²⁴ Do you not know that in a race all the runners run, but only one receives ^(A)the prize? So ^(B)run that you may obtain it. ²⁵ Every ^(C)athlete exercises self-control in all things. They do it to receive a perishable wreath, but we ^(D)an imperishable.

Jesus, Founder and Perfecter of Our Faith

12 Therefore, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us also lay aside every weight, and ^(A)sin which clings so closely, and ^(B)let us run ^(C)with endurance the race that is ^(D)set before us, ² looking to Jesus, the founder and perfecter of our faith, ^(E)who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising ^(F)the shame, and ^(G)is seated at the right hand of the throne of God.

Jesus Calls the First Disciples

^18 (A)While walking by ^(B)the Sea of Galilee, he saw two brothers, Simon (who is called Peter) and Andrew his brother, casting a net into the sea, for they were fishermen. ¹⁹ And he said to them, “Follow me, and I will make you ^(C)fishers of men.”^{[a] 20} Immediately they left their nets and followed him. ²¹ And going on from there he saw two other brothers, James the son of Zebedee and John his brother, in the boat with Zebedee their father, mending their nets, and he called them. ²² Immediately they left the boat and their father and followed him.

Increasing Corruption on Earth

6 When man began to multiply on the face of the land and daughters were born to them, ² the sons of God saw that the daughters of man were attractive. And they took as their wives any they chose. ³ Then the Lord said, ^(A)“My Spirit shall not abide in^[a] man forever, ^(B)for he is flesh: his days shall be 120 years.” ⁴ The Nephilim^[b] were on the earth in those days, and also afterward, when the sons of God came in to the daughters of man and they bore children to them. These were the mighty men who were of old, the men of renown.

^5 (C)The Lord saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every ^(D)intention of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually. ⁶ And ^(E)the Lord regretted that he had made man on the earth, and it ^(F)grieved him to his heart. ⁷ So the Lord said, “I will blot out man whom I have created from the face of the land, man and animals and creeping things and birds of the heavens, for I am sorry that I have made them.” ⁸ But Noah ^(G)found favor in the eyes of the Lord.

Noah and the Flood

⁹ These are the generations of Noah. ^(H)Noah was a righteous man, ^(I)blameless in his generation. Noah ^(J)walked with God. ¹⁰ And Noah had three sons, Shem, Ham, and Japheth.

¹¹ Now the earth was corrupt in God's sight, and the earth was filled with violence. ¹² And God ^(K)saw the earth, and behold, it was corrupt, ^(L)for all flesh had corrupted their way on the earth. ¹³ And God said to Noah, ^(M)“I have determined to make an end of all flesh,^[c] for the earth is filled with violence through them. Behold, I will destroy them with the earth. ¹⁴ Make yourself an ark of gopher wood.^[d] Make rooms in the ark, and cover it inside and out with pitch. ¹⁵ This is how you are to make it: the length of the ark 300 cubits,^[e] its breadth 50 cubits, and its height 30 cubits. ¹⁶ Make a roof^[f] for the ark, and finish it to a cubit above, and set the door of the ark in its side. Make it with lower, second, and third decks. ^17 (N)For behold, I will bring a flood of waters upon the earth to destroy all flesh in which is the breath of life under heaven. Everything that is on the earth shall die. ¹⁸ But ^(O)I will establish my covenant with you, and you shall come into the ark, you, your sons, your wife, and your sons' wives with you. ¹⁹ And of every living thing of all flesh, you shall bring two of every sort into the ark to keep them alive with you. They shall be male and female. ²⁰ Of the birds according to their kinds, and of the animals according to their kinds, of every creeping thing of the ground, according to its kind, two of every sort shall come in to you to keep them alive. ²¹ Also take with you every sort of food that is eaten, and store it up. It shall serve as food for you and for them.” ^22 (P)Noah did this; he did all that God commanded him.

7 Then the Lord said to Noah, ^(Q)“Go into the ark, you and all your household, for I have seen that ^(R)you are righteous before me in this generation. ² Take with you seven pairs of all ^(S)clean animals,^[g] the male and his mate, and a pair of the animals that are not clean, the male and his mate, ³ and seven pairs^[h] of the birds of the heavens also, male and female, to keep their offspring alive on the face of all the earth. ⁴ For in seven days ^(T)I will send rain on the earth forty days and forty nights, ^(U)and every living thing^[i] that I have made I will blot out from the face of the ground.” ^5 (V)And Noah did all that the Lord had commanded him.

