13. All these great people died in faith. They did not get the things that God promised his people, but they saw them coming far in the future and were glad. They said they were like visitors and strangers on earth.
14. When people say such things, they show they are looking for a country that will be their own.
15. If they had been thinking about the country they had left, they could have gone back.
16. But they were waiting for a better country—a heavenly country. So God is not ashamed to be called their God, because he has prepared a city for them.
17. It was by faith that Abraham, when God tested him, offered his son Isaac as a sacrifice. God made the promises to Abraham, but Abraham was ready to offer his own son as a sacrifice.
18. God had said, “The descendants I promised you will be from Isaac.”
19. Abraham believed that God could raise the dead, and really, it was as if Abraham got Isaac back from death.
20. It was by faith that Isaac blessed the future of Jacob and Esau.
21. It was by faith that Jacob, as he was dying, blessed each one of Joseph’s sons. Then he worshiped as he leaned on the top of his walking stick.
22. It was by faith that Joseph, while he was dying, spoke about the Israelites leaving Egypt and gave instructions about what to do with his body.
23. It was by faith that Moses’ parents hid him for three months after he was born. They saw that Moses was a beautiful baby, and they were not afraid to disobey the king’s order.
24. It was by faith that Moses, when he grew up, refused to be called the son of the king of Egypt’s daughter.
25. He chose to suffer with God’s people instead of enjoying sin for a short time.