8 Then God told Noah and his sons who were there with him, 9 "Listen, I’m making my agreement with you and your descendants, 10 and with all the animals around you—the birds, the livestock, and all the wild animals of the earth—every animal that accompanied you on the ark. 11 In my agreement I’m promising you that I won’t ever again destroy all life by means of a flood—there won’t be a destructive flood like this again."

12 Then God said, "I’m going to give you a sign to confirm the agreement I’m making between me and you and all living creatures, an agreement that will last for all generations. 13 I’ve placed my rainbow in the clouds, and this will be the sign of my agreement with you and with all life on earth.

11 In my agreement I’m promising you that I won’t ever again destroy all life by means of a flood—there won’t be a destructive flood like this again."

13 I’ve placed my rainbow in the clouds, and this will be the sign of my agreement with you and with all life on earth.

18 This is how the Lord made an agreement with Abram that day and promised him, "I’m giving this land to your descendants. It extends from the Wadi of Egypt* to the great Euphrates River, 19 and includes the territory of the Kenites, Kenizzites, Kadmonites, 20 Hittites, Perizzites, Rephaites, 21 Amorites, Canaanites, Girgashites, and Jebusites."

3 Abram bowed down with his face to the ground, and God told him, 4 "Listen! This is the agreement I’m making with you. You will be the father of many nations, 5 so your name won’t be Abram any longer. Instead, your name will be Abraham* because I’m going to make you the father of many nations. 6 I will make sure you have a large number of descendants. They will become many nations, and some of their kings will also come from your line. 7 I promise to continue my agreement with you, and with your descendants who come after you, for generations to come. This is an eternal agreement. I will always be your God, and the God of your descendants. 8 I will give you and your descendants the whole country of Canaan—where you’ve been living as a foreigner—as land to own forever, and I will be their God."

9 Then God told Abraham, "Your part is to keep my agreement—you and your descendants for generations to come. 10 This is my agreement with you and your descendants who come after you, the agreement you are to keep: every male among you shall be circumcised. 11 You are to circumcise your foreskin, and this will be the sign of the agreement between me and you.

5 In the fourteenth year Chedorlaomer invaded, along with the kings in his alliance. They defeated the Rephaites in Ashteroth-karnaim, the Zuzites in Ham, the Emites in Shaveh-kiriathaim,

5 Now if you really obey what I say and keep the agreement with me, then out of all the nations you will be a special people that belong to me. While the whole world is mine,

31 I will fix your borders from the Red Sea to the Sea of the Philistines,* and from the desert to the Euphrates River. I will hand the inhabitants of the land over to you, and you will drive them out. 32 You must not make any agreement with them or with their gods.

10 The Lord said, "Look, I’m making an agreement with you. Right in front of all of you I will do miracles that have never been done before—not among anyone anywhere on earth. Everyone here and those around will see the Lord at work, for what I’m going to do for you will be incredible.

28 Moses spent forty days and forty nights there with the Lord without eating bread or drinking water. He wrote down on the tablets the words of the agreement, the Ten Commandments.

28 Moses spent forty days and forty nights there with the Lord without eating bread or drinking water. He wrote down on the tablets the words of the agreement, the Ten Commandments.

13 He explained to you his agreement, the Ten Commandments, which he ordered you to follow. He wrote them down on two tablets of stone.

9 That’s why you can be sure that the Lord your God is the true God, the faithful God who keeps his agreement based on trustworthy love to a thousand generations of those who love him and keep his commandments.

14 So the people broke camp and set out to cross the Jordan, with the priests carrying the Ark ahead of them.

15 As it was harvest season, the Jordan was full of water, overflowing its banks. But at the very moment the priests carrying the Ark stepped into the water, the river stopped flowing. 16 The water piled up a long way upstream, at the town of Adam, near Zarethan, while downstream no more water flowed into the Dead Sea. So the people crossed over, opposite Jericho. 17 The priests carrying the Ark stood on the dried-up riverbed of the Jordan as all the people went by, staying there until everyone had crossed over on dry ground.

17 Then Jehoiada made a solemn agreement between the Lord, the king, and the people that they would be the Lord’s people. He also made an agreement between the king and the people.

3 The king stood by the pillar and made a solemn agreement before the Lord to follow him and to keep his commandments, laws, and regulations with total dedication, and to observe the requirements of the agreement as written in the book. All the people entered into the agreement.

6 Immediately King Joram called up the whole Israelite army and left Samaria. 7 On his way he sent a message to Jehoshaphat, king of Judah, saying, "The king of Moab has rebelled against me. Will you join me in an attack on Moab?"

Jehoshaphat replied, "Yes, I will join you. You and I are as one, my men and your men are as one, and my horses and your horses are as one."

16 Jonathan made a solemn agreement with the family of David, saying, "May the Lord impose retribution on David’s enemies."* 17 Jonathan made David swear this once more by making an oath based on David’s love for him, for Jonathan already loved David as he loved himself.

10 The Lord told Moses, 11 "Phinehas son of Eleazar, the son of Aaron the priest, has turned my anger away from the Israelites, because out of all of them he was passionately dedicated to me, so I did not destroy the Israelites in my passionate anger. 12 So make an announcement that I am granting him my peace agreement. 13 It will be an agreement that ensures a permanent priesthood for him and his descendants, because he was passionately dedicated to his God and set the Israelites right."

89 Whenever Moses went into the Tent of Meeting to speak with the Lord, he would hear the voice speaking to him from the atonement cover on the Ark of the Testimony between the two cherubim. This is how the Lord spoke to him.

