Bible Strands
Hebrews 8:12
For I will forgive their iniquities and will remember their sins no more.”
Berean Standard Bible
Follow its threads on the canvas →
Study note
Setting — God speaks of the new covenant he is establishing with his people, as the author of Hebrews quotes Jeremiah's promise to a community still living under the old covenant's shadow.
The words — ἵλεως (ileōs), "merciful," is an adjective, not a verb; the text says God will be merciful toward their iniquities, a sustained disposition rather than a one-time act of erasure.
The thread — The same promise appears in Isaiah 43:25 ("blots out your transgressions… remembers your sins no more") and is echoed in Hebrews 10:16 and Romans 11:27, all anchoring forgiveness to the new covenant.
Why it lands — The reader is to understand that their standing before God rests on his disposition toward their sin, not on their own capacity to stop sinning.
Drafted by a language model from the text, its original words and its cross-references, then checked against them. It can still be wrong: open the verse in the app to report it.
The Greek words
King James Version
For I will be merciful to their unrighteousness, and their sins and their iniquities will I remember no more.
Cross-references
- Isaiah 43:25 I, yes I, am He who blots out your transgressions for My own sake and remembers your sins no more.
- Hebrews 10:16 “This is the covenant I will make with them after those days, declares the Lord. I will put My laws in their hearts and inscribe them on their minds.”
- Romans 11:27 And this is My covenant with them when I take away their sins.”
- Micah 7:19 He will again have compassion on us; He will vanquish our iniquities. You will cast out all our sins into the depths of the sea.
- Jeremiah 33:8 And I will cleanse them from all the iniquity they have committed against Me, and will forgive all their sins of rebellion against Me.
- Acts 13:38 Therefore let it be known to you, brothers, that through Jesus the forgiveness of sins is proclaimed to you.
- 1 John 1:7 But if we walk in the light as He is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus His Son cleanses us from all sin.
- Jeremiah 50:20 In those days and at that time, declares the LORD, a search will be made for Israel’s guilt, but there will be none, and for Judah’s sins, but they will not be found; for I will forgive the remnant I preserve.
- Ephesians 1:7 In Him we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of our trespasses, according to the riches of His grace
- Isaiah 44:22 I have blotted out your transgressions like a cloud, and your sins like a mist. Return to Me, for I have redeemed you.