⁴ and that the Lord may keep his promise^(A) to me: ‘If your descendants watch how they live, and if they walk faithfully^(B) before me with all their heart and soul, you will never fail to have a successor on the throne of Israel.’

¹⁷ For this is what the Lord says: ‘David will never fail^(A) to have a man to sit on the throne of Israel, ¹⁸ nor will the Levitical^(B) priests^(C) ever fail to have a man to stand before me continually to offer burnt offerings, to burn grain offerings and to present sacrifices.^(D)’”

¹⁹ The word of the Lord came to Jeremiah: ²⁰ “This is what the Lord says: ‘If you can break my covenant with the day^(E) and my covenant with the night, so that day and night no longer come at their appointed time,^{(F) 21} then my covenant^(G) with David my servant—and my covenant with the Levites^(H) who are priests ministering before me—can be broken and David will no longer have a descendant to reign on his throne.^{(I) 22} I will make the descendants of David my servant and the Levites who minister before me as countless^(J) as the stars in the sky and as measureless as the sand on the seashore.’”

²³ The word of the Lord came to Jeremiah: ²⁴ “Have you not noticed that these people are saying, ‘The Lord has rejected the two kingdoms^[a](K) he chose’? So they despise^(L) my people and no longer regard them as a nation.^{(M) 25} This is what the Lord says: ‘If I have not made my covenant with day and night^(N) and established the laws^(O) of heaven and earth,^{(P) 26} then I will reject^(Q) the descendants of Jacob^(R) and David my servant and will not choose one of his sons to rule over the descendants of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. For I will restore their fortunes^[b](S) and have compassion^(T) on them.’”