“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;
Parallel translations
- 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;
- BSB “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,
- 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 89:37It will be established forever like the moon, the faithful witness in the sky.” Selah.
- Gen 8:22While the earth remains, seed time and harvest, and cold and heat, and summer and winter, and day and night will not cease.”
- Isa 54:9–10“For this is like the waters of Noah to me; for as I have sworn that the waters of Noah will no more go over the earth, so I have sworn that I will not be angry with you, nor rebuke you.
- Ps 104:19–23He appointed the moon for seasons. The sun knows when to set.
- Jer 31:35–37Yahweh, who gives the sun for a light by day, and the ordinances of the moon and of the stars for a light by night, who stirs up the sea, so that its waves roar; Yahweh of Armies is his name, says:
- Jer 33:25–26Yahweh says: “If my covenant of day and night fails, if I have not appointed the ordinances of heaven and earth;
Themes, concepts, people & topics
Resources, by level
Commentaries & study tools
Free animated overview and word-study videos for this book.
Sermons and teaching on this passage from across YouTube.
Clear, readable, conservative exposition — the best free place to start on any passage.
Matthew Henry, Barnes, Gill, the Pulpit Commentary, Ellicott, Cambridge, and more — stacked on one page for this exact verse.
The beloved Puritan exposition of this whole book — warm, devotional, and verse by verse (free, CCEL).
Hebrew/Greek interlinear, word definitions, and cross-references for this verse.
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.