Hebrews 11–12

Faith in Action

11Now faith is confidence in what we hope forⁱ and assurance about what we do not see.^{j 2}This is what the ancients were commended for.^k

³By faith we understand that the universe was formed at God’s command,^l so that what is seen was not made out of what was visible.

⁴By faith Abel brought God a better offering than Cain did. By faith he was commended^m as righteous, when God spoke well of his offerings.ⁿ And by faith Abel still speaks, even though he is dead.^o

⁵By faith Enoch was taken from this life, so that he did not experience death: “He could not be found, because God had taken him away.”^ap For before he was taken, he was commended as one who pleased God. ⁶And without faith it is impossible to please God, because anyone who comes to him^q must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who earnestly seek him.

⁷By faith Noah, when warned about things not yet seen,^r in holy fear built an ark^s to save his family.^t By his faith he condemned the world and became heir of the righteousness that is in keeping with faith.^u

⁸By faith Abraham, when called to go to a place he would later receive as his inheritance,^v obeyed and went,^w even though he did not know where he was going. ⁹By faith he made his home in the promised land^x like a stranger in a foreign country; he lived in tents,^y as did Isaac and Jacob, who were heirs with him of the same promise.^{z 10}For he was looking forward to the city^a with foundations,^b whose architect and builder is God.^{c 11}And by faith even Sarah, who was past childbearing age,^d was enabled to bear children^e because she^b considered him faithful^f who had made the promise. ¹²And so from this one man, and he as good as dead,^g came descendants as numerous as the stars in the sky and as countless as the sand on the seashore.^h

¹³All these people were still living by faith when they died. They did not receive the things promised;ⁱ they only saw them and welcomed them from a distance,^j admitting that they were foreigners and strangers on earth.^{k 14}People 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 would have had opportunity to return.^{l 16}Instead, they were longing for a better country—a heavenly one.^m Therefore God is not ashamedⁿ to be called their God,^o for he has prepared a city^p for them.

¹⁷By faith Abraham, when God tested him, offered Isaac as a sacrifice.^q He who had embraced the promises was about to sacrifice his one and only son, ¹⁸even though God had said to him, “It is through Isaac that your offspring will be reckoned.”^{cr 19}Abraham reasoned that God could even raise the dead,^s and so in a manner of speaking he did receive Isaac back from death.

²⁰By faith Isaac blessed Jacob and Esau in regard to their future.^t

²¹By faith Jacob, when he was dying, blessed each of Joseph’s sons,^u and worshiped as he leaned on the top of his staff.

²²By faith Joseph, when his end was near, spoke about the exodus of the Israelites from Egypt and gave instructions concerning the burial of his bones.^v

²³By faith Moses’ parents hid him for three months after he was born,^w because they saw he was no ordinary child, and they were not afraid of the king’s edict.^x

²⁴By faith Moses, when he had grown up, refused to be known as the son of Pharaoh’s daughter.^{y 25}He chose to be mistreated^z along with the people of God rather than to enjoy the fleeting pleasures of sin. ²⁶He regarded disgrace^a for the sake of Christ^b as of greater value than the treasures of Egypt, because he was looking ahead to his reward.^{c 27}By faith he left Egypt,^d not fearing the king’s anger; he persevered because he saw him who is invisible. ²⁸By faith he kept the Passover and the application of blood, so that the destroyer^e of the firstborn would not touch the firstborn of Israel.^f

²⁹By faith the people passed through the Red Sea as on dry land; but when the Egyptians tried to do so, they were drowned.^g

³⁰By faith the walls of Jericho fell, after the army had marched around them for seven days.^h

³¹By faith the prostitute Rahab, because she welcomed the spies, was not killed with those who were disobedient.^di

³²And what more shall I say? I do not have time to tell about Gideon,^j Barak,^k Samson^l and Jephthah,^m about Davidⁿ and Samuel^o and the prophets, ³³who through faith conquered kingdoms,^p administered justice, and gained what was promised; who shut the mouths of lions,^{q 34}quenched the fury of the flames,^r and escaped the edge of the sword;^s whose weakness was turned to strength;^t and who became powerful in battle and routed foreign armies.^{u 35}Women received back their dead, raised to life again.^v There were others who were tortured, refusing to be released so that they might gain an even better resurrection. ³⁶Some faced jeers and flogging,^w and even chains and imprisonment.^{x 37}They were put to death by stoning;^ey they were sawed in two; they were killed by the sword.^z They went about in sheepskins and goatskins,^a destitute, persecuted and mistreated—³⁸the world was not worthy of them. They wandered in deserts and mountains, living in caves^b and in holes in the ground.

