Est autem fides sperandarum substantia rerum, argumentum non apparentium.

Now faith is the substance of things to be hoped for, the evidence of things that appear not.

What is faith? It is that which gives substance to our hopes, which convinces us of things we cannot see.

In hac enim testimonium consecuti sunt senes.

For by this the ancients obtained a testimony.

It was this that brought credit to the men who went before us.

Fide intelligimus aptata esse sæcula verbo Dei: ut ex invisibilibus visibilia fierent.

By faith we understand that the world was framed by the word of God; that from invisible things visible things might be made.

It is faith that lets us understand how the worlds were fashioned by God’s word; how it was from things unseen that the things we see took their origin.

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.

By faith Abel offered to God a sacrifice exceeding that of Cain, by which he obtained a testimony that he was just, God giving testimony to his gifts; and by it he being dead yet speaketh.

It was in faith that Abel offered a sacrifice richer than Cain’s, and was proved thereby to be justified, since God recognized his offering; through that offering of his he still speaks in death.

Fide Henoch translatus est ne videret mortem, et non inveniebatur, quia transtulit illum Deus: ante translationem enim testimonium habuit placuisse Deo.

By faith Henoch was translated, that he should not see death; and he was not found, because God had translated him: for before his translation he had testimony that he pleased God.

When Enoch was taken away without the experience of death, when God took him and no more was seen of him, it was because of his faith; that is the account we have of him before he was taken, that he pleased God;

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 God. For he that cometh to God, must believe that he is, and is a rewarder to them that seek him.

and it is impossible to please God without faith. Nobody reaches God’s presence until he has learned to believe that God exists, and that he rewards those who try to find him.

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.

By faith Noe, having received an answer concerning those things which as yet were not seen, moved with fear, framed the ark for the saving of his house, by the which he condemned the world; and was instituted heir of the justice which is by faith.

When Noe received a warning about dangers still unseen, it was faith that made him take alarm, and build an ark to preserve his family. Thus he proved the whole world wrong, and was left heir to the justification which comes through faith.

Fide qui vocatur Abraham obedivit in locum exire, quem accepturus erat in hæreditatem: et exiit, nesciens quo iret.

By faith he that is called Abraham, obeyed to go out into a place which he was to receive for an inheritance; and he went out, not knowing whither he went.

And he to whom the name of Abraham was given shewed faith when he left his home, obediently, for the country which was to be his inheritance; left it without knowing where his journey would take him.

Fide demoratus est in terra repromissionis, tamquam in aliena, in casulis habitando cum Isaac et Jacob cohæredibus repromissionis ejusdem.

By faith he abode in the land, dwelling in cottages, with Isaac and Jacob, the co-heirs of the same promise.

Faith taught him to live as a stranger in the land he had been promised for his own, encamping there with Isaac and Jacob, heirs with him of a common hope;

Exspectabat enim fundamenta habentem civitatem: cujus artifex et conditor Deus.

For he looked for a city that hath foundations; whose builder and maker is God.

looking forward all the while to that city which has true foundations, which is God’s design and God’s fashioning.

Fide et ipsa Sara sterilis virtutem in conceptionem seminis accepit, etiam præter tempus ætatis: quoniam fidelem credidit esse eum qui repromiserat.

By faith also Sara herself, being barren, received strength to conceive seed, even past the time of age; because she believed that he was faithful who had promised,

It was faith that enabled Sara, barren till then, to conceive offspring, although she was past the age of child-bearing; she believed that God would be faithful to his word.

Propter quod et ab uno orti sunt (et hoc emortuo) tamquam sidera cæli in multitudinem, et sicut arena, quæ est ad oram maris, innumerabilis.

For which cause there sprung even from one (and him as good as dead) as the stars of heaven in multitude, and as the sand which is by the sea shore innumerable.

Here is one man, a man for whom life is already over; and from him springs a race whose numbers rival the stars of heaven, or the uncounted grains of sand on the sea-shore.

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 according to faith, not having received the promises, but beholding them afar off, and saluting them, and confessing that they are pilgrims and strangers on the earth.

It was faith they lived by, all of them, and in faith they died; for them, the promises were not fulfilled, but they looked forward to them and welcomed them at a distance, owning themselves no better than strangers and exiles on earth.

