'Covenant' in the Bible

Abner sent messengers as his representatives to say to David, “Whose land is it? Make your covenant with me, and you can be certain I am on your side to hand all Israel over to you.”

David replied, “Good, I will make a covenant with you. However, there’s one thing I require of you: Do not appear before me unless you bring Saul’s daughter Michal here when you come to see me.”

Abner said to David, “Let me now go and I will gather all Israel to my lord the king. They will make a covenant with you, and you will rule over all you desire.” So David dismissed Abner, and he went in peace.

So all the elders of Israel came to the king at Hebron. King David made a covenant with them at Hebron in the Lord’s presence, and they anointed David king over Israel.

Zadok was also there, and all the Levites with him were carrying the ark of the covenant of God. They set the ark of God down, and Abiathar offered sacrifices until the people had finished marching past.

Is it not true my house is with God?For He has established an everlasting covenant with me,ordered and secured in every detail.Will He not bring aboutmy whole salvation and my every desire?

Then Solomon woke up and realized it had been a dream. He went to Jerusalem, stood before the ark of the Lord’s covenant, and offered burnt offerings and fellowship offerings. Then he held a feast for all his servants.

He prepared the inner sanctuary inside the temple to put the ark of the Lord’s covenant there.

At that time Solomon assembled the elders of Israel, all the tribal heads and the ancestral leaders of the Israelites before him at Jerusalem in order to bring the ark of the Lord’s covenant from the city of David, that is Zion.

The priests brought the ark of the Lord’s covenant to its place, into the inner sanctuary of the temple, to the most holy place beneath the wings of the cherubim.

Nothing was in the ark except the two stone tablets that Moses had put there at Horeb, where the Lord made a covenant with the Israelites when they came out of the land of Egypt.

I have provided a place there for the ark,where the Lord’s covenant isthat He made with our ancestorswhen He brought them out of the land of Egypt.

He said:Lord God of Israel,there is no God like Youin heaven above or on earth below,keeping the gracious covenantwith Your servants who walk before Youwith their whole heart.

Then the Lord said to Solomon, “Since you have done this and did not keep My covenant and My statutes, which I commanded you, I will tear the kingdom away from you and give it to your servant.

He replied, “I have been very zealous for the Lord God of Hosts, but the Israelites have abandoned Your covenant, torn down Your altars, and killed Your prophets with the sword. I alone am left, and they are looking for me to take my life.”

“I have been very zealous for the Lord God of Hosts,” he replied, “but the Israelites have abandoned Your covenant, torn down Your altars, and killed Your prophets with the sword. I alone am left, and they’re looking for me to take my life.”

Then in the seventh year, Jehoiada sent messengers and brought in the commanders of hundreds, the Carites, and the guards. He had them come to him in the Lord’s temple, where he made a covenant with them and put them under oath. He showed them the king’s son

Then Jehoiada made a covenant between the Lord, the king, and the people that they would be the Lord’s people and another covenant between the king and the people.

but the Lord was gracious to them, had compassion on them, and turned toward them because of His covenant with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. He was not willing to destroy them. Even now He has not banished them from His presence.

They rejected His statutes and His covenant He had made with their ancestors and the decrees He had given them. They pursued worthless idols and became worthless themselves, following the surrounding nations the Lord had commanded them not to imitate.

The Lord made a covenant with them and commanded them, “Do not fear other gods; do not bow down to them; do not serve them; do not sacrifice to them.

Do not forget the covenant that I have made with you. Do not fear other gods,

because they did not listen to the voice of the Lord their God but violated His covenant—all He had commanded Moses the servant of the Lord. They did not listen, and they did not obey.

Then the king went to the Lord’s temple with all the men of Judah and all the inhabitants of Jerusalem, as well as the priests and the prophets—all the people from the youngest to the oldest. As they listened, he read all the words of the book of the covenant that had been found in the Lord’s temple.

Next, the king stood by the pillar and made a covenant in the presence of the Lord to follow the Lord and to keep His commands, His decrees, and His statutes with all his mind and with all his heart, and to carry out the words of this covenant that were written in this book; all the people agreed to the covenant.

The king commanded all the people, “Keep the Passover of the Lord your God as written in the book of the covenant.”

So all the elders of Israel came to the king at Hebron. David made a covenant with them at Hebron in the Lord’s presence, and they anointed David king over Israel, in keeping with the Lord’s word through Samuel.