⁶ Noah was six hundred years old when the flood of waters came upon the earth. ⁷ And Noah and his sons and his wife and his sons' wives with him went into the ark to escape the waters of the flood. ⁸ Of clean animals, and of animals that are not clean, and of birds, and of everything that creeps on the ground, ⁹ two and two, male and female, went into the ark with Noah, as God had commanded Noah. ¹⁰ And after seven days the waters of the flood came upon the earth.

¹¹ In the six hundredth year of Noah's life, in the second month, on the seventeenth day of the month, on that day all the ^(W)fountains of the great deep burst forth, and ^(X)the windows of the heavens were opened. ¹² And rain fell upon the earth forty days and forty nights. ¹³ On the very same day Noah and his sons, Shem and Ham and Japheth, and Noah's wife and the three wives of his sons with them entered the ark, ¹⁴ they and every beast, according to its kind, and all the livestock according to their kinds, and every creeping thing that creeps on the earth, according to its kind, and every bird, according to its kind, every winged creature. ¹⁵ They ^(Y)went into the ark with Noah, two and two of all flesh in which there was the breath of life. ¹⁶ And those that entered, male and female of all flesh, went in ^(Z)as God had commanded him. And the Lord shut him in.

¹⁷ The flood ^(AA)continued forty days on the earth. The waters increased and bore up the ark, and it rose high above the earth. ¹⁸ The waters prevailed and increased greatly on the earth, and the ark floated on the face of the waters. ¹⁹ And the waters prevailed so mightily on the earth that all the high mountains under the whole heaven were covered. ²⁰ The waters prevailed above the mountains, covering them fifteen cubits^[j] deep. ²¹ And ^(AB)all flesh died that moved on the earth, birds, livestock, beasts, all swarming creatures that swarm on the earth, and all mankind. ²² Everything on the dry land ^(AC)in whose nostrils was the breath of life died. ²³ He blotted out every living thing that was on the face of the ground, man and animals and creeping things and birds of the heavens. They were blotted out from the earth. Only ^(AD)Noah was left, and those who were with him in the ark. ²⁴ And the waters prevailed on the earth 150 days.

The Flood Subsides

8 But God ^(AE)remembered Noah and all the beasts and all the livestock that were with him in the ark. And ^(AF)God made a wind blow over the earth, and the waters subsided. ^2 (AG)The fountains of the deep and ^(AH)the windows of the heavens were closed, the rain from the heavens was restrained, ³ and the waters receded from the earth continually. At the end ^(AI)of 150 days the waters had abated, ⁴ and in the seventh month, on the seventeenth day of the month, the ark came to rest on the mountains of ^(AJ)Ararat. ⁵ And the waters continued to abate until the tenth month; in the tenth month, on the first day of the month, the tops of the mountains were seen.

⁶ At the end of forty days Noah opened the window of the ark that he had made ⁷ and sent forth a raven. It went to and fro until the waters were dried up from the earth. ⁸ Then he sent forth a dove from him, to see if the waters had subsided from the face of the ground. ⁹ But the dove found no place to set her foot, and she returned to him to the ark, for the waters were still on the face of the whole earth. So he put out his hand and took her and brought her into the ark with him. ¹⁰ He waited another seven days, and again he sent forth the dove out of the ark. ¹¹ And the dove came back to him in the evening, and behold, in her mouth was a freshly plucked olive leaf. So Noah knew that the waters had subsided from the earth. ¹² Then he waited another seven days and sent forth the dove, and she did not return to him anymore.

¹³ In the six hundred and first year, in the first month, the first day of the month, the waters were dried from off the earth. And Noah removed the covering of the ark and looked, and behold, the face of the ground was dry. ¹⁴ In the second month, on the twenty-seventh day of the month, the earth had dried out. ¹⁵ Then God said to Noah, ¹⁶ “Go out from the ark, ^(AK)you and your wife, and your sons and your sons' wives with you. ¹⁷ Bring out with you every living thing that is with you of all flesh—birds and animals and every creeping thing that creeps on the earth—that they may swarm on the earth, and ^(AL)be fruitful and multiply on the earth.” ¹⁸ So Noah went out, and his sons and his wife and his sons' wives with him. ¹⁹ Every beast, every creeping thing, and every bird, everything that moves on the earth, went out by families from the ark.

God's Covenant with Noah

²⁰ Then Noah built an altar to the Lord and took some of every clean animal and some of every clean bird and offered burnt offerings on the altar. ²¹ And when the Lord smelled ^(AM)the pleasing aroma, the Lord said in his heart, “I will never again ^(AN)curse^[k] the ground because of man, for ^(AO)the intention of man's heart is evil from his youth. ^(AP)Neither will I ever again strike down every living creature as I have done. ^22 (AQ)While the earth remains, seedtime and harvest, cold and heat, summer and winter, ^(AR)day and night, shall not cease.”