Qui enim hæc dicunt, significant se patriam inquirere.

For they that say these things, do signify that they seek a country.

Those who talk so make it clear enough, that they have not found their home.

Et si quidem ipsius meminissent de qua exierunt, habebant utique tempus revertendi:

And truly if they had been mindful of that from whence they came out, they had doubtless time to return.

Did they regret the country they had left behind? If that were all, they could have found opportunities for going back to it.

nunc autem meliorem appetunt, id est, cælestem. Ideo non confunditur Deus vocari Deus eorum: paravit enim illis civitatem.

But now they desire a better, that is to say, a heavenly country. Therefore God is not ashamed to be called their God; for he hath prepared for them a city.

No, the country of their desires is a better, a heavenly country. God does not disdain to take his title from such names as these; he has a city ready for them to dwell in.

Fide obtulit Abraham Isaac, cum tentaretur, et unigenitum offerebat, qui susceperat repromissiones:

By faith Abraham, when he was tried, offered Isaac: and he that had received the promises, offered up his only begotten son;

Abraham shewed faith, when he was put to the test, by offering up Isaac. He was ready to offer up an only son, this man who had made the promises his own,

ad quem dictum est: Quia in Isaac vocabitur tibi semen:

(To whom it was said: In Isaac shall thy seed be called.)

and received the assurance, It is through Isaac that thy posterity shall be traced.

arbitrans quia et a mortuis suscitare potens est Deus: unde eum et in parabolam accepit.

Accounting that God is able to raise up even from the dead. Whereupon also he received him for a parable.

God, he argued, had the power to restore his son even from the dead; and indeed, in a hidden sense, he did so recover him.

Fide et de futuris benedixit Isaac Jacob et Esau.

By faith also of things to come, Isaac blessed Jacob and Esau.

It was by faith that Isaac, in blessing Jacob and Esau, foretold what was to come;

Fide Jacob, moriens, singulos filiorum Joseph benedixit: et adoravit fastigium virgæ ejus.

By faith Jacob dying, blessed each of the sons of Joseph, and adored the top of his rod.

by faith that Jacob, on his death-bed, made reverence to the top of Joseph’s staff, as he blessed his two sons in turn;

Fide Joseph, moriens, de profectione filiorum Israël memoratus est, et de ossibus suis mandavit.

By faith Joseph, when he was dying, made mention of the going out of the children of Israel; and gave commandment concerning his bones.

by faith that Joseph, when he, too, came to the end of his life, spoke of the Israelites’ escape from Egypt, and gave orders for the removal of his bones.

Fide Moyses, natus, occultatus est mensibus tribus a parentibus suis, eo quod vidissent elegantem infantem, et non timuerunt regis edictum.

By faith Moses, when he was born, was hid three months by his parents; because they saw he was a comely babe, and they feared not the king’s edict.

The parents of Moses shewed faith, in making light of the king’s edict, and hiding their child away for three months, when they saw what a fine child he was.

Fide Moyses grandis factus negavit se esse filium filiæ Pharaonis,

By faith Moses, when he was grown up, denied himself to be the son of Pharao’s daughter;

And Moses shewed faith, when he grew up, by refusing to pass for the son of Pharao’s daughter.

magis eligens affligi cum populo Dei, quam temporalis peccati habere jucunditatem,

Rather choosing to be afflicted with the people of God, than to have the pleasure of sin for a time,

He preferred ill-usage, shared with the people of God, to the brief enjoyment of sinful pleasures;

majores divitias æstimans thesauro Ægyptiorum, improperium Christi: aspiciebat enim in remunerationem.

Esteeming the reproach of Christ greater riches than the treasure of the Egyptians. For he looked unto the reward.

all the wealth of Egypt could not so enrich him as the despised lot of God’s anointed; he had eyes, you see, for nothing but the promised reward.

Fide reliquit Ægyptum, non veritus animositatem regis: invisibilem enim tamquam videns sustinuit.

By faith he left Egypt, not fearing the fierceness of the king: for he endured as seeing him that is invisible.

It was in faith that he left Egypt behind, defying the royal anger, made strong as if by the very sight of him who is invisible;

Fide celebravit Pascha, et sanguinis effusionem: ne qui vastabat primitiva, tangeret eos.

