Neither shall there be cut off from the priests, etc... This promise relates to the Christian priesthood; which shall also continue for ever: the functions of which (more especially the great sacrifice of the altar) are here expressed by the name of holocausts, and other offerings of the law, which were so many figures of the Christian sacrifice. 33:19. And the word of the Lord came to Jeremias, saying: 33:20. Thus saith the Lord: if my covenant, with the day can be made void, and my covenant with the night, that there should not be day and night in their season: 33:21. Also my covenant with David my servant may be made void, that he should not have a son to reign upon his throne, and with the Levites and priests my ministers. 33:22. As the stars of heaven cannot be numbered, nor the sand of the sea be measured: so will I multiply the seed of David my servant, and the Levites my ministers. 33:23. And the word of the Lord came to Jeremias, saying: 33:24. Hast thou not seen what this people hath spoken, saying: The two families which the Lord had chosen, are cast off: and they have despised my people, so that it is no more a nation before them? Two families, etc... Viz., the families of the kings and priests. 33:25. Thus saith the Lord. If I have not set my covenant between day and night, and laws to heaven and earth: 33:26. Surely I will also cast off the seed of Jacob, and of David my servant, so as not to take any of his seed to be rulers of the seed of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob: for I will bring back their captivity, and will have mercy on them. Jeremias Chapter 34 The prophet foretells that Sedecias shall fall into the hands of Nabuchodonosor: God's sentence upon the princes and people that had broken his covenant. 34:1. The word that came to Jeremias from the Lord, when Nabuchodonosor king of Babylon, and all his army, and all the kingdoms of the earth, that were under the power of his hand, and all the people fought against Jerusalem and against all the cities thereof, saying: 34:2. Thus saith the Lord, the God of Israel: Go, and speak to Sedecias king of Juda, and say to him: Thus saith the Lord: Behold I will deliver this city into the hands of the king of Babylon, and he shall burn it with fire. 34:3. And thou shalt not escape out of his hand: but thou shalt surely be taken, and thou shalt be delivered into his hand: and thy eyes shall see the eyes of the king of Babylon, and his mouth shall speak with thy mouth, and thou shalt go to Babylon. 34:4. Yet hear the word of the Lord, O Sedecias king of Juda: Thus saith the Lord to thee: Thou shalt not die by the sword. 34:5. But thou shalt die in peace, and according to the burnings of thy fathers, the former kings that were before thee, so shall they burn thee: and they shall mourn for thee, saying: Alas, Lord: for I have spoken the word, saith the Lord. Die in peace... That is, by a natural death.