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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 NLT</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><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="../">NLT</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 Living Translation</td><td width="1%" valign="top"><a href="/p/nlt/esv/hebrews/11.shtml" style="color:#001320" title="Parallel Chapters"> Par ▾ </a></td></tr></table></div><div class="chap"><p class="hdg">Great Examples of Faith</p><p class="reg"><span class="reftext"><a href="http://biblehub.com/hebrews/11-1.htm"><b>1</b></a></span>Faith shows the reality of what we hope for; it is the evidence of things we cannot see. <span class="reftext"><a href="http://biblehub.com/hebrews/11-2.htm"><b>2</b></a></span>Through their faith, the people in days of old earned a good reputation.</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 entire universe was formed at God’s command, that what we now see did not come from anything that can be seen.</p><p class="reg"> <span class="reftext"><a href="http://biblehub.com/hebrews/11-4.htm"><b>4</b></a></span>It was by faith that Abel brought a more acceptable offering to God than Cain did. Abel’s offering gave evidence that he was a righteous man, and God showed his approval of his gifts. Although Abel is long dead, he still speaks to us by his example of faith.</p><p class="reg"> <span class="reftext"><a href="http://biblehub.com/hebrews/11-5.htm"><b>5</b></a></span>It was by faith that Enoch was taken up to heaven without dying—“he disappeared, because God took him.”<a href="#footnotes"><span class="fn">a</span></a> For before he was taken up, he was known as a person who pleased God. <span class="reftext"><a href="http://biblehub.com/hebrews/11-6.htm"><b>6</b></a></span>And it is impossible to please God without faith. Anyone who wants to come to him must believe that God exists and that he rewards those who sincerely seek him.</p><p class="reg"> <span class="reftext"><a href="http://biblehub.com/hebrews/11-7.htm"><b>7</b></a></span>It was by faith that Noah built a large boat to save his family from the flood. He obeyed God, who warned him about things that had never happened before. By his faith Noah condemned the rest of the world, and he received the righteousness that comes by faith.</p><p class="reg"> <span class="reftext"><a href="http://biblehub.com/hebrews/11-8.htm"><b>8</b></a></span>It was by faith that Abraham obeyed when God called him to leave home and go to another land that God would give him as his inheritance. He went without knowing where he was going. <span class="reftext"><a href="http://biblehub.com/hebrews/11-9.htm"><b>9</b></a></span>And even when he reached the land God promised him, he lived there by faith—for he was like a foreigner, living in tents. And so did Isaac and Jacob, who inherited the same promise. <span class="reftext"><a href="http://biblehub.com/hebrews/11-10.htm"><b>10</b></a></span>Abraham was confidently looking forward to a city with eternal foundations, a city designed and built by God.</p><p class="reg"> <span class="reftext"><a href="http://biblehub.com/hebrews/11-11.htm"><b>11</b></a></span>It was by faith that even Sarah was able to have a child, though she was barren and was too old. She believed<a href="#footnotes"><span class="fn">b</span></a> that God would keep his promise. <span class="reftext"><a href="http://biblehub.com/hebrews/11-12.htm"><b>12</b></a></span>And so a whole nation came from this one man who was as good as dead—a nation with so many people that, like the stars in the sky and the sand on the seashore, there is no way to count them.</p><p class="reg"> <span class="reftext"><a href="http://biblehub.com/hebrews/11-13.htm"><b>13</b></a></span>All these people died still believing what God had promised them. They did not receive what was promised, but they saw it all from a distance and welcomed it. They agreed that they were foreigners and nomads here on earth. <span class="reftext"><a href="http://biblehub.com/hebrews/11-14.htm"><b>14</b></a></span>Obviously people who say such things are looking forward to a country they can call their own. <span class="reftext"><a href="http://biblehub.com/hebrews/11-15.htm"><b>15</b></a></span>If they had longed for the country they came from, they could have gone back. <span class="reftext"><a href="http://biblehub.com/hebrews/11-16.htm"><b>16</b></a></span>But they were looking for a better place, a heavenly homeland. That is why 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>It was by faith that Abraham offered Isaac as a sacrifice when God was testing him. Abraham, who had received God’s promises, was ready to sacrifice his only son, Isaac, <span class="reftext"><a href="http://biblehub.com/hebrews/11-18.htm"><b>18</b></a></span>even though God had told him, “Isaac is the son through whom your descendants will be counted.”<a href="#footnotes"><span class="fn">c</span></a> <span class="reftext"><a href="http://biblehub.com/hebrews/11-19.htm"><b>19</b></a></span>Abraham reasoned that if Isaac died, God was able to bring him back to life again. And in a sense, Abraham did receive his son back from the dead.</p><p class="reg"> <span class="reftext"><a href="http://biblehub.com/hebrews/11-20.htm"><b>20</b></a></span>It was by faith that Isaac promised blessings for the future to his sons, Jacob and Esau.</p><p class="reg"> <span class="reftext"><a href="http://biblehub.com/hebrews/11-21.htm"><b>21</b></a></span>It was by faith that Jacob, when he was old and dying, blessed each of Joseph’s sons and bowed in worship as he leaned on his staff.