^22 (A)While the earth remains, seedtime and harvest, cold and heat, summer and winter, ^(B)day and night, shall not cease.”

Patience in Suffering

⁷ Be patient, therefore, brothers,^[a] until the coming of the Lord. See how the farmer waits for the precious fruit of the earth, being patient about it, until it receives ^(A)the early and the late rains.

^20 (A)“Thus says the Lord: ^(B)If you can break my covenant with the day and my covenant with the night, ^(C)so that day and night will not come at their appointed time, ^21 (D)then also my covenant with David my servant may be broken, so that he shall not have a son to reign on his throne, and my covenant with the Levitical priests my ministers. ²² As ^(E)the host of heaven cannot be numbered and ^(F)the sands of the sea cannot be measured, so I will multiply the offspring of David my servant, and the Levitical priests who minister to me.”

²³ The word of the Lord came to Jeremiah: ²⁴ “Have you not observed that these people are saying, ‘The Lord has rejected the two clans that he chose’? Thus they have despised my people so that they are no longer a nation in their sight. ²⁵ Thus says the Lord: ^(G)If I have not established my covenant with day and night and the fixed order of heaven and earth, ²⁶ then I will reject the offspring of Jacob and David my servant and will not choose one of his offspring to rule over the offspring of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. ^(H)For I will restore their fortunes and will have mercy on them.”