Hebrews 11
1. Trusting[a] is being confident of what we hope for, convinced about things we do not see.
2. It was for this that Scripture attested the merit of the people of old.
3. By trusting, we understand that the universe was created through a spoken word of God, so that what is seen did not come into being out of existing phenomena.
4. By trusting, Hevel offered a greater sacrifice than Kayin; because of this, he was attested as righteous, with God giving him this testimony on the ground of his gifts. Through having trusted, he still continues to speak, even though he is dead.
5. By trusting, Hanokh was taken away from this life without seeing death — “He was not to be found, because God took him away” — for he has been attested as having been, prior to being taken away, well pleasing to God.[b]
6. And without trusting, it is impossible to be well pleasing to God, because whoever approaches him must trust that he does exist and that he becomes a Rewarder to those who seek him out.
7. By trusting, Noach, after receiving divine warning about things as yet unseen, was filled with holy fear and built an ark to save his household. Through this trusting, he put the world under condemnation and received the righteousness that comes from trusting.
8. By trusting, Avraham obeyed, after being called to go out[c] to a place which God would give him as a possession; indeed, he went out without knowing where he was going.
9. By trusting, he lived as a temporary resident in the Land of the promise, as if it were not his, staying in tents with Yitz’chak and Ya‘akov, who were to receive what was promised along with him.
10. For he was looking forward to the city with permanent foundations, of which the architect and builder is God.
11. By trusting, he received potency to father a child, even when he was past the age for it, as was Sarah herself; because he regarded the One who had made the promise as trustworthy.
12. Therefore this one man, who was virtually dead, fathered descendants 12 as numerous as the stars in the sky, 12 and as countless as the grains of the sand on the seashore.[d]
13. All these people kept on trusting until they died, without receiving what had been promised. They had only seen it and welcomed it from a distance, while acknowledging that they were aliens and temporary residents on the earth.[e]
14. For people who speak this way make it clear that they are looking for a fatherland.
15. Now if they were to keep recalling the one they left, they would have an opportunity to return;
16. but as it is, they aspire to a better fatherland, a heavenly one. This is why God is not ashamed to be called their God, for he has prepared for them a city.
17. By trusting, Avraham, when he was put to the test, offered up Yitz’chak as a sacrifice. Yes, he offered up his only son, he who had received the promises,
18. to whom it had been said, “What is called your ‘seed’ will be in Yitz’chak.”[f]
19. For he had concluded that God could even raise people from the dead! And, figuratively speaking, he did so receive him.
20. By trusting, Yitz’chak in his blessings over Ya‘akov and Esav made reference to events yet to come.
21. By trusting, Ya‘akov, when he was dying, blessed each of Yosef’s sons, leaning on his walking-stick as he bowed in prayer.[g]
22. By trusting, Yosef, near the end of his life, remembered about the Exodus of the people of Isra’el and gave instructions about what to do with his bones.
23. By trusting, the parents of Moshe hid him for three months after he was born, because they saw that he was a beautiful child,[h] and they weren’t afraid of the king’s decree.
24. By trusting, Moshe, after he had grown up,[i] refused to be called the son of Pharaoh’s daughter.
25. He chose being mistreated along with God’s people rather than enjoying the passing pleasures of sin.
26. He had come to regard abuse suffered on behalf of the Messiah as greater riches than the treasures of Egypt, for he kept his eyes fixed on the reward.
27. By trusting, he left Egypt, not fearing the king’s anger; he persevered as one who sees the unseen.
28. By trusting, he obeyed the requirements for the Pesach, including the smearing of the blood, so that the Destroyer of the firstborn would not touch the firstborn of Isra’el.
29. By trusting, they walked through the Red Sea as through dry land; when the Egyptians tried to do it, the sea swallowed them up.
30. By trusting, the walls of Yericho fell down — after the people had marched around them for seven days.
31. By trusting, Rachav the prostitute welcomed the spies and therefore did not die along with those who were disobedient.
32. What more should I say? There isn’t time to tell about Gid‘on, Barak, Shimshon, Yiftach, David, Sh’mu’el and the prophets;
33. who, through trusting, conquered kingdoms, worked righteousness, received what was promised, shut the mouths of lions,[j]
34. quenched the power of fire, escaped the edge of the sword, had their weakness turned to strength, grew mighty in battle and routed foreign armies.
35. Women received back their dead resurrected; other people were stretched on the rack and beaten to death, refusing to be ransomed, so that they would gain a better resurrection.
36. Others underwent the trials of being mocked and whipped, then chained and imprisoned.
37. They were stoned, sawed in two, murdered by the sword; they went about clothed in sheepskins and goatskins, destitute, persecuted, mistreated,
38. wandering about in deserts and mountains, living in caves and holes in the ground! The world was not worthy of them!
39. All of these had their merit attested because of their trusting. Nevertheless, they did not receive what had been promised,
40. because God had planned something better that would involve us, so that only with us would they be brought to the goal.
Footnotes:
a. Hebrews 11:1: Habakkuk 2:4
b. Hebrews 11:5: Genesis 5:24
c. Hebrews 11:8: Genesis 12:1
d. Hebrews 11:12: Genesis 15:5–6; 22:17; 32:13(12); Exodus 32:13; Deuteronomy 1:10; 10:22
e. Hebrews 11:13: 1 Chronicles 29:15
f. Hebrews 11:18: Genesis 21:12
g. Hebrews 11:21: Genesis 47:31 (Septuagint)
h. Hebrews 11:23: Exodus 2:2
i. Hebrews 11:24: Exodus 2:11
j. Hebrews 11:33: Daniel 6:23(22)