9 And God blessed Noah and his sons and said to them, ^(AS)“Be fruitful and multiply and fill the earth. ^2 (AT)The fear of you and the dread of you shall be upon every beast of the earth and upon every bird of the heavens, upon everything that creeps on the ground and all the fish of the sea. Into your hand they are delivered. ^3 (AU)Every moving thing that lives shall be food for you. And ^(AV)as I gave you the green plants, I give you everything. ⁴ But you shall not eat flesh with its ^(AW)life, that is, its blood. ⁵ And for your lifeblood I will require a reckoning: ^(AX)from every beast I will require it and ^(AY)from man. From his fellow man I will require a reckoning for the life of man.

⁷ And you,^[l] be fruitful and multiply, increase greatly on the earth and multiply in it.”

⁸ Then God said to Noah and to his sons with him, ⁹ “Behold, ^(BB)I establish my covenant with you and your offspring after you, ¹⁰ and with every living creature that is with you, the birds, the livestock, and every beast of the earth with you, as many as came out of the ark; it is for every beast of the earth. ^11 (BC)I establish my covenant with you, that never again shall all flesh be cut off by the waters of the flood, and never again shall there be a flood to destroy the earth.” ¹² And God said, ^(BD)“This is the sign of the covenant that I make between me and you and every living creature that is with you, for all future generations: ¹³ I have set ^(BE)my bow in the cloud, and it shall be a sign of the covenant between me and the earth. ¹⁴ When I bring clouds over the earth and the bow is seen in the clouds, ^15 (BF)I will remember my covenant that is between me and you and every living creature of all flesh. And the waters shall never again become a flood to destroy all flesh. ¹⁶ When the bow is in the clouds, I will see it and remember ^(BG)the everlasting covenant between God and every living creature of all flesh that is on the earth.” ¹⁷ God said to Noah, “This is the sign of the covenant that I have established between me and all flesh that is on the earth.”

Noah's Descendants

¹⁸ The sons of Noah who went forth from the ark were ^(BH)Shem, Ham, and Japheth. (Ham was the father of Canaan.) ¹⁹ These three were the sons of Noah, and ^(BI)from these the people of the whole earth were dispersed.^[m]

²⁰ Noah began to be a man of the soil, and he planted a vineyard.^{[n] 21} He drank of the wine and became drunk and lay uncovered in his tent. ²² And Ham, the father of Canaan, saw the nakedness of his father and told his two brothers outside. ²³ Then Shem and Japheth took a garment, laid it on both their shoulders, and walked backward and covered the nakedness of their father. Their faces were turned backward, and they did not see their father's nakedness. ²⁴ When Noah awoke from his wine ^(BJ)and knew what his youngest son had done to him, ²⁵ he said,

²⁶ He also said,

²⁸ After the flood Noah lived 350 years. ²⁹ All the days of Noah were 950 years, and he died.

By Faith

11 Now faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of ^(A)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 ^(B)the word of God, so that what is seen was not made out of ^(C)things that are visible.

⁴ By faith ^(D)Abel offered to God ^(E)a more acceptable sacrifice than Cain, through which he was commended as righteous, God commending him by accepting his gifts. And ^(F)through his faith, though he died, he ^(G)still speaks. ⁵ By faith ^(H)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 ^(I)must believe that he exists and ^(J)that he rewards those who seek him. ⁷ By faith ^(K)Noah, being warned by God concerning ^(L)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 ^(M)the righteousness that comes by faith.

⁸ By faith ^(N)Abraham obeyed when he was called to go out to a place ^(O)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 ^(P)the land of promise, as in a foreign land, ^(Q)living in tents ^(R)with Isaac and Jacob, heirs with him of the same promise. ¹⁰ For he was looking forward to ^(S)the city that has ^(T)foundations, ^(U)whose designer and builder is God. ¹¹ By faith ^(V)Sarah herself received power to conceive, even when she was past the age, since she considered ^(W)him faithful who had promised. ¹² Therefore from one man, and ^(X)him as good as dead, were born descendants ^(Y)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, ^(Z)not having received the things promised, but ^(AA)having seen them and greeted them from afar, and ^(AB)having acknowledged that they were ^(AC)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, ^(AD)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 ^(AE)to be called their God, for ^(AF)he has prepared for them a city.

¹⁷ By faith ^(AG)Abraham, when he was tested, offered up Isaac, and he who had received the promises was in the act of offering up his only son, ¹⁸ of whom it was said, ^(AH)“Through Isaac shall your offspring be named.” ^19 (AI)He considered that God was able even to raise him from the dead, from which, figuratively speaking, he did receive him back. ²⁰ By faith ^(AJ)Isaac invoked future blessings on Jacob and Esau. ²¹ By faith ^(AK)Jacob, when dying, blessed each of the sons of Joseph, ^(AL)bowing in worship over the head of his staff. ²² By faith ^(AM)Joseph, at the end of his life, made mention of the exodus of the Israelites and gave directions concerning his bones.

