Add parallel Print Page Options

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. By faith he lived as a foreigner[a] in the promised land as though it were a foreign country, living in tents with Isaac and Jacob, who were fellow heirs[b] of the same promise. 10 For he was looking forward to the city with firm foundations,[c] whose architect and builder is God. 11 By faith, even though Sarah herself was barren and he was too old,[d] he received the ability to procreate,[e] because he regarded the one who had given the promise to be trustworthy. 12 So in fact children[f] 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[g] on the seashore.[h]

Read full chapter

Footnotes

  1. Hebrews 11:9 tn Or “settled as a resident alien.”
  2. Hebrews 11:9 tn Or “heirs with him.”
  3. Hebrews 11:10 tn Grk “that has foundations.”
  4. Hebrews 11:11 tn Grk “past the time of maturity.”
  5. Hebrews 11:11 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. Hebrews 11:12 tn Grk “these”; in the translation the referent (children) has been specified for clarity.
  7. Hebrews 11:12 tn Grk a collective “the sand.”
  8. Hebrews 11:12 sn An allusion to Gen 22:17 (which itself goes back to Gen 15:5).

By faith Abraham, when he was called, obeyed and set out for a place that he was going to receive as an inheritance. He went out, even though he did not know where he was going.(A) By faith he stayed as a foreigner in the land of promise, living in tents as did Isaac and Jacob, coheirs of the same promise.(B) 10 For he was looking forward to the city that has foundations, whose architect and builder is God.(C)

11 By faith even Sarah herself, when she was unable to have children, received power to conceive offspring, even though she was past the age, since she[a] considered that the one who had promised was faithful.(D) 12 Therefore, from one man—in fact, from one as good as dead—came offspring as numerous as the stars of the sky and as innumerable as the grains of sand along the seashore.(E)

Read full chapter

Footnotes

  1. 11:11 Or By faith Abraham, even though he was past age—and Sarah herself was barren—received the ability to procreate since he