Passage

Jeremiah 31.31-34

"Behold, days are coming, declares the LORD, when I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and with the house of Judah, not like the covenant which I made with their fathers in the day I took them by the hand to bring them out of the land of Egypt, My covenant which they broke, although I was a husband to them, declares the LORD. But this is the covenant which I will make with the house of Israel after those days, declares the LORD, I will put My law within them and on their heart I will write it; and I will be their God, and they shall be My people. They will not teach again, each man his neighbor and each man his brother, saying, 'Know the LORD,' for they will all know Me, from the least of them to the greatest of them, declares the LORD, for I will forgive their iniquity, and their sin I will remember no more." (Jeremiah 31:31-34, NASB95)

Immediate context (±2 verses)

ASV (ASV)

"29. In those days they shall say no more, The fathers have eaten sour grapes, and the children's teeth are set on edge. 30. But every one shall die for his own iniquity: every man that eateth the sour grapes, his teeth shall be set on edge."

"31. Behold, the days come, saith Jehovah, that I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel, and with the house of Judah: 32. not 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 brake, although I was a husband unto them, saith Jehovah. 33. But this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days, saith Jehovah: I will put my law in their inward parts, and in their heart will I write it; and I will be their God, and they shall be my people: 34. and they shall teach no more every man his neighbor, and every man his brother, saying, Know Jehovah; for they shall all know me, from the least of them unto the greatest of them, saith Jehovah: for I will forgive their iniquity, and their sin will I remember no more."

"35. Thus saith Jehovah, who giveth the sun for a light by day, and the ordinances of the moon and of the stars for a light by night, who stirreth up the sea, so that the waves thereof roar; Jehovah of hosts is his name: 36. If these ordinances depart from before me, saith Jehovah, then the seed of Israel also shall cease from being a nation before me for ever." (Jeremiah 31:29-36, ASV)

WEB (WEB)

"29. “In those days they shall say no more, “‘The fathers have eaten sour grapes, and the children’s teeth are set on edge.’ 30. But everyone shall die for his own iniquity: every man who eats the sour grapes, his teeth shall be set on edge."

"31. “Behold, the days come,” says Yahweh, “that I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel, and with the house of Judah: 32. not 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. 33. “But this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days,” says Yahweh: I will put my law in their inward parts, and in their heart will I write it; and I will be their God, and they shall be my people: 34. and they shall teach no more every man his neighbor, and every man his brother, saying, ‘Know Yahweh;’ for they shall all know me, from their least to their greatest,” says Yahweh: “for I will forgive their iniquity, and their sin will I remember no more.”"

"35. Yahweh, who gives the sun for a light by day, and the ordinances of the moon and of the stars for a light by night, who stirs up the sea, so that its waves roar; Yahweh of Armies is his name, says: 36. “If these ordinances depart from before me,” says Yahweh, “then the offspring of Israel also shall cease from being a nation before me forever.”" (Jeremiah 31:29-36, WEB)

KJV (KJV)

"29. In those days they shall say no more, The fathers have eaten a sour grape, and the children's teeth are set on edge. 30. But every one shall die for his own iniquity: every man that eateth the sour grape, his teeth shall be set on edge."

"31. Behold, the days come, saith the LORD, that I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel, and with the house of Judah: 32. Not 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 brake, although I was an husband unto them, saith the LORD: ^{although: or, should I have continued an husband unto them?} 33. But this shall be the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel; After those days, saith the LORD, I will put my law in their inward parts, and write it in their hearts; and will be their God, and they shall be my people. 34. And they shall teach no more every man his neighbour, and every man his brother, saying, Know the LORD: for they shall all know me, from the least of them unto the greatest of them, saith the LORD: for I will forgive their iniquity, and I will remember their sin no more."

"35. Thus saith the LORD, which giveth the sun for a light by day, and the ordinances of the moon and of the stars for a light by night, which divideth the sea when the waves thereof roar; The LORD of hosts is his name: 36. If those ordinances depart from before me, saith the LORD, then the seed of Israel also shall cease from being a nation before me for ever." (Jeremiah 31:29-36, KJV)

YLT (YLT)

"29. In those days they do not say any more: Fathers have eaten unripe fruit, And the sons' teeth are blunted. 30. But, each for his own iniquity doth die, Every man who is eating the unripe fruit, Blunted are his teeth."

