A modern English translation drawn directly from the original Hebrew, Aramaic, and Greek texts. Translated word-for-word where possible, by a committee with scholarly oversight.
Uses the same source texts as the ESV, NASB, and most academic Bibles, including the Biblia Hebraica Stuttgartensia and the Nestle-Aland critical edition.
Hebrews 11
Hebrews 11 is the eleventh chapter of the book of Hebrews, often called the "hall of faith." The 40-verse chapter is a long catalog of Old Testament figures who lived by faith, offered as examples for the readers of the letter.
The chapter opens with a famous definition: "Now faith is the assurance of what we hope for and the certainty of what we do not see." By this faith, the ancients were commended. By faith, we understand that the universe was formed at God's command.
The catalog then begins. By faith Abel offered a better sacrifice than Cain. By faith Enoch was taken from this life without seeing death. By faith Noah, when warned about things not yet seen, built an ark to save his family.
The chapter then dwells at length on Abraham. By faith he obeyed and went, not knowing where he was going. He made his home in the promised land like a stranger, living in tents, looking forward to the city with foundations, whose architect and builder is God. By faith Sarah received the power to conceive past her age. By faith Abraham offered Isaac, reasoning that God could raise the dead.
The chapter continues. By faith Isaac blessed Jacob and Esau. By faith Jacob blessed Joseph's sons. By faith Joseph spoke about the exodus and gave instructions about his bones.
Moses receives an extended section. By faith his parents hid him for three months. By faith Moses refused to be called the son of Pharaoh's daughter, choosing to be mistreated with the people of God. By faith he kept the Passover. By faith the people passed through the Red Sea on dry land.
The pace then accelerates. By faith the walls of Jericho fell. By faith Rahab welcomed the spies. The chapter then names Gideon, Barak, Samson, Jephthah, David, Samuel, and the prophets, who through faith conquered kingdoms, shut the mouths of lions, escaped the sword, and turned weakness into strength.
Others are described who were tortured, mocked, flogged, imprisoned, stoned, and killed by the sword. They wandered in deserts, mountains, caves, and holes in the ground. The world was not worthy of them. The chapter closes by noting that none of them received what had been promised. God had planned something better for us, so that only together with us would they be made perfect.
Verse 1. Now faith is the assurance of what we hope for and the certainty of what we do not see.
Verse 2. This is why the ancients were commended.
Verse 3. 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.
Verse 4. By faith Abel offered God a better sacrifice than Cain did. By faith he was commended as righteous when God gave approval to his gifts. And by faith he still speaks, even though he is dead.
Verse 5. By faith Enoch was taken up so that he did not see death: “He could not be found, because God had taken him away.” For before he was taken, he was commended as one who pleased God.
Verse 6. And without faith it is impossible to please God. For anyone who approaches Him must believe that He exists and that He rewards those who earnestly seek Him.
Verse 7. By faith Noah, when warned about things not yet seen, in godly fear built an ark to save his family. By faith he condemned the world and became heir of the righteousness that comes by faith.
Verse 8. By faith Abraham, when called to go to a place he would later receive as his inheritance, obeyed and went, without knowing where he was going.
Verse 9. By faith he dwelt in the promised land as a stranger in a foreign country. He lived in tents, as did Isaac and Jacob, who were heirs with him of the same promise.
Verse 10. For he was looking forward to the city with foundations, whose architect and builder is God.
Verse 11. By faith Sarah, even though she was barren and beyond the proper age, was enabled to conceive a child, because she considered Him faithful who had promised.
Verse 12. And so from 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.
Verse 13. All these people died in faith, without having received the things they were promised. However, they saw them and welcomed them from afar. And they acknowledged that they were strangers and exiles on the earth.
Verse 14. Now those who say such things show that they are seeking a country of their own.
Verse 15. If they had been thinking of the country they had left, they would have had opportunity to return.
Verse 16. 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.
Verse 17. By faith Abraham, when he was tested, offered up Isaac on the altar. He who had received the promises was ready to offer his one and only son,
Verse 18. even though God had said to him, “Through Isaac your offspring will be reckoned.”
Verse 19. Abraham reasoned that God could raise the dead, and in a sense, he did receive Isaac back from death.
Verse 20. By faith Isaac blessed Jacob and Esau concerning the future.
Verse 21. By faith Jacob, when he was dying, blessed each of Joseph’s sons and worshiped as he leaned on the top of his staff.
Verse 22. By faith Joseph, when his end was near, spoke about the exodus of the Israelites and gave instructions about his bones.
Verse 23. By faith Moses’ parents hid him for three months after his birth, because they saw that he was a beautiful child, and they were unafraid of the king’s edict.
Verse 24. By faith Moses, when he was grown, refused to be called the son of Pharaoh’s daughter.
Verse 25. He chose to suffer oppression with God’s people rather than to experience the fleeting enjoyment of sin.
Verse 26. He valued disgrace for Christ above the treasures of Egypt, for he was looking ahead to his reward.
Verse 27. By faith Moses left Egypt, not fearing the king’s anger; he persevered because he saw Him who is invisible.
Verse 28. By faith he kept the Passover and the sprinkling of blood, so that the destroyer of the firstborn would not touch Israel’s own firstborn.
Verse 29. By faith the people passed through the Red Sea as on dry land; but when the Egyptians tried to follow, they were drowned.
Verse 30. By faith the walls of Jericho fell, after the people had marched around them for seven days.
Verse 31. By faith the prostitute Rahab, because she welcomed the spies in peace, did not perish with those who were disobedient.
Verse 32. And what more shall I say? Time will not allow me to tell of Gideon, Barak, Samson, Jephthah, David, Samuel, and the prophets,
Verse 33. who through faith conquered kingdoms, administered justice, and gained what was promised; who shut the mouths of lions,
Verse 34. quenched the raging fire, and escaped the edge of the sword; who gained strength from weakness, became mighty in battle, and put foreign armies to flight.
Verse 35. Women received back their dead, raised to life again. Others were tortured and refused their release, so that they might gain a better resurrection.
Verse 36. Still others endured mocking and flogging, and even chains and imprisonment.
Verse 37. They were stoned, they were sawed in two, they were put to death by the sword. They went around in sheepskins and goatskins, destitute, oppressed, and mistreated.
Verse 38. The world was not worthy of them. They wandered in deserts and mountains, and hid in caves and holes in the ground.
Verse 39. These were all commended for their faith, yet they did not receive what was promised.
Verse 40. God had planned something better for us, so that together with us they would be made perfect.
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