Jeremiah 33

As Sure as Day and Night

From a prison cell in a besieged city, Jeremiah hears the Lord promise healing for Jerusalem, a Branch for David, priests who will never lack a man, and a covenant as fixed as day and night.

The tenth year of Zedekiah, the eighteenth of Nebuchadrezzar (Jer. 32:1), while Babylon besieged Jerusalem and Jeremiah was still shut up in the court of the prison; this is the “second time” the word came to him after chapter 32 Read with footnotes in Gospel Library

Background

Jeremiah 33 is the second half of a single message. Chapter 32 opens in “the tenth year of Zedekiah king of Judah, which was the eighteenth year of Nebuchadrezzar,” when the…

Jeremiah 33 is the second half of a single message. Chapter 32 opens in “the tenth year of Zedekiah king of Judah, which was the eighteenth year of Nebuchadrezzar,” when the Babylonian army “besieged Jerusalem” and Jeremiah “was shut up in the court of the prison, which was in the king of Judah's house.” Zedekiah had put him there for prophesying that the city would be given to the king of Babylon (Jer. 32:1–3). Verse 1 of this chapter says the word came to him “the second time,” while he was “yet shut up” there.

The chapter closes chapters 30–33, which deal with “the restoration of Israel and Judah in the last days and of the Lord's making a new and everlasting covenant with them.” Its Church heading sums up the three promises: “Judah and Israel will be gathered—The Branch of Righteousness (the Messiah) is promised—The Seed of David (the Messiah) will reign forever.”

It begins in the rubble (verses 4–5), turns to healing and joy (verses 6–13), and then promises a king and priests (verses 14–18) and a covenant with them that is as fixed as day and night (verses 19–26). Verses 15–16 repeat Jer. 23:5–6, and verses 14–26 are missing from the Greek translation of Jeremiah (see the note at verse 14).

The thread through the chapter

The chapter answers a question the people were asking in the ruins: has the Lord thrown over the families He chose?

The chapter answers a question the people were asking in the ruins: has the Lord thrown over the families He chose? Verse 24 quotes them saying so. The Lord's answer comes in a sequence. He admits the ruin is real and His own doing (verses 4–5), and then He promises what He will do about it: heal, build, cleanse, and pardon (verses 6–8), restore the voice of the bridegroom and the bride and the flocks in the hills (verses 9–13), raise up a righteous Branch for David (verse 15), and keep priests at the altar (verse 18). The last movement puts the whole promise on the same footing as the sun and moon: whoever can break the covenant of the day and of the night can break the covenant with David and the Levites, and no one can (verses 20–26).

The Church's sources read the center of the chapter, the Branch of verses 15–16, as Jesus Christ, and the promises of verses 17–26 as reaching their fulness in Him and in those who become His seed. Where Church sources give two readings of a verse (the sacrifices in verse 18), the note says so.

Tap any highlighted phrase to open a note beneath its versein the margin.

Verses 1–3

The word comes to the prisoner

In plain words

The word of the Lord came to Jeremiah a second time while he was still locked up in the court of the prison. “Thus says the Lord, who makes it, who forms it to establish it, whose name is the Lord: Call to me, and I will answer you, and I will tell you great and hidden things that you do not know.”

1 Moreover the word of the LORD came unto Jeremiah the second time, while he was yet shut up in the court of the prison, saying,

Context #

Still in the prison court

The Lord sends this promise to a prisoner in a city under siege. Zedekiah had shut Jeremiah up “in the court of the prison, which was in the king of Judah's house,” for…

The Lord sends this promise to a prisoner in a city under siege. Zedekiah had shut Jeremiah up “in the court of the prison, which was in the king of Judah's house,” for prophesying that the city would be given “into the hand of the king of Babylon” (Jer. 32:2–3).

