Faith

11 Faith is what makes real the things we hope for. It is proof of what we cannot see. ² God was pleased with the people who lived a long time ago because they had faith like this.

³ Faith helps us understand that God created the whole world by his command. This means that the things we see were made by something that cannot be seen.

⁴ Cain and Abel both offered sacrifices to God. But Abel offered a better sacrifice to God because he had faith. God said he was pleased with what Abel offered. And so God called him a good man because he had faith. Abel died, but through his faith he is still speaking.

⁵ Enoch was carried away from this earth, so he never died. The Scriptures tell us that before he was carried off, he was a man who pleased God. Later, no one knew where he was, because God had taken Enoch to be with him. This all happened because he had faith. ⁶ Without faith no one can please God. Whoever comes to God must believe that he is real and that he rewards those who sincerely try to find him.

⁷ Noah was warned by God about things that he could not yet see. But he had faith and respect for God, so he built a large boat to save his family. With his faith, Noah showed that the world was wrong. And he became one of those who are made right with God through faith.

⁸ God called Abraham to travel to another place that he promised to give him. Abraham did not know where that other place was. But he obeyed God and started traveling because he had faith. ⁹ Abraham lived in the country that God promised to give him. He lived there like a visitor who did not belong. He did this because he had faith. He lived in tents with Isaac and Jacob, who also received the same promise from God. ¹⁰ Abraham was waiting for the city^[a] that has real foundations. He was waiting for the city that is planned and built by God.

¹¹ Sarah was not able to have children, and Abraham was too old. But he had faith in God, trusting him to do what he promised. And so God made them able to have children. ¹² Abraham was so old he was almost dead. But from that one man came as many descendants as there are stars in the sky. So many people came from him that they are like grains of sand on the seashore.

¹³ All these great people continued living with faith until they died. They did not get the things God promised his people. But they were happy just to see those promises coming far in the future. They accepted the fact that they were like visitors and strangers here on earth. ¹⁴ When people accept something like that, they show they are waiting for a country that will be their own. ¹⁵ If they were thinking about the country they had left, they could have gone back. ¹⁶ But they were waiting for a better country—a heavenly country. So God is not ashamed to be called their God. And he has prepared a city for them.

^17-18 God tested Abraham’s faith. God told him to offer Isaac as a sacrifice. Abraham obeyed because he had faith. He already had the promises from God. And God had already said to him, “It is through Isaac that your descendants will come.”^[b] But Abraham was ready to offer his only son. He did this because he had faith. ¹⁹ He believed that God could raise people from death. And really, when God stopped Abraham from killing Isaac, it was as if he got him back from death.

²⁰ Isaac blessed the future of Jacob and Esau. He did that because he had faith. ²¹ And Jacob, also because he had faith, blessed each one of Joseph’s sons. He did this while he was dying, leaning on his rod and worshiping God.

²² And when Joseph was almost dead, he spoke about the people of Israel leaving Egypt. And he told them what they should do with his body. He did this because he had faith.

²³ And the mother and father of Moses hid him for three months after he was born. They did this because they had faith. They saw that Moses was a beautiful baby. And they were not afraid to disobey the king’s order.

^24-25 Moses grew up and became a man. He refused to be called the son of Pharaoh’s daughter. He chose not to enjoy the pleasures of sin that last such a short time. Instead, he chose to suffer with God’s people. He did this because he had faith. ²⁶ He thought it was better to suffer for the Messiah than to have all the treasures of Egypt. He was waiting for the reward that God would give him.

²⁷ Moses left Egypt because he had faith. He was not afraid of the king’s anger. He continued strong as if he could see the God no one can see. ²⁸ Moses prepared the Passover and spread the blood on the doorways of the people of Israel, so that the angel of death^[c] would not kill their firstborn sons. Moses did this because he had faith.

²⁹ And God’s people all walked through the Red Sea as if it were dry land. They were able to do this because they had faith. But when the Egyptians tried to follow them, they were drowned.

³⁰ And the walls of Jericho fell because of the faith of God’s people. They marched around the walls for seven days, and then the walls fell.

