Hebrews 11:8-40

New International Version

⁸ By faith Abraham, when called to go to a place he would later receive as his inheritance,^(A) obeyed and went,^(B) even though he did not know where he was going. ⁹ By faith he made his home in the promised land^(C) like a stranger in a foreign country; he lived in tents,^(D) as did Isaac and Jacob, who were heirs with him of the same promise.^{(E) 10} For he was looking forward to the city^(F) with foundations,^(G) whose architect and builder is God.^{(H) 11} And by faith even Sarah, who was past childbearing age,^(I) was enabled to bear children^(J) because she^[a] considered him faithful^(K) who had made the promise. ¹² And so from this one man, and he as good as dead,^(L) came descendants as numerous as the stars in the sky and as countless as the sand on the seashore.^(M)

¹³ All these people were still living by faith when they died. They did not receive the things promised;^(N) they only saw them and welcomed them from a distance,^(O) admitting that they were foreigners and strangers on earth.^{(P) 14} People who say such things show that they are looking for a country of their own. ¹⁵ If they had been thinking of the country they had left, they would have had opportunity to return.^{(Q) 16} Instead, they were longing for a better country—a heavenly one.^(R) Therefore God is not ashamed^(S) to be called their God,^(T) for he has prepared a city^(U) for them.

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

²⁰ By faith Isaac blessed Jacob and Esau in regard to their future.^(Y)

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

²² By 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.^(AA)

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

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

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

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

³¹ By faith the prostitute Rahab, because she welcomed the spies, was not killed with those who were disobedient.^[c](AN)

³² And what more shall I say? I do not have time to tell about Gideon,^(AO) Barak,^(AP) Samson^(AQ) and Jephthah,^(AR) about David^(AS) and Samuel^(AT) and the prophets, ³³ who through faith conquered kingdoms,^(AU) administered justice, and gained what was promised; who shut the mouths of lions,^{(AV) 34} quenched the fury of the flames,^(AW) and escaped the edge of the sword;^(AX) whose weakness was turned to strength;^(AY) and who became powerful in battle and routed foreign armies.^{(AZ) 35} Women received back their dead, raised to life again.^(BA) There were others who were tortured, refusing to be released so that they might gain an even better resurrection. ³⁶ Some faced jeers and flogging,^(BB) and even chains and imprisonment.^{(BC) 37} They were put to death by stoning;^[d](BD) they were sawed in two; they were killed by the sword.^(BE) They went about in sheepskins and goatskins,^(BF) destitute, persecuted and mistreated— ³⁸ the world was not worthy of them. They wandered in deserts and mountains, living in caves^(BG) and in holes in the ground.

³⁹ These were all commended^(BH) for their faith, yet none of them received what had been promised,^{(BI) 40} since God had planned something better for us so that only together with us^(BJ) would they be made perfect.^(BK)