The “second time” refers back to chapter 32, where, in prison, Jeremiah was visited by his cousin and bought a field at Anathoth, “a symbolic witness that the Jews would someday return from captivity and possess the promised land once again.” Chapter 33 carries that sign further: “Despite the bleak circumstances, the Lord reminded Jeremiah that Israel and Judah would someday be healed and restored.”

Sources: The Holy Scriptures (Latter-day Saint editions), text and chapter headings, The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Jeremiah 31–33; 36–38; Lamentations 1; 3, Scripture Helps: Old Testament.

2 Thus saith the LORD the maker thereof, the LORD that formed it, to establish it; the LORD is his name;

Language #

What “it” refers to

The “it” the Lord makes and forms is never named in the Hebrew, and the KJV's “thereof” leaves the gap open.

The “it” the Lord makes and forms is never named in the Hebrew, and the KJV's “thereof” leaves the gap open. The Greek translators filled it: “Thus saith the Lord, who made the earth and formed it, to establish it.” One reading from the Hebrew takes the pronoun to point to the matter in hand: “the Lord does what He says, and forms what He wants to make, in order to accomplish it.” That makes verse 2 a statement that the one who is about to promise has the power to carry out what He announces, which is what the rest of the chapter needs.

The two readings are not the same, and the text does not choose between them. What both share is the weight of the closing words, “the Lord is his name”: the promises that follow rest on who is speaking.

3 Call unto me, and I will answer thee, and shew thee great and mighty things, which thou knowest not.

Language #

Great and mighty things

“Mighty” here means out of reach, not strong. The Hebrew word (betsurot) usually describes cities that are “made inaccessible,” that is, “fortified”; in this verse alone it stands…

“Mighty” here means out of reach, not strong. The Hebrew word (betsurot) usually describes cities that are “made inaccessible,” that is, “fortified”; in this verse alone it stands for “secrets, mysteries (= unattainable things).” What the Lord offers is what no one in a besieged city could find out for himself.

On one reading, “call unto me” means asking God for help, and “answer” means that He actually gives it, so that the “showing” of great things is done in deeds. The chapter itself fits that: what follows is the Lord's own account of what He will do, not information about the siege.

Sources: Francis Brown, S. R. Driver, and Charles A. Briggs, A Hebrew and English Lexicon of the Old Testament, Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1906. Carl Friedrich Keil, Biblical Commentary on the Prophecies of Jeremiah, Trans. David Patrick and James Kennedy. Edinburgh: T. & T. Clark, 1874–1880; in Keil and Delitzsch, Biblical Commentary on the Old Testament, online at Bible Hub.

Verses 4–13

Ruin, then healing

In plain words

The houses of this city and of the kings of Judah have been torn down to meet the siege mounds and the sword. The men who go out to fight the Chaldeans will only fill those houses with the dead, because the Lord has turned His face from the city for its wickedness. “But I will bring healing and cure to it. I will heal them and show them abundant peace and truth. I will bring back the captives of Judah and Israel and build them up as at first. I will cleanse them from all the sin they committed against me and forgive all their rebellion. This city will be a name of joy, praise, and glory before all the nations, who will hear of all the good I do for it, and fear and tremble at all the goodness and peace I provide.” In this place that you call a wasteland without people or animals, there will again be the sound of joy and gladness, the voices of the bridegroom and the bride, and of people saying, “Give thanks to the Lord of hosts, for the Lord is good, for His mercy endures forever,” and bringing thank offerings to the Lord's house. Shepherds will again lead their flocks to rest, and the sheep will pass again under the hand of the one who counts them, in the hills, the valley, the south, the land of Benjamin, around Jerusalem, and the cities of Judah.

4 For thus saith the LORD, the God of Israel, concerning the houses of this city, and concerning the houses of the kings of Judah, which are thrown down by the mounts, and by the sword;

Context #

Houses pulled down for the walls

On one reading, the houses of Jerusalem and of the kings were torn down by the city's own defenders, “partly to strengthen” the walls, “partly to repair the damage caused by the…

On one reading, the houses of Jerusalem and of the kings were torn down by the city's own defenders, “partly to strengthen” the walls, “partly to repair the damage caused by the battering-rams,” as in Isaiah's Jerusalem: “the houses have ye broken down to fortify the wall” (Isa. 22:10). The “mounts” are the earthworks the enemy raised against the walls.

