Hebrews 11
11
The Great Faith of God's People
1Faith makes us sure of what we hope for and gives us proof of what we cannot see. 2#Si 44.10—50.21; 1 Macc 2.51-64. It was their faith that made our ancestors pleasing to God.
3 #
Gn 1.1; Ps 33.6,9; Jn 1.3. Because of our faith, we know that the world was made at God's command. We also know that what can be seen was made out of what cannot be seen.
4 #
Gn 4.3-10. Because Abel had faith, he offered God a better sacrifice than Cain did. God was pleased with him and his gift, and even though Abel is now dead, his faith still speaks for him.
5 # Gn 5.21-24 (LXX); Si 44.16. Enoch had faith and did not die. He pleased God, and God took him up to heaven. This is why his body was never found. 6But without faith no one can please God. We must believe that God is real and rewards everyone who searches for him.
7 #
Gn 6.13-22. Because Noah had faith, he was warned about something that had not yet happened. He obeyed and built a boat that saved him and his family. In this way the people of the world were judged, and Noah was given the blessings that come to everyone who pleases God.
8 #
Gn 12.1-5. Abraham had faith and obeyed God. He was told to go to the land that God had said would be his, and he left for a country he had never seen. 9#Gn 35.27. Because Abraham had faith, he lived as a stranger in the promised land. He lived there in a tent, and so did Isaac and Jacob, who were later given the same promise. 10Abraham did this, because he was waiting for the eternal city God had planned and built.
11 #
Gn 18.11-14; 21.2. Even when Sarah was too old to have children, she had faith that God would do what he had promised, and she had a son. 12#Gn 15.5; 22.17; 32.12. Her husband Abraham was almost dead, but he became the ancestor of many people. In fact, there are as many of them as there are stars in the sky or grains of sand along the seashore.
13 #
Gn 23.4; 1 Ch 29.15; Ps 39.12. Every one of those people died. But they still had faith, even though they had not received what they had been promised. They were glad just to see these things from far away, and they agreed that they were only strangers and foreigners on this earth. 14When people talk this way, it is clear they are looking for a place to call their own. 15If they had been talking about the land where they had once lived, they could have gone back at any time. 16But they were looking forward to a better home in heaven. This is why God wasn't ashamed for them to call him their God. He even built a city for them.
17-18 #
Gn 21.12; 22.1-14. #4 Macc 13.12. Abraham had been promised that Isaac, his only son,#11.17,18 his only son: Although Abraham had a son by a slave woman, his son Isaac was considered his only son, because he was born as a result of God's promise to Abraham. would continue his family. But when Abraham was tested, he had faith and was willing to sacrifice Isaac, 19because he was sure that God could raise people to life. This was just like getting Isaac back from death.
20 #
Gn 27.27-29,39,40. Isaac had faith, and he promised blessings to Jacob and Esau. 21#Gn 48.1-20; Gn 47.31 (LXX). Later, when Jacob was about to die, he leaned on his walking stick and worshiped. Then because of his faith he blessed each of Joseph's sons. 22#Gn 50.24,25; Ex 13.19. And right before Joseph died, he had faith that God would lead the people of Israel out of Egypt. So he told them to take his bones with them.
23 #
Ex 2.2;
Ex 1.22. Because Moses' parents had faith, they kept him hidden until he was three months old. They saw that he was a beautiful child, and they were not afraid to disobey the king's orders.#11.23 the king's orders: The king of Egypt ordered all Israelite baby boys to be left outside of their homes, so they would die or be killed. 24#Ex 2.10-12. Then after Moses grew up, his faith made him refuse to be called the king's grandson. 25#4 Macc 15.2. He chose to be mistreated with God's people instead of having the good time that sin could bring for a little while. 26Moses knew that the treasures of Egypt were not as wonderful as what he would receive from suffering for the Messiah,#11.26 the Messiah: Or “Christ.” and he looked forward to his reward.
27Because of his faith, Moses left Egypt. Moses had seen the invisible God and wasn't afraid of the king's anger. 28#Ex 12.21-30. His faith also made him celebrate Passover. He sprinkled the blood of animals on the doorposts, so that the first-born sons of the people of Israel would not be killed by the destroying angel.
29 #
Ex 14.21-31. Because of their faith, the people walked through the Red Sea#11.29 Red Sea: This name comes from the Bible of the early Christians, a translation made into Greek about 200 b.c. It refers to the body of water that the Israelites crossed and was one of the marshes or fresh water lakes near the eastern part of the Nile Delta, where they lived and where the towns of Exodus 13.17—14.9 were located. on dry land. But when the Egyptians tried to do it, they were drowned.
30 #
Js 6.12-25. God's people had faith, and when they had walked around the city of Jericho for seven days, its walls fell down.
31 #
Js 6.21-25;
Js 2.1-21. Rahab had been a prostitute, but she had faith and welcomed the spies. So she wasn't killed with the people who disobeyed.
