כ Kaph

⁸ And there were shepherds living out in the fields nearby, keeping watch over their flocks at night. ⁹ An angel^(A) of the Lord appeared to them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were terrified. ¹⁰ But the angel said to them, “Do not be afraid.^(B) I bring you good news that will cause great joy for all the people. ¹¹ Today in the town of David a Savior^(C) has been born to you; he is the Messiah,^(D) the Lord.^{(E) 12} This will be a sign^(F) to you: You will find a baby wrapped in cloths and lying in a manger.”

¹³ Suddenly a great company of the heavenly host appeared with the angel, praising God and saying,

Awaiting the New Body

5 For we know that if the earthly^(A) tent^(B) we live in is destroyed, we have a building from God, an eternal house in heaven, not built by human hands. ² Meanwhile we groan,^(C) longing to be clothed instead with our heavenly dwelling,^{(D) 3} because when we are clothed, we will not be found naked. ⁴ For while we are in this tent, we groan^(E) and are burdened, because we do not wish to be unclothed but to be clothed instead with our heavenly dwelling,^(F) so that what is mortal may be swallowed up by life.

¹³ All these people were still living by faith when they died. They did not receive the things promised;^(A) they only saw them and welcomed them from a distance,^(B) admitting that they were foreigners and strangers on earth.^{(C) 14} People who say such things show that they are looking for a country of their own. ¹⁵ If they had been thinking of the country they had left, they would have had opportunity to return.^{(D) 16} Instead, they were longing for a better country—a heavenly one.^(E) Therefore God is not ashamed^(F) to be called their God,^(G) for he has prepared a city^(H) for them.

¹⁷ By faith Abraham, when God tested him, offered Isaac as a sacrifice.^(I) He who had embraced the promises was about to sacrifice his one and only son, ¹⁸ even though God had said to him, “It is through Isaac that your offspring will be reckoned.”^{[a](J) 19} Abraham reasoned that God could even raise the dead,^(K) and so in a manner of speaking he did receive Isaac back from death.

²⁰ By faith Isaac blessed Jacob and Esau in regard to their future.^(L)

²¹ By faith Jacob, when he was dying, blessed each of Joseph’s sons,^(M) and worshiped as he leaned on the top of his staff.

²² By faith Joseph, when his end was near, spoke about the exodus of the Israelites from Egypt and gave instructions concerning the burial of his bones.^(N)

²³ By faith Moses’ parents hid him for three months after he was born,^(O) because they saw he was no ordinary child, and they were not afraid of the king’s edict.^(P)

²⁴ By faith Moses, when he had grown up, refused to be known as the son of Pharaoh’s daughter.^{(Q) 25} He chose to be mistreated^(R) along with the people of God rather than to enjoy the fleeting pleasures of sin. ²⁶ He regarded disgrace^(S) for the sake of Christ^(T) as of greater value than the treasures of Egypt, because he was looking ahead to his reward.^{(U) 27} By faith he left Egypt,^(V) not fearing the king’s anger; he persevered because he saw him who is invisible. ²⁸ By faith he kept the Passover and the application of blood, so that the destroyer^(W) of the firstborn would not touch the firstborn of Israel.^(X)

²⁹ By faith the people passed through the Red Sea as on dry land; but when the Egyptians tried to do so, they were drowned.^(Y)

³⁰ By faith the walls of Jericho fell, after the army had marched around them for seven days.^(Z)

³¹ By faith the prostitute Rahab, because she welcomed the spies, was not killed with those who were disobedient.^[b](AA)

³² And what more shall I say? I do not have time to tell about Gideon,^(AB) Barak,^(AC) Samson^(AD) and Jephthah,^(AE) about David^(AF) and Samuel^(AG) and the prophets, ³³ who through faith conquered kingdoms,^(AH) administered justice, and gained what was promised; who shut the mouths of lions,^{(AI) 34} quenched the fury of the flames,^(AJ) and escaped the edge of the sword;^(AK) whose weakness was turned to strength;^(AL) and who became powerful in battle and routed foreign armies.^{(AM) 35} Women received back their dead, raised to life again.^(AN) There were others who were tortured, refusing to be released so that they might gain an even better resurrection. ³⁶ Some faced jeers and flogging,^(AO) and even chains and imprisonment.^{(AP) 37} They were put to death by stoning;^[c](AQ) they were sawed in two; they were killed by the sword.^(AR) They went about in sheepskins and goatskins,^(AS) destitute, persecuted and mistreated— ³⁸ the world was not worthy of them. They wandered in deserts and mountains, living in caves^(AT) and in holes in the ground.

³⁹ These were all commended^(AU) for their faith, yet none of them received what had been promised,^{(AV) 40} since God had planned something better for us so that only together with us^(AW) would they be made perfect.^(AX)