Verse 5 is the hard half. On the same reading, those who “come to fight with the Chaldeans” are the city's own men going out to battle, and the outcome is only that they fill the houses with the dead. The reason is given in the same verse: for “all whose wickedness I have hid my face from this city.” The Lord does not deny the ruin; He names Himself as its cause. The turn comes in verse 6 with “Behold, I will bring it health and cure.”

Sources: Carl Friedrich Keil, Biblical Commentary on the Prophecies of Jeremiah, Trans. David Patrick and James Kennedy. Edinburgh: T. & T. Clark, 1874–1880; in Keil and Delitzsch, Biblical Commentary on the Old Testament, online at Bible Hub. The Holy Scriptures (Latter-day Saint editions), text and chapter headings, The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.

5 They come to fight with the Chaldeans, but it is to fill them with the dead bodies of men, whom I have slain in mine anger and in my fury, and for all whose wickedness I have hid my face from this city.

6 Behold, I will bring it health and cure, and I will cure them, and will reveal unto them the abundance of peace and truth.

Related Scriptures #

Heal, build, cleanse, pardon

Verses 6–8 list what the Lord will do, and every verb is His: “I will cure them … I will cleanse them … I will pardon all their iniquities.”

Verses 6–8 list what the Lord will do, and every verb is His: “I will cure them … I will cleanse them … I will pardon all their iniquities.” In these verses “the Lord again spoke of the restoration of Israel and Judah in the latter days.”

The last two connect to the new covenant of Jer. 31:31–34, where the Lord says “I will forgive their iniquity, and I will remember their sin no more.” The Greek of verse 8 even renders the promise in those terms: “and will not remember their sins.” Joseph Smith taught that this covenant “has never been established with the house of Israel, nor with the house of Judah,” and listed what it asks: repent, be baptized, and receive the Holy Ghost by the laying on of hands.

Sources: Chapter 25: Prophecies of a Latter-day Gathering (Jeremiah 23; 30–31; 33; 46–51; Obadiah), Old Testament Student Manual: 1 Kings–Malachi (2003). The Holy Scriptures (Latter-day Saint editions), text and chapter headings, The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. The Septuagint (Rahlfs Greek text, with Brenton’s English translation), Elpenor Bilingual Septuagint.

7 And I will cause the captivity of Judah and the captivity of Israel to return, and will build them, as at the first.

Latter-day Prophets #

The gathering has more than one fulfillment

The return promised in verse 7 has more than one fulfillment. Elder Ezra Taft Benson, quoting this verse with Jer. 30:3, spoke of the latter-day gathering as having “three phases:…

The return promised in verse 7 has more than one fulfillment. Elder Ezra Taft Benson, quoting this verse with Jer. 30:3, spoke of the latter-day gathering as having “three phases: the gathering of Israel to the land of Zion, the American hemisphere; the return of the Ten Tribes from the countries of the north; and the reestablishment of the Jews in Palestine as God's chosen people.” The same promise in Jer. 30:3 “refers to the return of the Jews after seventy years of captivity in Babylon,” to their restoration “in the last days,” and to “the return of the lost tribes from the lands of the north.”

The gathering has a spiritual side as well as a place. Elder Bruce R. McConkie taught that it “consists of having faith in the Lord Jesus Christ, of repenting, of being baptized and receiving the gift of the Holy Ghost, and of keeping the commandments of God.”

Sources: Chapter 25: Prophecies of a Latter-day Gathering (Jeremiah 23; 30–31; 33; 46–51; Obadiah), Old Testament Student Manual: 1 Kings–Malachi (2003). Lesson 135: Jeremiah 30–33, Old Testament Seminary Teacher Manual.