32 #
Jg 6.11—8.32;
Jg 4.6—5.31;
Jg 13.2—16.31;
Jg 11.1—12.7;
1 S 16.1—1 K 2.11;
1 S 1.1—25.1. What else can I say? There isn't enough time to tell about Gideon, Barak, Samson, Jephthah, David, Samuel, and the prophets. 33#Dn 6.1-27. Their faith helped them conquer kingdoms, and because they did right, God made promises to them. They closed the jaws of lions 34#Dn 3.21-30. and put out raging fires and escaped from the swords of their enemies. Although they were weak, they were given the strength and power to chase foreign armies away.
35 #
1 K 17.17-24; 2 K 4.25-37; 2 Macc 6.18—7.42. Some women received their loved ones back from death. Many of these people were tortured, but they refused to be released. They were sure they would get a better reward when the dead are raised to life. 36#1 K 22.26,27; 2 Ch 18.25,26; Jr 20.2; 37.15,16; 38.6. Others were made fun of and beaten with whips, and some were chained in jail. 37#2 Ch 24.21,22. Still others were stoned to death or sawed in two#11.37 sawed in two: Some manuscripts have “tested” or “tempted.” or killed with swords. Some had nothing but sheep skins or goat skins to wear. They were poor, mistreated, and tortured. 38The world did not deserve these good people, who had to wander in deserts and on mountains and had to live in caves and holes in the ground.
39All of them pleased God because of their faith! But still they died without being given what had been promised. 40This was because God had something better in store for us. And he did not want them to reach the goal of their faith without us.
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Contemporary English Version, Second Edition (CEV®)
© 2006 American Bible Society. All rights reserved.
Hebrews 11
11
Faith of the Ancients. 1Faith is the realization of what is hoped for and evidence#Faith is the realization…evidence: the author is not attempting a precise definition. There is dispute about the meaning of the Greek words hypostasis and elenchos, here translated realization and evidence, respectively. Hypostasis usually means “substance,” “being” (as translated in Heb 1:3), or “reality” (as translated in Heb 3:14); here it connotes something more subjective, and so realization has been chosen rather than “assurance” (RSV). Elenchos, usually “proof,” is used here in an objective sense and so translated evidence rather than the transferred sense of “(inner) conviction” (RSV). of things not seen.#1:3; 3:14; Rom 8:24; 2 Cor 4:18. 2Because of it the ancients were well attested. 3#Gn 1:3; Ps 33:6; Wis 9:1; Jn 1:3. By faith we understand that the universe was ordered by the word of God,#By faith…God: this verse does not speak of the faith of the Old Testament men and women but is in the first person plural. Hence it seems out of place in the sequence of thought. so that what is visible came into being through the invisible. 4#The “Praise of the Ancestors” in Sir 44:1–50:21 gives a similar list of heroes. The Cain and Abel narrative in Gn 4:1–16 does not mention Abel’s faith. It says, however, that God “looked with favor on Abel and his offering” (Gn 4:4); in view of Heb 11:6 the author probably understood God’s favor to have been activated by Abel’s faith. Though dead, he still speaks: possibly because his blood “cries out to me from the soil” (Gn 4:10), but more probably a way of saying that the repeated story of Abel provides ongoing witness to faith. By faith Abel offered to God a sacrifice greater than Cain’s. Through this he was attested to be righteous, God bearing witness to his gifts, and through this, though dead, he still speaks.#12:24; Gn 4:4, 10. 5By faith Enoch was taken up so that he should not see death, and “he was found no more because God had taken him.” Before he was taken up, he was attested to have pleased God.#Gn 5:24; Sir 44:16. 6#One must believe not only that God exists but that he is concerned about human conduct; the Old Testament defines folly as the denial of this truth; cf. Ps 52:2. But without faith it is impossible to please him,#Wis 4:10. for anyone who approaches God must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who seek him. 7By faith Noah, warned about what was not yet seen, with reverence built an ark for the salvation of his household. Through this he condemned the world and inherited the righteousness that comes through faith.#Gn 6:8–22; Sir 44:17–18; Mt 24:37–39; Lk 17:26–27; 1 Pt 3:20; 2 Pt 2:5.
8By faith Abraham obeyed when he was called to go out to a place that he was to receive as an inheritance; he went out, not knowing where he was to go.#Gn 12:1–4; 15:7–21; Sir 44:19–22; Acts 7:2–8; Rom 4:16–22. 9By faith he sojourned in the promised land as in a foreign country, dwelling in tents with Isaac and Jacob, heirs of the same promise;#Gn 12:8; 13:12; 23:4; 26:3; 35:27. 10for he was looking forward to the city with foundations, whose architect and maker is God.#12:22; 13:14; Rev 21:10–22. 11By faith he received power to generate, even though he was past the normal age—and Sarah herself was sterile—for he thought that the one who had made the promise was trustworthy.#Gn 17:19; 21:2; Rom 4:19–21 / 1 Cor 10:13. 12So it was that there came forth from one man, himself as good as dead, descendants as numerous as the stars in the sky and as countless as the sands on the seashore.#Gn 15:5; 22:17; 32:13; Ex 32:13; Dt 10:22; Dn 3:36 LXX.