²³ By faith ^(AN)Moses, when he was born, was hidden for three months by his parents, because they saw that the child was beautiful, and they were not afraid of ^(AO)the king's edict. ²⁴ By faith Moses, when he was grown up, ^(AP)refused to be called the son of Pharaoh's daughter, ^25 (AQ)choosing rather to be mistreated with the people of God than to enjoy ^(AR)the fleeting pleasures of sin. ^26 (AS)He considered the reproach of Christ greater wealth than the treasures of Egypt, for he was looking to ^(AT)the reward. ²⁷ By faith he ^(AU)left Egypt, ^(AV)not being afraid of the anger of the king, for he endured ^(AW)as seeing him who is invisible. ²⁸ By faith ^(AX)he kept the Passover and sprinkled the blood, so that the Destroyer of the firstborn might not touch them.

²⁹ By faith ^(AY)the people crossed the Red Sea as on dry land, but the Egyptians, when they attempted to do the same, were drowned. ³⁰ By faith ^(AZ)the walls of Jericho fell down after they had been encircled for seven days. ³¹ By faith ^(BA)Rahab the prostitute did not perish with those who were disobedient, because she ^(BB)had given a friendly welcome to the spies.

³² And what more shall I say? For time would fail me to tell of ^(BC)Gideon, ^(BD)Barak, ^(BE)Samson, ^(BF)Jephthah, of ^(BG)David and ^(BH)Samuel and the prophets— ³³ who through faith conquered kingdoms, enforced justice, obtained promises, ^(BI)stopped the mouths of lions, ^34 (BJ)quenched the power of fire, escaped the edge of the sword, were made strong out of weakness, ^(BK)became mighty in war, ^(BL)put foreign armies to flight. ^35 (BM)Women received back their dead by resurrection. Some were tortured, refusing to accept release, so that they might rise again to a better life. ³⁶ Others suffered mocking and flogging, and even ^(BN)chains and imprisonment. ^37 (BO)They were stoned, they were sawn in two,^{[a] (BP)}they were killed with the sword. ^(BQ)They went about in skins of sheep and goats, destitute, afflicted, mistreated— ³⁸ of whom the world was not worthy—^(BR)wandering about in deserts and mountains, and in dens and caves of the earth.

³⁹ And all these, ^(BS)though commended through their faith, ^(BT)did not receive what was promised, ⁴⁰ since God had provided something better for us, ^(BU)that apart from us they should not be made perfect.

The Conversion of Saul

9 But Saul, ^(A)still ^(B)breathing threats and murder against the disciples of the Lord, went to ^(C)the high priest ² and asked him for letters ^(D)to the synagogues at Damascus, so that if he found any belonging to ^(E)the Way, men or women, he might bring them bound to Jerusalem. ^3 (F)Now as he went on his way, he approached Damascus, and suddenly a light from heaven shone around him. ⁴ And falling to the ground, he heard a voice saying to him, “Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting ^(G)me?” ⁵ And he said, “Who are you, Lord?” And he said, “I am Jesus, ^(H)whom you are persecuting. ⁶ But ^(I)rise and enter the city, and you will be told ^(J)what you are to do.” ^7 (K)The men who were traveling with him stood speechless, ^(L)hearing the voice but seeing no one. ⁸ Saul rose from the ground, and although his eyes were opened, ^(M)he saw nothing. So they led him by the hand and brought him into Damascus. ⁹ And for three days he was without sight, and neither ate nor drank.

¹⁰ Now there was a disciple at Damascus named ^(N)Ananias. The Lord said to him in a vision, “Ananias.” And he said, ^(O)“Here I am, Lord.” ¹¹ And the Lord said to him, “Rise and go to the street called Straight, and at the house of Judas look for a man ^(P)of Tarsus named Saul, for behold, he is praying, ¹² and he has seen in a vision a man named Ananias come in and ^(Q)lay his hands on him so that he might regain his sight.”

¹⁸ praying ^(A)at all times ^(B)in the Spirit, ^(C)with all prayer and supplication. To that end, ^(D)keep alert with all perseverance, making ^(E)supplication for all the saints, ¹⁹ and ^(F)also for me, that words may be given to me in opening my mouth ^(G)boldly to proclaim ^(H)the mystery of the gospel,

^12 (A)Rejoice in hope, ^(B)be patient in tribulation, ^(C)be constant in prayer.