The Call of Abram

12 Now ^(A)the Lord said^[a] to Abram, “Go from your country^[b] and your kindred and your father's house to the land that I will show you.

^4 (A)“I am a sojourner and foreigner among you; ^(B)give me property among you for a burying place, that I may bury my dead out of my sight.”

⁸ By faith ^(A)Abraham obeyed when he was called to go out to a place ^(B)that he was to receive as an inheritance. And he went out, not knowing where he was going. ⁹ By faith he went to live in ^(C)the land of promise, as in a foreign land, ^(D)living in tents ^(E)with Isaac and Jacob, heirs with him of the same promise. ¹⁰ For he was looking forward to ^(F)the city that has ^(G)foundations, ^(H)whose designer and builder is God.

¹³ These all died in faith, ^(A)not having received the things promised, but ^(B)having seen them and greeted them from afar, and ^(C)having acknowledged that they were ^(D)strangers and exiles on the earth. ¹⁴ For people who speak thus make it clear that they are seeking a homeland. ¹⁵ If they had been thinking of that land from which they had gone out, ^(E)they would have had opportunity to return. ¹⁶ But as it is, they desire a better country, that is, a heavenly one. Therefore God is not ashamed ^(F)to be called their God, for ^(G)he has prepared for them a city.