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my covenant the night, that there be not day and night in their season; and my covenant shall be scattered with David my servant, so that he has no son reigning upon his throne, and the Levites the priests who minister to me; as the host 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 who minister to me. And again, after a little, it is said: Thus says the Lord: If I have not established my covenant of day and night, the ordinances of heaven and earth, then will I reject the seed of Jacob and David my servant, so as not to take a ruler from his seed. And who would be the branch raised up for David by the Lord? The divine Word, concerning whom it is also said in other places, behold a man, Branch is his name; who is prophesied to reign and to have understanding and to execute judgment and justice on the earth. And he also makes light to rise for the souls sitting in darkness according to his heavenly kingdom; upon which, according to the apostle, the fullness of the Gentiles will come in, and all true Israel with spiritual Judah will be saved, 139 whom the Lord will also call by name, whom he will judge worthy in Josedecin, which is interpreted the righteous of God. And in that day, after God frees the aforementioned from the captivity under the devil, so that they no longer serve him, but only the Lord their God, God promises to raise up for them a king, David, being none other than our Savior who came from the seed of David, whom the scriptures have called by this name in various ways. Therefore, in the prophecy David is called the man who is understood to be our Savior; but the righteous Branch, the divinity working in him, is called the sun of righteousness in other places; since also the true light that enlightens every man coming into the world is none other than he. Therefore he says that a man leading and presiding over his church, which is the spiritual house of Israel, will not be cut off from God; but the word prophesies that not even the priests of God according to the mind will cease, offering up spiritual incense, and the fragrant and bloodless and pure sacrifice through good works and words. For if we did not understand these things thus, it would be time to prove the prophecies false, since neither the throne of David corporeally, nor the typical priestly ministry, still exists now; for the kings from the seed of David have ceased since the times of Jeremiah himself, and the Levitical and priestly ministry not long after the coming of our Savior; from which time 140 until now it is not even permitted for them to set foot in Jerusalem. And if those of the circumcision should say that the seed of David has not failed because of the patriarch, as they call him, they must be refuted as being unable to prove that he is sitting on the throne of David, and reigning on his throne, and ruling Israel; for the prophecy