³¹ And Rahab, the prostitute, welcomed the Israelite spies like friends. And because of her faith, she was not killed with the ones who refused to obey.

³² Do I need to give you more examples? I don’t have enough time to tell you about Gideon, Barak, Samson, Jephthah, David, Samuel, and the prophets. ³³ All of them had great faith. And with that faith they defeated kingdoms. They did what was right, and God helped them in the ways he promised. With their faith some people closed the mouths of lions. ³⁴ And some were able to stop blazing fires. Others escaped from being killed with swords. Some who were weak were made strong. They became powerful in battle and defeated other armies. ³⁵ There were women who lost loved ones but got them back when they were raised from death. Others were tortured but refused to accept their freedom. They did this so that they could be raised from death to a better life. ³⁶ Some were laughed at and beaten. Others were tied up and put in prison. ³⁷ They were killed with stones. They were cut in half. They were killed with swords. The only clothes some of them had were sheepskins or goatskins. They were poor, persecuted, and treated badly by others. ³⁸ The world was not good enough for these great people. They had to wander in deserts and mountains, living in caves and holes in the ground.

³⁹ God was pleased with all of them because of their faith. But not one of them received God’s great promise. ⁴⁰ God planned something better for us. He wanted to make us perfect. Of course, he wanted those great people to be made perfect too, but not before we could all enjoy that blessing together.

We Also Should Follow Jesus’ Example

12 We have all these great people around us as examples. Their lives tell us what faith means. So we, too, should run the race that is before us and never quit. We should remove from our lives anything that would slow us down and the sin that so often makes us fall. ² We must never stop looking to Jesus. He is the leader of our faith, and he is the one who makes our faith complete. He suffered death on a cross. But he accepted the shame of the cross as if it were nothing because of the joy he could see waiting for him. And now he is sitting at the right side of God’s throne. ³ Think about Jesus. He patiently endured the angry insults that sinful people were shouting at him. Think about him so that you won’t get discouraged and stop trying.

God Is Like a Father

⁴ You are struggling against sin, but you have not had to give up your life for the cause. ⁵ You are children of God, and he speaks words of comfort to you. You have forgotten these words:

⁷ So accept sufferings like a father’s discipline. God does these things to you like a father correcting his children. You know that all children are disciplined by their fathers. ⁸ So, if you never receive the discipline that every child must have, you are not true children and don’t really belong to God. ⁹ We have all had fathers here on earth who corrected us with discipline. And we respected them. So it is even more important that we accept discipline from the Father of our spirits. If we do this, we will have life. ¹⁰ Our fathers on earth disciplined us for a short time in the way they thought was best. But God disciplines us to help us so that we can be holy like him. ¹¹ We don’t enjoy discipline when we get it. It is painful. But later, after we have learned our lesson from it, we will enjoy the peace that comes from doing what is right.

Be Careful How You Live

¹² You have become weak, so make yourselves strong again. ¹³ Live in the right way so that you will be saved and your weakness will not cause you to be lost.

¹⁴ Try to live in peace with everyone. And try to keep your lives free from sin. Anyone whose life is not holy will never see the Lord. ¹⁵ Be careful that no one fails to get God’s grace. Be careful that no one loses their faith and becomes like a bitter weed growing among you. Someone like that can ruin your whole group. ¹⁶ Be careful that no one commits sexual sin. And be careful that no one is like Esau and never thinks about God. As the oldest son, Esau would have inherited everything from his father. But he sold all that for a single meal. ¹⁷ You remember that after Esau did this, he wanted to get his father’s blessing. He wanted that blessing so much that he cried. But his father refused to give him the blessing, because Esau could find no way to change what he had done.