8 And I will cleanse them from all their iniquity, whereby they have sinned against me; and I will pardon all their iniquities, whereby they have sinned, and whereby they have transgressed against me.

9 And it shall be to me a name of joy, a praise and an honour before all the nations of the earth, which shall hear all the good that I do unto them: and they shall fear and tremble for all the goodness and for all the prosperity that I procure unto it.

10 Thus saith the LORD; Again there shall be heard in this place, which ye say shall be desolate without man and without beast, even in the cities of Judah, and in the streets of Jerusalem, that are desolate, without man, and without inhabitant, and without beast,

11 The voice of joy, and the voice of gladness, the voice of the bridegroom, and the voice of the bride, the voice of them that shall say, Praise the LORD of hosts: for the LORD is good; for his mercy endureth for ever: and of them that shall bring the sacrifice of praise into the house of the LORD. For I will cause to return the captivity of the land, as at the first, saith the LORD.

Related Scriptures #

The silenced voices come back

Verse 11 reverses three earlier threats in Jeremiah's own book. The Lord had said He would “cause to cease from the cities of Judah, and from the streets of Jerusalem, the voice…

Verse 11 reverses three earlier threats in Jeremiah's own book. The Lord had said He would “cause to cease from the cities of Judah, and from the streets of Jerusalem, the voice of mirth, and the voice of gladness, the voice of the bridegroom, and the voice of the bride: for the land shall be desolate” (Jer. 7:34), repeated in Jer. 16:9 and again in Jer. 25:10–11, where the voice is taken away and the land is made “a desolation.” Here the same list returns, introduced by “Again there shall be heard in this place.”

The people had been saying of that place, “desolate without man and without beast” (verse 10); the Lord quotes them and answers it. The new voice also gives thanks: “Praise the Lord of hosts: for the Lord is good; for his mercy endureth for ever,” the refrain of Ps. 136:1. The closing line, “I will cause to return the captivity of the land, as at the first,” ties the joy to the return in verse 7.

Sources: The Holy Scriptures (Latter-day Saint editions), text and chapter headings, The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.

12 Thus saith the LORD of hosts; Again in this place, which is desolate without man and without beast, and in all the cities thereof, shall be an habitation of shepherds causing their flocks to lie down.

13 In the cities of the mountains, in the cities of the vale, and in the cities of the south, and in the land of Benjamin, and in the places about Jerusalem, and in the cities of Judah, shall the flocks pass again under the hands of him that telleth them, saith the LORD.

Context #

The places of Jeremiah's field deed

The places listed here are the same ones named in Jeremiah's land purchase.

The places listed here are the same ones named in Jeremiah's land purchase. In chapter 32 the Lord says that men “shall buy fields for money, and subscribe evidences, and seal them, and take witnesses in the land of Benjamin, and in the places about Jerusalem, and in the cities of Judah, and in the cities of the mountains, and in the cities of the valley, and in the cities of the south” (Jer. 32:44). Verse 13 gives the same regions, and puts flocks in them where verse 44 puts deeds.

The field Jeremiah bought lay at Anathoth “in the country of Benjamin” (Jer. 32:8), and the purchase was a sign that the people “would someday return from captivity and possess the promised land once again.” The repeated list ties this chapter's promise to that deed. The shepherd is the one “that telleth” the flocks: the Hebrew means “counts.”

Verses 14–18

A Branch for David and priests for the altar

In plain words

“The days are coming when I will fulfill the good promise I made to Israel and Judah. In those days I will make a righteous Branch grow up for David, and he will do justice and righteousness in the land. In those days Judah will be saved and Jerusalem will live in safety. This is the name by which she will be called: ‘The Lord our righteousness.’ David will never lack a man to sit on the throne of Israel, and the Levite priests will never lack a man before me to offer burnt offerings, burn grain offerings, and make sacrifices every day.”

