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8(A) Abraham had faith and obeyed God. He was told to go to the land that God had said would be his, and he left for a country he had never seen. 9(B) Because Abraham had faith, he lived as a stranger in the promised land. He lived there in a tent, and so did Isaac and Jacob, who were later given the same promise. 10Abraham did this, because he was waiting for the eternal city God had planned and built.
11(C) Even when Sarah was too old to have children, she had faith that God would do what he had promised, and she had a son. 12(D) Her husband Abraham was almost dead, but he became the ancestor of many people. In fact, there are as many of them as there are stars in the sky or grains of sand along the seashore.
13(E) Every one of those people died. But they still had faith, even though they had not received what they had been promised. They were glad just to see these things from far away, and they agreed that they were only strangers and foreigners on this earth. 14When people talk this way, it is clear they are looking for a place to call their own. 15If they had been talking about the land where they had once lived, they could have gone back at any time. 16But they were looking forward to a better home in heaven. This is why God wasn't ashamed for them to call him their God. He even built a city for them.
17-18(F)(G) Abraham had been promised that Isaac, his only son,[a] would continue his family. But when Abraham was tested, he had faith and was willing to sacrifice Isaac, 19because he was sure that God could raise people to life. This was just like getting Isaac back from death.
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Footnotes
- 11.17,18 his only son: Although Abraham had a son by a slave woman, his son Isaac was considered his only son, because he was born as a result of God's promise to Abraham.
Cross references
- 11.8 : Gn 12.1-5.
- 11.9 : Gn 35.27.
- 11.11 : Gn 18.11-14; 21.2.
- 11.12 : Gn 15.5; 22.17; 32.12.
- 11.13 : Gn 23.4; 1 Ch 29.15; Ps 39.12.
- 11.17,18 : Gn 21.12; 22.1-14.
- 11.17-19 : 4 Macc 13.12.
8By faith Abraham, when called to go to a place he would later receive as his inheritance,(A) obeyed and went,(B) even though he did not know where he was going. 9By faith he made his home in the promised land(C) like a stranger in a foreign country; he lived in tents,(D) as did Isaac and Jacob, who were heirs with him of the same promise.(E) 10For he was looking forward to the city(F) with foundations,(G) whose architect and builder is God.(H) 11And by faith even Sarah, who was past childbearing age,(I) was enabled to bear children(J) because she[a] considered him faithful(K) who had made the promise. 12And so from this one man, and he as good as dead,(L) came descendants as numerous as the stars in the sky and as countless as the sand on the seashore.(M)
13All these people were still living by faith when they died. They did not receive the things promised;(N) they only saw them and welcomed them from a distance,(O) admitting that they were foreigners and strangers on earth.(P) 14People who say such things show that they are looking for a country of their own. 15If they had been thinking of the country they had left, they would have had opportunity to return.(Q) 16Instead, they were longing for a better country—a heavenly one.(R) Therefore God is not ashamed(S) to be called their God,(T) for he has prepared a city(U) for them.
17By faith Abraham, when God tested him, offered Isaac as a sacrifice.(V) He who had embraced the promises was about to sacrifice his one and only son, 18even though God had said to him, “It is through Isaac that your offspring will be reckoned.”[b](W) 19Abraham reasoned that God could even raise the dead,(X) and so in a manner of speaking he did receive Isaac back from death.
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Footnotes
- Hebrews 11:11 Or By faith Abraham, even though he was too old to have children—and Sarah herself was not able to conceive—was enabled to become a father because he
- Hebrews 11:18 Gen. 21:12
Cross references
- Hebrews 11:8 : Ge 12:7
- Hebrews 11:8 : Ge 12:1-4; Ac 7:2-4
- Hebrews 11:9 : Ac 7:5
- Hebrews 11:9 : Ge 12:8; 18:1, 9
- Hebrews 11:9 : Heb 6:17
- Hebrews 11:10 : Heb 12:22; 13:14
- Hebrews 11:10 : Rev 21:2, 14
- Hebrews 11:10 : ver 16
- Hebrews 11:11 : Ge 17:17-19; 18:11-14
- Hebrews 11:11 : Ge 21:2
- Hebrews 11:11 : S 1Co 1:9
- Hebrews 11:12 : Ro 4:19
- Hebrews 11:12 : Ge 22:17
- Hebrews 11:13 : ver 39
- Hebrews 11:13 : S Mt 13:17
- Hebrews 11:13 : Ge 23:4; Lev 25:23; Php 3:20; 1Pe 1:17; 2:11
- Hebrews 11:15 : Ge 24:6-8
- Hebrews 11:16 : 2Ti 4:18
- Hebrews 11:16 : Mk 8:38
- Hebrews 11:16 : Ge 26:24; 28:13; Ex 3:6, 15
- Hebrews 11:16 : ver 10; Heb 13:14
- Hebrews 11:17 : Ge 22:1-10; Jas 2:21
- Hebrews 11:18 : Ge 21:12; Ro 9:7
- Hebrews 11:19 : Ro 4:21; S Jn 5:21
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