Hebrews 11 :: New International Version (NIV)

Faith in Action

Heb 11:1Now faith is confidence in what we hope for and assurance about what we do not see.

Heb 11:2This is what the ancients were commended for.

Heb 11:3By faith we understand that the universe was formed at God’s command, so that what is seen was not made out of what was visible.

(Gen 4:1–16; 5:18–24; 6:5—8:22 )

Heb 11:4

Heb 11:4By faith Abel brought God a better offering than Cain did. By faith he was commended as righteous, when God spoke well of his offerings. And by faith Abel still speaks, even though he is dead.

Heb 11:5

Heb 11:5By 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.”[fn] For before he was taken, he was commended as one who pleased God.

Heb 11:6

Heb 11:6And without faith it is impossible to please God, because anyone who comes to him must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who earnestly seek him.

Heb 11:7

Heb 11:7By faith Noah, when warned about things not yet seen, in holy fear built an ark to save his family. By his faith he condemned the world and became heir of the righteousness that is in keeping with faith.

(Gen 15:1–6; 21:1–7 )

Heb 11:8

Heb 11:8By faith Abraham, when called to go to a place he would later receive as his inheritance, obeyed and went, even though he did not know where he was going.

Heb 11:9

Heb 11:9By faith he made his home in the promised land like a stranger in a foreign country; he lived in tents, as did Isaac and Jacob, who were heirs with him of the same promise.

Heb 11:10

Heb 11:10For he was looking forward to the city with foundations, whose architect and builder is God.

Heb 11:11

Heb 11:11And by faith even Sarah, who was past childbearing age, was enabled to bear children because she[fn] considered him faithful who had made the promise.

Heb 11:12

Heb 11:12And so from this one man, and he as good as dead, came descendants as numerous as the stars in the sky and as countless as the sand on the seashore.

Heb 11:13

Heb 11:13All these people were still living by faith when they died. They did not receive the things promised; they only saw them and welcomed them from a distance, admitting that they were foreigners and strangers on earth.

Heb 11:14

Heb 11:14People who say such things show that they are looking for a country of their own.

Heb 11:15

Heb 11:15If they had been thinking of the country they had left, they would have had opportunity to return.

Heb 11:16

Heb 11:16Instead, they were longing for a better country—a heavenly one. Therefore God is not ashamed to be called their God, for he has prepared a city for them.

(Gen 22:1–14; 48:8–16; 50:22–25 )

Heb 11:17

Heb 11:17By faith Abraham, when God tested him, offered Isaac as a sacrifice. He who had embraced the promises was about to sacrifice his one and only son,

Heb 11:18

Heb 11:18even though God had said to him, “It is through Isaac that your offspring will be reckoned.”[fn]

Heb 11:19

Heb 11:19Abraham reasoned that God could even raise the dead, and so in a manner of speaking he did receive Isaac back from death.

Heb 11:20

Heb 11:20By faith Isaac blessed Jacob and Esau in regard to their future.

Heb 11:21

Heb 11:21By faith Jacob, when he was dying, blessed each of Joseph’s sons, and worshiped as he leaned on the top of his staff.

Heb 11:22

Heb 11:22By 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.

(Exo 2:1–10; 12:31–51 )

Heb 11:23

Heb 11:23By faith Moses’ parents hid him for three months after he was born, because they saw he was no ordinary child, and they were not afraid of the king’s edict.

Heb 11:24

Heb 11:24By faith Moses, when he had grown up, refused to be known as the son of Pharaoh’s daughter.

Heb 11:25

Heb 11:25He chose to be mistreated along with the people of God rather than to enjoy the fleeting pleasures of sin.

Heb 11:26

Heb 11:26He regarded disgrace for the sake of Christ as of greater value than the treasures of Egypt, because he was looking ahead to his reward.

Heb 11:27

Heb 11:27By faith he left Egypt, not fearing the king’s anger; he persevered because he saw him who is invisible.

Heb 11:28

Heb 11:28By faith he kept the Passover and the application of blood, so that the destroyer of the firstborn would not touch the firstborn of Israel.

Heb 11:29

Heb 11:29By faith the people passed through the Red Sea as on dry land; but when the Egyptians tried to do so, they were drowned.

Heb 11:30

Heb 11:30By faith the walls of Jericho fell, after the army had marched around them for seven days.

Heb 11:31

Heb 11:31By faith the prostitute Rahab, because she welcomed the spies, was not killed with those who were disobedient.[fn]

Heb 11:32

Heb 11:32And what more shall I say? I do not have time to tell about Gideon, Barak, Samson and Jephthah, about David and Samuel and the prophets,

Heb 11:33

Heb 11:33who through faith conquered kingdoms, administered justice, and gained what was promised; who shut the mouths of lions,

Heb 11:34

Heb 11:34quenched the fury of the flames, and escaped the edge of the sword; whose weakness was turned to strength; and who became powerful in battle and routed foreign armies.

Heb 11:35

Heb 11:35Women received back their dead, raised to life again. There were others who were tortured, refusing to be released so that they might gain an even better resurrection.

Heb 11:36

Heb 11:36Some faced jeers and flogging, and even chains and imprisonment.

Heb 11:37

Heb 11:37They were put to death by stoning;[fn] they were sawed in two; they were killed by the sword. They went about in sheepskins and goatskins, destitute, persecuted and mistreated—

Heb 11:38

Heb 11:38the world was not worthy of them. They wandered in deserts and mountains, living in caves and in holes in the ground.

Heb 11:39

Heb 11:39These were all commended for their faith, yet none of them received what had been promised,

Heb 11:40

Heb 11:40since God had planned something better for us so that only together with us would they be made perfect.

See the NIV Preface (Especially for Parenthesis, Brackets, & Asterisks).

NIV Footnotes

(11:5)

Gen. 5:24

(11:11)

Or By faith Abraham, even though he was too old to have children—and Sarah herself was not able to conceive—was enabled to become a father because he

Or unbelieving

Some early manuscripts stoning; they were put to the test;

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