⁴ So Abram went, as the Lord had told him; and Lot^(A) went with him. Abram was seventy-five years old^(B) when he set out from Harran.^{(C) 5} He took his wife Sarai,^(D) his nephew Lot, all the possessions they had accumulated^(E) and the people^(F) they had acquired in Harran, and they set out for the land of Canaan,^(G) and they arrived there.

⁶ Abram traveled through the land^(H) as far as the site of the great tree of Moreh^(I) at Shechem.^(J) At that time the Canaanites^(K) were in the land. ⁷ The Lord appeared to Abram^(L) and said, “To your offspring^[a] I will give this land.^(M)”^(N) So he built an altar there to the Lord,^(O) who had appeared to him.

⁸ From there he went on toward the hills east of Bethel^(P) and pitched his tent,^(Q) with Bethel on the west and Ai^(R) on the east. There he built an altar to the Lord and called on the name of the Lord.^(S)

⁹ Then Abram set out and continued toward the Negev.^(T)

Faith in Action

11 Now faith is confidence in what we hope for^(A) and assurance about what we do not see.^(B)

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)

¹⁵ If they had been thinking of the country they had left, they would have had opportunity to return.^(A)

¹¹ As Scripture says, “Anyone who believes in him will never be put to shame.”^[a](A)