1st Reading – Jeremiah 31:31-34
The days are coming, says the LORD,
when I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel
and the house of Judah.
It will not be like the covenant I made with their fathers
the day I took them by the hand
to lead them forth from the land of Egypt;
for they broke my covenant,
and I had to show myself their master, says the LORD.
But this is the covenant that I will make
with the house of Israel after those days, says the LORD.
I will place my law within them and write it upon their hearts;
I will be their God, and they shall be my people.
No longer will they have need to teach their friends and relatives
how to know the LORD.
All, from least to greatest, shall know me, says the LORD,
for I will forgive their evildoing and remember their sin no more.
In the book that bears his name, the prophet Jeremiah delivered messages of warning, judgment, and hope to the people of Judah. The overarching theme revolved around the consequences of disobedience to God’s covenant and the promise of restoration through repentance. Amidst the pronouncements of judgment, Jeremiah also revealed glimpses of a future covenant that God will establish with his people, marked by transformation and a profound internal knowledge of God’s law.
Today’s reading is a central passage in this theme of restoration. It foretells a new covenant that God will make with his people, distinct from the earlier Mosaic covenant. In this new covenant, God promises to inscribe his law on the hearts of his people, fostering an intimate relationship and a profound shift from external obedience to an internal, heartfelt commitment.
Sunday Readings 