Hebrews 11:1-16

By Faith

1 Now faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of e things not seen. 2 For by it the people of old received their commendation. 3 By faith we understand that the universe was created by f the word of God, so that what is seen was not made out of g things that are visible.

4 By faith h Abel offered to God i a more acceptable sacrifice than Cain, through which he was commended as righteous, God commending him by accepting his gifts. And j through his faith, though he died, he k still speaks. 5 By faith l Enoch was taken up so that he should not see death, and he was not found, because God had taken him. Now before he was taken he was commended as having pleased God. 6 And without faith it is impossible to please him, for whoever would draw near to God m must believe that he exists and m that he rewards those who seek him. 7 By faith n Noah, being warned by God concerning o events as yet unseen, in reverent fear constructed an ark for the saving of his household. By this he condemned the world and became an heir of p the righteousness that comes by faith.

8 By faith q Abraham obeyed when he was called to go out to a place r that he was to receive as an inheritance. And he went out, not knowing where he was going. 9 By faith he went to live in s the land of promise, as in a foreign land, t living in tents u with Isaac and Jacob, heirs with him of the same promise. 10 For he was looking forward to v the city that has w foundations, x whose designer and builder is God. 11 By faith y Sarah herself received power to conceive, even when she was past the age, since she considered z him faithful who had promised. 12 Therefore from one man, and a him as good as dead, were born descendants b as many as the stars of heaven and as many as the innumerable grains of sand by the seashore.

13 These all died in faith, c not having received the things promised, but d having seen them and greeted them from afar, and e having acknowledged that they were f strangers and exiles on the earth. 14 For people who speak thus make it clear that they are seeking a homeland. 15 If they had been thinking of that land from which they had gone out, g they would have had opportunity to return. 16 But as it is, they desire a better country, that is, a heavenly one. Therefore God is not ashamed h to be called their God, for i he has prepared for them a city.