³⁹These were all commended^c for their faith, yet none of them received what had been promised,^{d 40}since God had planned something better for us so that only together with us^e would they be made perfect.^f

12Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles. And let us run^g with perseverance^h the race marked out for us, ²fixing our eyes on Jesus,ⁱ the pioneer^j and perfecter of faith. For the joy set before him he endured the cross,^k scorning its shame,^l and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God.^{m 3}Consider him who endured such opposition from sinners, so that you will not grow wearyⁿ and lose heart.

God Disciplines His Children

⁴In your struggle against sin, you have not yet resisted to the point of shedding your blood.^{o 5}And have you completely forgotten this word of encouragement that addresses you as a father addresses his son? It says,

“My son, do not make light of the Lord’s discipline,

and do not lose heart^p when he rebukes you,

⁶because the Lord disciplines the one he loves,^q

and he chastens everyone he accepts as his son.”^ar

⁷Endure hardship as discipline; God is treating you as his children.^s For what children are not disciplined by their father? ⁸If you are not disciplined—and everyone undergoes discipline^t—then you are not legitimate, not true sons and daughters at all. ⁹Moreover, we have all had human fathers who disciplined us and we respected them for it. How much more should we submit to the Father of spirits^u and live!^{v 10}They disciplined us for a little while as they thought best; but God disciplines us for our good, in order that we may share in his holiness.^{w 11}No discipline seems pleasant at the time, but painful. Later on, however, it produces a harvest of righteousness and peace^x for those who have been trained by it.

¹²Therefore, strengthen your feeble arms and weak knees.^{y 13}“Make level paths for your feet,”^bz so that the lame may not be disabled, but rather healed.^a

Warning and Encouragement

¹⁴Make every effort to live in peace with everyone^b and to be holy;^c without holiness no one will see the Lord.^{d 15}See to it that no one falls short of the grace of God^e and that no bitter root^f grows up to cause trouble and defile many. ¹⁶See that no one is sexually immoral,^g or is godless like Esau, who for a single meal sold his inheritance rights as the oldest son.^{h 17}Afterward, as you know, when he wanted to inherit this blessing, he was rejected. Even though he sought the blessing with tears,ⁱ he could not change what he had done.

The Mountain of Fear and the Mountain of Joy

¹⁸You have not come to a mountain that can be touched and that is burning with fire; to darkness, gloom and storm;^{j 19}to a trumpet blast^k or to such a voice speaking words^l that those who heard it begged that no further word be spoken to them,^{m 20}because they could not bear what was commanded: “If even an animal touches the mountain, it must be stoned to death.”^{cn 21}The sight was so terrifying that Moses said, “I am trembling with fear.”^do

²²But you have come to Mount Zion,^p to the city^q of the living God,^r the heavenly Jerusalem.^s You have come to thousands upon thousands of angels in joyful assembly, ²³to the church of the firstborn,^t whose names are written in heaven.^u You have come to God, the Judge of all,^v to the spirits of the righteous made perfect,^{w 24}to Jesus the mediator^x of a new covenant, and to the sprinkled blood^y that speaks a better word than the blood of Abel.^z

²⁵See to it that you do not refuse^a him who speaks.^b If they did not escape when they refused him who warned^c them on earth, how much less will we, if we turn away from him who warns us from heaven?^{d 26}At that time his voice shook the earth,^e but now he has promised, “Once more I will shake not only the earth but also the heavens.”^{ef 27}The words “once more” indicate the removing of what can be shaken^g—that is, created things—so that what cannot be shaken may remain.

²⁸Therefore, since we are receiving a kingdom that cannot be shaken,^h let us be thankful, and so worship God acceptably with reverence and awe,^{i 29}for our “God is a consuming fire.”^fj