'Covenant' in the Bible

Extend your ear, and come to me! Listen so that your soul may live, and I will {make} an everlasting covenant with you, the enduring proofs of {the mercies shown to} David.

For thus says Yahweh, "To the eunuchs who keep my Sabbaths, and choose that in which I delight, and who keep hold of my covenant.

And the {foreigners} [who] join themselves to Yahweh to serve him and to love the name of Yahweh, to become his servants, every one who keeps [the] Sabbath, {so as not to profane} it, and those who keep hold of my covenant,

"And as for me, this [is] my covenant with them, says Yahweh: my spirit that [is] upon you, and my words that I have placed in your mouth shall not depart from your mouth, or from the mouths of your {children}, or from the mouths of {your children's children}," says Yahweh, "from now on and forever."

For I, Yahweh, love justice, hate robbery and injustice, and I will {faithfully} give their reward, and I will {make} an everlasting covenant {with} them.

And it will be when you have multiplied and become fruitful in the land in those days," {declares} Yahweh, "they will no longer say, 'The ark of the covenant of Yahweh.' And {it will not come to mind}, nor will they remember it, nor will they miss [it], nor will it be made again.

"Hear the words of this covenant, and speak to the {people} of Judah and to the inhabitants of Jerusalem,

and say to them, 'Thus says Yahweh, the God of Israel: "The man is cursed who does not obey the words of this covenant,

And Yahweh said to me, "Proclaim all these words in the cities of Judah and in the streets of Jerusalem, {saying}, 'Hear the words of this covenant and do them,

But they did not obey and they did not incline their ear. Instead each one walked in the stubbornness of his evil heart. Therefore, I brought on them all the words of this covenant which I commanded [them] to do, and they did not [do it].'"

They have turned back to the iniquities of their former ancestors, who refused to obey my words, and they have gone after other gods, to serve them. The house of Israel and the house of Judah have broken my covenant that I {made} with their ancestors."

You must not spurn [us] for the sake of your name, you must not dishonor {your glorious throne}. Remember [us]! You must not break your covenant with us.

Then they will answer, 'Because they abandoned the covenant of Yahweh their God, and bowed down in worship to other gods, and served them.'"

Look, [the] days [are] coming," {declares} Yahweh, "and I will {make} a new covenant with the house of Israel and with the house of Judah,

not like the covenant that I {made} with their ancestors on the day of my grasping [them] by their hand, bringing them out from the land of Egypt, my covenant that they themselves broke, though I myself was a master over them," {declares} Yahweh.

"But this [is] the covenant that I will {make} with the house of Israel after those days," {declares} Yahweh: "I will put my law in their inward parts and on their hearts I will write it, and I will be to them God, and they themselves will be to me people.

And I will {make} with them {an everlasting covenant} that I will not turn away from them, my doing good [to] them, and my reverence I will put in their hearts so that [they will] not turn aside from me.

"Thus says Yahweh: 'If you could break my covenant [with] the day, and my covenant [with] the night, so that day and night [would] not come at their time,

then my covenant could be broken with David my servant, from {having} a son who could rule on his throne, and with the Levites, the priests, my ministers.

Thus says Yahweh: 'If my covenant [with] day and [with] night, [the] regulations of heaven and earth, I had not established,

The word that came to Jeremiah from Yahweh after king Zedekiah {made} a covenant with all the people who [were] in Jerusalem to proclaim release to them,

And all the officials and all the people obeyed, who had entered into the covenant to let go each one his [male] slave and each one his female slave, not enslaving them again, and they obeyed and they let [them] go.

"Thus says Yahweh, the God of Israel: 'I {made} a covenant with your ancestors on the day of my bringing them out from the land of Egypt, from [the] house of slaves, {saying},

And you turned back {recently} and you did right in my eyes, to proclaim release each one to his neighbor, and you {made} a covenant {before me} in the house that is called {by} my name.

And I will make the men who transgressed my covenant, who have not kept the words of the covenant that they {made} {before me}, [like] the calf which they cut in two and they passed between its parts--

They will ask [the] way [to] Zion, [turning] their faces there. They will come and join themselves to Yahweh [by] {an everlasting covenant} [that] will not be forgotten.