David, the elders of Israel, and the commanders of thousands went with rejoicing to bring the ark of the covenant of the Lord from the house of Obed-edom.

While the Levites were carrying the ark of the covenant of the Lord, with God’s help, they sacrificed seven bulls and seven rams.

So all Israel brought up the ark of the covenant of the Lord with shouts, the sound of the ram’s horn, trumpets, and cymbals, and the playing of harps and lyres.

As the ark of the covenant of the Lord was entering the city of David, Saul’s daughter Michal looked down from the window and saw King David dancing and celebrating, and she despised him in her heart.

and the priests Benaiah and Jahaziel blew the trumpets regularly before the ark of the covenant of God.

Remember His covenant forever—the promise He ordained for a thousand generations,

the covenant He made with Abraham,swore to Isaac,

and confirmed to Jacob as a decree,and to Israel as an everlasting covenant:

So David left Asaph and his relatives there before the ark of the Lord’s covenant to minister regularly before the ark according to the daily requirements.

When David had settled into his palace, he said to Nathan the prophet, “Look! I am living in a cedar house while the ark of the Lord’s covenant is under tent curtains.”

Now determine in your mind and heart to seek the Lord your God. Get started building the Lord God’s sanctuary so that you may bring the ark of the Lord’s covenant and the holy articles of God to the temple that is to be built for the name of Yahweh.”

Then King David rose to his feet and said, “Listen to me, my brothers and my people. It was in my heart to build a house as a resting place for the ark of the Lord’s covenant and as a footstool for our God. I had made preparations to build,

the weight of refined gold for the altar of incense; and the plans for the chariot of the gold cherubim that spread out their wings and cover the ark of the Lord’s covenant.

At that time Solomon assembled at Jerusalem the elders of Israel—all the tribal heads, the ancestral chiefs of the Israelites—in order to bring the ark of the covenant of the Lord up from the city of David, that is, Zion.

The priests brought the ark of the Lord’s covenant to its place, into the inner sanctuary of the temple, to the most holy place, beneath the wings of the cherubim.

Nothing was in the ark except the two tablets that Moses had put in it at Horeb, where the Lord had made a covenant with the Israelites when they came out of Egypt.

I have put the ark there,where Yahweh’s covenant isthat He made with the Israelites.

He said:Lord God of Israel,there is no God like Youin heaven or on earth,keeping His gracious covenantwith Your servants who walk before Youwith their whole heart.

Don’t you know that the Lord God of Israel gave the kingship over Israel to David and his descendants forever by a covenant of salt?

Then they entered into a covenant to seek the Lord God of their ancestors with all their mind and all their heart.

but because of the covenant the Lord had made with David, He was unwilling to destroy the house of David since the Lord had promised to give a lamp to David and to his sons forever.

Then, in the seventh year, Jehoiada summoned his courage and took the commanders of hundreds into a covenant with him: Azariah son of Jeroham, Ishmael son of Jehohanan, Azariah son of Obed, Maaseiah son of Adaiah, and Elishaphat son of Zichri.

Then the whole assembly made a covenant with the king in God’s temple. Jehoiada said to them, “Here is the king’s son! He must reign, just as the Lord promised concerning David’s sons.

Then Jehoiada made a covenant between himself, the king, and the people that they would be the Lord’s people.

It is in my heart now to make a covenant with Yahweh, the God of Israel so that His burning anger may turn away from us.

The king went up to the Lord’s temple with all the men of Judah and the inhabitants of Jerusalem, as well as the priests and the Levites—all the people from great to small. He read in their hearing all the words of the book of the covenant that had been found in the Lord’s temple.

Then the king stood at his post and made a covenant in the Lord’s presence to follow the Lord and to keep His commands, His decrees, and His statutes with all his heart and with all his soul in order to carry out the words of the covenant written in this book.

He had all those present in Jerusalem and Benjamin agree to it. So all the inhabitants of Jerusalem carried out the covenant of God, the God of their ancestors.

Let us therefore make a covenant before our God to send away all the foreign wives and their children, according to the counsel of my lord and of those who tremble at the command of our God. Let it be done according to the law.

I said,Yahweh, the God of heaven, the great and awe-inspiring God who keeps His gracious covenant with those who love Him and keep His commands,

You found his heart faithful in Your sight,and made a covenant with himto give the land of the Canaanites,Hittites, Amorites, Perizzites,Jebusites, and Girgashites—to give it to his descendants.You have kept Your promise,for You are righteous.

