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<!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD XHTML 1.0 Transitional//EN" "http://www.w3.org/TR/xhtml1/DTD/xhtml1-transitional.dtd"><html xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml"><head><meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=utf-8" /><meta name="viewport" content="width=device-width, initial-scale=1" /><title>Hebrews 11 NIV</title><link rel="stylesheet" href="/chapnew2.css" type="text/css" media="Screen" /><link rel="stylesheet" href="../spec.css" type="text/css" media="Screen" /><link rel="stylesheet" href="/print.css" type="text/css" media="Print" /></head> <script async src="https://www.googletagmanager.com/gtag/js?id=G-LR4HSKRP2H"></script> <script> window.dataLayer = window.dataLayer || []; function gtag(){dataLayer.push(arguments);} gtag('js', new Date()); gtag('config', 'G-LR4HSKRP2H'); </script><body><div id="fx"><table width="100%" border="0" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0" id="fx2"><tr><td><iframe width="100%" height="30" scrolling="no" src="../cmenus/hebrews/11.htm" align="left" frameborder="0"></iframe></td></tr></table></div><div id="blnk"></div><div align="center"><table width="100%" border="0" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0" class="maintable"><tr><td><div id="fx5"><table width="100%" border="0" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0" id="fx6"><tr><td><iframe width="100%" height="245" scrolling="no" src="../topmenuchap/hebrews/11-1.htm" frameborder="0"></iframe></td></tr></table></div></td></tr></table></div><div align="center"><table width="100%" border="0" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0" class="maintable3"><tr><td><table width="100%" border="0" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0" align="center" id="announce"><tr><td><div id="l1"><div id="breadcrumbs"><a href="http://biblehub.com">Bible</a> > <a href="../">NIV</a> > Hebrews 11</div><div id="anc"><iframe src="/anc.htm" width="100%" height="27" scrolling="no" frameborder="0"></iframe></div><div id="anc2"><table width="100%" border="0" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0" align="center"><tr><td><iframe src="/anc2.htm" width="100%" height="27" scrolling="no" frameborder="0"></iframe></td></tr></table></div></div></td></tr></table><div id="movebox2"><table border="0" align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0"><tr><td><div id="topheading"><a href="../hebrews/10.htm" title="Hebrews 10">◄</a> Hebrews 11 <a href="../hebrews/12.htm" title="Hebrews 12">►</a></div></td></tr></table></div><div align="center" class="maintable2"><table border="0" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0" align="center"><tr><td><div id="leftbox"><div class="padleft"><div class="vheading"><table width="100%"><tr><td width="99%" valign="top">New International Version</td><td width="1%" valign="top"><a href="/p/niv/esv/hebrews/11.shtml" style="color:#001320" title="Parallel Chapters"> Par ▾ </a></tr></table></div><div class="chap"><p class="sectionhead">Faith in Action</p><p class="reg"><span class="reftext"><a href="http://biblehub.com/hebrews/11-1.htm"><b>1</b></a></span>Now faith is confidence in what we hope for and assurance about what we do not see. <span class="reftext"><a href="http://biblehub.com/hebrews/11-2.htm"><b>2</b></a></span>This is what the ancients were commended for.</p> <p class="reg"><span class="reftext"><a href="http://biblehub.com/hebrews/11-3.htm"><b>3</b></a></span>By 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.</p> <p class="reg"><span class="reftext"><a href="http://biblehub.com/hebrews/11-4.htm"><b>4</b></a></span>By 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.</p> <p class="reg"><span class="reftext"><a href="http://biblehub.com/hebrews/11-5.htm"><b>5</b></a></span>By 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.” <span class="nivfootnote"><sup><a href="#footnotes" title="Gen. 5:24">a</a></sup></span> For before he was taken, he was commended as one who pleased God. <span class="reftext"><a href="http://biblehub.com/hebrews/11-6.htm"><b>6</b></a></span>And 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.