By faith…

Abel…Enoch…Noah…Abraham…Sarah…

All these people died still believing

what God had promised them.

They did not receive what was promised,

but they saw it all from a distance and welcomed it.

They agreed that they were foreigners and nomads

here on earth.

Obviously people who say such things

are looking forward to a country they can call their own.

If they had longed for a country they came from,

they could have gone back.

But they were looking for a better place,

a heavenly homeland.

That is why God is not ashamed to be called their God,

for he has prepared a city for them. 

Hebrews 11:3,4,5,7,8,11, 13-16