Hebrews
Now faith is the assurance of what we hope for, the conviction of what
we do not see.
By faith, the people of old gained God’s approval.
By faith, we understand that the ages were set in order by God’s word,
so that what is visible came into being through what is invisible.
By faith, Abel offered to God a greater sacrifice than Cain, and God
showed that he was right by receiving his gifts; and through faith he,
though he is dead, still speaks.
By faith, Enoch was taken up so that he
would not see death,
and he was not found because God took him up.
For before being taken up he had been commended as pleasing to God.
And
without faith it is impossible to please God, because the one who comes to
God must believe that He exists and that He rewards those who seek Him.
By faith, Noah, when he was warned about things not yet seen, with a godly fear prepared an ark for the salvation of his family. Through this he
condemned the world and became an heir of being right which comes
by faith.
By faith, Abraham, when he was called, obeyed
by going out to a
place which he was to receive as an inheritance. He went out, not knowing
where he was going.
By faith, he lived as a foreigner
in the land of the
promise,
as in a foreign country, living in tents with Isaac and Jacob,
fellow heirs of the same promise.
For he was looking forward to the
city
with firm foundations, whose architect and builder is God.
By faith, Sarah herself received power to conceive, even past child-bearing age,
since she considered Him faithful who had promised.
So there were fathered by one man, and him as good as dead, as many descendants as the stars of
heaven, and as uncountable as the grains of sand on the seashore.
These all died
in faith, without receiving the promises, but they saw
them and welcomed them from a distance, and confessed that they were
strangers and resident aliens in the land.
For those who speak in such a way
make it clear that they are seeking a country of their own.
If they had been
thinking of that land which they had left, they would have had opportunity to
return.
But they desire a better land, that is, a heavenly one.
So God is not ashamed to be called their God, because He has prepared a city for them.
By faith, Abraham, when he was tested, offered up Isaac. The one who had welcomed the promises was ready
to offer up his only son.
God had
said, “Through Isaac your descendants will come.”
And he reasoned that
God is able even to raise someone from the dead. As a type, he did receive Isaac back
from the dead.
By faith, Isaac blessed Jacob and Esau concerning the
future.
By faith, Jacob, when he was dying, blessed each of the sons of
Joseph, and worshiped, leaning on his staff.
By faith, Joseph, at the end of
his life, mentioned the exodus of the children of Israel, and gave instructions
about his bones.
By faith, Moses, when he was born, was hidden for three months by his
parents, because they saw that he was a beautiful child, and they were not
afraid of the king’s command.
By faith, Moses, when he had grown up,
refused to be called the son of Pharaoh’s daughter,
choosing rather to share
bad treatment with God’s people than to enjoy the fleeting pleasures of sin.
He considered the reproach of the Messiah greater riches than the treasures
of Egypt, because he was looking forward to the reward.
By faith, he
left Egypt, not fearing the anger of the king; for he endured, as if seeing Him
who is unseen.
By faith, he kept the Passover and put blood on the doorposts, so that the destroyer of the firstborn would not touch them.
By faith,
they passed through the Red Sea as if on dry land, and when the Egyptians
tried it, they were swallowed up.
By faith, the walls of Jericho fell down after the people marched around
them for seven days.
By faith, Rahab the prostitute did not die with those
who were disobedient, after she had welcomed the spies in peace.
What more shall I say? Time would fail me if I tell about Gideon, Barak,
Samson, Jephthah, David, Samuel, and the prophets.
By faith they
conquered kingdoms, ruled in justice, obtained promises, shut the mouths
of lions,
quenched the power of fire, escaped the edge of the sword, from
weakness were made strong, grew mighty in war, and caused foreign armies
to flee.
Women received back their dead by resurrection, but others were
tortured, not accepting release, to obtain a better resurrection.
Others were
mocked and flogged, chained and imprisoned.
They were stoned, sawn
apart, killed with the sword. They went around in sheep skins and
goat skins; they were impoverished, persecuted, cruelly treated —
the world was not
worthy of them — wandering in deserts, mountains, caves, and holes in the
ground.
All these gained approval for their faith, but they did not receive the
promise,
because God had provided something better for us, so that
they would not be made perfect without us.
Hebrews