" 'And I passed by you, and I saw you, and look, {your time of lovemaking had come}, and [so] I spread out my hem over you, and I covered your nakedness, and I swore to you, and I entered into a covenant with you,' {declares} the Lord Yahweh, 'and {you became mine}.

'For thus says the Lord Yahweh: And I will do it to you {according to what you have done}, who despised [the] oath to break covenant.

And I, I will remember my covenant with you in the days of your youth, and I will establish with you {an everlasting covenant}.

And you will remember your ways, and you will be ashamed when you take your sisters, {both the older and the younger}, and I give them to you as daughters, but not on account of your covenant.

And I, I will establish my covenant with you, and you will know that I [am] Yahweh,

And he took from the seed of the kingship, and he made with him a covenant, and {he brought him under oath}, and he took the rulers of the land,

so that [they would] be a humble kingdom and not lift itself up to keep his covenant {in order for it to stand}.

But he rebelled against him by sending his messengers [to] Egypt to give to him horses and a large army. Will he succeed? Will he escape doing these [things], and can he break [the] covenant and escape?

{As I live},' {declares} the Lord Yahweh, '{surely} in the place of the king {who made} him king, who despised his oath and who broke his covenant with him--in the midst of Babylon he will die.

And he despised [the] oath to break covenant. And, look, he gave his hand [in pledge], and [yet] he did all of these [things]. He will not escape.'

Therefore thus says the Lord Yahweh: '{As I live}, {surely} my oath that he despised and my covenant that he broke I will return upon his head.

"And I will make you pass under the rod, and I will bring you into the bond of the covenant.

And I will make them a covenant of peace, and I will put an end to wild animals from the land, and they will dwell in the desert {safely}, and they will sleep in the forest.

And I will make with them a covenant of peace; {an everlasting covenant} it will be with them. And I will establish them, and I will cause them to increase, and I will put my sanctuary in the midst of them {forever}.

At your bringing {foreigners} [who are] uncircumcised of heart and uncircumcised of flesh to be in my sanctuary to profane it, my temple, {as you offered my food, fat, and blood}, so you broke my covenant by all of your detestable things.

And I prayed to Yahweh my God, and I made confession and I said, "O Lord, the great and awesome God, keeping the covenant and loyal love with [those who] love him and with [those who] keep his commandments,

And he will make a strong covenant with the many [for] one week, but [in] half of the week he will let cease sacrifice and offering {and in its place} a desolating abomination [comes] even until {the determined complete destruction} is poured out on [the] desolator."

And {before him} {mighty military forces} will be utterly swept away, and they will be broken, and also [the] leader of [the] covenant.

Then he will return to his land with many possessions, but his heart [will be set] against {the holy covenant}, and he will take action and he will return to his land.

And [the] ships of Kittim will come against him, and he will lose heart, and he will turn back, and he will be enraged {against the holy covenant}, and he will take action, and he will turn back, and he will pay attention to [those who] forsake {the holy covenant}.

"And those who violate [the] covenant he will seduce with flattery, but the persons who know their God will stand firm and will take action.

I will make a covenant for them on that day, with the animals of the field, with the birds of the heaven, and [with] the creeping things of the ground; [the] bow, [the] sword, and [the] war I will abolish from the land, and I will let them lie down in safety.

But like Adam, they transgressed [the] covenant; there they dealt faithlessly with me.

[Put] to your lips [the] trumpet like a vulture over the house of Yahweh, because they have {broken my covenant} and rebelled against my law.

Thus says Yahweh: "For three transgressions of Tyre and for four I will not revoke [the punishment], because they delivered up a whole community to Edom and they did not remember the covenant of brotherhood!

[As for] you also, because of the blood of your covenant, I will release your prisoners from {the waterless pit}.

And I took my staff Kindness and broke it, to break my covenant that I {had made} with all the peoples.

"Then you will know that I have sent to you this command, that my covenant with Levi {continues}," says Yahweh of hosts.

"My covenant with him was [one of] life and peace, and I gave them to him. [This required] reverence, and he revered me and stood in awe {before} my name.

