New Testament in a Year

Examples of Faith in Action

11 Now faith is the realization of what is hoped for, the proof of things not seen. ² For by this the people of old were approved. ³ By faith we understand the worlds were created by the word of God, in order that what is seen did not come into existence from what is visible.

⁴ By faith Abel offered to God a greater sacrifice than Cain, by which he was approved that he was righteous, because^[a] God approved him for his gifts, and through it^[b] he still speaks, although he^[c] is dead. ⁵ By faith Enoch was taken up, so that he did not experience death, and he was not found, because God took him up. For before his removal, he had been approved as having been pleasing^[d] to God. ⁶ Now without faith it is impossible to please him, for the one who approaches God must believe that he exists and is a rewarder of those who seek him. ⁷ By faith Noah, having been warned about things not yet seen, out of reverence constructed an ark for the deliverance of his family, by which he pronounced sentence on the world and became an heir of the righteousness that comes by faith.

⁸ By faith Abraham, when he^[e] was called, obeyed to go out to a place that he was going to receive for an inheritance, and he went out, not knowing where he was going. ⁹ By faith he lived in the land of promise as a stranger, living in tents with Isaac and Jacob, the fellow heirs of the same promise. ¹⁰ For he was expecting the city that has foundations, whose architect and builder is God. ¹¹ By faith also, with Sarah^[f],^[g] he received the ability to procreate^[h] even past the normal age^[i], because he regarded the one who had promised to be faithful. ¹² And therefore these were fathered from one man, and he being as good as dead, as the stars of heaven in number and like the innumerable sand by the shore of the sea.

¹³ These all died in faith without receiving the promises, but seeing them from a distance and welcoming them, and admitting that they were strangers and temporary residents on the earth. ¹⁴ For those who say such things make clear that they are seeking a homeland. ¹⁵ And if they remember^[j] that land from which they went out, they would have had opportunity to return. ¹⁶ But now they aspire to a better land, that is, a heavenly one. Therefore God is not ashamed of them, to be called their God, for he has prepared for them a city.

¹⁷ By faith Abraham, when he was tested, offered Isaac, and the one who received the promises was ready to offer his one and only son, ¹⁸ with reference to whom it was said, “In Isaac your descendants will be named,”^{[k] 19} having reasoned that God was able even to raise him from the dead, from which he received him back also as a symbol.