Faith

Jonathan said to the young man bearing his armor, “Come, let us cross over to the outpost of these uncircumcised men. Perhaps the LORD will work on our behalf. Nothing can hinder the LORD from saving, whether by many or by few.”

³⁶ Your servant has killed lions and bears; this uncircumcised Philistine will be like one of them, for he has defied the armies of the living God.”

³⁷ David added, “The LORD, who delivered me from the claws of the lion and the bear, will deliver me from the hand of this Philistine.” “Go,” said Saul, “and may the LORD be with you.”

⁴⁵ But David said to the Philistine, “You come against me with sword and spear and javelin, but I come against you in the name of the LORD of Hosts, the God of the armies of Israel, whom you have defied.

⁴⁶ This day the LORD will deliver you into my hand. This day I will strike you down, cut off your head, and give the carcasses of the Philistines to the birds of the air and the creatures of the earth. Then the whole world will know that there is a God in Israel.

⁴⁷ And all those assembled here will know that it is not by sword or spear that the LORD saves; for the battle is the LORD’s, and He will give all of you into our hands.”

¹² Our God, will You not judge them? For we are powerless before this vast army that comes against us. We do not know what to do, but our eyes are upon You.”

¹³ Meanwhile all the men of Judah, with their wives and children and little ones, were standing before the LORD.

²⁰ Early in the morning they got up and left for the Wilderness of Tekoa. As they set out, Jehoshaphat stood up and said, “Hear me, O people of Judah and Jerusalem. Believe in the LORD your God, and you will be upheld; believe in His prophets, and you will succeed.”

²¹ Then Jehoshaphat consulted with the people and appointed those who would sing to the LORD and praise the splendor of His holiness. As they went out before the army, they were singing: “Give thanks to the LORD, for His loving devotion endures forever.”

⁵ Hezekiah trusted in the LORD, the God of Israel. No king of Judah was like him, either before him or after him.

⁶ He remained faithful to the LORD and did not turn from following Him; he kept the commandments that the LORD had given Moses.

⁵ And the LORD took him outside and said, “Now look to the heavens and count the stars, if you are able.” Then He told him, “So shall your offspring be.”

⁶ Abram believed the LORD, and it was credited to him as righteousness.

⁴ Look at the proud one; his soul is not upright — but the righteous will live by faith —

⁵ and wealth indeed betrays him. He is an arrogant man never at rest. He enlarges his appetite like Sheol, and like Death, he is never satisfied. He gathers all the nations to himself and collects all the peoples as his own.

And without faith it is impossible to please God, because anyone who approaches Him must believe that He exists and that He rewards those who earnestly seek Him.

¹⁴ What good is it, my brothers, if someone claims to have faith, but has no deeds? Can such faith save him?

¹⁵ Suppose a brother or sister is without clothes and daily food.

¹⁶ If one of you tells him, “Go in peace; stay warm and well fed,” but does not provide for his physical needs, what good is that?

¹⁷ So too, faith by itself, if it does not result in action, is dead.

¹⁸ But someone will say, “You have faith and I have deeds.” Show me your faith without deeds, and I will show you my faith by my deeds.

¹⁹ You believe that God is one. Good for you! Even the demons believe that—and shudder.

²⁹ Jesus said to him, “Because you have seen Me, you have believed; blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed.”

³⁰ Jesus performed many other signs in the presence of His disciples, which are not written in this book.

³¹ But these are written so that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that by believing you may have life in His name.

⁵ The apostles said to the Lord, “Increase our faith!”

⁶ And the Lord answered, “If you have faith the size of a mustard seed, you can say to this mulberry tree, ‘Be uprooted and planted in the sea,’ and it will obey you.

“Because you have so little faith,” He answered. “For truly I tell you, if you have faith the size of a mustard seed, you can say to this mountain, ‘Move from here to there,’ and it will move. Nothing will be impossible for you.”

But I have trusted in Your loving devotion; my heart will rejoice in Your salvation.

⁵ Into Your hands I commit my spirit; You have redeemed me, O LORD, God of truth.

⁶ I hate those who cling to worthless idols, but in the LORD I trust.

¹⁴ But I trust in You, O LORD; I say, “You are my God.”

¹⁵ My times are in Your hands; deliver me from my enemies and from those who pursue me.

³ When I am afraid, I put my trust in You.

⁴ In God, whose word I praise— in God I trust. I will not be afraid. What can man do to me?

My heart is steadfast, O God, my heart is steadfast. I will sing and make music.

⁶ Therefore we are always confident, although we know that while we are at home in the body, we are away from the Lord.

⁷ For we walk by faith, not by sight.

¹ Now faith is the assurance of what we hope for and the certainty of what we do not see.

² This is why the ancients were commended.

³ By faith we understand that the universe was formed at God’s command, so that what is seen was not made out of what was visible.

¹⁵ Now, if you are ready, as soon as you hear the sound of the horn, flute, zither, lyre, harp, pipes, and all kinds of music, you must fall down and worship the statue I have made. But if you refuse to worship, you will be thrown at once into the blazing fiery furnace. Then what god will be able to deliver you from my hands?”

¹⁶ Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego replied to the king, “O Nebuchadnezzar, we have no need to answer you in this matter.

¹⁷ If the God whom we serve exists, then He is able to deliver us from the blazing fiery furnace and from your hand, O king.

¹⁸ But even if He does not, let it be known to you, O king, that we will not serve your gods or worship the golden statue you have set up.”

