11:8 By faith Abraham obeyed when he was called to go out to a place he would later receive as an inheritance, and he went out without understanding where he was going. 11:9 By faith he lived as a foreigner 1 in the promised land as though it were a foreign country, living in tents with Isaac and Jacob, who were fellow heirs 2 of the same promise. 11:10 For he was looking forward to the city with firm foundations, 3 whose architect and builder is God. 11:11 By faith, even though Sarah herself was barren and he was too old, 4 he received the ability to procreate, 5 because he regarded the one who had given the promise to be trustworthy. 11:12 So in fact children 6 were fathered by one man – and this one as good as dead – like the number of stars in the sky and like the innumerable grains of sand 7 on the seashore. 8 11:13 These all died in faith without receiving the things promised, 9 but they saw them in the distance and welcomed them and acknowledged that they were strangers and foreigners 10 on the earth. 11:14 For those who speak in such a way make it clear that they are seeking a homeland. 11:15 In fact, if they had been thinking of the land that they had left, they would have had opportunity to return. 11:16 But as it is, 11 they aspire to a better land, that is, a heavenly one. Therefore, God is not ashamed to be called their God, for he has prepared a city for them. 11:17 By faith Abraham, when he was tested, offered up Isaac. He had received the promises, 12 yet he was ready to offer up 13 his only son. 11:18 God had told him, “Through Isaac descendants will carry on your name,” 14 11:19 and he reasoned 15 that God could even raise him from the dead, and in a sense 16 he received him back from there. 11:20 By faith also Isaac blessed Jacob and Esau concerning the future. 11:21 By faith Jacob, as he was dying, blessed each of the sons of Joseph and worshiped as he leaned on his staff. 17 11:22 By faith Joseph, at the end of his life, 18 mentioned the exodus of the sons of Israel 19 and gave instructions about his burial. 20
11:23 By faith, when Moses was born, his parents hid him 21 for three months, because they saw the child was beautiful and they were not afraid of the king’s edict. 11:24 By faith, when he grew up, Moses refused to be called the son of Pharaoh’s daughter, 11:25 choosing rather to be ill-treated with the people of God than to enjoy sin’s fleeting pleasure. 11:26 He regarded abuse suffered for Christ 22 to be greater wealth than the treasures of Egypt, for his eyes were fixed on 23 the reward. 11:27 By faith he left Egypt without fearing the king’s anger, for he persevered as though he could see the one who is invisible. 11:28 By faith he kept the Passover and the sprinkling of the blood, 24 so that the one who destroyed the firstborn would not touch them. 11:29 By faith they crossed the Red Sea as if on dry ground, but when the Egyptians tried it, they were swallowed up. 11:30 By faith the walls of Jericho 25 fell after the people marched around them 26 for seven days. 11:31 By faith Rahab the prostitute escaped the destruction of 27 the disobedient, because she welcomed the spies in peace.
11:32 And what more shall I say? For time will fail me if I tell of Gideon, Barak, Samson, Jephthah, of David and Samuel and the prophets.
1 tn Or “settled as a resident alien.”
2 tn Or “heirs with him.”
3 tn Grk “that has foundations.”
4 tn Grk “past the time of maturity.”
5 tn Grk “power to deposit seed.” Though it is not as likely, some construe this phrase to mean “power to conceive seed,” making the whole verse about Sarah: “by faith, even though Sarah herself was barren and too old, she received ability to conceive, because she regarded the one who had given the promise to be trustworthy.”
6 tn Grk “these”; in the translation the referent (children) has been specified for clarity.
7 tn Grk a collective “the sand.”
8 sn An allusion to Gen 22:17 (which itself goes back to Gen 15:5).
9 tn Grk “the promises,” referring to the things God promised, not to the pledges themselves.
10 tn Or “sojourners.”
11 tn Grk “now.”
12 tn Here “received the promises” refers to the pledges themselves, not to the things God promised.
13 tn Grk “he was offering up.” The tense of this verb indicates the attempt or readiness to sacrifice Isaac without the actual completion of the deed.
14 tn Grk “in Isaac seed will be named for you.”
15 tn Grk “having reasoned,” continuing the ideas of v. 17.
16 tn Grk “in/by a symbol.”
17 tn Grk “worshiped on the top of his staff,” a quotation from Gen 47:31 (LXX).
18 tn Grk “coming to an end,” “dying.”
19 sn Joseph’s prophecy about the exodus of the sons of Israel is found in Gen 50:24.
20 tn Grk “about his bones,” which refers by metonymy to the disposition of his bones, i.e., his burial.
21 tn Grk “Moses, when he was born, was hidden by his parents.”
22 tn Grk “the abuse [or ‘reproach’] of Christ.”
23 tn Grk “he was looking away to.”
24 tn Grk “the pouring out of the blood.”
25 map For location see Map5-B2; Map6-E1; Map7-E1; Map8-E3; Map10-A2; Map11-A1.
26 tn Grk “after they had been encircled.”
27 tn Grk “did not perish together with.”