“This is what the LORD says: If you can break My covenant with the day and My covenant with the night, so that day and night cease to occupy their appointed time,
Parallel translations
- WEB “Yahweh says: ‘If you can break my covenant of the day, and my covenant of the night, so that there shall not be day and night in their season;
- KJV 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;
- NKJV “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,
- NASB “This is what the Lord says: ‘If you can break My covenant for the day and My covenant for the night, so that day and night do not occur at their proper time,
- NLT “This is what the Lord says: If you can break my covenant with the day and the night so that one does not follow the other,
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
Scripture quotations taken from the (NASB®) New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995, 2020 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. All rights reserved. lockman.org
Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.
Quick answer
God's covenant with David is as unbreakable as the fixed order of day and night. Just as no one can stop the days from coming, no one can nullify God's promise.
Overview
The LORD appeals to the dependable rhythm of creation as a witness to His faithfulness. Since the cycle of day and night cannot be broken, neither can His covenant with David. This grounds the messianic hope in God's sovereignty over creation, assuring believers that the promise fulfilled in Christ stands as firmly as the created order itself.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 6
- Ps 89:37like the moon, established forever, a faithful witness in the sky.” Selah
- Gen 8:22As long as the earth endures, seedtime and harvest, cold and heat, summer and winter, day and night shall never cease.”
- Isa 54:9–10“For to Me this is like the days of Noah, when I swore that the waters of Noah would never again cover the earth. So I have sworn that I will not be angry with you or rebuke you.
- Ps 104:19–23He made the moon to mark the seasons; the sun knows when to set.
- Jer 31:35–37Thus says the LORD, who gives the sun for light by day, who sets in order the moon and stars for light by night, who stirs up the sea so that its waves roar—the LORD of Hosts is His name:
- Jer 33:25–26This is what the LORD says: If I have not established My covenant with the day and the night and the fixed order of heaven and earth,
Themes, concepts, people & topics
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Christ at the center
Against the failure of false shepherds Jeremiah promises the Righteous Branch, 'The LORD our righteousness,' and the new covenant written on the heart and sealed in the blood of Christ.
How Jeremiah 33:20 points to him is part of the one story that runs through all Scripture — meet Jesus at the heart of the web, or follow a trail that traces him from Genesis to Revelation.
Original language
Each word below is tagged with its Strong’s number — tap one to see the underlying Hebrew word, its meaning, and every verse that uses it.