14 Behold, the days come, saith the LORD, that I will perform that good thing which I have promised unto the house of Israel and to the house of Judah.

Language #

Verses 14–26 are not in the Greek

The Greek translation of Jeremiah has verses 1–13 of this chapter (numbered 40:1–13 in the Greek) and then nothing: in Brenton's English the entries for verses 14–26 read “OMITTED TEXT.”

The Greek translation of Jeremiah has verses 1–13 of this chapter (numbered 40:1–13 in the Greek) and then nothing: in Brenton's English the entries for verses 14–26 read “OMITTED TEXT.” Those verses are the promise of the Branch, the Levites, and the covenant with day and night, which makes the omission a real question for anyone who reads the Greek.

Some have taken the omission as a sign that the passage is a later addition, chiefly because it promises the Levites an eternal place beside David. Others have defended it, and the promise of verses 14–16 “has already been given in substance” in Jer. 23:5–6. The Church's sources do not treat the passage as an addition: the chapter heading and the Old Testament manual present it as Jeremiah's prophecy of the Branch and the seed of David. Why the Greek lacks it is not settled here.

Sources: The Septuagint (Rahlfs Greek text, with Brenton’s English translation), Elpenor Bilingual Septuagint. Carl Friedrich Keil, Biblical Commentary on the Prophecies of Jeremiah, Trans. David Patrick and James Kennedy. Edinburgh: T. & T. Clark, 1874–1880; in Keil and Delitzsch, Biblical Commentary on the Old Testament, online at Bible Hub. The Holy Scriptures (Latter-day Saint editions), text and chapter headings, The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Chapter 25: Prophecies of a Latter-day Gathering (Jeremiah 23; 30–31; 33; 46–51; Obadiah), Old Testament Student Manual: 1 Kings–Malachi (2003).

15 In those days, and at that time, will I cause the Branch of righteousness to grow up unto David; and he shall execute judgment and righteousness in the land.

Witness of Christ #

The Branch of righteousness is Jesus Christ

The Branch is the Messiah, Jesus Christ: the chapter heading calls it “the Branch of Righteousness (the Messiah).”

The Branch is the Messiah, Jesus Christ: the chapter heading calls it “the Branch of Righteousness (the Messiah).” The promise is the same as in Jer. 23:5–6: “I will raise unto David a righteous Branch, and a King shall reign and prosper, and shall execute judgment and justice in the earth.” This chapter repeats it, so the notes there carry the detail.

“Branch” is “a common metaphor in the Old Testament” for a descendant, and the verse says where this one comes from: he grows “up unto David.” His reign is a millennial event: “When this millennial event occurs, the Jews will dwell safely in Jerusalem.” Verse 16, “Judah shall be saved, and Jerusalem shall dwell safely,” is that safety, which “can refer to safety both from enemies and from the effects of their own sins.”

Sources: The Holy Scriptures (Latter-day Saint editions), text and chapter headings, The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Chapter 25: Prophecies of a Latter-day Gathering (Jeremiah 23; 30–31; 33; 46–51; Obadiah), Old Testament Student Manual: 1 Kings–Malachi (2003). Jeremiah 31–33; 36–38; Lamentations 1; 3, Scripture Helps: Old Testament. Jeremiah 30–33, Old Testament Seminary Teacher Resource Manual.

Latter-day Prophets #

A new David who reigns forever

Elder Bruce R. McConkie taught that the Branch is Christ and that the title points to His second coming: “Christ is the Son of David, the Seed of David, the inheritor, through…

Elder Bruce R. McConkie taught that the Branch is Christ and that the title points to His second coming: “Christ is the Son of David, the Seed of David, the inheritor, through Mary his mother, of the blood of the great king. He is also called the Stem of Jesse and the Branch, meaning Branch of David. Messianic prophecies under these headings deal with the power and dominion he shall wield as he sits on David's throne, and have reference almost exclusively to his second sojourn on planet earth.”