  1. Cross References
    Romans 8:24
    For in this hope we were saved. Now hope that is seen is not hope. For who hopes for what he sees?
    2 Corinthians 4:18
    As we look not to the things that are seen but to the things that are unseen. For the things that are seen are transient, but the things that are unseen are eternal.
    2 Corinthians 5:7
    For we walk by faith, not by sight.
    1 Peter 1:8
    Though you have not seen him, you love him. Though you do not now see him, you believe in him and rejoice with joy that is inexpressible and filled with glory.
  2. Cross References
    Genesis 1:1
    In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth.
  3. Cross References
    Romans 4:17
    As it is written, "I have made you the father of many nations" - in the presence of the God in whom he believed, who gives life to the dead and calls into existence the things that do not exist.
  4. Cross References
    Genesis 4:4 - 8
    And Abel also brought of the firstborn of his flock and of their fat portions. And the Lord had regard for Abel and his offering.
    1 John 3:12
    We should not be like Cain, who was of the evil one and murdered his brother. And why did he murder him? Because his own deeds were evil and his brother's righteous.
  5. Cross References
    Proverbs 15:8
    The sacrifice of the wicked is an abomination to the Lord, but the prayer of the upright is acceptable to him.
  6. Cross References
    Genesis 4:10
    And the Lord said, "What have you done? The voice of your brother's blood is crying to me from the ground.
  7. Cross References
    Hebrews 12:24
    And to Jesus, the mediator of a new covenant, and to the sprinkled blood that speaks a better word than the blood of Abel.
  8. Cross References
    Genesis 5:22 - 24
    Enoch walked with God after he fathered Methuselah 300 years and had other sons and daughters.
    2 Kings 2:11
    And as they still went on and talked, behold, chariots of fire and horses of fire separated the two of them. And Elijah went up by a whirlwind into heaven.
  9. Cross References
    1 Chronicles 28:9
    And you, Solomon my son, know the God of your father and serve him with a whole heart and with a willing mind, for the Lord searches all hearts and understands every plan and thought. If you seek him, he will be found by you, but if you forsake him, he will cast you off forever.
    Jeremiah 29:12 - 14
    Then you will call upon me and come and pray to me, and I will hear you.
    John 4:24
    God is spirit, and those who worship him must worship in spirit and truth.
  10. Cross References
    1 Chronicles 28:9
    And you, Solomon my son, know the God of your father and serve him with a whole heart and with a willing mind, for the Lord searches all hearts and understands every plan and thought. If you seek him, he will be found by you, but if you forsake him, he will cast you off forever.
    Jeremiah 29:12 - 14
    Then you will call upon me and come and pray to me, and I will hear you.
    John 4:24
    God is spirit, and those who worship him must worship in spirit and truth.
  11. Cross References
    Genesis 6:13 - 22
    And God said to Noah, "I have determined to make an end of all flesh, for the earth is filled with violence through them. Behold, I will destroy them with the earth.
    Luke 17:26
    Just as it was in the days of Noah, so will it be in the days of the Son of Man.
    1 Peter 3:20
    Because they formerly did not obey, when God's patience waited in the days of Noah, while the ark was being prepared, in which a few, that is, eight persons, were brought safely through water.
  12. Cross References
    Hebrews 11:1
    Now faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen.
  13. Cross References
    Romans 4:13
    For the promise to Abraham and his offspring that he would be heir of the world did not come through the law but through the righteousness of faith.
    Genesis 6:9
    These are the generations of Noah. Noah was a righteous man, blameless in his generation. Noah walked with God.
    Ezekiel 14:14
    Even if these three men, Noah, Daniel, and Job, were in it, they would deliver but their own lives by their righteousness, declares the Lord God.
    Ezekiel 14:20
    Even if Noah, Daniel, and Job were in it, as I live, declares the Lord God, they would deliver neither son nor daughter. They would deliver but their own lives by their righteousness.
  14. Cross References
    Genesis 12:1 - 4
    Now the Lord said to Abram, "Go from your country and your kindred and your father's house to the land that I will show you.
    Acts 7:2 - 4
    And Stephen said: "Brothers and fathers, hear me. The God of glory appeared to our father Abraham when he was in Mesopotamia, before he lived in Haran.
  15. Cross References
    Genesis 12:7
    Then the Lord appeared to Abram and said, "To your offspring I will give this land." So he built there an altar to the Lord, who had appeared to him.
  16. Cross References
    Acts 7:5
    Yet he gave him no inheritance in it, not even a foot's length, but promised to give it to him as a possession and to his offspring after him, though he had no child.
  17. Cross References
    Genesis 12:8
    From there he moved to the hill country on the east of Bethel and pitched his tent, with Bethel on the west and Ai on the east. And there he built an altar to the Lord and called upon the name of the Lord.
    Genesis 13:3
    And he journeyed on from the Negeb as far as Bethel to the place where his tent had been at the beginning, between Bethel and Ai.
    Genesis 13:18
    So Abram moved his tent and came and settled by the oaks of Mamre, which are at Hebron, and there he built an altar to the Lord.
    Genesis 18:1
