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Psalm 11

1  In the Lord have I taken refuge; ♦︎
   how then can you say to me,
      ‘Flee like a bird to the hills,
2  ‘For see how the wicked bend the bow
      and fit their arrows to the string, ♦︎
   to shoot from the shadows at the true of heart.
3  ‘When the foundations are destroyed, ♦︎
   what can the righteous do?’
4  The Lord is in his holy temple; ♦︎
   the Lord’s throne is in heaven.
5  His eyes behold, ♦︎
   his eyelids try every mortal being.
6  The Lord tries the righteous as well as the wicked, ♦︎
   but those who delight in violence his soul abhors.
7  Upon the wicked he shall rain coals of fire
      and burning sulphur; ♦︎
   scorching wind shall be their portion to drink.
8  For the Lord is righteous;
      he loves righteous deeds, ♦︎
   and those who are upright shall behold his face.

The Future House of God

2The word that Isaiah son of Amoz saw concerning Judah and Jerusalem.

² In days to come
   the mountain of the Lord’s house
shall be established as the highest of the mountains,
   and shall be raised above the hills;
all the nations shall stream to it.
³   Many peoples shall come and say,
‘Come, let us go up to the mountain of the Lord,
   to the house of the God of Jacob;
that he may teach us his ways
   and that we may walk in his paths.’
For out of Zion shall go forth instruction,
   and the word of the Lord from Jerusalem.
⁴ He shall judge between the nations,
   and shall arbitrate for many peoples;
they shall beat their swords into ploughshares,
   and their spears into pruning-hooks;
nation shall not lift up sword against nation,
   neither shall they learn war any more.

The Meaning of Faith

11Now faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen. ²Indeed, by faith^* our ancestors received approval. ³By faith we understand that the worlds were prepared by the word of God, so that what is seen was made from things that are not visible.^*

The Examples of Abel, Enoch, and Noah

4 By faith Abel offered to God a more acceptable^* sacrifice than Cain’s. Through this he received approval as righteous, God himself giving approval to his gifts; he died, but through his faith^* he still speaks. ⁵By faith Enoch was taken so that he did not experience death; and ‘he was not found, because God had taken him.’ For it was attested before he was taken away that ‘he had pleased God.’ ⁶And without faith it is impossible to please God, for whoever would approach him must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who seek him. ⁷By faith Noah, warned by God about events as yet unseen, respected the warning and built an ark to save his household; by this he condemned the world and became an heir to the righteousness that is in accordance with faith.