New Testament in a Year

²⁰ By faith Isaac blessed Jacob and Esau in regard to their future.

²¹ By faith Jacob, when he was dying, blessed each of Joseph’s sons “and worshipped while leaning^[a] on the top of his staff.”

²² By faith Joseph, when his end was near, spoke about the exodus of the Israelis and gave them instructions about burying^[b] his bones.

²³ By faith Moses was hidden by his parents for three months after he was born, because they saw that he was a beautiful child and were not afraid of the king’s order.

²⁴ By faith Moses, when he had grown up, refused to be called a son of Pharaoh’s daughter, ²⁵ because he preferred being mistreated with God’s people to enjoying the pleasures of sin for a short time. ²⁶ He thought that being insulted for the sake of the Messiah^[c] was of greater value than the treasures of Egypt, because he was looking ahead to his reward.

²⁷ By faith he left Egypt, without being afraid of the king’s anger, and he persevered because he saw the one who is invisible.

²⁸ By faith he established the Passover and the sprinkling of blood to keep the destroyer of the firstborn from touching the people.^[d]

²⁹ By faith they went through the Red Sea as if it were dry land. When the Egyptians tried to do this, they were drowned.

³⁰ By faith the walls of Jericho fell down after they had been encircled for seven days.

³¹ By faith Rahab the prostitute did not die with those who were disobedient, because she had welcomed the spies with a greeting of^[e] peace.

³² And what more should I say? For time would fail me to tell you about Gideon, Barak, Samson, Jephthah, David, Samuel, and the prophets. ³³ Through faith they conquered kingdoms, administered justice, received promises, shut the mouths of lions, ³⁴ put out raging fires, escaped death by^[f] the sword, found strength in weakness, became powerful in battle, and routed foreign armies. ³⁵ Women received their dead raised back to life. Other people were brutally tortured, but refused to be ransomed, so that they might gain a better resurrection. ³⁶ Still others endured taunts and floggings, and even chains and imprisonment. ³⁷ They were stoned to death, sawed in half, and killed with swords. They went around in sheepskins and goatskins. They were needy, oppressed, and mistreated. ³⁸ The world wasn’t worthy of them. They wandered in deserts and mountains, and from caves to holes in the ground.

³⁹ All these people won approval for their faith but they did not receive what was promised, ⁴⁰ since God had planned something better for us, so that they would not be perfected without us.