13All these died in faith. They did not receive what had been promised but saw it and greeted it from afar and acknowledged themselves to be strangers and aliens on earth,#Gn 23:4; Ps 39:13. 14for those who speak thus show that they are seeking a homeland. 15If they had been thinking of the land from which they had come, they would have had opportunity to return. 16But now they desire a better homeland, a heavenly one. Therefore, God is not ashamed to be called their God, for he has prepared a city for them.#13:14; Ex 3:6.
17By faith Abraham, when put to the test, offered up Isaac, and he who had received the promises was ready to offer his only son,#Gn 22:1–10; Sir 44:20; 1 Mc 2:52; Jas 2:21. 18of whom it was said, “Through Isaac descendants shall bear your name.”#Gn 21:12 LXX; Rom 9:7. 19#As a symbol: Isaac’s “return from death” is seen as a symbol of Christ’s resurrection. Others understand the words en parabolē to mean “in figure,” i.e., the word dead is used figuratively of Isaac, since he did not really die. But in the one other place that parabolē occurs in Hebrews, it means symbol (Heb 9:9). He reasoned that God was able to raise even from the dead,#Rom 4:16–22. and he received Isaac back as a symbol. 20By faith regarding things still to come Isaac#Each of these three patriarchs, Isaac, Jacob, and Joseph, had faith in the future fulfillment of God’s promise and renewed this faith when near death. blessed Jacob and Esau.#Gn 27:27–40. 21By faith Jacob, when dying, blessed each of the sons of Joseph and “bowed in worship, leaning on the top of his staff.”#Gn 27:38–40; 47:31 LXX; 48:15–16. 22By faith Joseph, near the end of his life, spoke of the Exodus of the Israelites and gave instructions about his bones.#Gn 50:24–25.
23#Ex 2:2; Acts 7:20. By faith Moses was hidden by his parents for three months after his birth, because they saw that he was a beautiful child, and they were not afraid of the king’s edict. 24#The reason given for Moses’ departure from Egypt differs from the account in Ex 2:11–15. The author also gives a christological interpretation of his decision to share the trials of his people. By faith Moses, when he had grown up, refused to be known as the son of Pharaoh’s daughter;#Ex 2:10–15; Acts 7:23–29. 25he chose to be ill-treated along with the people of God rather than enjoy the fleeting pleasure of sin. 26He considered the reproach of the Anointed greater wealth than the treasures of Egypt, for he was looking to the recompense. 27By faith he left Egypt, not fearing the king’s fury, for he persevered as if seeing the one who is invisible.#Ex 2:15; Acts 7:29. 28By faith he kept the Passover and sprinkled the blood, that the Destroyer of the firstborn might not touch them.#Ex 12:21–23; Wis 18:25; 1 Cor 10:10. 29By faith they crossed the Red Sea as if it were dry land, but when the Egyptians attempted it they were drowned.#Ex 14:22–28. 30By faith the walls of Jericho fell after being encircled for seven days.#Jos 6:12–21. 31By faith Rahab the harlot did not perish with the disobedient, for she had received the spies in peace.#Jos 2:1–21; 6:22–25; Jas 2:25.
32What more shall I say? I have not time to tell of Gideon, Barak, Samson, Jephthah, of David and Samuel and the prophets,#Jgs 4:6–22; 6:11–8:32; 11:1–12:7. 33who by faith conquered kingdoms, did what was righteous, obtained the promises; they closed the mouths of lions,#Dn 6:23. 34put out raging fires, escaped the devouring sword; out of weakness they were made powerful, became strong in battle, and turned back foreign invaders.#Dn 3:22–25, 49–50. 35Women received back their dead through resurrection. Some were tortured and would not accept deliverance, in order to obtain a better resurrection.#1 Kgs 17:17–24; 2 Kgs 4:18–37; 2 Mc 6:18–7:42. 36Others endured mockery, scourging, even chains and imprisonment.#2 Chr 36:16; Jer 20:2; 37:15. 37They were stoned, sawed in two, put to death at sword’s point; they went about in skins of sheep or goats, needy, afflicted, tormented.#2 Chr 24:21. 38The world was not worthy of them. They wandered about in deserts and on mountains, in caves and in crevices in the earth.#1 Mc 2:28–30.
39Yet all these, though approved because of their faith, did not receive what had been promised. 40God had foreseen something better for us, so that without us they should not be made perfect.#So that without us they should not be made perfect: the heroes of the Old Testament obtained their recompense only after the saving work of Christ had been accomplished. Thus they already enjoy what Christians who are still struggling do not yet possess in its fullness.
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