Hebrews 8:6-13
New Catholic Bible
Another Covenant.[a] 6 But Jesus has now received a ministry that is far superior, for he is the mediator of a far better covenant that has been established on better promises. 7 For if that first covenant had been faultless, there would have been no necessity to establish a second one to replace it. 8 [b]However, God finds fault with his people, and he says,
“Behold, the days are coming, says the Lord,
when I will establish a new covenant
with the house of Israel
and with the house of Judah.
9 It will not be like the covenant
that I made with their ancestors
on the day when I took them by the hand
to lead them out of the land of Egypt.
For they did not remain faithful to my covenant,
and therefore I abandoned them, says the Lord.
10 This is the covenant that I will make
with the house of Israel
after those days, says the Lord.
I will plant my laws in their minds
and inscribe them on their hearts.
I will be their God,
and they will be my people.
11 And they shall not teach one another,
each saying to his neighbor and his brother,
‘Know the Lord.’
For they shall all know me,
from the least of them to the greatest.
12 I shall forgive them for their wicked deeds,
and I shall remember their sins no more.”
13 By calling this covenant “new,” he has made the first one obsolete. And anything that is obsolete and aging will shortly disappear.
Read full chapterFootnotes
- Hebrews 8:6 Israel was known as the people of the Covenant, the Covenant that was expressed in the Law and in worship. A text had been in circulation since the time of Jeremiah that was critical of the past and full of hope for a new future: it was the prophecy of the New Covenant, with which everyone was familiar (see Jer 31:31-34). The author cites it in its entirety (vv. 8-12). In this New Covenant the relationship between God and human beings will no longer be based on laws and institutions, but will have as its basis the person of Jesus Christ, mediator of a life-giving relationship with God (see 1 Tim 2:5).
The priesthood of Christ has given rise to the ministerial or hierarchical priesthood and the common priesthood of the faithful, which differ from one another in essence and not only in degree, and each of which is a participation in the royal priesthood of Christ: “The ministerial priest, by the sacred power he enjoys, teaches and rules the priestly people; acting in the person of Christ, he makes present the Eucharistic Sacrifice and offers it to God in the name of all the people. But the faithful, in virtue of their royal priesthood, join in the offering of the Eucharist. They likewise exercise that priesthood in receiving the Sacraments, in prayer and thanksgiving, in the witness of a holy life, and in self-denial and active charity” (Vatican II: The Church, no. 10). - Hebrews 8:8 The New Covenant is superior to the old because of the following: (1) God’s laws are inner principles (v. 10a) enabling his people to carry out his will (see Ezek 36:26f; Rom 8:2-4). (2) God and his people enjoy an intimate fellowship (v. 10b). (3) There will nevermore be sinful ignorance of God (v. 11). (4) Forgiveness of sins will last forever (v. 12).