</p><p class="reg"> <span class="reftext"><a href="http://biblehub.com/hebrews/11-22.htm"><b>22</b></a></span>It was by faith that Joseph, when he was about to die, said confidently that the people of Israel would leave Egypt. He even commanded them to take his bones with them when they left.</p><p class="reg"> <span class="reftext"><a href="http://biblehub.com/hebrews/11-23.htm"><b>23</b></a></span>It was by faith that Moses’ parents hid him for three months when he was born. They saw that God had given them an unusual child, and they were not afraid to disobey the king’s command.</p><p class="reg"> <span class="reftext"><a href="http://biblehub.com/hebrews/11-24.htm"><b>24</b></a></span>It was by faith that Moses, when he grew up, refused to be called 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 share the oppression of God’s people instead of enjoying the fleeting pleasures of sin. <span class="reftext"><a href="http://biblehub.com/hebrews/11-26.htm"><b>26</b></a></span>He thought it was better to suffer for the sake of Christ than to own the treasures of Egypt, for he was looking ahead to his great reward. <span class="reftext"><a href="http://biblehub.com/hebrews/11-27.htm"><b>27</b></a></span>It was by faith that Moses left the land of Egypt, not fearing the king’s anger. He kept right on going because he kept his eyes on the one who is invisible. <span class="reftext"><a href="http://biblehub.com/hebrews/11-28.htm"><b>28</b></a></span>It was by faith that Moses commanded the people of Israel to keep the Passover and to sprinkle blood on the doorposts so that the angel of death would not kill their firstborn sons.</p><p class="reg"> <span class="reftext"><a href="http://biblehub.com/hebrews/11-29.htm"><b>29</b></a></span>It was by faith that the people of Israel went right through the Red Sea as though they were on dry ground. But when the Egyptians tried to follow, they were all drowned.</p><p class="reg"> <span class="reftext"><a href="http://biblehub.com/hebrews/11-30.htm"><b>30</b></a></span>It was by faith that the people of Israel marched around Jericho for seven days, and the walls came crashing down.</p><p class="reg"> <span class="reftext"><a href="http://biblehub.com/hebrews/11-31.htm"><b>31</b></a></span>It was by faith that Rahab the prostitute was not destroyed with the people in her city who refused to obey God. For she had given a friendly welcome to the spies.</p><p class="reg"> <span class="reftext"><a href="http://biblehub.com/hebrews/11-32.htm"><b>32</b></a></span>How much more do I need to say? It would take too long to recount the stories of the faith of Gideon, Barak, Samson, Jephthah, David, Samuel, and all the prophets. <span class="reftext"><a href="http://biblehub.com/hebrews/11-33.htm"><b>33</b></a></span>By faith these people overthrew kingdoms, ruled with justice, and received what God had promised them. They shut the mouths of lions, <span class="reftext"><a href="http://biblehub.com/hebrews/11-34.htm"><b>34</b></a></span>quenched the flames of fire, and escaped death by the edge of the sword. Their weakness was turned to strength. They became strong in battle and put whole armies to flight. <span class="reftext"><a href="http://biblehub.com/hebrews/11-35.htm"><b>35</b></a></span>Women received their loved ones back again from death.</p><p class="reg">But others were tortured, refusing to turn from God in order to be set free. They placed their hope in a better life after the resurrection. <span class="reftext"><a href="http://biblehub.com/hebrews/11-36.htm"><b>36</b></a></span>Some were jeered at, and their backs were cut open with whips. Others were chained in prisons. <span class="reftext"><a href="http://biblehub.com/hebrews/11-37.htm"><b>37</b></a></span>Some died by stoning, some were sawed in half,<a href="#footnotes"><span class="fn">d</span></a> and others were killed with the sword. Some went about wearing skins of sheep and goats, destitute and oppressed and mistreated. <span class="reftext"><a href="http://biblehub.com/hebrews/11-38.htm"><b>38</b></a></span>They were too good for this world, wandering over deserts and mountains, hiding in caves and 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>All these people earned a good reputation because of their faith, yet none of them received all that God had promised. <span class="reftext"><a href="http://biblehub.com/hebrews/11-40.htm"><b>40</b></a></span>For God had something better in mind for us, so that they would not reach perfection without us.</p><A name="footnotes"></a><hr size="1" color="DDEEFF"><span class="mainfootnotes"><span class="mainfootnoteshdg">Footnotes:</span><br><span class="fn">a</span><note caller="+" style="f"><span class="fr">11:5 </span><span class="ft">Gen 5:24.</span><br><span class="fn">b</span><note caller="+" style="f"><span class="fr">11:11 </span><span class="ft">Or </span><span class="it">It was by faith that he [Abraham] was able to have a child, even though Sarah was barren and he was too old. He believed.</span><br><span class="fn">c</span><note caller="+" style="f"><span class="fr">11:18 </span><span class="ft">Gen 21:12.</span><br><span class="fn">d</span><note caller="+" style="f"><span class="fr">11:37 </span><span class="ft">Some manuscripts add </span><span class="it">some were tested.</span><br></span></div></div><div id="botbox"><div class="padbot"><div align="center"><em>Holy Bible</em>, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of <a href="http://www.tyndale.com">Tyndale House Publishers, Inc.</a>, Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. 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