Hebrews 11:8-22

New International Version

⁸ By faith Abraham, when called to go to a place he would later receive as his inheritance,^(A) obeyed and went,^(B) even though he did not know where he was going. ⁹ By faith he made his home in the promised land^(C) like a stranger in a foreign country; he lived in tents,^(D) as did Isaac and Jacob, who were heirs with him of the same promise.^{(E) 10} For he was looking forward to the city^(F) with foundations,^(G) whose architect and builder is God.^{(H) 11} And by faith even Sarah, who was past childbearing age,^(I) was enabled to bear children^(J) because she^[a] considered him faithful^(K) who had made the promise. ¹² And so from this one man, and he as good as dead,^(L) came descendants as numerous as the stars in the sky and as countless as the sand on the seashore.^(M)

¹³ All these people were still living by faith when they died. They did not receive the things promised;^(N) they only saw them and welcomed them from a distance,^(O) admitting that they were foreigners and strangers on earth.^{(P) 14} People who say such things show that they are looking for a country of their own. ¹⁵ If they had been thinking of the country they had left, they would have had opportunity to return.^{(Q) 16} Instead, they were longing for a better country—a heavenly one.^(R) Therefore God is not ashamed^(S) to be called their God,^(T) for he has prepared a city^(U) for them.

¹⁷ By faith Abraham, when God tested him, offered Isaac as a sacrifice.^(V) He who had embraced the promises was about to sacrifice his one and only son, ¹⁸ even though God had said to him, “It is through Isaac that your offspring will be reckoned.”^{[b](W) 19} Abraham reasoned that God could even raise the dead,^(X) and so in a manner of speaking he did receive Isaac back from death.

²⁰ By faith Isaac blessed Jacob and Esau in regard to their future.^(Y)

²¹ By faith Jacob, when he was dying, blessed each of Joseph’s sons,^(Z) 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 from Egypt and gave instructions concerning the burial of his bones.^(AA)