Passage

Jeremiah 31.33

Book: Jeremiah · ASV

Immediate context (±2 verses)

ASV (ASV)

"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:" (Jeremiah 31:31-35, ASV)

WEB (WEB)

"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:" (Jeremiah 31:31-35, WEB)

KJV (KJV)

"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:" (Jeremiah 31:31-35, KJV)

YLT (YLT)

"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:" (Jeremiah 31:31-35, YLT)

Setting

Speaker: YHWH, through the prophet Jeremiah
Audience: the Judah of the late pre-exilic / early exilic period; the future restored covenant community is the ultimate referent
Location: Jerusalem (Jeremiah's prophetic ministry, mostly)
Time period: Jeremiah's ministry c. 627-585 BC; this oracle likely late, in the years surrounding the 586 BC fall of Jerusalem

Theological reading

Jer 31:31-34 is the single most theologically load-bearing OT prophecy of the New Covenant. The text names what the Mosaic covenant could not do, produce the lebab-obedience it demanded, and announces what the future covenant will do: YHWH Himself will write the law on the heart (lev). The OT trajectory from Deut 6:5 (the lebab demand) through Deut 10:16 (the call to circumcise the lebab) through Deut 30:6 (the eschatological promise that YHWH Himself will circumcise the lebab) culminates here in Jer 31:33: the law no longer external on stone tablets but internal on the lev.

The NT identifies this prophecy as fulfilled in Christ and the Spirit. The Last Supper words "this is my blood of the new covenant" (Mk 14:24 // Matt 26:28 // Luke 22:20) deliberately identify Christ's atoning death as the covenant-inauguration Jer 31 prophesied. Hebrews quotes Jer 31:31-34 in full twice (Heb 8:8-12; 10:16-17) as the structural backbone of its argument that the Mosaic priesthood and sacrificial system are superseded by Christ's once-for-all priesthood. Paul deploys the same prophecy: "ye are an epistle of Christ... written not with ink, but with the Spirit of the living God; not in tables of stone, but in tables that are hearts of flesh" (2 Cor 3:3), and the broader 2 Cor 3 argument that the new-covenant Spirit-ministry surpasses the old-covenant letter-ministry. Romans 2:28-29 makes the same move on circumcision of the heart, the Jer 31 promise applied directly to Christian identity.

The verse is foundational for the Reformed doctrines of regeneration (the work of writing the law on the heart is monergistic, YHWH does it), sanctification (the law internalized produces conformity from within), and the priesthood of all believers (the universal "they shall all know me" in v. 34 collapses the old-covenant mediated-knowledge structure). It is also a primary text for the doctrine of the invisible church, the covenant community is constituted by inner-renewal, not by outer-membership.

Key words

H3820 - lev, lev (Strong's H3820, the shorter biform of H3824 - lebab). The inward heart where YHWH writes the New-Covenant law.

Quoted in

Notes

Stub. Promote to rich hub when warranted.

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.