Hebrews 11:8–19

⁸Abraham had faith. So he obeyed God. God called him to go to a place he would later receive as his own. So he went. He did it even though he didn’t know where he was going. ⁹Because of his faith he made his home in the land God had promised him. He was like an outsider in a strange country. He lived there in tents. So did Isaac and Jacob. They received the same promise he did. ¹⁰Abraham was looking forward to the city that has foundations. He was waiting for the city that God planned and built.

¹¹Abraham had faith. So God made it possible for him to become a father. He became a father even though he was too old. Sarah also was too old to have children. But Abraham believed that the One who made the promise was faithful. ¹²Abraham was past the time when he could have children. But many children came from that one man. They were as many as the stars in the sky. They were as many as the sand on the seashore. No one could count them.

¹³All those people were still living by faith when they died. They didn’t receive the things God had promised. They only saw them and welcomed them from a long way off. They openly said that they were outsiders and strangers on earth.

¹⁴People who say things like that show that they are looking for a country of their own. ¹⁵What if they had been thinking of the country they had left? Then they could have returned to it. ¹⁶Instead, they longed for a better country. They wanted one in heaven.

So God is pleased when they call him their God. In fact, he has prepared a city for them.

¹⁷Abraham had faith. So he offered Isaac as a sacrifice. That happened when God put him to the test. Abraham had received the promises. But he was about to offer his one and only son. ¹⁸God had said to him, “Your family line will continue through Isaac.” Even so, Abraham was going to offer him up. ¹⁹Abraham believed that God could raise the dead. In a way, he did receive Isaac back from death.