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This covenant will not be like the one I made with their ancestors when I took them by the hand and led them out of the land of Egypt. They did not remain faithful to my covenant, so I turned my back on them, says the Lord.
Hebrews 8:9 · New Living Translation
Parallel translations
  • WEB not according to the covenant that I made with their fathers, in the day that I took them by the hand to lead them out of the land of Egypt; for they didn’t continue in my covenant, and I disregarded them,” says the Lord.
  • KJV Not according to the covenant that I made with their fathers in the day when I took them by the hand to lead them out of the land of Egypt; because they continued not in my covenant, and I regarded them not, saith the Lord.
  • BSB 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.
  • NKJV not according to the covenant that I made with their fathers in the day when I took them by the 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.
  • NASB Not like the covenant which I made with their fathers On the day I took them by the hand To bring them out of the land of Egypt; For they did not continue in My covenant, And I did not care about them, says the Lord.

Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

Scripture quotations taken from the (NASB®) New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995, 2020 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. All rights reserved. lockman.org

Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.

Quick answer

The new covenant will not be like the old one made at the Exodus, which the people broke, so God 'disregarded them.' The old covenant failed because of human unfaithfulness.

Overview

Continuing Jeremiah 31:32, the writer contrasts the new covenant with the Sinai covenant that Israel broke despite God's tender leading out of Egypt. The people's failure to remain faithful exposed the old covenant's limits. The new covenant, by contrast, will provide what the old could not: inward power to keep faith with God.

