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By faith Abraham obeyed when he was called to go out to a place he would later receive as an inheritance, and he went out without understanding where he was going. By faith he lived as a foreigner[a] in the promised land as though it were a foreign country, living in tents with Isaac and Jacob, who were fellow heirs[b] of the same promise. 10 For he was looking forward to the city with firm foundations,[c] whose architect and builder is God. 11 By faith, even though Sarah herself was barren and he was too old,[d] he received the ability to procreate,[e] because he regarded the one who had given the promise to be trustworthy. 12 So in fact children[f] were fathered by one man—and this one as good as dead—like the number of stars in the sky and like the innumerable grains of sand[g] on the seashore.[h]

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Footnotes

  1. Hebrews 11:9 tn Or “settled as a resident alien.”
  2. Hebrews 11:9 tn Or “heirs with him.”
  3. Hebrews 11:10 tn Grk “that has foundations.”
  4. Hebrews 11:11 tn Grk “past the time of maturity.”
  5. Hebrews 11:11 tn Grk “power to deposit seed.” Though it is not as likely, some construe this phrase to mean “power to conceive seed,” making the whole verse about Sarah: “by faith, even though Sarah herself was barren and too old, she received ability to conceive, because she regarded the one who had given the promise to be trustworthy.”
  6. Hebrews 11:12 tn Grk “these”; in the translation the referent (children) has been specified for clarity.
  7. Hebrews 11:12 tn Grk a collective “the sand.”
  8. Hebrews 11:12 sn An allusion to Gen 22:17 (which itself goes back to Gen 15:5).