"31. Lo, days are coming, an affirmation of Jehovah, And I have made with the house of Israel And with the house of Judah a new covenant, 32. Not like the covenant that I made with their fathers, In the day of My laying hold on their hand, To bring them out of the land of Egypt, In that they made void My covenant, And I ruled over them, an affirmation of Jehovah. 33. For this [is] the covenant that I make, With the house of Israel, after those days, An affirmation of Jehovah, I have given My law in their inward part, And on their heart I do write it, And I have been to them for God, And they are to me for a people. 34. And they do not teach any more Each his neighbour, and each his brother, Saying, Know ye Jehovah, For they all know Me, from their least unto their greatest, An affirmation of Jehovah; For I pardon their iniquity, And of their sin I make mention no more."

"35. Thus said Jehovah, Who is giving the sun for a light by day, The statutes of moon and stars for a light by night, Quieting the sea when its billows roar, Jehovah of Hosts [is] His name: 36. If these statutes depart from before Me, An affirmation of Jehovah, Even the seed of Israel doth cease From being a nation before Me all the days." (Jeremiah 31:29-36, YLT)

Jeremiah 31:31-34 is the Old Testament's single most explicit promise of a new covenant. The passage names four distinctives: a covenant unlike Sinai, an internalized law written on the heart, a universalized knowledge of God among the covenant people, and a final forgiveness of sin in which God Himself promises to forget. The New Testament identifies its fulfillment with Jesus' atoning death (Luke 22:20, Matt 26:28) and the letter to the Hebrews quotes the passage in full twice (Heb 8:8-12, 10:16-17), making it the load-bearing text of the New Testament's argument that the Mosaic order has been definitively replaced. Few Old Testament passages have generated more interpretive consequence.

Setting

Speaker: Jeremiah, prophet to Judah, transmitting YHWH's direct address
Audience: the Judahite exiles and the remnant remaining in the land
Location: Jerusalem or its environs, in the years before or during the Babylonian siege
Time period: c. 588-586 BC, with the Babylonian destruction of Jerusalem either imminent or just completed; the book's "Book of Consolation" (chapters 30-33) is a hope-oracle delivered against the darkest moment of the Old Testament narrative

Theological reading

The Hebrew phrase berith hadashah (cf. H1285 - berith) is unique to this passage in the Old Testament. Every other prophetic promise of covenant renewal uses other terms (Isa 55:3 berith olam, Ezek 36:26 the new heart and new spirit). Jeremiah alone names a new covenant, and the Septuagint's diatheke kainē (cf. G1242 - diatheke) supplied the New Testament writers with their own technical term.

The text's four distinctives each cut against the Sinai order. First, the new covenant is not like Sinai, the parallelism is explicit ("not according to the covenant... which I made with their fathers"). Second, the torah (cf. H8451 - torah) is written on the heart, not on stone tablets, internalized rather than external. Third, "they shall all know Me" replaces the priestly-prophetic mediation of Old Testament knowledge with a universal interior knowledge of God across the covenant community. Fourth, the forgiveness is comprehensive and terminal ("their sin I will remember no more"), not the recurring covering of sins by repeated sacrifice, but a single decisive remission.

The New Testament's appropriation is exact. Jesus at the Last Supper says, "this cup which is poured out for you is the new covenant in My blood" (Luke 22.20; cf. Matthew 26.28 "for forgiveness of sins"). The synoptic eucharistic words are Jeremiah-language: new (Luke, Paul) and forgiveness of sins (Matthew). Paul calls himself a minister "of a new covenant" (2 Cor 3:6). The letter to the Hebrews quotes the entire Jeremiah passage at 8:8-12 and again at 10:16-17, structuring its entire argument around the new covenant's abrogation of the old: "in saying, 'a new covenant,' He has made the first obsolete; but whatever is becoming obsolete and growing old is ready to disappear" (Hebrews 8.13).

The Christian tradition has read the passage in three ways relevant to ongoing debate. The first reading, the dominant Protestant settlement, sees Jeremiah 31 as fulfilled in the church through the work of Christ, with ethnic Israel either replaced by or incorporated into the new-covenant people. The second reading, dispensationalist, sees Jeremiah's "house of Israel" as still awaiting a national-ethnic fulfillment in the millennium, with the church participating in some of the new-covenant benefits but not its full national restoration. The third reading, covenantal-with-future-Israel, sees the new covenant as inaugurated now in the church and to be fully consummated when "all Israel will be saved" (Rom 11:26). The codex's treatment in New Covenant and Christians Not Under Mosaic Law surveys these positions.