He added: “That the Branch of David is Christ is perfectly clear. … he is a new David, an Eternal David, who shall reign forever on the throne of his ancient ancestor.”

Sources: Lesson 47: Jeremiah 23; 30–31; 33; 46–51; Obadiah, Old Testament Instructor’s Guide, Religion 301–2.

16 In those days shall Judah be saved, and Jerusalem shall dwell safely: and this is the name wherewith she shall be called, The LORD our righteousness.

Language #

Who is called “The LORD our righteousness”

In verse 16 the KJV gives the name “The Lord our righteousness” to Jerusalem (“she”), where the same promise in Jeremiah 23 gives it to the king: “this is his name whereby he…

In verse 16 the KJV gives the name “The Lord our righteousness” to Jerusalem (“she”), where the same promise in Jeremiah 23 gives it to the king: “this is his name whereby he shall be called, The Lord Our Righteousness” (Jer. 23:6). The KJV's wording in verse 16 “is not a particularly good translation since it implies that Jerusalem herself will be called ‘the Lord our righteousness.’” A better rendering is “And this one who shall call to her is the Lord our Justification,” that is, Jesus Christ Himself, the Branch of David.

The Hebrew allows that reading. The verb in both verses is “call,” with “him” attached in 23:6 and “to her” in 33:16. So the name may belong to the one who calls to Jerusalem, not to Jerusalem. The sentence also changes “Israel shall dwell safely” (23:6) to “Jerusalem shall dwell safely” (33:16).

Sources: Chapter 25: Prophecies of a Latter-day Gathering (Jeremiah 23; 30–31; 33; 46–51; Obadiah), Old Testament Student Manual: 1 Kings–Malachi (2003). Adam Clarke, The Holy Bible … with a Commentary and Critical Notes, Online at Bible Hub (Clarke's Commentary). The Holy Scriptures (Latter-day Saint editions), text and chapter headings, The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Westminster Leningrad Codex (the Masoretic Hebrew text), Read in the Hebrew–English interlinear on Bible Hub.

17 For thus saith the LORD; David shall never want a man to sit upon the throne of the house of Israel;

Related Scriptures #

The promise to David, kept in Christ

The promise is the one the Lord gave David through Nathan: “thine house and thy kingdom shall be established for ever before thee: thy throne shall be established for ever” (2 Sam. 7:16).

The promise is the one the Lord gave David through Nathan: “thine house and thy kingdom shall be established for ever before thee: thy throne shall be established for ever” (2 Sam. 7:16). “While the reign of the Davidic kings ended with the downfall of Jerusalem, the promise of a kingdom that would be established forever was ultimately fulfilled through Jesus Christ.” The angel tells Mary the same: “the Lord God shall give unto him the throne of his father David: and he shall reign over the house of Jacob for ever; and of his kingdom there shall be no end” (Luke 1:32–33).

“Want” here means lack.

Sources: Jeremiah 31–33; 36–38; Lamentations 1; 3, Scripture Helps: Old Testament. The Holy Scriptures (Latter-day Saint editions), text and chapter headings, The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.

18 Neither shall the priests the Levites want a man before me to offer burnt offerings, and to kindle meat offerings, and to do sacrifice continually.

Latter-day Prophets #

Sacrifice and the sons of Levi

Two lines of Church teaching bear on the continuing sacrifices of verse 18.

Two lines of Church teaching bear on the continuing sacrifices of verse 18. One is that sacrifice will be restored when the temple is built. Joseph Smith taught that “the offering of sacrifice has ever been connected and forms a part of the duties of the Priesthood,” and that these sacrifices “will, when the Temple of the Lord shall be built, and the sons of Levi be purified, be fully restored.” He added: “It is not to be understood that the law of Moses will be established again with all its rites and variety of ceremonies.” President Joseph Fielding Smith said blood sacrifices “will be performed long enough to complete the fulness of the restoration in this dispensation. Afterwards sacrifice will be of some other character.” The Lord's word to the Church in D&C 84:31 says that “the sons of Moses and also the sons of Aaron shall offer an acceptable offering and sacrifice in the house of the Lord.”