</p> <p class="reg"><span class="reftext"><a href="http://biblehub.com/hebrews/11-7.htm"><b>7</b></a></span>By 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.</p> <p class="reg"><span class="reftext"><a href="http://biblehub.com/hebrews/11-8.htm"><b>8</b></a></span>By 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. <span class="reftext"><a href="http://biblehub.com/hebrews/11-9.htm"><b>9</b></a></span>By 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. <span class="reftext"><a href="http://biblehub.com/hebrews/11-10.htm"><b>10</b></a></span>For he was looking forward to the city with foundations, whose architect and builder is God. <span class="reftext"><a href="http://biblehub.com/hebrews/11-11.htm"><b>11</b></a></span>And by faith even Sarah, who was past childbearing age, was enabled to bear children because she <span class="nivfootnote"><sup><a href="#footnotes" title="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">b</a></sup></span> considered him faithful who had made the promise. <span class="reftext"><a href="http://biblehub.com/hebrews/11-12.htm"><b>12</b></a></span>And 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.</p> <p class="reg"><span class="reftext"><a href="http://biblehub.com/hebrews/11-13.htm"><b>13</b></a></span>All 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. <span class="reftext"><a href="http://biblehub.com/hebrews/11-14.htm"><b>14</b></a></span>People who say such things show that they are looking for a country of their own. <span class="reftext"><a href="http://biblehub.com/hebrews/11-15.htm"><b>15</b></a></span>If they had been thinking of the country they had left, they would have had opportunity to return. <span class="reftext"><a href="http://biblehub.com/hebrews/11-16.htm"><b>16</b></a></span>Instead, 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.</p> <p class="reg"><span class="reftext"><a href="http://biblehub.com/hebrews/11-17.htm"><b>17</b></a></span>By 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, <span class="reftext"><a href="http://biblehub.com/hebrews/11-18.htm"><b>18</b></a></span>even though God had said to him, “It is through Isaac that your offspring will be reckoned.” <span class="nivfootnote"><sup><a href="#footnotes" title="Gen. 21:12">c</a></sup></span> <span class="reftext"><a href="http://biblehub.com/hebrews/11-19.htm"><b>19</b></a></span>Abraham reasoned that God could even raise the dead, and so in a manner of speaking he did receive Isaac back from death.</p> <p class="reg"><span class="reftext"><a href="http://biblehub.com/hebrews/11-20.htm"><b>20</b></a></span>By faith Isaac blessed Jacob and Esau in regard to their future.</p> <p class="reg"><span class="reftext"><a href="http://biblehub.com/hebrews/11-21.htm"><b>21</b></a></span>By faith Jacob, when he was dying, blessed each of Joseph’s sons, and worshiped as he leaned on the top of his staff.</p> <p class="reg"><span class="reftext"><a href="http://biblehub.com/hebrews/11-22.htm"><b>22</b></a></span>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.</p> <p class="reg"><span class="reftext"><a href="http://biblehub.com/hebrews/11-23.htm"><b>23</b></a></span>By 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.</p> <p class="reg"><span class="reftext"><a href="http://biblehub.com/hebrews/11-24.htm"><b>24</b></a></span>By faith Moses, when he had grown up, refused to be known as the son of Pharaoh’s daughter. <span class="reftext"><a href="http://biblehub.com/hebrews/11-25.htm"><b>25</b></a></span>He chose to be mistreated along with the people of God rather than to enjoy the fleeting pleasures of sin. <span class="reftext"><a href="http://biblehub.com/hebrews/11-26.htm"><b>26</b></a></span>He regarded disgrace for the sake of Christ as of greater value than the treasures of Egypt, because he was looking ahead to his reward. <span class="reftext"><a href="http://biblehub.com/hebrews/11-27.htm"><b>27</b></a></span>By faith he left Egypt, not fearing the king’s anger; he persevered because he saw him who is invisible. <span class="reftext"><a href="http://biblehub.com/hebrews/11-28.htm"><b>28</b></a></span>By faith he kept the Passover and the application of blood, so that the destroyer of the firstborn would not touch the firstborn of Israel.