^20 (A) Isaac had faith, and he promised blessings to Jacob and Esau. ^21 (B) Later, when Jacob was about to die, he leaned on his walking stick and worshiped. Then because of his faith he blessed each of Joseph's sons. ^22 (C) And right before Joseph died, he had faith that God would lead the people of Israel out of Egypt. So he told them to take his bones with them.

^23 (D) Because Moses' parents had faith, they kept him hidden until he was three months old. They saw that he was a beautiful child, and they were not afraid to disobey the king's orders.^{[a] 24 (E)} Then after Moses grew up, his faith made him refuse to be called the king's grandson. ^25 (F) He chose to be mistreated with God's people instead of having the good time that sin could bring for a little while. ²⁶ Moses knew that the treasures of Egypt were not as wonderful as what he would receive from suffering for the Messiah,^[b] and he looked forward to his reward.

²⁷ Because of his faith, Moses left Egypt. Moses had seen the invisible God and wasn't afraid of the king's anger. ^28 (G) His faith also made him celebrate Passover. He sprinkled the blood of animals on the doorposts, so that the first-born sons of the people of Israel would not be killed by the destroying angel.

^29 (H) Because of their faith, the people walked through the Red Sea^[c] on dry land. But when the Egyptians tried to do it, they were drowned.

^30 (I) God's people had faith, and when they had walked around the city of Jericho for seven days, its walls fell down.

^31 (J) Rahab had been a prostitute, but she had faith and welcomed the spies. So she wasn't killed with the people who disobeyed.

^32 (K) What else can I say? There isn't enough time to tell about Gideon, Barak, Samson, Jephthah, David, Samuel, and the prophets. ^33 (L) Their faith helped them conquer kingdoms, and because they did right, God made promises to them. They closed the jaws of lions ^34 (M) and put out raging fires and escaped from the swords of their enemies. Although they were weak, they were given the strength and power to chase foreign armies away.

^35 (N) Some women received their loved ones back from death. Many of these people were tortured, but they refused to be released. They were sure they would get a better reward when the dead are raised to life. ^36 (O) Others were made fun of and beaten with whips, and some were chained in jail. ^37 (P) Still others were stoned to death or sawed in two^[d] or killed with swords. Some had nothing but sheep skins or goat skins to wear. They were poor, mistreated, and tortured. ³⁸ The world did not deserve these good people, who had to wander in deserts and on mountains and had to live in caves and holes in the ground.

³⁹ All of them pleased God because of their faith! But still they died without being given what had been promised. ⁴⁰ This was because God had something better in store for us. And he did not want them to reach the goal of their faith without us.