The other looks to Christ, who “eternally” fulfills “the roles of king, priest, and sacrifice for His people,” as Luke 1:32–33, Heb. 7:22–27, and 3 Ne. 9:19–20 show. In that reading the king of verse 17 and the priest and sacrifice of verse 18 are all fulfilled in Him.

Sources: Section 13, The Restoration of the Aaronic Priesthood, Doctrine and Covenants Student Manual. The Holy Scriptures (Latter-day Saint editions), text and chapter headings, The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Jeremiah 33: Peace in Jerusalem, Old Testament Seminary Student Study Guide (2002), 163–64.

Verses 19–26

A covenant as fixed as day and night

In plain words

The word came to Jeremiah again: “If you can break my covenant with the day and my covenant with the night, so that day and night do not come at their proper time, then my covenant with my servant David could be broken, and with the Levite priests who serve me. As the stars of heaven cannot be counted and the sand of the sea cannot be measured, so I will multiply the descendants of David my servant and the Levites who serve me.” The word came a third time: “Have you not noticed what these people are saying: ‘The two families the Lord chose, He has rejected’? They despise my people and no longer see them as a nation. But if my covenant with day and night does not stand, if I have not set the laws of heaven and earth, then I will reject the descendants of Jacob and of David my servant and will not take rulers from his line over the descendants of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. But I will bring their captives back and have mercy on them.”

19 And the word of the LORD came unto Jeremiah, saying,

20 Thus saith the LORD; If ye can break my covenant of the day, and my covenant of the night, and that there should not be day and night in their season;

Imagery #

A covenant as fixed as day and night

The Lord argues from the sun and moon: break these and you can break His covenant with David; you cannot, so you cannot.

The Lord argues from the sun and moon: break these and you can break His covenant with David; you cannot, so you cannot. The Church's edition footnotes “my covenant of the day” to Gen. 8:22, where after the Flood the Lord promised that “while the earth remaineth, seedtime and harvest, and cold and heat, and summer and winter, and day and night shall not cease.” The standing of the covenant with David and the Levites is set beside that promise.

The same argument appears in Jer. 31:35–37: the Lord who “giveth the sun for a light by day” says “if those ordinances depart from before me … then the seed of Israel also shall cease from being a nation before me for ever.” Latter-day Saint teaching applies that warning to the priesthood ordinances: “if those saving and exalting priesthood ordinances cease to exist, then Israel also will cease to exist—forever.”

21 Then may also my covenant be broken with David my servant, that he should not have a son to reign upon his throne; and with the Levites the 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 servant, and the Levites that minister unto me.

Related Scriptures #

Stars and sand, and who the seed are

The promise to multiply David's seed and the Levites uses the language of the Abrahamic covenant: “in multiplying I will multiply thy seed as the stars of the heaven, and as the…

The promise to multiply David's seed and the Levites uses the language of the Abrahamic covenant: “in multiplying I will multiply thy seed as the stars of the heaven, and as the sand which is upon the sea shore” (Gen. 22:17). Verse 22 says the same of David's seed and the Levites.

Who is this seed? “The seed of David are those who repent of their sins, accept the ordinances of the gospel, receive the gift of the Holy Ghost, and follow the new David, Jesus Christ.” The Book of Mormon says the same through King Benjamin, who tells his people, “ye shall be called the children of Christ, his sons, and his daughters” (Mosiah 5:7), and through Abinadi, who says, “whosoever has heard the words of the prophets … and believed that the Lord would redeem his people … these are his seed, or they are the heirs of the kingdom of God” (Mosiah 15:11).

23 Moreover the word of the LORD came to Jeremiah, saying,

24 Considerest thou not what this people have spoken, saying, The two families which the LORD hath chosen, he hath even cast them off? thus they have despised my people, that they should be no more a nation before them.

