Hebrews 11
11
The Witnesses of Faith
1 Now faith is the assurance of what is hoped for, the conviction of things not seen. 2 For by it the ancients were attested.
3 By faith we understand the universe* has been* prepared by the word of God, so that what is seen did not come into existence from things that are visible.
4 By faith Abel offered to God a greater sacrifice than Cain, through which he was attested to be righteous—God bearing witness to his gifts—and through it, although he is dead, he still speaks.
5 By faith Enoch was taken up so that he did not experience death, and he was not found because God took him up. For before his being taken up, he was attested to have been pleasing to God.
6 Now without faith it is impossible to please Him; for it is necessary for the one who draws near to God to believe that He exists and that He is a rewarder of those who earnestly seek Him.
7 By faith Noah, having been divinely instructed* concerning the things not yet seen, in reverence built an ark for the preservation of his household, by which he condemned the world and became an heir of the righteousness that is based on faith.
8 By faith Abraham, when he was called, obeyed to go out to a place which he was going to receive as an inheritance, and he went out not knowing where he was going. 9 By faith he sojourned in the land of the promise, as in a foreign land, living in tents with Isaac and Jacob, the fellow heirs of the same promise. 10 For he was expecting* the city which has foundations, whose architect and builder is God. 11 By faith also, Sarah herself received power to conceive seed,** even beyond the proper time of life, because she considered the One who had promised to be faithful. 12 Therefore, also from one man—and him as good as dead—descendants* were born, as many as* the stars of heaven in multitude, and as countless as the sand by the shore of the sea.*
13 These all died in faith, not having received the promises, but having seen them and welcomed them from afar, and confessing that they were strangers and sojourners on the earth. 14 For those who say such things make it clear that they are seeking a homeland. 15 And if they had been remembering that place from which they went out, they would have had the opportunity to return. 16 But now they earnestly desire a better country, that is, a heavenly one. Therefore, God is not ashamed of them, to be called their God, for He has prepared a city for them.
17 By faith Abraham, when he was tested, offered up Isaac, and the one who had received the promises was in the process of offering up* his only son, 18 pertaining to whom it was said, “In Isaac your offspring will be called.”* 19 He reasoned that God was able even to raise him from the dead, from which, in a figurative sense, he also received him back. 20 By faith also Isaac blessed Jacob and Esau, concerning the things to come. 21 By faith Jacob, when he was dying, blessed each of the sons of Joseph and worshipped, leaning on the top of his staff. 22 By faith Joseph, when he was dying, made mention about the exodus of the sons of Israel, and gave directives concerning his bones.
23 By faith Moses, when he was born, was hidden for three months by his parents, because they saw the child was exceptionally fair, and they were not afraid of the king’s edict. 24 By faith Moses, when he had grown up, declined to be called the son of Pharaoh’s daughter, 25 opting rather to endure adversity with the people of God than to experience the momentary enjoyment of sin. 26 He considered the reproach of Christ greater riches than the treasures of Egypt, for he was looking away from everything else and* towards the reward. 27 By faith he left Egypt, not fearing the wrath of the king, for he persevered as though seeing the invisible One. 28 By faith he kept the Passover and the sprinkling of the blood, so that the one who destroyed the firstborn might not harm them. 29 By faith they passed through the Red Sea as on dry land; the Egyptians, when they made the attempt, were swallowed up.
30 By faith the walls of Jericho fell, having been encircled for seven days. 31 By faith Rahab the prostitute was not destroyed with those who disobeyed, because she received the spies with peace.
32 And what more shall I say? For time will fail me if I narrate concerning Gideon, Barak, Samson, Jephthah, David, and also Samuel and the Prophets, 33 who through faith subdued kingdoms, brought about justice, obtained promises, stopped the mouths of lions, 34 quenched the power of fire, escaped the edge of the sword, were strengthened out of weakness, became mighty in war, put foreign armies to flight. 35 Women received back their dead by resurrection; and others were tortured to death, not accepting release, so that they might obtain a better resurrection. 36 And others received trial of mockings and scourgings, and in addition, chains and imprisonment. 37 They were stoned, they were sawn in two,* they were killed with the sword,* they wandered about in sheepskins, in goatskins, destitute, oppressed, maltreated— 38 of whom the world was not worthy—wandering in deserts and mountains and caves and the holes of the earth.
39 And all these, having been attested through their* faith, did not receive the promise, 40 because God had provided something better for us, so that apart from us they would not be perfected.
Notes
3 Greek the worlds/ages
3 Greek to have been
7 Or divinely warned
10 Or looking for
11 Greek received power for conception of seed
11 Some ancient manuscripts read received power to conceive in order to give birth to a child , while others read received power to conceive , and gave birth to a child
12 The word descendants is supplied to the text on contextual considerations for the sake of clarity
12 The comparative construction as many as is supplied to the text on contextual considerations for the sake of clarity
12 Three ancient Greek manuscripts omit by the shore
17 Or began to offer up
18 Quoted from Gen. 21:12
26 The conjunction and is supplied to the text on contextual considerations for the sake of clarity
37 Some ancient manuscripts include at this point the passive construction they were tried
37 Greek they were killed by slaughter of sword
39 Greek the . Here, the Greek definite article functions pronominally, corresponding contextually to the English possessive their
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Hebrews 11: AFINTLIT
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Copyright © 2026 Michael Adeyemi Adegbola. This Scripture text is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International License (CC BY-SA 4.0).
