Hebræos 11
1 Est autem fides sperandarum substantia rerum, argumentum non apparentium.
Faith is the realisation of things hoped for – the proof of things not seen.
2 In hac enim testimonium consecuti sunt senes.
And it was for faith that the people of old were renowned.
3 Fide intelligimus aptata esse sæcula verbo Dei: ut ex invisibilibus visibilia fierent. (aiōn g165)
Faith enables us to perceive that the universe was created at the bidding of God – so that we know that what we see was not made out of visible things. (aiōn g165)
4 Fide plurimam hostiam Abel, quam Cain, obtulit Deo, per quam testimonium consecutus est esse justus, testimonium perhibente muneribus ejus Deo, et per illam defunctus adhuc loquitur.
Faith made the sacrifice which Abel offered to God a better sacrifice than Cain’s, and won him renown as a righteous man, God himself establishing his renown by accepting his gifts; and it is by the example of his faith that Abel, though dead, still speaks.
5 Fide Henoch translatus est ne videret mortem, et non inveniebatur, quia transtulit illum Deus: ante translationem enim testimonium habuit placuisse Deo.
Faith led to Enoch’s removal from earth, so that he might not experience death. “He could not be found because God had removed him.” For, before his removal, he was renowned as having pleased God;
6 Sine fide autem impossibile est placere Deo. Credere enim oportet accedentem ad Deum quia est, et inquirentibus se remunerator sit.
but without faith it is impossible to please him, for he who comes to God must believe that God exists, and that he rewards those who seek for him.
7 Fide Noë responso accepto de iis quæ adhuc non videbantur, metuens aptavit arcam in salutem domus suæ, per quam damnavit mundum: et justitiæ, quæ per fidem est, hæres est institutus.
It was faith that enabled Noah, after he had received the divine warning about what could not then be foreseen, to build, in reverent obedience, an ark in which to save his family. By his faith he condemned the world, and became possessed of that righteousness which follows on faith.
8 Fide qui vocatur Abraham obedivit in locum exire, quem accepturus erat in hæreditatem: et exiit, nesciens quo iret.
It was faith that enabled Abraham to obey the call that he received, and to set out for the place which he was afterwards to obtain as his own; and he set out not knowing where he was going.
9 Fide demoratus est in terra repromissionis, tamquam in aliena, in casulis habitando cum Isaac et Jacob cohæredibus repromissionis ejusdem.
It was faith that made him go to live as an emigrant in the promised land – as in a strange country – living there in tents with Isaac and Jacob, who shared the promise with him.
10 Exspectabat enim fundamenta habentem civitatem: cujus artifex et conditor Deus.
For he was looking for the city with the sure foundations, whose architect and builder is God.
11 Fide et ipsa Sara sterilis virtutem in conceptionem seminis accepit, etiam præter tempus ætatis: quoniam fidelem credidit esse eum qui repromiserat.
Again, it was faith that enabled Sarah to conceive (though she was past the age for childbearing), because she felt sure that he who had given her the promise would not fail her.
12 Propter quod et ab uno orti sunt (et hoc emortuo) tamquam sidera cæli in multitudinem, et sicut arena, quæ est ad oram maris, innumerabilis.
And so from one man – and that when his powers were dead – there sprang a people as numerous “as the stars in the heavens or the countless grains of sand on the shore.”
13 Juxta fidem defuncti sunt omnes isti, non acceptis repromissionibus, sed a longe eas aspicientes, et salutantes, et confitentes quia peregrini et hospites sunt super terram.
All these died sustained by faith. They did not obtain the promised blessings, but they saw them from a distance and welcomed the sight, and they acknowledged themselves to be only foreigners and strangers on the earth.
14 Qui enim hæc dicunt, significant se patriam inquirere.
Those who speak like this show plainly that they are seeking their homeland.
15 Et si quidem ipsius meminissent de qua exierunt, habebant utique tempus revertendi:
If they had been thinking of the land that they had left, they could have found opportunities to return.
16 nunc autem meliorem appetunt, id est, cælestem. Ideo non confunditur Deus vocari Deus eorum: paravit enim illis civitatem.
But no, they were longing for a better, a heavenly, land! And therefore God was not ashamed to be called their God; indeed he had already prepared them a city.
17 Fide obtulit Abraham Isaac, cum tentaretur, et unigenitum offerebat, qui susceperat repromissiones:
It was faith that enabled Abraham, when put to the test, to offer Isaac as a sacrifice – he who had received the promises offering up his only son,
18 ad quem dictum est: Quia in Isaac vocabitur tibi semen:
of whom it had been said – “It is through Isaac that there will be descendants to bear your name.”
19 arbitrans quia et a mortuis suscitare potens est Deus: unde eum et in parabolam accepit.
For he argued that God was even able to raise a man from the dead – and indeed, figuratively speaking, Abraham did receive Isaac back from the dead.