By faith he celebrated the pasch, and the shedding of the blood; that he, who destroyed the firstborn, might not touch them.

in faith that he performed the paschal rite, and the sprinkling of the blood, to leave Israel untouched by the angel that destroyed the first-born;

Fide transierunt mare Rubrum tamquam per aridam terram: quod experti Ægyptii, devorati sunt.

By faith they passed through the Red Sea, as by dry land: which the Egyptians attempting, were swallowed up.

in faith that they crossed the Red Sea as if it had been dry land, whereas the Egyptians, when they ventured into it, were drowned.

Fide muri Jericho corruerunt, circuitu dierum septem.

By faith the walls of Jericho fell down, by the going round them seven days.

Faith pulled down the walls of Jericho, after seven days spent in marching round them;

Fide Rahab meretrix non periit cum incredulis, excipiens exploratores cum pace.

By faith Rahab the harlot perished not with the unbelievers, receiving the spies with peace.

faith saved Rahab, the harlot, from sharing the doom of the disobedient, because she had given the spies a peaceable welcome.

Et quid adhuc dicam? deficiet enim me tempus enarrantem de Gedeon, Barac, Samson, Jephte, David, Samuel, et prophetis:

And what shall I yet say? For the time would fail me to tell of Gedeon, Barac, Samson, Jephthe, David, Samuel, and the prophets:

What need is there to say more? Time will fail me if I try to go through all the history of Gedeon, of Barac, of Samson, of Jephte, of David and Samuel and the prophets.

qui per fidem vicerunt regna, operati sunt justitiam, adepti sunt repromissiones, obturaverunt ora leonum,

Who by faith conquered kingdoms, wrought justice, obtained promises, stopped the mouths of lions,

Theirs was the faith which subdued kingdoms, which served the cause of right, which made promises come true. They shut the mouths of lions,

extinxerunt impetum ignis, effugerunt aciem gladii, convaluerunt de infirmitate, fortes facti sunt in bello, castra verterunt exterorum:

Quenched the violence of fire, escaped the edge of the sword, recovered strength from weakness, became valiant in battle, put to flight the armies of foreigners:

they quenched raging fire, swords were drawn on them, and they escaped. How strong they became, who till then were weak, what courage they shewed in battle, how they routed invading armies!

acceperunt mulieres de resurrectione mortuos suos: alii autem distenti sunt non suscipientes redemptionem ut meliorem invenirent resurrectionem.

Women received their dead raised to life again. But others were racked, not accepting deliverance, that they might find a better resurrection.

There were women, too, who recovered their dead children, brought back to life. Others, looking forward to a better resurrection still, would not purchase their freedom on the rack.

Alii vero ludibria, et verbera experti, insuper et vincula, et carceres:

And others had trial of mockeries and stripes, moreover also of bands and prisons.

And others experienced mockery and scourging, chains, too, and imprisonment;

lapidati sunt, secti sunt, tentati sunt, in occisione gladii mortui sunt, circuierunt in melotis, in pellibus caprinis, egentes, angustiati, afflicti:

They were stoned, they were cut asunder, they were tempted, they were put to death by the sword, they wandered about in sheepskins, in goatskins, being in want, distressed, afflicted:

they were stoned, they were cut in pieces, they were tortured, they were put to the sword; they wandered about, dressed in sheepskins and goatskins, amidst want, and distress, and ill-usage;

quibus dignus non erat mundus: in solitudinibus errantes, in montibus, in speluncis, et in cavernis terræ.

Of whom the world was not worthy; wandering in deserts, in mountains, and in dens, and in caves of the earth.

men whom the world was unworthy to contain, living a hunted life in deserts and on mountain-sides, in rock-fastnesses and caverns underground.

Et hi omnes testimonio fidei probati, non acceperunt repromissionem,

And all these being approved by the testimony of faith, received not the promise;

One and all gave proof of their faith, yet they never saw the promise fulfilled;

Deo pro nobis melius aliquid providente, ut non sine nobis consummarentur.

God providing some better thing for us, that they should not be perfected without us.

for us, God had something better in store. We were needed, to make the history of their lives complete.