But we know the first was found wanting, because God said,

Heads up! The days are coming

when I’ll set up a new plan

for dealing with Israel and Judah.

I’ll throw out the old plan

I set up with their ancestors

when I led them by the hand out of Egypt.

They didn’t keep their part of the bargain,

so I looked away and let it go.

This new plan I’m making with Israel

isn’t going to be written on paper,

isn’t going to be chiseled in stone;

This time I’m writing out the plan in them,

carving it on the lining of their hearts.

I’ll be their God,

they’ll be my people.

They won’t go to school to learn about me,

or buy a book called God in Five Easy Lessons.

They’ll all get to know me firsthand,

the little and the big, the small and the great.

They’ll get to know me by being kindly forgiven,

with the slate of their sins forever wiped clean.