But you, you have turned from the way; you have caused many to stumble by [your] instruction; you have ruined the covenant of Levi," says Yahweh of hosts.

{Do we not all have} one father? Has not one God created us? Why [then] are we unfaithful {to one another}, profaning the covenant of our ancestors?

But you ask, "{For what reason}?" Because Yahweh stands as a witness between you and the wife of your youth, against whom you have been unfaithful, even though she [is] your marriage partner and {your wife by covenant}.

"Look! I [am] going to send my messenger, and he will prepare [the] way {before me}. And the Lord whom you [are] seeking will come suddenly to his temple, and the messenger of the covenant, [in] whom you [are] taking pleasure--look!--[he is] about to come," says Yahweh of hosts.

for this is my blood of the covenant which is poured out for many for the forgiveness of sins.

And he said to them, "This is my blood of the covenant which is poured out for many.

to show mercy to our fathers and to remember his holy covenant,

And in the same way the cup after [they] had eaten, saying, "This cup [is] the new covenant in my blood which is poured out for you.

You are the sons of the prophets and of the covenant that God ordained with your fathers, saying to Abraham, 'And in your offspring all the nations of the earth will be blessed.'

And he gave him the covenant of circumcision, and so he became the father of Isaac and circumcised him on the eighth day, and Isaac [did so with] Jacob, and Jacob [did so with] the twelve patriarchs.

And this [is] the covenant from me with them when I take away their sins."

Likewise also the cup, after they had eaten, saying, "This cup is the new covenant in my blood. Do this, as often as you drink [it], in remembrance of me."

who also makes us adequate [as] servants of a new covenant, not of the letter, but of the Spirit, for the letter kills, but the Spirit gives life.

But their minds were hardened. For until this very day, the same veil remains upon the reading of the old covenant, not being uncovered, because it is done away with in Christ.

Brothers, I am speaking according to a human perspective. Nevertheless, [when] the covenant of a man has been ratified, no one declares [it] invalid or adds additional provisions [to it].

Now I am saying this: the law, that came after four hundred and thirty years, does not revoke a covenant previously ratified by God, in order to nullify the promise.

by so much more Jesus has become the guarantee of a better covenant.

But now he has attained a more excellent ministry, by as much as he is also mediator of a better covenant which has been enacted upon better promises.

For if that first [covenant] had been faultless, occasion would not have been sought for a second.

For in finding fault with them he says, "Behold, days are coming, says the Lord, when I will complete a new covenant with the house of Israel and with the house of Judah,

not like the covenant which I made with their fathers on the day I took hold of them by my hand to lead them out of the land of Egypt, because they did not continue in my covenant and I disregarded them, says the Lord.

For this [is] the covenant that I will decree with the house of Israel after those days, says the Lord: I am putting my laws in their minds and I will write them on their hearts, and I will be {their} God and they will be {my} people.

Now the first [covenant] had regulations for worship and the earthly sanctuary.

containing the golden incense altar and the ark of the covenant covered on all sides with gold, in which [were] a golden jar containing the manna and the rod of Aaron that budded and the tablets of the covenant.

And because of this, he is the mediator of a new covenant, in order that, [because] a death has taken place for the redemption of transgressions [committed] during the first covenant, those who are the called may receive the promise of the eternal inheritance.

Therefore not even the first [covenant] was ratified without blood.

saying, "This [is] the blood of the covenant that God has commanded for you."

"This [is] the covenant that I will decree for them after those days, says the Lord: I am putting my laws on their hearts, and I will write them on their minds."

How much worse punishment do you think the person will be considered worthy of who treats with disdain the Son of God and who considers ordinary the blood of the covenant by which he was made holy and who insults the Spirit of grace?

and to Jesus, the mediator of a new covenant, and {to the sprinkled blood} that speaks better than Abel's [does].

Now may the God of peace, who brought up from the dead our Lord Jesus, the great shepherd of the sheep, by the blood of the eternal covenant,

And the temple of God in heaven was opened, and the ark of his covenant appeared in his temple, and there were lightnings and sounds and thunders and an earthquake and large hail.