12. Thus says the Lord of hosts: "Still shall there be in this place, (which is desolate without man and without beast,) and in all of its cities: a habitation for the shepherds giving rest to their flocks.
13. For even in the cities on the mountains, and in the cities on the plains, and in the cities that are toward the south, and in the land of Benjamin, and all around Jerusalem, and in the cities of Judah, still shall the flocks travel by the hand of him who numbers them, says the Lord.
14. Behold, the days are approaching, says the Lord, when I will fulfill the good word that I have spoken to the house of Israel and to the house of Judah.
15. In those days and at that time, I will cause the seedling of justice to spring up from David, and he will accomplish judgment and justice upon the earth.
16. In those days, Judah will be saved, and Jerusalem will live in confidence. And this is the name that they will call him: 'The Lord, our Just One.'
17. For thus says the Lord: There shall not cease to be a man from David sitting upon the throne of the house of Israel.
18. And there shall not cease to be a man from the priests and from the Levites before my face, who offers holocausts, and burns sacrifices, and kills victims, for days without end."
19. And the word of the Lord came to Jeremiah, saying:
20. "Thus says the Lord: If my covenant with the day is able to be nullified, or my covenant with the night, such that there would be no day and no night in their time,
21. then, too, my covenant with David, my servant, may be nullified, such that he would not have a son who reigns upon his throne, with both the Levites and the priests as my ministers.
22. Just as the stars of heaven are not able to be numbered, and the sand of the sea is not able to be measured, so will I multiply the offspring of David, my servant, and the Levites, my ministers."
23. And the word of the Lord came to Jeremiah, saying:
24. "Have you not seen what this people has spoken? They say: 'The two families which the Lord had chosen have been rejected.' And so they have despised my people, as if they were no longer a nation in their sight.
25. Thus says the Lord: If I have not established my covenant with the day and the night, and my laws over heaven and earth,