Hebrews 11 - New Catholic Bible (NCB)

The People of Faith^[a]

Chapter 11

What Faith Is. ¹ Faith is the assurance of what we hope for and the conviction about things that cannot be seen.^{[b] 2} Indeed, it was because of it that our ancestors were commended.

³ By faith we understand that the universe was created by the word of God, so that what is seen came into being from the invisible.

The Faith of the Early Patriarchs.^{[c] 4} By faith Abel^[d] offered to God a better sacrifice than that of Cain. Because of this he was attested as righteous, God himself bearing witness to his gifts. Although he is dead, he continues to speak through it.

⁵ By faith Enoch^[e] was taken up so that he did not see death. He was found no more, because God had taken him, and before he was taken up he was attested to have pleased God. ⁶ But without faith it is impossible to please him, for whoever comes to God must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who seek him.

⁷ By faith Noah,^[f] having been warned by God about things not yet seen, took heed and built an ark to save his household. Through his faith he condemned the world and inherited the righteousness that derives from faith.

The Faith of Abraham and His Descendants. ⁸ By faith Abraham^[g] obeyed when he was called to set out for a place that he was to receive as an inheritance. He went forth without knowing where he was going. ⁹ By faith he sojourned in the promised land as in a foreign country, dwelling in tents with Isaac and Jacob, who were heirs with him of the same promise. ¹⁰ For he was looking forward to a city with firm foundations, whose architect and builder is God.

¹¹ By faith Abraham also received the power of procreation, even though he was well past the age—and Sarah herself was barren^[h]—because he believed that the one who had made the promise would be faithful in fulfilling it. ¹² Therefore, from one man, himself as good as dead, came forth descendants as numerous as the stars of heaven and as innumerable as the grains of sand on the seashore.

¹³ All these died in faith without having received what had been promised, but from a distance they saw far ahead how those promises would be fulfilled and welcomed them, and acknowledged themselves to be strangers and foreigners on the earth. ¹⁴ People who speak in this way make it clear that they are looking for a country of their own. ¹⁵ If they had been thinking of the land that they had left behind, they would have had the opportunity to return. ¹⁶ But in fact they were longing for a better country, a heavenly one. Therefore, God is not ashamed to be called their God, for he has prepared a city for them.

¹⁷ By faith Abraham, when put to the test, offered up Isaac. He who had received the promises was ready to offer up his only son, ¹⁸ of whom he had been told, “Through Isaac descendants shall bear your name.” ¹⁹ For he reasoned that God was able even to raise someone from the dead, and in a sense he was given back Isaac from the dead.^{[i] 20} By faith Isaac^[j] gave his blessings to Jacob and Esau for the future.

²¹ By faith Jacob,^[k] as he was dying, blessed each one of the sons of Joseph and bowed in worship, leaning on his staff.

²² By faith Joseph,^[l] near the end of his life, mentioned the Exodus of the Israelites and gave instructions about his burial.

²³ By faith Moses^[m] was hidden by his parents for three months after his birth, because they saw that he was a beautiful child, and they did not fear the king’s edict.

²⁴ By faith Moses, when he had grown up, refused to be called a son of Pharaoh’s daughter. ²⁵ He preferred to be ill-treated along with the people of God rather than to enjoy the fleeting pleasures of sin. ²⁶ He considered that abuse suffered for the sake of the Messiah was a more precious gift than all the treasures of Egypt, for he was looking ahead to the final reward.

²⁷ By faith Moses departed from Egypt, unafraid of the wrath of the king; he persevered as if he could see the one who is invisible.

²⁸ By faith he kept the Passover and sprinkled the blood so that the Destroyer would not harm the firstborn of Israel.

²⁹ The Faith of the Israelites and Rahab. By faith the people crossed the Red Sea as though it were dry land. However, when the Egyptians attempted to do so, they were drowned.

³⁰ By faith the walls of Jericho^[n] fell when the people had marched around them for seven days.

³¹ By faith Rahab^[o] the prostitute did not perish with those who were disobedient, for she had received the spies in peace.

³² The Faith of the Judges and Prophets. What more shall I say? Time is too short for me to speak of Gideon, Barak, Samson, and Jephthah, of David and Samuel and the Prophets,^{[p] 33} who by faith conquered kingdoms, administered justice, and obtained the promises. They closed the mouths of lions,^{[q] 34} quenched raging fires,^[r] and escaped the edge of the sword. Their weakness was turned into strength as they became mighty in battle and put foreign armies to flight.

³⁵ Women received their dead^[s] back through resurrection. Others who were tortured refused to accept release in order to obtain a better resurrection. ³⁶ Still others were mocked and scourged, even to the point of enduring chains and imprisonment.

³⁷ They were stoned,^[t] or sawed in two, or put to death by the sword. They went about in skins of sheep or goats—destitute, persecuted, and tormented. ³⁸ The world was not worthy of them. They wandered about in desert areas and on mountains, and they lived in dens and caves of the earth.