1 The Lord told Moses, 2 "Tell the Israelites to bring twelve walking sticks, one from the leader of each tribe. Write the name of each man on the walking stick, 3 and write Aaron’s name on the walking stick of the tribe of Levi, because there has to be a walking stick for the head of each tribe. 4 Place the walking sticks in the Tent of Meeting in front of the Testimony* where I meet with you. 5 The walking stick that belongs to the man I choose will sprout buds, and I will put a stop to the Israelites' constant complaints against you."

6 Moses explained this to the Israelites, and each of their leaders gave him a walking stick, one for each of the leaders of their tribes. So there were twelve walking sticks including the one belonging to Aaron. 7 Moses placed the walking sticks before the Lord in the Tent of the Testimony.

8 The next day Moses went into the Tent of the Testimony and saw that Aaron’s walking stick that represented the tribe of Levi, had sprouted and developed buds, flowered and produced almonds. 9 Moses took all the walking sticks from the presence of the Lord and showed them to all the Israelites. They saw them, and each man collected his own walking stick.

10 The Lord told Moses, "Put Aaron’s walking stick back in front of the Testimony, to be kept there as a reminder to warn anyone who wants to rebel, so that you may stop their complaining against me. Otherwise they’ll die." 11 Moses did what the Lord ordered him to do.

12 But once again the Israelites did what was evil in the Lord’s sight, and because they did this the Lord gave power to Eglon, king of Moab, to conquer Israel. 13 Eglon had the Ammonites and the Amalekite join him, and then attacked and defeated Israel, taking possession of the City of Palms.*

31 Look! The time is coming, declares the Lord, when I will make a new agreement with the people of Israel and Judah. 32 It won’t be like the agreement that I made with their forefathers when I held their hands and led them out of Egypt. They broke that agreement, even though I was faithful like a husband to them, declares the Lord.

33 But this is the agreement I’m going to make with the people of Israel at that time, declares the Lord. I will put my laws inside them and write them in their minds. I will be their God, and they will be my people. 34 No one will need to teach a neighbor or their brother, telling them, "You ought to know the Lord." For everyone will know me, from the smallest to the greatest. I will forgive them when they do wrong, and I will forget about their sins.

20 This is what the Lord says: If you were able to break my agreement with the day and with the night, so that they wouldn’t come at the right time, 21 only then would my agreement be broken with David my servant and with the Levites who serve as my priests, so that David would not have a descendant to rule on his throne.

15 This is why he is the mediator of a new agreed relationship. Since a death has occurred to set them free from the sins committed under the first agreed relationship, now those who are called can receive the promise of an eternal inheritance.

15 This is why he is the mediator of a new agreed relationship. Since a death has occurred to set them free from the sins committed under the first agreed relationship, now those who are called can receive the promise of an eternal inheritance.

6 But Jesus has been given a far better ministry just as he is the one who mediates a far better agreed relationship between us and God, which is based on much better promises.

20 Now may the God of peace who raised our Lord Jesus, the great shepherd of the sheep, from the dead, with the blood of an eternal agreement— 21 may he provide you with all that is good so you can do his will. May he work in us, doing everything that pleases him, through Jesus Christ—glory to him forever and ever. Amen.

6 He also gave us the ability to be ministers of a new agreement,* based not on the letter of the law, but on the spirit. The letter of the law kills, but the spirit gives life.

24 This provides an analogy: these two women represent two agreements. One agreement is from Mount Sinai—Hagar—and she gives birth to slave children. 25 Hagar symbolizes Mount Sinai in Arabia, and corresponds to the current Jerusalem, because she is in slavery with her children. 26 But the heavenly Jerusalem is free. She is our mother.

17 But the Lord’s trustworthy love lasts for all eternity to those who accept him; his goodness to all generations,

18 to those who keep his agreement and who remember to follow his commandments.

21 This is my agreement with them, says the Lord. My Spirit, who is upon you, won’t leave you, and my words that I have given you to speak will always be on your lips, on the lips of your children, and on the lips of your descendants, from now until forever, says the Lord.

25 I will make an agreement of peace with them, and get rid of the wild animals from the country, so that they can live safely in the wilderness and sleep securely in the forest.

8 The Lord himself goes ahead of you. He will be with you. He won’t ever leave you or abandon you. Don’t be afraid and don’t be discouraged."

27 He will confirm the agreement with many people for one week, but in the middle of the week he will put an end to sacrifices and offerings. The idolatry* that causes devastation will be supported until the end when the same fate is poured out on the one who devastates."*

5 The king of the south will grow strong, but one of his officers will grow even stronger and will rule his kingdom with great authority.

6 Some years later they will form an alliance, and the daughter of the king of the south will be married to the king of the north to guarantee the peace treaty. However, she will not be able to keep her hold on power, nor will his power* continue. She and her attendants will be betrayed, along with her child and husband.* Later on, however,

16 The invader will do whatever he wants;* no one will be able to oppose him. He will stand in the Beautiful Land* with the power to destroy it. 17 He will be determined to come with all the power of his kingdom and will make a peace treaty with the king of the south. To secure this he will give him a daughter of women to marry in order to destroy the kingdom. But she will not be successful and will not support him.

1 "I vowed to myself never to look with desire at young women.

16 Doing this will also save you from a woman who acts immorally,* from a woman who like a prostitute* tries to seduce you with flattering words. 17 Such a woman has left her husband she married when she was young, forgetting the promises she made before God.