Closely associated with this conception of the New Covenant is Jeremiah's teaching concerning individual responsibility. The prophets who preceded Jeremiah usually spoke in terms of a social solidarity, which meant that Yahweh's relationship to Israel concerned the nation as a whole. All citizens would be judged and either punished or rewarded. When the people of Judah responded to Jeremiah's warnings of impending disaster by saying that they were being punished not because of their own sins but because of the sins of their ancestors, Jeremiah challenged this ancient doctrine. He declared that each individual is accountable for his own conduct: "In those days people will no longer say, 'The fathers have eaten sour grapes, and the children's teeth are set on edge.'"
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