your family line will come through Isaac." ¹⁹Abraham believed that God could even raise the dead. And in a way, he did get Isaac back from death. ²⁰By faith Isaac blessed Jacob and Esau about what would happen in the future. ²¹By faith Jacob blessed each of Joseph's sons when he was dying. He worshiped God as he leaned on the top of his staff. ²²By faith Joseph spoke about the Israelites leaving Egypt when his death was near. He told them what to do with his bones. ²³By faith Moses' parents hid him for three months after he was born. They saw that he was a beautiful child. And they weren't afraid of the king's order. ²⁴By faith Moses, when he grew up, refused to be called the son of Pharaoh's daughter. ²⁵He chose to suffer along with God's people. He did not want the pleasures of sin, which last only a short time. ²⁶He thought being shamed for Christ was worth more than all the treasures of Egypt. He was looking ahead to his reward. ²⁷By faith Moses left Egypt. He wasn't afraid of the king's anger. He kept going because he saw God, who cannot be seen. ²⁸By faith he kept the Passover and sprinkled the blood. He did it so the destroyer who killed the firstborn sons would not touch the firstborn of Israel. ²⁹By faith the people walked through the Red Sea as if it were dry land. But when the Egyptians tried to follow them, they drowned. ³⁰By faith the walls of Jericho fell down. That happened after the people had marched around them for seven days. ³¹By faith Rahab the prostitute did not perish with those who disobeyed God. That's because she welcomed the spies in peace. ³²What more should I say? I don't have time to tell about Gideon, Barak, Samson, Jephthah, David, Samuel, and the prophets. ³³Through faith they won battles over kingdoms. They ruled with justice. They received what God promised. They shut the mouths of lions. ³⁴They put out raging fires. They escaped being killed by the sword. They were weak, but they were made strong. They became mighty in battle. They made foreign armies run away. ³⁵Women got their dead loved ones back, raised to life again. Others were tortured. They refused to be set free so they could gain a better resurrection. ³⁶Still others were made fun of and whipped. Some were even put in chains and thrown in prison. ³⁷They were killed with stones. They were sawed in two. They were killed with the sword. They went around wearing the skins of sheep and goats. They were poor, treated badly, and hurt. ³⁸The world was not good enough for them. They wandered in deserts and mountains. They hid in caves and in holes in the ground. ³⁹God was pleased with all these people because of their faith. Yet none of them received what God had promised. ⁴⁰God had planned something better for us. He planned that they would be made perfect only together with us.