³⁹ Yet all these, even though they were commended for their faith, did not receive what was promised. ⁴⁰ For God had made provision for us to have something better, and they were not to achieve perfection except with us.^[u]

Footnotes

1. Hebrews 11:1 Before exhorting his readers to serve Christ, the author shows the importance and power of faith throughout sacred history. This is a magnificent chapter of Biblical theology that should inspire the courage of believers and urge them to read the Old Testament in order to give new vigor to the impulse of faith.
2. Hebrews 11:1 Theologians have often cited this sentence. Faith establishes human beings in the invisible and orients them toward the future, toward the fulfillment. The spiritual writer Charles Péguy affirmed: “The faith that I love most, says God, is hope.”
3. Hebrews 11:4 Christian faith has firm roots in the Old Testament. Note v. 6, in which theologians have seen an assertion of the irreplaceable necessity of faith for salvation: the belief that God exists and has a personal relationship with human beings. The references to Biblical personages and the Old Testament citations are mainly from the Book of Genesis, from Exodus when speaking of Moses, and from Joshua and the following Books when speaking of the others. But the author adds non-Biblical details, such as the fate that legend attributed to Isaiah (v. 37). A similar list of heroes is found in Sirach (44:1—50:21).
4. Hebrews 11:4 Abel: see Gen 4:1-15. Christ himself referred to the righteousness of Abel (see Mt 23:35).
5. Hebrews 11:5 Enoch: see note on Gen 4:25—5:32 (last paragraph).
6. Hebrews 11:7 Noah: see Gen 5:28—9:29; Ezek 14:14.
7. Hebrews 11:8 Abraham: see Gen 11:27—25:11. The New Testament refers to this Patriarch as the exemplar of those who live by faith and as the father of all believers (see Rom 4:11f, 16; Gal 3:7, 9, 29).
8. Hebrews 11:11 Sarah herself was barren: probably refers to the fact that she was past the age of childbearing (see Gen 18:11f).
9. Hebrews 11:19 Isaac, who was to be sacrificed, was saved and came back from the dead, so to speak (see Gen 22); in this respect, he prefigured Jesus crucified and risen.
10. Hebrews 11:20 Isaac: see Gen 27:1—28:5.
11. Hebrews 11:21 Jacob: see Gen 47:28—49:33. Each one of the sons: both of Joseph’s sons, Ephraim and Manasseh, received a blessing from Jacob; hence two tribes descended from Joseph whereas only one tribe descended from each of his brothers.
12. Hebrews 11:22 Joseph: see Gen 37:1—50:26.
13. Hebrews 11:23 Moses: see Ex 1–15; Acts 7:17-36.
14. Hebrews 11:30 Jericho: see Jos 6. The Israelites did not conquer the city through military action but merely followed God’s instructions in faith (see 2 Cor 10:4).
15. Hebrews 11:31 Rahab: see Jos 2:1-24; 6:22-25; Mt 1:5; Jas 2:25.
16. Hebrews 11:32 All those mentioned in this verse held positions of power (Judges, Prophets, and one King), but none is praised for anything but faith in God. They are given in pairs and out of chronological order, with the more important person mentioned first. Gideon: see Jdg 6–9; Barak: see Jdg 4–5. Samson: see Jdg 13–16; Jephthah: see Jdg 11–12. David: King (see 1 Sam 13:14; 16:1, 12; Acts 13:22) and Prophet (see Heb 4:7; 2 Sam 23:1-3; Mk 12:36); Samuel and the Prophets: Samuel was the last of the Judges and the first of the Prophets (see 1 Sam 7:15; Acts 3:24; 13:20); he anointed David as King (see 1 Sam 16:13) and was renowned as a man of intercessory prayer (see 1 Sam 12:19, 23; Jer 15:1).
17. Hebrews 11:33 Mouths of lions: e.g., Daniel in the lions’ den (see Dan 6).
18. Hebrews 11:34 Quenched raging fires: e.g., Daniel’s friends, Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, in the fiery furnace (see Dan 3).
19. Hebrews 11:35 Their dead: allusion to the two miracles worked by Elijah and Elisha (1 Ki 17:23; 2 Ki 4:36). Tortured: e.g., the Maccabean patriots of the second century B.C. (see 2 Mac 7).
20. Hebrews 11:37 They were stoned: e.g., Zechariah, the son of Jehoiada the priest, who was put to death for stating the truth (see 2 Chr 24:20-22; Lk 11:51). Sawed in two: an ancient Jewish tradition said that Isaiah was killed in this way by order of King Manasseh.
21. Hebrews 11:40 The saints of the Old Testament were able to reach the perfection of life with God only through Christ, who is “the resurrection and the life” (Jn 11:25f).