A Hymn of Praise

12 And ^(A)in that day you will say:

²¹ And the Lord smelled ^(A)a soothing aroma. Then the Lord said in His heart, “I will never again ^(B)curse the ground for man’s sake, although the ^(C)imagination^[a] of man’s heart is evil from his youth; ^(D)nor will I again destroy every living thing as I have done.

¹⁶ For men indeed swear by the greater, and ^(A)an oath for confirmation is for them an end of all dispute. ¹⁷ Thus God, determining to show more abundantly to ^(B)the heirs of promise ^(C)the ^[a]immutability of His counsel, ^[b]confirmed it by an oath, ¹⁸ that by two ^[c]immutable things, in which it is impossible for God to ^(D)lie, we ^[d]might have strong consolation, who have fled for refuge to lay hold of the hope ^(E)set before us.

²⁰ “Thus says the Lord: ‘If you can break My covenant with the day and My covenant with the night, so that there will not be day and night in their season, ²¹ then ^(A)My covenant may also be broken with David My servant, so that he shall not have a son to reign on his throne, and with the Levites, the priests, My ministers. ²² As ^(B)the host of heaven cannot be numbered, nor the sand of the sea measured, so will I ^(C)multiply the descendants of David My servant and the ^(D)Levites who minister to Me.’ ”

²³ Moreover the word of the Lord came to Jeremiah, saying, ²⁴ “Have you not considered what these people have spoken, saying, ‘The two families which the Lord has chosen, He has also cast them off’? Thus they have ^(E)despised My people, as if they should no more be a nation before them.

²⁵ “Thus says the Lord: ‘If ^(F)My covenant is not with day and night, and if I have not ^(G)appointed the ordinances of heaven and earth, ^26 (H)then I will ^(I)cast away the descendants of Jacob and David My servant, so that I will not take any of his descendants to be rulers over the descendants of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. For I will cause their captives to return, and will have mercy on them.’ ”