20 Fide et de futuris benedixit Isaac Jacob et Esau.
It was faith that enabled Isaac to bless Jacob and Esau, even with regard to the future.
21 Fide Jacob, moriens, singulos filiorum Joseph benedixit: et adoravit fastigium virgæ ejus.
Faith enabled Jacob, when dying, to give his blessing to each of the sons of Joseph, and “to bow himself in worship as he leant on the top of his staff.”
22 Fide Joseph, moriens, de profectione filiorum Israël memoratus est, et de ossibus suis mandavit.
Faith caused Joseph, when his end was near, to speak of the future migration of the Israelites, and to give instructions with regard to his bones.
23 Fide Moyses, natus, occultatus est mensibus tribus a parentibus suis, eo quod vidissent elegantem infantem, et non timuerunt regis edictum.
Faith caused the parents of Moses to hide the child for three months after his birth, for they saw that he was a beautiful child; and they would not respect the king’s order.
24 Fide Moyses grandis factus negavit se esse filium filiæ Pharaonis,
It was faith that caused Moses, when he was grown up, to refuse the title of “son of a daughter of Pharaoh.”
25 magis eligens affligi cum populo Dei, quam temporalis peccati habere jucunditatem,
He preferred sharing the hardships of God’s people to enjoying the short-lived pleasures of sin.
26 majores divitias æstimans thesauro Ægyptiorum, improperium Christi: aspiciebat enim in remunerationem.
For he counted “the reproaches that are heaped on the Christ” of greater value than the treasures of Egypt, looking forward, as he did, to the reward awaiting him.
27 Fide reliquit Ægyptum, non veritus animositatem regis: invisibilem enim tamquam videns sustinuit.
Faith caused him to leave Egypt, though undaunted by the king’s anger, for he was strengthened in his endurance by the vision of the invisible God.
28 Fide celebravit Pascha, et sanguinis effusionem: ne qui vastabat primitiva, tangeret eos.
Faith led him to institute the Passover and the sprinkling of the blood, so that the Destroyer might not touch the eldest children of the Israelites.
29 Fide transierunt mare Rubrum tamquam per aridam terram: quod experti Ægyptii, devorati sunt.
Faith enabled the people to cross the Red Sea, as if it had been dry land, while the Egyptians, when they attempted to do so, were drowned.
30 Fide muri Jericho corruerunt, circuitu dierum septem.
Faith caused the walls of Jericho to fall after being encircled for seven days.
31 Fide Rahab meretrix non periit cum incredulis, excipiens exploratores cum pace.
Faith saved Rahab, the prostitute, from perishing with the unbelievers, after she had entertained the spies with friendliness.
32 Et quid adhuc dicam? deficiet enim me tempus enarrantem de Gedeon, Barac, Samson, Jephte, David, Samuel, et prophetis:
Need I add anything more? Time would fail me if I attempted to relate the stories of Gideon, Barak, Samson, and Jephthah, and those of David, Samuel, and the prophets.
33 qui per fidem vicerunt regna, operati sunt justitiam, adepti sunt repromissiones, obturaverunt ora leonum,
By their faith they subdued kingdoms, ruled righteously, gained the fulfilment of God’s promises, shut the mouths of lions,
34 extinxerunt impetum ignis, effugerunt aciem gladii, convaluerunt de infirmitate, fortes facti sunt in bello, castra verterunt exterorum:
quelled the fury of the flames, escaped the edge of the sword, found strength in the hour of weakness, displayed their prowess in war, and routed hostile armies.
35 acceperunt mulieres de resurrectione mortuos suos: alii autem distenti sunt non suscipientes redemptionem ut meliorem invenirent resurrectionem.
Women received back their dead raised to life. Some were tortured on the wheel, and refused release in order that they might rise to a better life.
36 Alii vero ludibria, et verbera experti, insuper et vincula, et carceres:
Others had to face taunts and blows, and even chains and imprisonment.
37 lapidati sunt, secti sunt, tentati sunt, in occisione gladii mortui sunt, circuierunt in melotis, in pellibus caprinis, egentes, angustiati, afflicti:
They were stoned to death, they were tortured, they were swan asunder, they were put to the sword; they wandered about clothed in the skins of sheep or goats, destitute, persecuted, ill-used –
38 quibus dignus non erat mundus: in solitudinibus errantes, in montibus, in speluncis, et in cavernis terræ.
people of whom the world was not worthy – roaming in lonely places, and on the mountains, and in caves and holes in the ground.
39 Et hi omnes testimonio fidei probati, non acceperunt repromissionem,
Yet, though they all won renown by their faith, they did not obtain the final fulfilment of God’s promise;
40 Deo pro nobis melius aliquid providente, ut non sine nobis consummarentur.
since God had in view some better thing for us, so that they would only reach perfection together with us.
