Isaiah’s Prophecy of the New Covenant

by | Posted October 24th at 8:02am

Isaiah’s Texts on the New Covenant

Isaiah uses the phrases “everlasting covenant,” “covenant of peace,” and “a covenant to the people” for what the New Testament calls the New Covenant. Quotations below are from the KJV (public domain).

Simply hover over the texts, and the ESV version will appear.

Direct covenant language

Isaiah 42:6: The Servant is given “for a covenant of the people, for a light of the Gentiles.”
Isaiah 49:8: The Servant is again given “for a covenant of the people,” to restore the land and free the captives.
Isaiah 54:10: “The covenant of my peace be removed” is promised never to happen, because it rests on the LORD’s mercy.
Isaiah 55:3: “I will make an everlasting covenant with you, even the sure mercies of David” (compare Acts 13:34).
Isaiah 59:20-21: The Redeemer comes to Zion, and the covenant includes the Spirit and the words of God remaining with His people forever (quoted in Romans 11:26-27).
Isaiah 61:8: “I will make an everlasting covenant with them.”

The basis of the covenant: the Servant’s atonement

Isaiah 52:13-53:12: The suffering Servant bears sins, is “wounded for our transgressions,” and “justifies many” (especially 53:5, 10-12). This is the sacrificial foundation of the covenant.

Spirit and heart transformation

Isaiah 32:15: The Spirit is “poured upon us from on high.”
Isaiah 44:3-5: The Spirit is poured on descendants, and people claim belonging to the LORD.
Isaiah 61:1-3: The Spirit-anointed one brings good news, liberty, and comfort (Jesus applies this to himself in Luke 4:16-21).
Isaiah 54:13: “All thy children shall be taught of the LORD” (cited in John 6:45).

Inclusion of the nations

Isaiah 2:2-4: The nations stream to the LORD’s house to learn His ways.
Isaiah 11:10: The root of Jesse is a banner for the Gentiles.
Isaiah 49:6: The Servant is a light to the nations, bringing salvation “unto the end of the earth.”
Isaiah 56:3-8: Foreigners and eunuchs who hold to the covenant are welcomed, and the temple is “an house of prayer for all people.”
Isaiah 55:1-5: A free invitation to all who thirst, with nations running to Israel’s God.

Forgiveness and renewal

Isaiah 43:25: God blots out transgressions for His own sake.
Isaiah 44:22: Sins are swept away like a cloud.
Isaiah 55:6-7: The call to return for abundant pardon.
Isaiah 65:17-25 and 66:22: The new heavens and new earth, the covenant’s ultimate fulfillment.

Contrast: the broken covenant

Isaiah 24:5: The earth’s inhabitants “have broken the everlasting covenant,” which sets up the need for a renewed one.

Foundation of the new order

Isaiah 28:16: A tested cornerstone laid in Zion, “he that believeth shall not make haste” (applied to Christ in 1 Peter 2:6 and Romans 9:33).

For comparison, the other key Old Testament New Covenant passages are Jeremiah 31:31-34, Ezekiel 36:25-27, and Ezekiel 37:26. I can also lay out how the New Testament cites these Isaiah texts, if that would help.

Lay out how the New Testament cites these Isaiah texts.

Compiling servant-song and suffering-passages cited across the epistles.

How the New Testament Cites These Isaiah Texts

I’ve separated explicit quotations from allusions, since scholars often disagree on the latter.

The Servant as covenant and light: Isaiah 42:6; 49:6, 8

Luke 2:30-32: Simeon calls the infant Jesus “a light to lighten the Gentiles,” echoing 42:6 and 49:6 (allusion).
Acts 13:46-47: Paul and Barnabas quote 49:6 (“I have set thee to be a light of the Gentiles”) to justify turning to the Gentiles.
Acts 26:23: Paul says Christ would “shew light unto the people, and to the Gentiles” (allusion).
2 Corinthians 6:2: Paul quotes 49:8 (“in a time accepted I have heard thee”) and applies it to the present: “now is the day of salvation.”
Matthew 12:17-21: Quotes 42:1-4, the first Servant Song, as fulfilled in Jesus’ ministry.