    And the Lord appeared to him by the oaks of Mamre, as he sat at the door of his tent in the heat of the day.
    Genesis 18:9
    They said to him, "Where is Sarah your wife?" And he said, "She is in the tent.
  18. Cross References
    Genesis 35:27
    And Jacob came to his father Isaac at Mamre, or Kiriath-arba (that is, Hebron), where Abraham and Isaac had sojourned.
  19. Cross References
    Hebrews 12:22
    But you have come to Mount Zion and to the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem, and to innumerable angels in festal gathering.
    Hebrews 13:14
    For here we have no lasting city, but we seek the city that is to come.
  20. Cross References
    Psalms 87:1
    On the holy mount stands the city he founded.
    Revelation 21:14
    And the wall of the city had twelve foundations, and on them were the twelve names of the twelve apostles of the Lamb.
  21. Cross References
    Revelation 21:2
    And I saw the holy city, new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband.
    Revelation 21:10
    And he carried me away in the Spirit to a great, high mountain, and showed me the holy city Jerusalem coming down out of heaven from God.
  22. Cross References
    Genesis 17:19
    God said, "No, but Sarah your wife shall bear you a son, and you shall call his name Isaac. I will establish my covenant with him as an everlasting covenant for his offspring after him.
    Genesis 18:11 - 14
    Now Abraham and Sarah were old, advanced in years. The way of women had ceased to be with Sarah.
    Genesis 21:2
    And Sarah conceived and bore Abraham a son in his old age at the time of which God had spoken to him.
  23. Cross References
    Hebrews 10:23
    Let us hold fast the confession of our hope without wavering, for he who promised is faithful.
  24. Cross References
    Romans 4:19
    He did not weaken in faith when he considered his own body, which was as good as dead ( since he was about a hundred years old), or when he considered the barrenness of Sarah's womb.
  25. Cross References
    Genesis 22:17
    I will surely bless you, and I will surely multiply your offspring as the stars of heaven and as the sand that is on the seashore. And your offspring shall possess the gate of his enemies.
    Genesis 32:12
    But you said, 'I will surely do you good, and make your offspring as the sand of the sea, which cannot be numbered for multitude.'
    Genesis 15:5
    And he brought him outside and said, "Look toward heaven, and number the stars, if you are able to number them." Then he said to him, "So shall your offspring be.
  26. Cross References
    Hebrews 11:39
    And all these, though commended through their faith, did not receive what was promised.
  27. Cross References
    Hebrews 11:27
    By faith he left Egypt, not being afraid of the anger of the king, for he endured as seeing him who is invisible.
    John 8:56
    Your father Abraham rejoiced that he would see my day. He saw it and was glad.
    Matthew 13:17
    For truly, I say to you, many prophets and righteous people longed to see what you see, and did not see it, and to hear what you hear, and did not hear it.
  28. Cross References
    Genesis 23:4
    "I am a sojourner and foreigner among you; give me property among you for a burying place, that I may bury my dead out of my sight."
    Genesis 47:9
    And Jacob said to Pharaoh, "The days of the years of my sojourning are 130 years. Few and evil have been the days of the years of my life, and they have not attained to the days of the years of the life of my fathers in the days of their sojourning.
    1 Chronicles 29:15
    For we are strangers before you and sojourners, as all our fathers were. Our days on the earth are like a shadow, and there is no abiding.
    Psalms 39:12
    Hear my prayer, O Lord, and give ear to my cry; hold not your peace at my tears! For I am a sojourner with you, a guest, like all my fathers.
  29. Cross References
    Ephesians 2:19
    So then you are no longer strangers and aliens, but you are fellow citizens with the saints and members of the household of God.
  30. Cross References
    Genesis 24:6 - 8
    Abraham said to him, "See to it that you do not take my son back there.
  31. Cross References
    Genesis 26:24
    And the Lord appeared to him the same night and said, "I am the God of Abraham your father. Fear not, for I am with you and will bless you and multiply your offspring for my servant Abraham's sake.
    Genesis 28:13
    And behold, the Lord stood above it and said, "I am the Lord, the God of Abraham your father and the God of Isaac. The land on which you lie I will give to you and to your offspring.
    Exodus 3:6
    And he said, "I am the God of your father, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob." And Moses hid his face, for he was afraid to look at God.
    Exodus 4:5
    "that they may believe that the Lord, the God of their fathers, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob, has appeared to you."
    Hebrews 2:11
    For he who sanctifies and those who are sanctified all have one source. That is why he is not ashamed to call them brothers.
  32. Cross References
    Hebrews 11:10
    For he was looking forward to the city that has foundations, whose designer and builder is God.
    Matthew 25:34
    Then the King will say to those on his right, 'Come, you who are blessed by my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world.
    John 14:2
    In my Father's house are many rooms. If it were not so, would I have told you that I go to prepare a place for you?
English Standard Version (ESV) The Holy Bible, English Standard Version Copyright © 2001 by Crossway Bibles, a division of Good News Publishers.