18. neither shall the priests the Levites lack a man before me to offer burnt offerings and to kindle grain offerings and to do sacrifice continually.
19. And the word of the Lord came unto Jeremiah, saying,
20. Thus hath the Lord said; If ye can break my covenant with the day, and my covenant with the night, such that there should not be day nor night in their season,
21. then may also my covenant be broken with David my slave, that he should not have a son to reign upon his throne; and with the Levites and priests, my ministers.
22. As the host of heaven cannot be numbered, neither the sand of the sea measured, so will I multiply the seed of David my slave and the Levites that minister unto me.
23. Moreover the word of the Lord came to Jeremiah, saying:
24. Dost thou not consider what this people have spoken, saying, The two families which the Lord has chosen, he has even cast them off? thus they have despised my people, that they should no longer be a nation before them.
25. Thus hath the Lord said: If my covenant remains not with the day and the night, and if I have not appointed the laws of the heaven and the earth,
26. then I will cast away the seed of Jacob and David my slave, so that I will not take any of his seed to be rulers over the seed of Abraham, of Isaac, and of Jacob; for I will cause their captivity to turn, and I will have mercy on them.