Hebru 11
1 A hmuethma hmuh pawt hno dongah ngaikhueknah neh n'ngaiuep he ni tangnah la aka om coeng.
Faith is the realisation of things hoped for – the proof of things not seen.
2 He nen ni a ham rhoek long khaw a phong uh.
And it was for faith that the people of old were renowned.
3 Hmuh mueh lamkah hmuh koi la coeng sak ham Pathen kah olka loh lunglai a tarhoek tila tangnah neh n'yakming uh. (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 Tangnah neh Abel loh Kain lakah Pathen taengah hmueih muep a nawn. Te lamlong tah hlang dueng ni tila ana oep. Pathen kah a kutdoe te ana oep dongah aka duek long khaw tangnah neh a thui pueng.
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 Tangnah rhangneh dueknah te hmuh pawt ham Enok tah a thovael sak. Tedae Pathen loh a tholvael dongah anih te hmu voel pawh. Thovaelnah a om hlanah mah Pathen taengkah kolo neh ana oep coeng.
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 Tedae tangnah mueh la kolo n'tong thai pawh. Pathen aka paan loh amah tah om tih amah aka tlap rhoek te taphu om tila a tangnah a kuek.
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 Noah loh a hmuh pawt te a mangthui vaengah a hinyah tih tangnah neh amah cako khangnah ham sangpho te a rhoekbah. Te nen te Diklai a boe sak tih tangnah neh duengnah rhopangkung la coeng.
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 Tangnah neh a khue vaengah rho la pang aka cai hmuen te paan ham Abraham loh a ngai. Te vaengah mela a caeh khaw a ming mueh lam ni a caeh.
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 Tangnah neh hlanglang la olkhueh ram ah kuepkol. Olkhueh, amah hmuen aka pang Isaak neh Jakob khaw dap ah kho hmaih a sakuh.
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 Te vaengah khoengim a khueh tangtae khopuei te ni a lamtawn. Pathen tah te khopuei kah kutthai neh rhaengpuei ham bibikung la om.
For he was looking for the city with the sure foundations, whose architect and builder is God.
11 Cayaa Sarah amah long khaw a pumrho neh a tuetang kah a voelah a tiingan a tongnah ham thaomnah te tangnah neh a dang. Te khaw aka caeng te uepom la a poek dongah ni.
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 Te dongah pakhat lamlong khaw muep thaang coeng. Aka duek he khaw vaan kah aisi yet la, tuili kaeng kah laivin bangla n'taetloel coeng.
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 Amih rhoek boeih loh tangnah neh duek uh. Olkhueh te dang uh pawt dae a hla lamkah a dan uh tih a doe uh. Te phoeiah diklai ah yinlai neh lampah ni tila a phong uh.
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 Tebang aka thui rhoek loh a tolrhum a ngaidam uh te a phoe uh.
Those who speak like this show plainly that they are seeking their homeland.
15 Tedae te lamkah ha suntlak uh te poek uh ngawn koinih a voei uh tue khaw a khueh uh suidae.
If they had been thinking of the land that they had left, they could have found opportunities to return.
16 Tedae vaan ah a then ngai aka om te a ngaidam uh coeng. Te dongah amih loh Pathen te amamih kah Pathen la khue ham yak uh pawh. Amih ham kho pakhat a rhoekbah pah coeng.
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 Abraham te a noemcai vaengah tangnah neh Isaak te a nawn tih khueh duen aka nawn la olkhueh te a dang.
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 Anih ham te, “Nang kah tiingan te Isaak dongah a khue,” tila a thui.
of whom it had been said – “It is through Isaac that there will be descendants to bear your name.”
19 Pathen loh aka duek rhoek lamkah pataeng a thoh thai tila ana poek coeng. Te lamkah ni anih te nuettahnah lam khaw a dang.
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 Tangnah nen ni lo ham aka cai Jakob neh Esau kawng khaw Isaak loh a uem.
