¹⁸ even though God had said to him, “It is through Isaac that your offspring will be reckoned.”^{[a](A) 19} Abraham reasoned that God could even raise the dead,^(B) 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.^(C)

²¹ By faith Jacob, when he was dying, blessed each of Joseph’s sons,^(D) 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.^(E)

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

²⁴ By faith Moses, when he had grown up, refused to be known as the son of Pharaoh’s daughter.^{(H) 25} He chose to be mistreated^(I) along with the people of God rather than to enjoy the fleeting pleasures of sin. ²⁶ He regarded disgrace^(J) for the sake of Christ^(K) as of greater value than the treasures of Egypt, because he was looking ahead to his reward.^{(L) 27} By faith he left Egypt,^(M) 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^(N) of the firstborn would not touch the firstborn of Israel.^(O)

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.^(P)

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

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

³² And what more shall I say? I do not have time to tell about Gideon,^(S) Barak,^(T) Samson^(U) and Jephthah,^(V) about David^(W) and Samuel^(X) and the prophets, ³³ who through faith conquered kingdoms,^(Y) administered justice, and gained what was promised; who shut the mouths of lions,^{(Z) 34} quenched the fury of the flames,^(AA) and escaped the edge of the sword;^(AB) whose weakness was turned to strength;^(AC) and who became powerful in battle and routed foreign armies.^{(AD) 35} Women received back their dead, raised to life again.^(AE) 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,^(AF) and even chains and imprisonment.^{(AG) 37} They were put to death by stoning;^[c](AH) they were sawed in two; they were killed by the sword.^(AI) They went about in sheepskins and goatskins,^(AJ) destitute, persecuted and mistreated— ³⁸ the world was not worthy of them. They wandered in deserts and mountains, living in caves^(AK) and in holes in the ground.

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