¹⁸ You have not come to a place that can be seen and touched, like the mountain the people of Israel saw, which was burning with fire and covered with darkness, gloom, and storms. ¹⁹ There is no sound of a trumpet or a voice speaking words like those they heard. When they heard the voice, they begged never to hear another word. ²⁰ They did not want to hear the command: “If anything, even an animal, touches the mountain, it must be killed with stones.”^{[d] 21} What they saw was so terrible that Moses said, “I am shaking with fear.”^[e][f]

²² But you have come to Mount Zion, to the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem.^[g] You have come to a place where thousands of angels have gathered to celebrate. ²³ You have come to the meeting of God’s firstborn^[h] children. Their names are written in heaven. You have come to God, the judge of all people. And you have come to the spirits of good people who have been made perfect. ²⁴ You have come to Jesus—the one who brought the new agreement from God to his people. You have come to the sprinkled blood^[i] that tells us about better things than the blood of Abel.

²⁵ Be careful and don’t refuse to listen when God speaks. Those people refused to listen to him when he warned them on earth. And they did not escape. Now God is speaking from heaven. So now it will be worse for those who refuse to listen to him. ²⁶ When he spoke before, his voice shook the earth. But now he has promised, “Once again I will shake the earth, but I will also shake heaven.”^{[j] 27} The words “once again” clearly show us that everything that was created will be destroyed—that is, the things that can be shaken. And only what cannot be shaken will remain.

²⁸ So we should be thankful because we have a kingdom that cannot be shaken. And because we are thankful, we should worship God in a way that will please him. We should do this with respect and fear, ²⁹ because our God is like a fire that can destroy us.

Worship That Pleases God

13 Continue loving each other as brothers and sisters in Christ. ² Always remember to help people by welcoming them into your home. Some people have done that and have helped angels without knowing it. ³ Don’t forget those who are in prison. Remember them as though you were in prison with them. And don’t forget those who are suffering. Remember them as though you were suffering with them.

⁴ Marriage should be honored by everyone. And every marriage should be kept pure between husband and wife. God will judge guilty those who commit sexual sins and adultery. ⁵ Keep your lives free from the love of money. And be satisfied with what you have. God has said,

⁶ So we can feel sure and say,

⁷ Remember your leaders. They taught God’s message to you. Remember how they lived and died, and copy their faith. ⁸ Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today, and forever. ⁹ Don’t let all kinds of strange teachings lead you into the wrong way. Depend only on God’s grace for spiritual strength, not on rules about foods. Obeying those rules doesn’t help anyone.

¹⁰ We have a sacrifice.^[k] And those priests who serve in the Holy Tent cannot eat from the sacrifice we have. ¹¹ The high priest carries the blood of animals into the Most Holy Place^[l] and offers that blood for sins. But the bodies of those animals are burned outside the camp. ¹² So Jesus also suffered outside the city. He died to make his people holy with his own blood. ¹³ So we should go to Jesus outside the camp and accept the same shame that he had. ¹⁴ Here on earth we don’t have a city that lasts forever. But we are waiting for the city that we will have in the future. ¹⁵ So through Jesus we should never stop offering our sacrifice to God. That sacrifice is our praise, coming from lips that speak his name. ¹⁶ And don’t forget to do good and to share what you have with others, because sacrifices like these are very pleasing to God.

¹⁷ Obey your leaders. Be willing to do what they say. They are responsible for your spiritual welfare, so they are always watching to protect you. Obey them so that their work will give them joy, not grief. It won’t help you to make it hard for them.

¹⁸ Continue praying for us. We feel right about what we do, because we always try to do what is best. ¹⁹ And I beg you to pray that God will send me back to you soon. I want this more than anything else.

^20-21 I pray that the God of peace will give you every good thing you need so that you can do what he wants. God is the one who raised from death our Lord Jesus, the Great Shepherd of his sheep. He raised him because Jesus sacrificed his blood to begin the new agreement that never ends. I pray that God will work through Jesus Christ to do the things in us that please him. To him be glory forever. Amen.

²² My brothers and sisters, I beg you to listen patiently to what I have said. I wrote this letter to strengthen you. And it is not very long. ²³ I want you to know that our brother Timothy is out of prison. If he comes to me soon, we will both come to see you.

²⁴ Give my greetings to all your leaders and to all God’s people. All those from Italy send you their greetings.

²⁵ God’s grace be with you all.