Cross-references & the web

Cross-references · 40

  • Jer 31:32not according to the covenant that I made with their fathers in the day that I took them by the hand to bring them out of the land of Egypt; which my covenant they broke, although I was a husband to them,” says Yahweh.
  • Gal 4:24These things contain an allegory, for these are two covenants. One is from Mount Sinai, bearing children to bondage, which is Hagar.
  • Mark 8:23He took hold of the blind man by the hand, and brought him out of the village. When he had spit on his eyes, and laid his hands on him, he asked him if he saw anything.
  • Isa 40:11He will feed his flock like a shepherd. He will gather the lambs in his arm, and carry them in his bosom. He will gently lead those who have their young.
  • Deut 31:16–18Yahweh said to Moses, “Behold, you shall sleep with your fathers. This people will rise up, and play the prostitute after the strange gods of the land, where they go to be among them, and will forsake me, and break my covenant which I have made with them.
  • Heb 9:18–20Therefore even the first covenant has not been dedicated without blood.
  • Deut 29:25Then men will say, “Because they abandoned the covenant of Yahweh, the God of their fathers, which he made with them when he brought them out of the land of Egypt,
  • Acts 9:8Saul arose from the ground, and when his eyes were opened, he saw no one. They led him by the hand, and brought him into Damascus.
  • Deut 29:12that you may enter into the covenant of Yahweh your God, and into his oath, which Yahweh your God makes with you today;
  • Song 8:5Who is this who comes up from the wilderness, leaning on her beloved? Under the apple tree I aroused you. There your mother conceived you. There she was in labor and bore you.
  • Exod 24:3–11Moses came and told the people all Yahweh’s words, and all the ordinances; and all the people answered with one voice, and said, “All the words which Yahweh has spoken will we do.”
  • Ps 78:10–11They didn’t keep God’s covenant, and refused to walk in his law.
  • Gal 3:15–19Brothers, speaking of human terms, though it is only a man’s covenant, yet when it has been confirmed, no one makes it void, or adds to it.
  • Exod 34:10He said, “Behold, I make a covenant: before all your people I will do marvels, such as have not been worked in all the earth, nor in any nation; and all the people among which you are shall see the work of Yahweh; for it is an awesome thing that I do with you.
  • Ezek 16:59“‘For thus says the Lord Yahweh: “I will also deal with you as you have done, who have despised the oath in breaking the covenant.
  • Isa 63:9In all their affliction he was afflicted, and the angel of his presence saved them. In his love and in his pity he redeemed them. He bore them, and carried them all the days of old.
  • Mal 2:13This again you do: you cover Yahweh’s altar with tears, with weeping, and with sighing, because he doesn’t regard the offering any more, neither receives it with good will at your hand.
  • Amos 5:22Yes, though you offer me your burnt offerings and meal offerings, I will not accept them; neither will I regard the peace offerings of your fat animals.
  • Deut 29:1These are the words of the covenant which Yahweh commanded Moses to make with the children of Israel in the land of Moab, in addition to the covenant which he made with them in Horeb.
  • Job 8:20“Behold, God will not cast away a blameless man, neither will he uphold the evildoers.
  • Jer 11:7–8For I earnestly protested to your fathers in the day that I brought them up out of the land of Egypt, even to this day, rising early and protesting, saying, “Obey my voice.”
  • Jer 22:8–9“Many nations will pass by this city, and they will each ask his neighbor, ‘Why has Yahweh done this to this great city?’
  • Deut 5:2–3Yahweh our God made a covenant with us in Horeb.
  • Ps 77:20You led your people like a flock, by the hand of Moses and Aaron.
  • Ezek 20:37–38“I will cause you to pass under the rod, and I will bring you into the bond of the covenant.
  • Ps 105:43He brought his people out with joy, his chosen with singing.
  • Ezek 16:8“‘“Now when I passed by you, and looked at you, behold, your time was the time of love; and I spread my skirt over you, and covered your nakedness: yes, I swore to you, and entered into a covenant with you,” says the Lord Yahweh, “and you became mine.
  • Ps 78:57but turned back, and dealt treacherously like their fathers. They were turned aside like a deceitful bow.
  • 2 Kgs 17:15–18They rejected his statutes, and his covenant that he made with their fathers, and his testimonies which he testified to them; and they followed vanity, and became vain, and followed the nations that were around them, concerning whom Yahweh had commanded them that they should not do like them.
  • Gen 19:16But he lingered; and the men grabbed his hand, his wife’s hand, and his two daughters’ hands, Yahweh being merciful to him; and they took him out, and set him outside of the city.
  • Isa 24:5–6The earth also is polluted under its inhabitants, because they have transgressed the laws, violated the statutes, and broken the everlasting covenant.
  • Acts 13:11Now, behold, the hand of the Lord is on you, and you will be blind, not seeing the sun for a season!” Immediately a mist and darkness fell on him. He went around seeking someone to lead him by the hand.
  • Isa 63:11–13Then he remembered the days of old, Moses and his people, saying, “Where is he who brought them up out of the sea with the shepherds of his flock? Where is he who put his Holy Spirit among them?”
  • Exod 19:4–5‘You have seen what I did to the Egyptians, and how I bore you on eagles’ wings, and brought you to myself.
  • Isa 41:13For I, Yahweh your God, will hold your right hand, saying to you, ‘Don’t be afraid. I will help you.’
  • Judg 10:13–14Yet you have forsaken me, and served other gods. Therefore I will save you no more.
  • Josh 23:15–16It shall happen that as all the good things have come on you of which Yahweh your God spoke to you, so Yahweh will bring on you all the evil things, until he has destroyed you from off this good land which Yahweh your God has given you,
  • Exod 32:8They have turned aside quickly out of the way which I commanded them. They have made themselves a molten calf, and have worshiped it, and have sacrificed to it, and said, ‘These are your gods, Israel, which brought you up out of the land of Egypt.’”
  • Ps 136:11–14And brought out Israel from among them; for his loving kindness endures forever;
  • Lam 4:16Yahweh’s anger has scattered them; he will no more regard them: They didn’t respect the persons of the priests, they didn’t favor the elders.

Themes, concepts, people & topics

Topics (3)

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Commentaries & study tools

  • VideoBibleProject — Hebrews videosBibleProject · Lay · Free · evangelical

    Free animated overview and word-study videos for this book.

  • VideoWatch teaching on Hebrews 8:9YouTube · Lay · Free

    Sermons and teaching on this passage from across YouTube.

  • CommentaryEnduring Word — verse-by-verseDavid Guzik · Lay · Free · evangelical

    Clear, readable, conservative exposition — the best free place to start on any passage.

  • CommentaryClassic commentaries for this verseBibleHub (20+ works) · Pastoral · Free

    Matthew Henry, Barnes, Gill, the Pulpit Commentary, Ellicott, Cambridge, and more — stacked on one page for this exact verse.

  • CommentaryMatthew Henry on HebrewsMatthew Henry · Pastoral · Free · evangelical

    The beloved Puritan exposition of this whole book — warm, devotional, and verse by verse (free, CCEL).

  • ReferenceInterlinear, lexicon & Strong'sBlue Letter Bible · Seminary · Free

    Hebrew/Greek interlinear, word definitions, and cross-references for this verse.

Christ at the center

Hebrews is sustained worship of Christ: better than angels, Moses, and the priests; the great High Priest after Melchizedek who by one sacrifice perfects forever those he saves.

How Hebrews 8:9 points to him is part of the one story that runs through all Scripture — meet Jesus at the heart of the web, or follow a trail that traces him from Genesis to Revelation.

Original language

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