</p> <p class="reg"><span class="reftext"><a href="http://biblehub.com/hebrews/11-29.htm"><b>29</b></a></span>By faith the people passed through the Red Sea as on dry land; but when the Egyptians tried to do so, they were drowned.</p> <p class="reg"><span class="reftext"><a href="http://biblehub.com/hebrews/11-30.htm"><b>30</b></a></span>By faith the walls of Jericho fell, after the army had marched around them for seven days.</p> <p class="reg"><span class="reftext"><a href="http://biblehub.com/hebrews/11-31.htm"><b>31</b></a></span>By faith the prostitute Rahab, because she welcomed the spies, was not killed with those who were disobedient. <span class="nivfootnote"><sup><a href="#footnotes" title="Or unbelieving">d</a></sup></span> </p> <p class="reg"><span class="reftext"><a href="http://biblehub.com/hebrews/11-32.htm"><b>32</b></a></span>And 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, <span class="reftext"><a href="http://biblehub.com/hebrews/11-33.htm"><b>33</b></a></span>who through faith conquered kingdoms, administered justice, and gained what was promised; who shut the mouths of lions, <span class="reftext"><a href="http://biblehub.com/hebrews/11-34.htm"><b>34</b></a></span>quenched 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. <span class="reftext"><a href="http://biblehub.com/hebrews/11-35.htm"><b>35</b></a></span>Women 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. <span class="reftext"><a href="http://biblehub.com/hebrews/11-36.htm"><b>36</b></a></span>Some faced jeers and flogging, and even chains and imprisonment. <span class="reftext"><a href="http://biblehub.com/hebrews/11-37.htm"><b>37</b></a></span>They were put to death by stoning; <span class="nivfootnote"><sup><a href="#footnotes" title="Some early manuscripts stoning; they were put to the test;">e</a></sup></span> they were sawed in two; they were killed by the sword. They went about in sheepskins and goatskins, destitute, persecuted and mistreated— <span class="reftext"><a href="http://biblehub.com/hebrews/11-38.htm"><b>38</b></a></span>the world was not worthy of them. They wandered in deserts and mountains, living in caves and in holes in the ground.</p> <p class="reg"><span class="reftext"><a href="http://biblehub.com/hebrews/11-39.htm"><b>39</b></a></span>These were all commended for their faith, yet none of them received what had been promised, <span class="reftext"><a href="http://biblehub.com/hebrews/11-40.htm"><b>40</b></a></span>since God had planned something better for us so that only together with us would they be made perfect.</p><hr size="1" color="DDEEFF"><span class="mainfootnotes"><A name="footnotes"></a><span class="mainfootnoteshdg">Footnotes:</span><br><span class="nivfootnotesbot">a</span> <span class="fnverse">5</span> <span class="footnotebot">Gen. 5:24</span><br><span class="nivfootnotesbot">b</span> <span class="fnverse">11</span> <span class="footnotebot">Or <i>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</i></span><br><span class="nivfootnotesbot">c</span> <span class="fnverse">18</span> <span class="footnotebot">Gen. 21:12</span><br><span class="nivfootnotesbot">d</span> <span class="fnverse">31</span> <span class="footnotebot">Or <i>unbelieving</i></span><br><span class="nivfootnotesbot">e</span> <span class="fnverse">37</span> <span class="footnotebot">Some early manuscripts <i>stoning; they were put to the test;</i></span><br><hr size="1" color="DDEEFF"></div></div><div id="botbox"><div class="padbot"><div align="center"><p class="ntext"><a href="http://niv.scripturetext.com/version.htm">New International Version</a> (NIV)</p><p class="ntext2">Holy Bible, New International Version&reg, NIV® Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by <a href="http://biblica.com">Biblica, Inc.</a>® Used by permission. 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