Then God said to Noah and to his sons with him,
"As for me, I am establishing my covenant with you and your
descendants after you, and with every living creature that is with
you, the birds, the domestic animals, and every animal of the earth
with you, as many as came out of the ark. I establish my covenant
with you, that never again shall all flesh be cut off by the waters
of a flood, and never again shall there be a flood to destroy the
earth." God said, "This is the sign of the covenant that I
make between me and you and every living creature that is with you,
for all future generations: I have set my bow in the clouds, and it
shall be a sign of the covenant between me and the earth. When I
bring clouds over the earth and the bow is seen in the clouds, I will
remember my covenant that is between me and you and every living
creature of all flesh; and the waters shall never again become a
flood to destroy all flesh. When the bow is in the clouds, I will see
it and remember the everlasting covenant between God and every living
creature of all flesh that is on the earth." God said to Noah,
"This is the sign of the covenant that I have established
between me and all flesh that is on the earth."
Genesis 9:8-17
When Abram was ninety-nine years old, the LORD
appeared to Abram, and said to him, "I am God Almighty; walk
before me, and be blameless. And I will make my covenant between me
and you, and will make you exceedingly numerous." Then Abram
fell on his face; and God said to him, "As for me, this is my
covenant with you: You shall be the ancestor of a multitude of
nations. No longer shall your name be Abram, but your name shall be
Abraham; for I have made you the ancestor of a multitude of nations.
I will make you exceedingly fruitful; and I will make nations of you,
and kings shall come from you. I will establish my covenant between
me and you, and your offspring after you throughout their
generations, for an everlasting covenant, to be God to you and to
your offspring after you. And I will give to you, and to your
offspring after you, the land where you are now an alien, all the
land of Canaan, for a perpetual holding; and I will be their God."
Genesis 17:1-8
"Thus you shall say to the house of Jacob,
and tell the Israelites: You have seen what I did to the Egyptians,
and how I bore you on eagles' wings and brought you to myself. Now
therefore, if you obey my voice and keep my covenant, you shall be my
treasured possession out of all the peoples. Indeed, the whole earth
is mine, but you shall be for me a priestly kingdom and a holy
nation. These are the words that you shall speak to the Israelites."
So Moses came, summoned the elders of the
people, and set before them all these words that the LORD had
commanded him. The people all answered as one: "Everything that
the LORD has spoken we will do." Moses reported the words of the
people to the LORD.
Exodus 19:3b-8
The days are surely 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 that I made with their
ancestors when I took them by the hand to bring them out of the land
of Egypt — a covenant that they broke, though I was their
husband, 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 put
my law within them, and I will write it on their hearts; and I will
be their God, and they shall be my people. No longer shall they teach
one another, or say to each other, "Know the LORD," for
they shall all know me, from the least of them to the greatest, says
the LORD; for I will forgive their iniquity, and remember their sin
no more.
Jeremiah 31:31-34
Sing, O barren one who did not bear;
burst into song and shout,
you who have not been in labor!
For the children of the desolate woman will be more
than the children of her that is married, says
the LORD.
Enlarge the site of your tent,
and let the curtains of your habitations be
stretched out;
do not hold back; lengthen your cords
and strengthen your stakes.
For you will spread out to the right and to the left,
and your descendants will possess the nations
and will settle the desolate towns.
Do not fear, for you will not be ashamed;
do not be discouraged, for you will not suffer disgrace;
for you will forget the shame of your youth,
and the disgrace of your widowhood you will
remember no more.
For your Maker is your husband,
the LORD of hosts is his name;
the Holy One of Israel is your Redeemer,
the God of the whole earth he is called.
For the LORD has called you
like a wife forsaken and grieved in spirit,
like the wife of a man's youth when she is cast off,
says your God.
For a brief moment I abandoned you,
but with great compassion I will gather you.
In overflowing wrath for a moment
I hid my face from you,
but with everlasting love I will have compassion
on you,
says the LORD, your Redeemer.
This is like the days of Noah to me:
Just as I swore that the waters of Noah
would never again go over the earth,
so I have sworn that I will not be angry with you
and will not rebuke you.
For the mountains may depart
and the hills be removed,
but my steadfast love shall not depart from you,
and my covenant of peace shall not be removed,
says the LORD, who has compassion on you.
Isaiah 54:1-10
Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus
Christ! By his great mercy he has given us a new birth into a living
hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, and into
an inheritance that is imperishable, undefiled, and unfading, kept in
heaven for you, who are being protected by the power of God through
faith for a salvation ready to be revealed in the last time. In this
you rejoice, even if now for a little while you have had to suffer
various trials, so that the genuineness of your faith — being
more precious than gold that, though perishable, is tested by fire
— may be found to result in praise and glory and honor when
Jesus Christ is revealed. Although you have not seen him, you love
him; and even though you do not see him now, you believe in him and
rejoice with an indescribable and glorious joy, for you are receiving
the outcome of your faith, the salvation of your souls.
Concerning this salvation, the prophets who
prophesied of the grace that was to be yours made careful search and inquiry,
1 Peter 1:3-10
See what love the Father has given us, that we
should be called children of God; and that is what we are. The reason
the world does not know us is that it did not know him. Beloved, we
are God's children now; what we will be has not yet been revealed.
What we do know is this: when he is revealed, we will be like him,
for we will see him as he is. And all who have this hope in him
purify themselves, just as he is pure.
Everyone who commits sin is guilty of
lawlessness; sin is lawlessness. You know that he was revealed to
take away sins, and in him there is no sin. No one who abides in him
sins; no one who sins has either seen him or known him. Little
children, let no one deceive you. Everyone who does what is right is
righteous, just as he is righteous. Everyone who commits sin is a
child of the devil; for the devil has been sinning from the
beginning. The Son of God was revealed for this purpose, to destroy
the works of the devil. Those who have been born of God do not sin,
because God's seed abides in them; they cannot sin, because they have
been born of God. The children of God and the children of the devil
are revealed in this way: all who do not do what is right are not
from God, nor are those who do not love their brothers and sisters.
1 John 3:1-10
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