Context #

Who is saying God has cast them off

The “two families” are Israel and Judah. On one reading, the speakers are people of Judah who gave up on God's choice of Israel as the kingdom fell; the Lord calls them “this…

The “two families” are Israel and Judah. On one reading, the speakers are people of Judah who gave up on God's choice of Israel as the kingdom fell; the Lord calls them “this people” and says “they have despised my people.”

The Lord's reply is verses 25–26. As surely as His “covenant … with day and night” stands and He has “appointed the ordinances of heaven and earth,” so surely He will not “cast away the seed of Jacob, and David my servant.” The chapter ends where it began: “I will cause their captivity to return, and have mercy on them.”

25 Thus saith the LORD; If my covenant be not with day and night, and if I have not appointed the ordinances of heaven and earth;

26 Then will I cast away the seed of Jacob, and David my servant, so that I will not take any of his seed to be rulers over the seed of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob: for I will cause their captivity to return, and have mercy on them.

Seeing Christ in Jeremiah 33

The Branch of verses 15–16 is Jesus Christ, “a descendant of David, who will ‘sit upon the throne of the house of Israel’ forever,” and Elder Bruce R. McConkie calls Him “a new David, an Eternal David.” The name “The Lord our righteousness,” given to the king in Jer. 23:6, is in verse 16 better read as the name of the one who calls to Jerusalem: Christ Himself. The chapter joins the king to the priests of verse 18, and Christ fulfills “the roles of king, priest, and sacrifice” together; see Heb. 7:22–27. The seed that is multiplied “as the stars” is, in King Benjamin's and Abinadi's words, those who take His name and believe the prophets (Mosiah 5:7; Mosiah 15:11).

Worth exploring next

The same promise of the Branch is in Jer. 23:5–6; the new covenant it rests on is in Jer. 31:31–37; the field purchase that begins this prison scene is in Jer. 32:1–15. For the king from David's line see Isa. 11:1 and 2 Sam. 7:12–16. For the sons of Levi and sacrifice see D&C 84:31 and the Church's study notes on D&C 13:1.

Sources & further reading

The Holy Scriptures (Latter-day Saint editions), text and chapter headings, The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.
Chapter 25: Prophecies of a Latter-day Gathering (Jeremiah 23; 30–31; 33; 46–51; Obadiah), Old Testament Student Manual: 1 Kings–Malachi (2003).
Lesson 135: Jeremiah 30–33, Old Testament Seminary Teacher Manual.
Jeremiah 30–33, Old Testament Seminary Teacher Resource Manual.
Lesson 47: Jeremiah 23; 30–31; 33; 46–51; Obadiah, Old Testament Instructor’s Guide, Religion 301–2.
Jeremiah 31–33; 36–38; Lamentations 1; 3, Scripture Helps: Old Testament.
Jeremiah 33: Peace in Jerusalem, Old Testament Seminary Student Study Guide (2002), 163–64.
Section 13, The Restoration of the Aaronic Priesthood, Doctrine and Covenants Student Manual.
Carl Friedrich Keil, Biblical Commentary on the Prophecies of Jeremiah, Trans. David Patrick and James Kennedy. Edinburgh: T. & T. Clark, 1874–1880; in Keil and Delitzsch, Biblical Commentary on the Old Testament, online at Bible Hub.
The Septuagint (Rahlfs Greek text, with Brenton’s English translation), Elpenor Bilingual Septuagint.
Francis Brown, S. R. Driver, and Charles A. Briggs, A Hebrew and English Lexicon of the Old Testament, Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1906.
Adam Clarke, The Holy Bible … with a Commentary and Critical Notes, Online at Bible Hub (Clarke's Commentary).
Westminster Leningrad Codex (the Masoretic Hebrew text), Read in the Hebrew–English interlinear on Bible Hub.

I’ve studied Jeremiah 33