²⁵ So the other disciples told him, “We have seen the Lord!” But he replied, “Unless I see the nail marks in His hands, and put my finger where the nails have been, and put my hand into His side, I will never believe.”

²⁶ Eight days later, His disciples were once again inside with the doors locked, and Thomas was with them. Jesus came and stood among them and said, “Peace be with you.”

²⁷ Then Jesus said to Thomas, “Put your finger here and look at My hands. Reach out your hand and put it into My side. Stop doubting and believe.”

²⁸ Thomas replied, “My Lord and my God!”

Immediately the boy’s father cried out, “I do believe; help my unbelief!”

So take courage, men, for I believe God that it will happen just as He told me.

The king was overjoyed and gave orders to lift Daniel out of the den, and when Daniel was lifted out of the den, no wounds whatsoever were found on him, because he had trusted in his God.

⁴ By faith Abel offered God a better sacrifice than Cain did. By faith he was commended as righteous when God gave approval to his gifts. And by faith he still speaks, even though he is dead.

⁵ By faith Enoch was taken up so that he did not see death: “He could not be found, because God had taken him away.” For before he was taken, he was commended as one who pleased God.

⁶ And without faith it is impossible to please God, because anyone who approaches Him must believe that He exists and that He rewards those who earnestly seek Him.

⁷ By faith Noah, when warned about things not yet seen, in godly fear built an ark to save his family. By faith he condemned the world and became heir of the righteousness that comes by faith.

⁸ By faith Abraham, when called to go to a place he would later receive as his inheritance, obeyed and went, without knowing where he was going.

⁹ By faith he dwelt in the promised land as a stranger in a foreign country. He lived in tents, as did Isaac and Jacob, who were heirs with him of the same promise.

⁴⁸ Jesus said to him, “Unless you people see signs and wonders, you will never believe.”

⁴⁹ “Sir,” the official said, “come down before my child dies.”

⁵⁰ “Go,” said Jesus. “Your son will live.” The man took Jesus at His word and departed.

³³ If this man were not from God, He could do no such thing.”

³⁴ They replied, “You were born in utter sin, and you are instructing us?” And they threw him out.

³⁵ When Jesus heard that they had thrown him out, He found the man and said, “Do you believe in the Son of Man ?”

³⁶ “Who is He, Sir?” he replied. “Tell me so that I may believe in Him.”

³⁷ “You have already seen Him,” Jesus answered. “He is the One speaking with you.”

³⁸ “Lord, I believe,” he said. And he worshiped Jesus.

“I am the Lord’s servant,” Mary answered. “May it happen to me according to your word.” Then the angel left her.

⁷ That is why I did not consider myself worthy to come to You. But just say the word, and my servant will be healed.

⁸ For I myself am a man under authority, with soldiers under me. I tell one to go, and he goes; and another to come, and he comes. I tell my servant to do something, and he does it.”

⁹ When Jesus heard this, He marveled at the centurion. Turning to the crowd following Him, He said, “I tell you, not even in Israel have I found such great faith.”

¹⁰ And when the messengers returned to the house, they found the servant in good health.

⁸ The centurion answered, “Lord, I am not worthy to have You come under my roof. But just say the word, and my servant will be healed.

⁹ For I myself am a man under authority, with soldiers under me. I tell one to go, and he goes; and another to come, and he comes. I tell my servant to do something, and he does it.”

¹⁰ When Jesus heard this, He marveled and said to those following Him, “Truly I tell you, I have not found anyone in Israel with such great faith.

¹⁸ While Jesus was saying these things, a synagogue leader came and knelt before Him. “My daughter has just died,” he said. “But come and place Your hand on her, and she will live.”

¹⁹ So Jesus got up and went with him, along with His disciples.

²⁰ Suddenly a woman who had suffered from bleeding for twelve years came up behind Him and touched the fringe of His cloak.

²¹ She said to herself, “If only I touch His cloak, I will be healed.”

²⁷ When the woman heard about Jesus, she came up through the crowd behind Him and touched His cloak.

²⁸ For she kept saying, “If only I touch His garments, I will be healed.”

⁵ So He could not perform any miracles there, except to lay His hands on a few of the sick and heal them.

⁶ And He was amazed at their unbelief. And He went around from village to village, teaching the people.

While they were stoning him, Stephen appealed, “Lord Jesus, receive my spirit.”

Among those listening was a woman named Lydia, a dealer in purple cloth from the city of Thyatira, who was a worshiper of God. The Lord opened her heart to respond to Paul’s message.

Nebuchadnezzar declared, “Blessed be the God of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, who has sent His angel and delivered His servants who trusted in Him. They violated the king’s command and risked their lives rather than serve or worship any god except their own God.

¹⁷ By faith Abraham, when he was tested, offered up Isaac on the altar. He who had received the promises was ready to offer his one and only son,

¹⁸ even though God had said to him, “Through Isaac your offspring will be reckoned.”

²⁰ By faith Isaac blessed Jacob and Esau concerning the future.

²¹ By faith Jacob, when he was dying, blessed each of Joseph’s sons and worshiped as he leaned on the top of his staff.

²² By faith Joseph, when his end was near, spoke about the exodus of the Israelites and gave instructions about his bones.

²³ By faith Moses’ parents hid him for three months after his birth, because they saw that he was a beautiful child, and they were unafraid of the king’s edict.

²⁴ By faith Moses, when he was grown, refused to be called the son of Pharaoh’s daughter.

²⁵ He chose to suffer oppression with God’s people rather than to experience the fleeting enjoyment of sin.