But God found fault with the people and said: “Behold, the days are coming, declares the Lord, when I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and with the house of Judah. It will not be like the covenant I made with their fathers when I took them by the hand to lead them out of the land of Egypt, because they did not abide by My covenant, and I disregarded them, declares the Lord. For this is the covenant I will make with the house of Israel after those days, declares the Lord. I will put My laws in their minds and inscribe them on their hearts. And I will be their God, and they will be My people. No longer will each one teach his neighbor or his brother, saying, ‘Know the Lord,’ because they will all know Me, from the least of them to the greatest. For I will forgive their iniquities and will remember their sins no more.”
Behold, the days are coming, declares the LORD, when I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and with the house of Judah. It will not be like the covenant I made with their fathers when I took them by the hand to lead them out of the land of Egypt—a covenant they broke, though I was a husband to them," declares the LORD. "But this is the covenant I will make with the house of Israel after those days, declares the LORD. I will put My law in their minds and inscribe it on their hearts. And I will be their God, and they will be My people. No longer will each man teach his neighbor or his brother, saying, 'Know the LORD,' because they will all know Me, from the least of them to the greatest, declares the LORD. For I will forgive their iniquities and will remember their sins no more."
Walk the Square · a single-voice walk of this pair around the Clowney square8:51
Significance
Foundational for new covenant theology. Demonstrates superiority of new covenant over old. Author focuses on word "new" (kainos) to show old is "obsolete" (8:13). Quoted again at 10:16-17 focusing on forgiveness of sins. Internalization of law, relationship with God, decisive forgiveness are marks of new covenant. The fourfold promise structure (law on hearts, covenant relationship, knowledge of God, forgiveness of sins) shows comprehensively what Christ accomplishes. The decisive hermeneutical move: Jeremiah's "new" covenant prophecy proves the first was never intended to be final, justifying the author's claim that in Christ the old covenant becomes obsolete and ready to vanish away.
