8By faithAbraham obeyed when he was called to go out to a placethat he was to receive as an inheritance. And he went out, not knowing where he was going.9By faith he went to live inthe land of promise, as in a foreign land,living in tentswith Isaac and Jacob, heirs with him of the same promise.10For he was looking forward tothe city that hasfoundations,whose designer and builder is God.11By faithSarah herself received power to conceive, even when she was past the age, since she consideredhim faithful who had promised.12Therefore from one man, andhim as good as dead, were born descendantsas many as the stars of heaven and as many as the innumerable grains of sand by the seashore.

13These all died in faith,not having received the things promised, buthaving seen them and greeted them from afar, andhaving acknowledged that they werestrangers and exiles on the earth.14For people who speak thus make it clear that they are seeking a homeland.15If they had been thinking of that land from which they had gone out,they would have had opportunity to return.16But as it is, they desire a better country, that is, a heavenly one. Therefore God is not ashamedto be called their God, forhe has prepared for them a city.