Weymouth New Testament in Modern Speech: Hebrews | Page 9

All
these died in the possession of faith. They had not received the
promised blessings, but had seen them from a distance and had greeted
them, and had acknowledged themselves to be foreigners and strangers
here on earth; 011:014 for men who acknowledge this make it manifest
that they are seeking elsewhere a country of their own. 011:015 And if
they had cherished the remembrance of the country they had left, they
would have found an opportunity to return; 011:016 but, as it is, we see
them eager for a better land, that is to say, a heavenly one. For this
reason God is not ashamed to be called their God, for He has now
prepared a city for them. 011:017 Through faith Abraham, as soon as
God put him to the test, offered up Isaac. Yes, he who had joyfully
welcomed the promises was on the point of sacrificing his only son
011:018 with regard to whom he had been told, "It is through Isaac that
your posterity shall be traced." 011:019 For he reckoned that God is

even able to raise a man up from among the dead, and, figuratively
speaking, it was from among the dead that he received Isaac again.
011:020 Through faith Isaac blessed Jacob and Esau, even in connexion
with things soon to come. 011:021 Through faith Jacob, when dying,
blessed each of Joseph's sons, and, leaning on the top of his staff,
worshipped God. 011:022 Through faith Joseph, when he was near his
end, made mention of the departure of the descendants of Israel, and
gave orders about his own body. 011:023 Through faith the child
Moses was hid for three months by his parents, because they saw his
rare beauty; and the king's edict had no terror for them. 011:024
Through faith Moses, when he grew to manhood, refused to be known
as Pharaoh's daughter's son, 011:025 having determined to endure
ill-treatment along with the people of God rather than enjoy the
short-lived pleasures of sin; 011:026 because he deemed the reproaches
which he might meet with in the service of the Christ to be greater
riches than all the treasures of Egypt; for he fixed his gaze on the
coming reward. 011:027 Through faith he left Egypt, not being
frightened by the king's anger; for he held on his course as seeing the
unseen One. 011:028 Through faith he instituted the Passover, and the
sprinkling with blood so that the destroyer of the firstborn might not
touch the Israelites. 011:029 Through faith they passed through the Red
Sea as though they were passing over dry land, but the Egyptians, when
they tried to do the same, were swallowed up. 011:030 Through faith
the walls of Jericho fell to the ground after being surrounded for seven
days. 011:031 Through faith the notorious sinner Rahab did not perish
along with the disobedient, for she had welcomed the spies and had
sheltered them. 011:032 And why need I say more? For time will fail
me if I tell the story of Gideon, Barak, Samson, Jephthah, and of David
and Samuel and the Prophets; 011:033 men who, as the result of faith,
conquered whole kingdoms, brought about true justice, obtained
promises from God, stopped lions' mouths, 011:034 deprived fire of its
power, escaped being killed by the sword, out of weakness were made
strong, became mighty in war, put to flight foreign armies. 011:035
Women received back their dear ones alive from the dead; and others
were put to death with torture, refusing the deliverance offered to
them--that they might secure a better resurrection. 011:036 Others
again were tested by cruel mockery and by scourging; yes, and by

chains and imprisonment. 011:037 They were stoned, they were sawn
asunder, they were tried by temptation, they were killed with the sword.
They went from place to place in sheepskins or goatskins, enduring
want, oppression and cruelty. 011:038 (They were men of whom the
world was not worthy.) They wandered across deserts and mountains,
or hid themselves in caves and in holes in the ground. 011:039 And
although by their faith all these people won God's approval, none of
them received the fulfilment of His great promise; 011:040 for God had
provided for them and us something better, so that apart from us they
were not to attain to full blessedness. 012:001 Therefore, surrounded as
we are by such a vast cloud of witnesses, let us fling aside every
encumbrance and the sin that so readily entangles our feet. And let us
run with patient endurance the race that lies before us, 012:002 simply
fixing our gaze upon Jesus, our Prince Leader in the faith, who will
also award us the prize. He, for the sake of the joy which lay before
Him, patiently endured the cross, looking with