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¹Now faith is assurance of things hoped for, proof of things not seen.

²For by this, the elders obtained testimony.

³By faith, we understand that the universe has been framed by the word of God, so that what is seen has not been made out of things which are visible.

⁴By faith, Abel offered to God a more excellent sacrifice than Cain, through which he had testimony given to him that he was righteous, God bearing witness with respect to his gifts; and through it he, being dead, still speaks.

⁵By faith, Enoch was translated, so that he should not see death, and he was not found, because God translated him. For he has had testimony given to him that before his translation he had been well pleasing to God.

⁶Without faith it is impossible to be well pleasing to him, for he who comes to God must believe that he exists, and that he is a rewarder of those who seek him.

⁷By faith, Noah, being warned about things not yet seen, moved with godly fear, prepared an ark for the saving of his house, through which he condemned the world, and became heir of the righteousness which is according to faith.

⁸By faith, Abraham, when he was called, obeyed to go out to the place which he was to receive for an inheritance. He went out, not knowing where he went.

⁹By faith, he lived as an alien in the land of promise, as in a land not his own, dwelling in tents, with Isaac and Jacob, the heirs with him of the same promise.

¹⁰For he looked for the city which has the foundations, whose builder and maker is God.

¹¹By faith, even Sarah herself received power to conceive, and she bore a child when she was past age, since she counted him faithful who had promised.

¹²Therefore they were fathered by one, and him as good as dead, as many as the stars of the sky in multitude, and as innumerable as the sand which is by the sea shore.

¹³These all died in faith, not having received the promises, but having seen them and embraced them from afar, and having confessed that they were strangers and pilgrims on the earth.

¹⁴For those who say such things make it clear that they are seeking after a country of their own.

¹⁵If indeed they had been thinking of that country from which they went out, they would have had enough time to return.

¹⁶But now they desire a better country, that is, a heavenly one. Therefore God is not ashamed of them, to be called their God, for he has prepared a city for them.