9. Abraham lived in the country that God promised to give him. He lived there like a visitor who did not belong. He did this because he had faith. He lived in tents with Isaac and Jacob, who also received the same promise from God.
10. Abraham was waiting for the city that has real foundations. He was waiting for the city that is planned and built by God.
11. Sarah was not able to have children, and Abraham was too old. But he had faith in God, trusting him to do what he promised. And so God made them able to have children.
12. Abraham was so old he was almost dead. But from that one man came as many descendants as there are stars in the sky. So many people came from him that they are like grains of sand on the seashore.
13. All these great people continued living with faith until they died. They did not get the things God promised his people. But they were happy just to see those promises coming far in the future. They accepted the fact that they were like visitors and strangers here on earth.
14. When people accept something like that, they show they are waiting for a country that will be their own.
15. If they were thinking about the country they had left, they could have gone back.
16. But they were waiting for a better country—a heavenly country. So God is not ashamed to be called their God. And he has prepared a city for them.