Hebrews 8:10
What does Hebrews 8:10 mean?
A plain-English look at Hebrews 8:10 in WEB alongside six other public-domain English translations, with cross-references and chapter context.
What Hebrews 8:10 means
Here is the core of the new covenant: God will put His laws into the minds of His people and write them on their hearts. The will of God will be internal, shaping thought and desire, not merely external, demanding conformity. The covenant relationship is reaffirmed: “I will be to them a God, and they shall be to me a people.” This is intimate, mutual belonging grounded in divine action. The verse promises not just better instruction but new inclination. God Himself ensures the alignment of His people with His ways, so that obedience flows from within a renewed heart rather than from fear of penalty alone.
Parallel translations
WEB
World English Bible · 2000For this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel After those days, saith the Lord; I will put my laws into their mind, And on their heart also will I write them: And I will be to them a God, And they shall be to me a people:
KJV
King James Version · 1611For this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days, saith the Lord; I will put my laws into their mind, and write them in their hearts: and I will be to them a God, and they shall be to me a people:
ASV
American Standard Version · 1901For this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel After those days, saith the Lord; I will put my laws into their mind, And on their heart also will I write them: And I will be to them a God, And they shall be to me a people:
BBE
Bible in Basic English · 1949For this is the agreement which I will make with the people of Israel after those days: I will put my laws into their minds, writing them in their hearts: and I will be their God, and they will be my people:
YLT
Young's Literal Translation · 1862because this <FI>is<Fi> the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel, after those days, saith the Lord, giving My laws into their mind, and upon their hearts I will write them, and I will be to them for a God, and they shall be to Me for a people;
DRA
Douay-Rheims (Challoner) · 1752For this is the testament which I will make to the house of Israel after those days, saith the Lord: I will give my laws into their mind: and in their heart will I write them. And I will be their God: and they shall be my people.
DBY
Darby Bible · 1890Because this [is] the covenant that I will covenant to the house of Israel after those days, saith the Lord: Giving my laws into their mind, I will write them also upon their hearts; and I will be to them forGod, and they shall be to me for people.
Context
After recalling the failure under the old covenant, the prophecy turns to God’s positive solution: inward inscription of His law and the reaffirmation of the covenant bond. Verse 11 will expand the relational dimension by promising universal knowledge of the Lord among the covenant people. Then verse 12 will provide the foundation—God’s merciful forgiveness. This sequencing—internalized law, mutual belonging, universal knowledge, complete pardon—reveals why the new covenant’s promises are “better,” and why Christ’s mediating work that brings them is superior to the old system.
v.9Not according to the covenant that I made with their fathers In the day that I took them by the hand to lead them forth out of the land of Egypt; For they continued not in my covenant, And I regarded them not, saith the Lord.
v.10This passage
v.11And they shall not teach every man his fellow-citizen, And every man his brother, saying, Know the Lord: For all shall know me, From the least to the greatest of them.
Cross references
Related passages from across Scripture, drawn from the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge.
- Zechariah 13:9
And I will bring the third part into the fire, and will refine them as silver is refined, and will try them as gold is tried. They shall call on my name, and I will hear them: I will say, It is my people; and they shall say, Jehovah is my God.
- Romans 11:27
And this is my covenant unto them, When I shall take away their sins.
- Ezekiel 11:19
And I will give them one heart, and I will put a new spirit within you; and I will take the stony heart out of their flesh, and will give them a heart of flesh;
- Ezekiel 37:27
My tabernacle also shall be with them; and I will be their God, and they shall be my people.
- Titus 2:14
who gave himself for us, that he might redeem us from all iniquity, and purify unto himself a people for his own possession, zealous of good works.
- Exodus 34:27
And Jehovah said unto Moses, Write thou these words: for after the tenor of these words I have made a covenant with thee and with Israel.
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