Hebrews 11:17–40

¹⁷By faith Abraham, when he was tested, offered up Isaac. ^sHe received the promises and he was offering his unique son, ¹⁸the one it had been said about, Your seed will be traced ^tthrough Isaac. ^uv19He considered God to be able even to raise someone from the dead, ^wand as an illustration, ^xhe received him back.

²⁰By faith Isaac blessed Jacob and Esau ^yconcerning things to come. ²¹By faith Jacob, when he was dying, blessed each of the sons of Joseph, and he worshiped, leaning on the top of his staff. ^za22By faith Joseph, as he was nearing the end of his life, mentioned the exodus of the Israelites and gave instructions concerning his bones. ^b

²³By faith, after Moses was born, he was hidden by his parents for three months, because they saw that the child was beautiful, and they didn’t fear the king’s edict. ^c24By faith Moses, when he had grown up, refused to be called the son of Pharaoh’s daughter ²⁵and chose to suffer with the people of God rather than to enjoy the short-lived pleasure of sin. ^d26For he considered the reproach because of the Messiah to be greater wealth than the treasures of Egypt, since his attention was on the reward. ^e

²⁷By faith he left Egypt behind, not being afraid of the king’s anger, for Moses persevered as one who sees Him who is invisible. ^f28By faith he instituted the Passover and the sprinkling of the blood, so that the destroyer of the firstborn might not touch the Israelites. ²⁹By faith they crossed the Red Sea as though they were on dry land. When the Egyptians attempted to do this, they were drowned. ^g

³⁰By faith the walls of Jericho fell down after being encircled by the Israelites for seven days. ³¹By faith Rahab the prostitute received the spies in peace and didn’t perish with those who disobeyed. ^h

³²And what more can I say? Time is too short for me to tell about Gideon, Barak, Samson, Jephthah, ⁱDavid, Samuel, and the prophets, ^j33who by faith conquered kingdoms, ^kadministered justice, obtained promises, shut the mouths of lions, ^l34quenched the raging of fire, escaped the edge of the sword, gained strength after being weak, became mighty in battle, and put foreign armies to flight. ^m35Women received their dead—they were raised to life again. Some men were tortured, not accepting release, so that they might gain a better resurrection, ³⁶and others experienced mockings and scourgings, as well as bonds and imprisonment. ⁿ³⁷They were stoned, ^opthey were sawed in two, they died by the sword, they wandered about in sheepskins, in goatskins, ^qdestitute, afflicted, and mistreated. ³⁸The world was not worthy of them. They wandered in deserts and on mountains, hiding in caves and holes in the ground.

³⁹All these were approved through their faith, but they did not receive what was promised, ⁴⁰since God had provided something better for us, so that they would not be made perfect without us. ^r