Old/New Testament

What faith is, and a commendation of the same. The steadfast belief of the fathers in old time.

11 Faith is a sure confidence of things that are hoped for, and a certainty of things that are not seen. ² By it the elders were well reported of.

  ³ Through faith we understand that the world and all the things which are seen were made of nothing by the word of God.

⁴ By faith Abel offered to God a better sacrifice than Cain, by which he obtained witness that he was righteous, God testifying of his gifts; by which also he being dead still speaks.

⁵ By faith Enoch was translated so that he would not see death, and was not to be found, because God had taken him away. Before he was taken away, he was reported of that he had pleased God. ⁶ But without faith, it is impossible to please him. For the person who comes to God must believe that God is, and that he is a rewarder of those who seek him.

⁷ By faith Noah honoured God after he was warned of things that were not yet seen, and prepared the ark for the saving of his household – through which ark he condemned the world and became heir of the righteousness that comes by faith.

⁸ By faith Abraham, when he was called, obeyed, to go out into a place that he would afterward receive as an inheritance. And he went out not knowing where he should go. ⁹ By faith he moved into the land that was promised him as into a strange country, and dwelt in tents; and so did Isaac and Jacob, heirs with him of the same promise. ¹⁰ For he looked for a city having a foundation, whose builder and maker is God.

¹¹ Through faith Sarah also received strength to be with child, and was delivered of a child when she was past age, because she judged him faithful who had promised. ¹² And therefore there came from one (and from one who was as good as dead) as many descendants as the stars of the sky, and as the sand of the seashore, which is innumerable.

¹³ And they all died in faith, and did not obtain the promises, but saw them afar off, and believed them, and hailed them, and confessed that they were strangers and pilgrims on the earth. ¹⁴ People who say such things show that they are seeking a country. ¹⁵ Also, if they had been mindful of that country that they came from, they were free to have returned again. ¹⁶ But now they desire a better country; that is to say, a heavenly one. And so God is not ashamed of them, even to be called their God. For he has prepared for them a city.

¹⁷ By faith Abraham, when he was proved, offered up Isaac. And he offered him being his only begotten son that had the promises ¹⁸ (of whom it was said: In Isaac shall your seed be called), ¹⁹ because he considered that God was able to raise him up again from death. Therefore he received him back, for a figure.