For the apologetic question of the Mosaic Law and Christians, the verse is decisive against the position that the Sinai code remains binding on the church. The new covenant is not like the old. The continuity is moral and theological (the same God, the same forgiven people, the same end), but the legal-ritual structure is replaced. Christians Not Under Mosaic Law develops the full argument. The skeptic's objection, "Jesus said not one jot or tittle shall pass from the law" (Matt 5:18), is answered by reading Matthew 5:17-18 together with Jeremiah 31 and Hebrews 8: the law is fulfilled in Christ, and what fulfillment means is the transition from external code to internalized covenant.

The passage also bears on the question of Jewish-Christian relations. The text explicitly addresses "the house of Israel and the house of Judah." The replacement reading must explain how the new covenant's named addressees are reached; the dispensational reading must explain how the church's clear new-covenant participation (1 Cor 11:25; 2 Cor 3:6; Hebrews) coheres with a still-future Israelite fulfillment. Both readings agree that the passage's promise is not exhausted in any single moment; the eschatological dimension is alive.

Key words

H1285 - berith, berith, "covenant, treaty, pact." The Hebrew noun under modification; carries the full weight of suzerainty-treaty form, blood-sworn obligation, and grace-grounded relationship.
G1242 - diatheke, diatheke, "covenant, will, testament." The Septuagint and New Testament rendering; carries the secondary sense of a testator's last will, which the letter to the Hebrews exploits (Heb 9:16-17).
H8451 - torah, torah, "instruction, law, teaching." The very thing written on the heart in the new arrangement; broader than the English "law" and including the whole Mosaic teaching.

Theological themes

Discontinuity with Sinai. The new covenant is explicitly not like the old, Hebrews makes this the basis for declaring Sinai obsolete.
Interiorization. Law on the heart rather than on stone, anticipates the Spirit's indwelling work (Ezek 36:26-27, Rom 8, 2 Cor 3).
Democratized knowledge of God. The least to the greatest will know YHWH directly, the prophetic-priestly mediation of the old order yields to universal interior access.
Terminal forgiveness. "I will remember their sin no more", single decisive remission, not recurring covering.
Eschatological depth. The text's full realization spans the Last Supper, Pentecost, the present age of the church, and (on most readings) some still-future consummation.
Anti-supersessionist nuance. The addressees are "the house of Israel and Judah", readings vary on the ethnic-Israel question; see New Covenant.

Cross-references

Luke 22.20, Jesus' eucharistic words: "this cup is the new covenant in My blood."
Matthew 26.28, the parallel: "this is My blood of the covenant, which is poured out for many for forgiveness of sins."
Hebrews 8.13, the explicit declaration that the first covenant is obsolete.
Hebrews 8:8-12 and 10:16-17, the two full quotations of Jeremiah 31 in the New Testament.
Ezekiel 36:25-27, the parallel promise of a new heart and a new spirit.
2 Corinthians 3:6, Paul as minister of a new covenant, "not of the letter but of the Spirit."

Quoted in

Why these four translations

ris3n chose ASV, WEB, KJV, and YLT for two reasons together. They are the most literal English translations available (formal-equivalence: word-for-word renderings that preserve the Hebrew and Greek grammar rather than smoothing it into modern dynamic-equivalence idiom). And they are in the public domain in the United States, which means fair-use quotation at any length requires no publisher license. Modern licensed translations (NASB95, ESV, NIV) restrict volume of quotation under their copyright terms, so they are not used at stub-level coverage here. NASB95 appears only on hand-curated rich passage hubs under Lockman Foundation's fair-use allowance.

The four:

ASV (American Standard Version, 1901). The basis of the modern critical-text English tradition.
WEB (World English Bible, contemporary). Public-domain revision in the ASV line, in current English.
KJV (King James Version, 1611). Reformation-era, Textus Receptus base.
YLT (Young's Literal Translation, Robert Young, 1862). Hyper-literal preservation of Hebrew and Greek grammar; useful for word-study work even where English reads stiff.

See Bibles for the full per-translation history, translators, textual basis, strengths, and weaknesses.