31 **The Lord said:

The time will surely come when I will make a new agreement with the people of Israel and Judah. 32 It will be different from the agreement I made with their ancestors when I led them out of Egypt. Although I was their God, they broke that agreement.

33 *Here is the new agreement that I, the Lord, will make with the people of Israel:

"I will write my laws

on their hearts and minds.

I will be their God,

and they will be my people.

34 *"No longer will they have to teach one another to obey me. I, the Lord, promise that all of them will obey me, ordinary people and rulers alike. I will forgive their sins and forget the evil things they have done."

6 Now Christ has been appointed to serve as a priest in a much better way, and he has given us much assurance of a better agreement.

7 If the first agreement with God had been all right, there would not have been any need for another one.

13 When the Lord talks about a new agreement, he means that the first one is out of date. And anything that is old and useless will soon disappear.

22 This means that Jesus guarantees us a better agreement with God.

20 *After the meal he took another cup of wine in his hands. Then he said, "This is my blood. It is poured out for you, and with it God makes his new agreement.

27 Jesus picked up a cup of wine and gave thanks to God. He then gave it to his disciples and said, "Take this and drink it. 28 *This is my blood, and with it God makes his agreement with you. It will be poured out, so that many people will have their sins forgiven.

14 But Christ was sinless, and he offered himself as an eternal and spiritual sacrifice to God. This is why his blood is much more powerful and makes our* consciences clear. Now we can serve the living God and no longer do things that lead to death.

15 Christ died to rescue those who had sinned and broken the old agreement. Now he brings his chosen ones a new agreement with its guarantee of God’s eternal blessings!

16 In fact, making an agreement of this kind is like writing a will. This is because the one who makes the will must die before it is of any use. 17 In other words, a will doesn’t go into effect as long as the one who made it is still alive.

18 Blood was also used* to put the first agreement into effect. 19 *Moses told the people all the Law said they must do. Then he used red wool and a hyssop plant to sprinkle the people and the book of the Law with the blood of bulls and goats* and with water. 20 He told the people, "With this blood God makes his agreement with you."

1 The Law of Moses is like a shadow of the good things to come. This shadow isn’t the good things themselves, because it cannot free people from sin by the sacrifices offered year after year. 2 If there were worshipers who already have their sins washed away and their consciences made clear, there would not be any need to go on offering sacrifices. 3,4 But the blood of bulls and goats cannot take away sins. It only reminds people of their sins from one year to the next.

17 Anyone who belongs to Christ is a new person. The past is forgotten, and everything is new. 18 God has done it all! He sent Christ to make peace between himself and us, and he has given us the work of making peace between himself and others.

19 What we mean is that God was in Christ, offering peace and forgiveness to the people of this world. And he has given us the work of sharing his message about peace. 20 We were sent to speak for Christ, and God is begging you to listen to our message. We speak for Christ and sincerely ask you to make peace with God. 21 Christ never sinned! But God treated him as a sinner, so Christ could make us acceptable to God.

4 We are sure about all this. Christ makes us sure in the very presence of God. 5 We don’t have the right to claim that we have done anything on our own. God gives us what it takes to do all we do. 6 *He makes us worthy to be the servants of his new agreement that comes from the Holy Spirit and not from a written Law. After all, the Law brings death, but the Spirit brings life.

11 Don’t forget that you are Gentiles. In fact, you used to be called "uncircumcised" by those who take pride in being circumcised. 12 At that time you did not know about Christ. You were foreigners to the people of Israel, and you had no part in the promises God had made to them. You were living in this world without hope and without God, 13 and you were far from God. But Christ offered his life’s blood as a sacrifice and brought you near God.

10 Real love isn’t our love for God, but his love for us. God sent his Son to be the sacrifice by which our sins are forgiven.