^{17 Ref} For the Lord has said, David will never be without a man to take his place on the seat of the kingdom of Israel;

^{18 Ref} And the priests and the Levites will never be without a man to come before me, offering burned offerings and perfumes and meal offerings and offerings of beasts at all times.

¹⁹ And the word of the Lord came to Jeremiah, saying,

^{20 Ref} The Lord has said: If it is possible for my agreement of the day and the night to be broken, so that day and night no longer come at their fixed times,

^{21 Ref} Then my agreement with my servant David may be broken, so that he no longer has a son to take his place on the seat of the kingdom; and my agreement with the Levites, the priests, my servants.

^{22 Ref} As it is not possible for the army of heaven to be numbered, or the sand of the sea measured, so will I make the seed of my servant David, and the Levites my servants.

²³ And the word of the Lord came to Jeremiah, saying,

^{24 Ref} Have you taken note of what these people have said, The two families, which the Lord took for himself, he has given up? This they say, looking down on my people as being, in their eyes, no longer a nation.

^{25 Ref} The Lord has said, If I have not made day and night, and if the limits of heaven and earth have not been fixed by me,

^{26 Ref} Then I will give up caring for the seed of Jacob and of David my servant, so that I will not take of his seed to be rulers over the seed of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob: for I will let their fate be changed and will have mercy on them.