Hebrews 11

1Faith is being completely sure of what we hope for. Faith is being rock-solid certain of realities we cannot see!

2This is what the people of long ago were praised for.

3By faith we understand that the universe was made by God's word, so that what we see was made out of what cannot be seen.

4By faith Abel offered God a better sacrifice than Cain did. By his faith Abel was accepted as a good man, because God accepted his gifts. And even though Abel is dead, by his faith he still speaks.

5By faith Enoch was taken up so that he did not die. He could not be found, because God had taken him. Before he was taken, he was praised as one who pleased God.

6And without faith it is impossible to please God. Anyone who comes to God must believe that He exists and that He rewards those who sincerely look for Him.

7God warned Noah about catastrophic events no human had ever seen. By faith, Noah believed God with holy reverence! He built a massive wooden ark to save his family. Through his faith, Noah condemned the wicked world. He inherited the righteousness that comes only by faith!

8By faith Abraham obeyed when God called him to go to a place he would later receive as his own. He set out, even though he did not know where he was going.

9By faith he lived as a stranger in the land God had promised him. He lived in tents, and so did Isaac and Jacob, who shared the same promise.

10For Abraham was looking forward to the city with foundations, whose builder and maker is God.

11By faith Abraham and Sarah were given the power to have a child. Sarah herself was too old. They trusted the One who had made the promise.

12And so from this one man, who was as good as dead, came many descendants. They were as many as the stars in the sky. They were as countless as the sand on the seashore.

13All these faithful champions died still trusting God. They did not receive the final promises while living on earth. They only saw those promises shining from far away! They openly confessed they were temporary foreigners and nomads on earth.

14People who say such things show that they are looking for a country of their own.

15If they had been thinking of the country they had left, they could have gone back.

16They were longing for a far better heavenly homeland! Therefore, God is not ashamed to be called their God. He has prepared a magnificent eternal city for them!

17By faith Abraham, when God tested him, offered Isaac as a sacrifice. He who had received the promises was ready to offer his only son,

18even though God had told him: Your descendants will come through Isaac.

19Abraham reasoned that God could even raise the dead. And in a way, he did receive Isaac back from death.

20By faith Isaac blessed Jacob and Esau as he spoke about their future.

21By faith Jacob, when he was dying, blessed each of Joseph's sons. He worshiped God as he leaned on the top of his staff.

22By faith Joseph, near the end of his life, spoke about the time when the people of Israel would leave Egypt. He also gave instructions about his bones.

23By faith Moses' parents hid him for three months after he was born. They saw he was a beautiful child. They were not afraid of the king's command.

24By faith Moses, when he had grown up, refused to be known as the son of Pharaoh's daughter.

25He chose to suffer along with the people of God rather than to enjoy the pleasures of sin for a short time.

26He thought it was worth more to be insulted for Christ than to have all the treasures of Egypt, because he was looking ahead to his reward.

27By faith he left Egypt, not afraid of the king's anger. He kept going, as if he could see the God who cannot be seen.

28By faith, Moses established the Passover. He sprinkled lamb's blood over the doorposts! This stopped the destroying angel from killing Israel's firstborn sons.

29By faith, the people marched straight through the Red Sea on dry ground! When the pursuing Egyptian army tried to follow, the sea drowned them.

30By faith, the massive walls of Jericho collapsed flat! The people had marched around those walls for seven days.

31By faith, Rahab the prostitute did not die with the rebels. She had welcomed the Israelite spies in peaceful friendship!

32What more should I say? I do not have time to tell about Gideon, Barak, Samson, and Jephthah, or about David, Samuel, and the prophets.

33Through faith they conquered kingdoms, did what was right, and received what God promised. They shut the mouths of lions,

34put out raging fires, and escaped being killed by the sword. They were weak, but they were made strong. They became powerful in battle and drove back enemy armies.

35Women received back their loved ones, raised from death. Enemies tortured believers, yet they refused to compromise for freedom! They wanted to rise again to a far better resurrection.

36Cruel mobs mocked them and whipped their bodies. Soldiers chained them and threw them into dark dungeons.

37Persecutors stoned them with heavy rocks. They sawed them in two and murdered them with swords!

38They wandered in deserts and mountains, wearing ragged animal skins. They hid in wild caves and dark holes in the dirt. The world was not worthy of holy people like them!

39All these people were praised for their faith, yet none of them received what God had promised.

40God had planned something better for us, so that they would not be made perfect without us.