The suffering Servant: Isaiah 52:13-53:12

Matthew 8:17: Quotes 53:4 for Jesus’ healings.
Luke 22:37: Jesus quotes 53:12 (“numbered with the transgressors”) as about to be fulfilled in him.
Mark 15:28: Some manuscripts add the same quotation at the crucifixion.
John 12:38: Quotes 53:1 to explain unbelief in Jesus’ ministry.
Acts 8:32-35: The Ethiopian eunuch reads 53:7-8, and Philip “preached unto him Jesus.”
Romans 10:16: Quotes 53:1 on the response to the gospel.
Romans 15:21: Quotes 52:15, applying it to Paul’s mission to unreached Gentiles.
1 Peter 2:22-25: The fullest NT use of the chapter, drawing on 53:4-12 (“who his own self bare our sins… by whose stripes ye were healed”).
Romans 4:25 and Mark 10:45: Often seen as allusions to 53:5, 11-12.
Related, from 52:5, 7, 11: Romans 2:24 quotes 52:5. Romans 10:15 quotes 52:7 (“how beautiful are the feet”). 2 Corinthians 6:17 quotes 52:11 (“come out from among them”).

The everlasting covenant and the sure mercies: Isaiah 54:10; 55:3; 59:20-21; 61:8

Acts 13:34: Paul quotes 55:3 (“the sure mercies of David”) as fulfilled in Christ’s resurrection.
Romans 11:26-27: Quotes 59:20-21, combined with Jeremiah 31:33-34, for the Deliverer who turns away ungodliness from Jacob and takes away sins. This is the one place where Isaiah’s covenant language is explicitly named in the NT.
Revelation 21:6 and 22:17: Allude to the free invitation of 55:1.

Spirit and teaching: Isaiah 32:15; 44:3; 54:13; 61:1-3

John 6:45: Jesus quotes 54:13 (“they shall be all taught of God”) to explain why people come to him.
Luke 4:16-21: Jesus reads 61:1-2 in Nazareth and says, “This day is this scripture fulfilled in your ears.”
Matthew 11:5 and Luke 7:22: Jesus answers John the Baptist by drawing on 61:1 together with 35:5-6.
John 7:37-39: The promise of “rivers of living water” is often linked to 44:3 and 55:1, and John ties it to the coming Spirit (allusion).
Acts 2:33 and Titus 3:5-6: The Spirit “poured out” echoes 32:15 and 44:3 (allusion).
Revelation 21:2: The bride “adorned for her husband” echoes 61:10 (allusion).

Inclusion of the nations: Isaiah 2:2-4; 11:10; 49:6; 56:3-8

Romans 15:12: Quotes 11:10 (“in him shall the Gentiles trust”) as the climax of Paul’s argument for Jew-Gentile unity.
Matthew 21:13, Mark 11:17, Luke 19:46: Jesus quotes 56:7 (“my house shall be called the house of prayer”) when cleansing the temple. Only Mark includes “of all nations.”
Acts 8:27-39: The conversion of an Ethiopian eunuch is often seen as a fulfillment of 56:3-5 (allusion).
Isaiah 2:2-4: Never quoted directly, but its vision of nations coming to learn the LORD’s ways stands behind the Gentile-mission texts above.
Related: Romans 10:20-21 quotes 65:1-2 for God’s reach to Gentiles and his outstretched hands to disobedient Israel. Galatians 4:27 quotes 54:1 (“Rejoice, thou barren”) for the children of promise.

The cornerstone: Isaiah 28:16

Romans 9:33 and 10:11: Paul quotes 28:16 (“whosoever believeth on him shall not be ashamed”).
1 Peter 2:6: Quotes it directly as a “chief cornerstone, elect, precious.”
Ephesians 2:20: Christ as “chief cornerstone” in the new temple (allusion).

New creation: Isaiah 65:17; 66:22

2 Peter 3:13: “We, according to his promise, look for new heavens and a new earth.”
Revelation 21:1-5: John sees the “new heaven and a new earth,” drawing on 65:17-19.

Forgiveness: Isaiah 43:25; 44:22

Acts 3:19: “That your sins may be blotted out” echoes the wording of these verses (allusion).

Observations

Servant and covenant are fused. The NT reads Isaiah’s “covenant of the people” (42:6; 49:8) through the Servant’s death and resurrection, as in Acts 13 and 1 Peter 2.
Gentile inclusion is the most-cited theme. Luke-Acts and Romans lean heavily on 42:6, 49:6, 11:10, and 56:7.
Paul pairs Isaiah with Jeremiah. Romans 11:26-27 is the clearest example of Isaiah and Jeremiah 31 being read together as a single covenant promise.
Isaiah 24:5, 54:10, and 61:8 are not directly cited, though their covenant themes are picked up elsewhere, for example, in the “everlasting covenant” of Hebrews 13:20.

Hebrews’ Use of Jeremiah 31 Compared with the Isaiah Citations

How Hebrews cites Jeremiah 31

Hebrews 8:8-12 quotes Jeremiah 31:31-34 in full, the longest Old Testament quotation in the New Testament. Hebrews 10:16-17 quotes it again, shortened to 31:33-34. Other references build on it:

Hebrews 8:6: Jesus is “mediator of a better covenant, which was established upon better promises.”
Hebrews 8:13: By saying “new,” God “hath made the first old,” which is “ready to vanish away.”
Hebrews 9:15: Christ is “the mediator of the new testament,” and his death redeems transgressions under the first covenant.
Hebrews 12:24: “Jesus the mediator of the new covenant, and… the blood of sprinkling.”
Hebrews 13:20: “The blood of the everlasting covenant” (see below).