It was faith that enabled Isaac to bless Jacob and Esau, even with regard to the future.
21 Tangnah neh Jakob loh a duek tom vaengah Joseph ca rhoek te rhip a uem tih a conghol soi ah a bawk.
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 Tangnah nen ni Joseph loh a duek tom ah Israel ca rhoek kah sunglatnah kawng te a poek tih a rhuh kawng te a uen.
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 Tangnah nen ni Moses te a napa loh a thaang neh hla thum ana thuh. Camoe te sakthen la a hmuh uh vaengah manghai kah oltloek te rhih uh pawh.
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 Tangnah nen ni Moses loh lungcuei la a om vaengah Pharaoh canu kah a capa a ti nah te a aal.
It was faith that caused Moses, when he was grown up, to refuse the title of “son of a daughter of Pharaoh.”
25 Kolkalh ham tholhnah neh omngaihbawnnah khueh lakah Pathen kah pilnam te patang puei ham lat a tuek.
He preferred sharing the hardships of God’s people to enjoying the short-lived pleasures of sin.
26 Taphu te a lamso dongah Khrih kah hnaelcoenah te Egypt kah khohrhang lakah khuehtawn tanglue la a poek.
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 Tangnah neh Egypt a hnoo tih manghai kah thinsanah te rhih pawh. Hmuhmueh hmuh bangla a ueh.
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 Tangnah neh yoom neh thii haek te a saii. Te daengah ni camingomthang aka ngawn loh amih te a ben pawt pai eh.
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 Tangnah neh Tuili Sen te lan long bangla phueihuet la a hlaikan uh. Te te dang ham aka cai Egypt rhoek tah buek uh.
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 Tangnah neh Jerikho pangbueng te hnin rhih khuiah a vael uh vaengah tim.
Faith caused the walls of Jericho to fall after being encircled for seven days.
31 Tangnah neh hlanghalh Rahab loh rhalyuep rhoek te ngaimong la a doe dongah ol aek rhoek taengah poci pawh.
Faith saved Rahab, the prostitute, from perishing with the unbelievers, after she had entertained the spies with friendliness.
32 Te phoeiah balae ka thui pueng eh? Gideon, Barak, Samson, Jephthah, David neh Samuel neh tonghma rhoek tue kah a kawng thui ham ka hlavawt pueng.
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 Amih loh tangnah neh ram khaw a na, duengnah te a saii, olkhueh a pang, sathueng ka a buem uh.
By their faith they subdued kingdoms, ruled righteously, gained the fulfilment of God’s promises, shut the mouths of lions,
34 Hmai kah thaomnah a thih, cunghang ha khaw a rhaelrham tak, thahnoeng lamkah a thaphoh, caem vaengah hlang tlung la coeng, hlanglang caem khaw a thup uh.
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 Thohkoepnah neh huta rhoek loh amamih kah aka duek tangtae te a dang uh. Tedae a ngen loh aka then ngai thohkoepnah dang ham tlannah te doe mueh la phaep uh.
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 A ngen tah tamdaengnah neh noemcainah nganboh a yook uh bueng kolla hloong neh thongim khaw a yookuh.
Others had to face taunts and blows, and even chains and imprisonment.
37 A dae uh, a ah uh, cunghang kah ngawnnah neh duek uh. A vawtthoek, patang palai la a hnaep uh. Tupho, maae pho neh poengdoe uh.
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 Diklai tah amih neh a tiing la a om moenih. kohong ah, tlang ah, lungko ah, diklai khui ah poengdoe uh.
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 Tedae amih tangnah neh aka phong boeih loh olkhueh te a dang uh moenih.
Yet, though they all won renown by their faith, they did not obtain the final fulfilment of God’s promise;
40 Pathen kah a rhan te pakhat khaw mamih ham a then, daengah ni mamih pawt atah a rhuemtuet uh pawt eh.
since God had in view some better thing for us, so that they would only reach perfection together with us.