So now, our God—the great, mighty,and awe-inspiring God who keeps His gracious covenant—do not view lightly all the hardships that have afflicted us,our kings and leaders,our priests and prophets,our ancestors and all Your people,from the days of the Assyrian kings until today.

Remember them, my God, for defiling the priesthood as well as the covenant of the priesthood and the Levites.

For you will have a covenant with the stones of the field,and the wild animals will be at peace with you.

I have made a covenant with my eyes.How then could I look at a young woman?

Will he make a covenant with youso that you can take him as a slave forever?

All the Lord’s ways show faithful love and truthto those who keep His covenant and decrees.

The secret counsel of the Lordis for those who fear Him,and He reveals His covenant to them.

All this has happened to us,but we have not forgotten Youor betrayed Your covenant.

“Gather My faithful ones to Me,those who made a covenant with Me by sacrifice.”

But God says to the wicked:“What right do you have to recite My statutesand to take My covenant on your lips?

My friend acts violentlyagainst those at peace with him;he violates his covenant.

Consider the covenant,for the dark places of the land are full of violence.

They did not keep God’s covenantand refused to live by His law.

their hearts were insincere toward Him,and they were unfaithful to His covenant.

The Lord said,“I have made a covenant with My chosen one;I have sworn an oath to David My servant:

I will always preserve My faithful love for him,and My covenant with him will endure.

I will not violate My covenantor change what My lips have said.

You have repudiated the covenant with Your servant;You have completely dishonored his crown.

of those who keep His covenant,who remember to observe His precepts.

He remembers His covenant forever,the promise He ordainedfor a thousand generations—

the covenant He made with Abraham,swore to Isaac,

and confirmed to Jacob as a decreeand to Israel as an everlasting covenant:

remembered His covenant with them,and relented according to the richesof His faithful love.

He has provided food for those who fear Him;He remembers His covenant forever.

He has sent redemption to His people.He has ordained His covenant forever.His name is holy and awe-inspiring.

If your sons keep My covenantand My decrees that I will teach them,their sons will also sit on your throne forever.”

who abandons the companion of her youthand forgets the covenant of her God;

What is desirable in a man is his fidelity;better to be a poor man than a liar.

The earth is polluted by its inhabitants,for they have transgressed teachings,overstepped decrees,and broken the everlasting covenant.

“I, Yahweh, have called Youfor a righteous purpose,and I will hold You by Your hand.I will keep You and appoint Youto be a covenant for the peopleand a light to the nations,

This is what the Lord says:I will answer you in a time of favor,and I will help you in the day of salvation.I will keep you, and I will appoint youto be a covenant for the people,to restore the land,to make them possess the desolate inheritances,

Though the mountains moveand the hills shake,My love will not be removed from youand My covenant of peace will not be shaken,”says your compassionate Lord.

Pay attention and come to Me;listen, so that you will live.I will make an everlasting covenant with you,the promises assured to David.

For the Lord says this:“For the eunuchs who keep My Sabbaths,and choose what pleases Me,and hold firmly to My covenant,

And the foreigners who join themselves to the Lordminister to Him, love the name of Yahwehand become His servants,all who keep the Sabbath without desecrating itand who hold firmly to My covenant—

“As for Me, this is My covenant with them,” says the Lord: “My Spirit who is on you, and My words that I have put in your mouth, will not depart from your mouth, or from the mouth of your children, or from the mouth of your children’s children, from now on and forever,” says the Lord.

For I Yahweh love justice;I hate robbery and injustice;I will faithfully reward themand make an everlasting covenant with them.

When you multiply and increase in the land, in those days”—the Lord’s declaration—“no one will say any longer, ‘The ark of the Lord’s covenant.’ It will never come to mind, and no one will remember or miss it. It will never again be made.

“Listen to the words of this covenant and tell them to the men of Judah and the residents of Jerusalem.

You must tell them: This is what the Lord, the God of Israel, says: ‘Let a curse be on the man who does not obey the words of this covenant,

The Lord said to me, “Proclaim all these words in the cities of Judah and in the streets of Jerusalem: Obey the words of this covenant and carry them out.

Yet they would not obey or pay attention; each one followed the stubbornness of his evil heart. So I brought on them all the curses of this covenant, because they had not done what I commanded them to do.”