Two features of Hebrews’ handling stand out. It follows the Greek (Septuagint) wording, so “I regarded them not” in 8:9 differs from the Hebrew-based KJV of Jeremiah 31:32 (“although I was an husband unto them”). It also reads “house of Israel and house of Judah” as fulfilled in Christ’s people without discussing Gentiles.

The four promises of Jeremiah 31:33-34 and their Isaiah counterparts

Jeremiah 31 promise	Isaiah parallel	NT use
Law written on heart and mind	Isa 59:21 (God’s words in the people’s mouth and heart); 44:3 (Spirit poured out)	Heb 8:10; 10:16. Paul links Spirit and heart-writing in 2 Cor 3:3.
“I will be their God, and they shall be my people”	Isa 55:3-5; 61:8-9	Heb 8:10
All shall know the Lord	Isa 54:13 (“all thy children shall be taught of the LORD”)	Heb 8:11; John 6:45
Sins remembered no more	Isa 43:25 (“will not remember thy sins”); 44:22; 53:5-6, 11	Heb 8:12; 10:17; Rom 11:27

The strongest verbal overlap is forgiveness. Isaiah 43:25 and Jeremiah 31:34 both promise God will not remember sins, and Hebrews 10:17 uses that promise as its conclusion.

Where Hebrews and the Isaiah citations agree

The covenant rests on a death. Hebrews 9:15-22 ties the new covenant to Christ’s blood, and Hebrews 9:28 (“to bear the sins of many”) echoes Isaiah 53:12. Jesus’ words at the Supper join the two as well (Luke 22:20; 1 Cor 11:25: “new testament in my blood”), while Luke 22:37 explicitly cites Isaiah 53:12.
Forgiveness is the decisive blessing. Hebrews 10:18 concludes that “where remission of these is, there is no more offering for sin.” This matches how Acts 3:19 and Romans 11:27 draw on Isaiah and Jeremiah.
The covenant is permanent. “Everlasting covenant” appears in Isaiah 55:3 and 61:8, and Hebrews 13:20 uses the phrase. That verse probably combines Isaiah 55:3, Ezekiel 37:26, and Isaiah 63:11 (the shepherd brought up from the sea), though scholars debate which source dominates.
The Spirit testifies. Hebrews 10:15 says “the Holy Ghost also is a witness to us” and then quotes Jeremiah. That fits the Isaiah texts on the Spirit poured out (32:15; 44:3; 61:1).

Where they differ

Emphasis. Isaiah-based citations emphasize the Servant and Gentile inclusion (Acts 13; Rom 15:12). Hebrews emphasizes priesthood, sacrifice, and the replacement of the Sinai arrangement. Hebrews never cites Isaiah’s “light to the nations” texts.
Who is addressed? Jeremiah 31 is addressed to Israel and Judah. Isaiah explicitly widens the covenant to the nations (42:6; 49:6; 56:3-8). Romans 11:26-27 is the clearest bridge, putting Isaiah 59:20-21 beside Jeremiah 31:33-34.
The old covenant. Hebrews calls the first covenant obsolete (8:13). The Isaiah citations mostly present fulfillment and expansion rather than replacement, and Paul in Romans 11 still keeps Israel’s future in view.
Mediator. Hebrews names Jesus as covenant mediator (8:6; 9:15; 12:24). Isaiah’s equivalent is the Servant given “for a covenant of the people” (42:6; 49:8). Both place the covenant in a person, not just a document.

Summary

Jeremiah 31 supplies the content of the covenant (heart-law, relationship, knowledge of God, forgiveness). Isaiah supplies the agent (the Servant), the means (his atoning suffering), the Spirit’s role, and the scope (the nations). The New Testament authors tend to combine them. Hebrews is the most Jeremiah-focused; Luke-Acts and Paul draw most on Isaiah, and Romans 11 puts the two side by side.

Ezekiel 36:25-27 and 37:26 are the third major strand, and Paul’s 2 Corinthians 3 combines all three. I can lay those texts out next if you’d like.

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I’ve created the Word document from my last answer. It’s two pages on US Letter, with the four-promises comparison laid out as a table.

Article posted by Glen R. Jackman, founder of GraceProclaimed.org

Glen has optimized his eldership role to teach the full scope of the New Covenant of Jesus Christ without boundaries.
You can read his testimony.