³ It was not with our ancestors^[a] that the Lord made this covenant, but with us,^(A) with all of us who are alive here today.^(B)

¹⁰ All of you are standing today in the presence of the Lord your God—your leaders and chief men, your elders and officials, and all the other men of Israel, ¹¹ together with your children and your wives, and the foreigners living in your camps who chop your wood and carry your water.^{(A) 12} You are standing here in order to enter into a covenant with the Lord your God, a covenant the Lord is making with you this day and sealing with an oath, ¹³ to confirm you this day as his people,^(B) that he may be your God^(C) as he promised you and as he swore to your fathers, Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. ¹⁴ I am making this covenant,^(D) with its oath, not only with you ¹⁵ who are standing here with us today in the presence of the Lord our God but also with those who are not here today.^(E)

⁸ But God found fault with the people and said^[a]:

¹⁷ What I mean is this: The law, introduced 430 years^(A) later, does not set aside the covenant previously established by God and thus do away with the promise. ¹⁸ For if the inheritance depends on the law, then it no longer depends on the promise;^(B) but God in his grace gave it to Abraham through a promise.

¹⁹ Why, then, was the law given at all? It was added because of transgressions^(C) until the Seed^(D) to whom the promise referred had come. The law was given through angels^(E) and entrusted to a mediator.^{(F) 20} A mediator,^(G) however, implies more than one party; but God is one.

²¹ Is the law, therefore, opposed to the promises of God? Absolutely not!^(H) For if a law had been given that could impart life, then righteousness would certainly have come by the law.^(I)

¹⁷ For truly I tell you, many prophets and righteous people longed to see what you see^(A) but did not see it, and to hear what you hear but did not hear it.

³⁸ They will be my people,^(A) and I will be their God. ³⁹ I will give them singleness^(B) of heart and action, so that they will always fear^(C) me and that all will then go well for them and for their children after them. ⁴⁰ I will make an everlasting covenant^(D) with them: I will never stop doing good to them, and I will inspire^(E) them to fear me, so that they will never turn away from me.^(F)

²¹ But my covenant^(A) I will establish with Isaac, whom Sarah will bear to you^(B) by this time next year.”^(C)

⁷ I will establish my covenant^(A) as an everlasting covenant^(B) between me and you and your descendants after you for the generations to come, to be your God^(C) and the God of your descendants after you.^(D)