Revised Common Lectionary (Semicontinuous)

¹³ These people all died still believing God. They did not get the things God had promised them. But they saw them far away and were glad to see them. They said they did not belong to this world, but were only travelling in it.

¹⁴ People who say such things mean they are looking for a country which will be their own.

¹⁵ If they had wanted the country they left behind, they could have gone back to it.

¹⁶ But now they want a better country. They want a place in heaven. That is why God wants to be called their God. He has made a city ready for them.

¹⁷ Abraham believed God when he was tested. The test was to give Isaac as a sacrifice. Abraham gave up his only son, even though God had made a promise to him about Isaac.

¹⁸ God had said to Abraham, `Isaac's children will be called your family.'

¹⁹ Abraham said in his heart that God could bring Isaac back to life. And so it was just as if he did get his son back.

²⁰ Isaac believed God. He gave Jacob and Esau blessings that were to come.

²¹ Jacob believed God. When he was dying, he blessed Joseph's two sons. He leaned on his walking stick as he worshipped God.

²² Joseph believed God. When he died, he remembered God's promise and talked about the time the people of Israel would leave Egypt. He told them what to do with his bones when they left Egypt.