says these things will never cease, which things are clearly shown to have ceased since the times of the captivity, since when not even one who reigned over Israel from the seed of David is demonstrated; and what would they say about the priesthood that has been clearly abolished in the present time, which the prophecy foretells will never be cut off? Ps. Of the same. 37. Behold, the days are coming, says the Lord, and I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and with the house of Judah; not according to the covenant which I made with their fathers in the day that I took them by the hand to lead them out of the land of Egypt; because they did not continue in my covenant, and I disregarded them, says the Lord, for this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel; after those days, says the Lord, putting my laws into their mind

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διαθήκην μου τὴν νύκτα, τοῦ μὴ εἶναι ἡμέραν καὶ νύκτα ἐν τῷ καιρῷ αὐτῶν· καί γε ἡ διαθήκη μου διασκεδασθήσεται μετὰ ∆αυὶδ τοῦ δούλου μου, τοῦ μὴ εἶναι αὐτῷ υἱὸν βασιλεύοντα ἐπὶ τοῦ θρόνου αὐτοῦ, καὶ τοὺς Λευίτας τοὺς ἱερεῖς τοὺς λειτουργοῦντάς μοι· ὡς οὐκ ἐξαριθμηθήσεται ἡ δύναμις τοῦ οὐρανοῦ, οὐδὲ ἐκμετρηθήσεται ἡ ἄμμος τῆς θαλάσσης, οὕτως πληθυνῶ τὸ σπέρμα ∆αυὶδ τοῦ δούλου μου καὶ τοὺς Λευίτας τοὺς λειτουργοῦντάς μοι. Καὶ αὖθις μετὰ βραχέα εἴρηται· Τάδε λέγει Κύριος· Εἰ μὴ διαθήκην μου ἡμέρας καὶ νυκτὸς, ἀκριβάσματα οὐρανοῦ καὶ γῆς οὐκ ἔταξα, καί γε τὸ σπέρμα Ἰακὼβ καὶ ∆αυὶδ τὸν δοῦλόν μου ἀποδοκιμῶ, τοῦ μὴ λαβεῖν ἐκ τοῦ σπέρματος αὐτοῦ ἄρχοντα. Καὶ τίς ἂν εἴη ὑπὸ τοῦ Κυρίου ἀναστησομένη τῷ ∆αυὶδ ἀνατολή; Ὁ θεῖος Λόγος, περὶ οὗ καὶ ἐν ἑτέροις εἴρηται, ἰδοὺ ἀνὴρ, ἀνατολὴ ὄνομα αὐτῷ· ὃς καὶ βασιλεύσειν προφητεύεται καὶ συνήσειν καὶ ποιήσειν κρίμα καὶ δικαιοσύνην ἐπὶ τῆς γῆς. Οὗτος δὲ καὶ ταῖς ἐν σκότει καθημέναις ψυχαῖς ἐξανατελεῖ φῶς κατὰ τὴν βασιλείαν αὐτοῦ τὴν ἐπουράνιον· ἐπ' ἂν δὲ κατὰ τὸν ἀπόστολον τὸ πλήρωμα τῶν ἐθνῶν εἰσελθῇ, καὶ πᾶς ὁ ἀληθινὸς Ἰσραὴλ μετὰ τοῦ πνευματικοῦ Ἰούδα σωθήσεται, 139 οὓς καὶ καλέσει αὐτοὺς ὁ Κύριος ὀνομαστὶ, οὓς ἀξίους αὐτοὺς κρινεῖ ἐν τῷ Ἰωσεδεκὶν, ὅπερ ἑρμηνεύεται οἱ τοῦ Θεοῦ δίκαιοι. Ἐν ἐκείνῃ δὲ τῇ ἡμέρᾳ μετὰ τὸ ἐλευθερῶσαι τὸν Θεὸν τοὺς προειρημένους ἀπὸ τῆς ὑπὸ τὸν διάβολον αἰχμαλωσίας, ὡς μηκέτι μὲν ἐκείνῳ, μόνῳ δὲ Κυρίῳ τῷ Θεῷ αὐτῶν λατρεύειν, ἀναστήσειν αὐτοῖς ὁ Θεὸς ὑπισχνεῖται βασιλέα τὸν ∆αυὶδ, οὐκ ἄλλον ὄντα τοῦ ἐκ σπέρματος ∆αυὶδ γενομένου Σωτῆρος ἡμῶν, ὃν διαφόρως αἱ γραφαὶ καὶ τούτῳ προσεῖπαν τῷ ὀνόματι. Ὁ μὲν οὖν ἐν τῇ προφητείᾳ ∆αυὶδ ὁ κατὰ τὸν Σωτῆρα ἡμῶν νοούμενος ἄνθρωπος λέγεται· ἡ δὲ ἀνατολὴ ἡ δικαία, ἡ κατ' αὐτὸν ἐνεργοῦσα θεότης, ἥλιος δικαιοσύνης ἐν ἄλλοις ὀνομαζομένη· ἐπεὶ καὶ τὸ φῶς τὸ ἀληθινὸν ὃ φωτίζει πάντα ἄνθρωπον ἐρχόμενον εἰς τὸν κόσμον οὐκ ἄλλη τίς αὐτοῦ τυγχάνει. Τῷ Θεῷ τοίνυν φησὶν οὐκ ἐξολοθρευθήσεσθαι ἄνδρα ἡγούμενον καὶ προεστῶτα τῆς ἐκκλησίας αὐτοῦ, ἥτις ἐστὶν ὁ πνευματικὸς οἶκος Ἰσραήλ· ἀλλ' οὐδὲ τοὺς κατὰ διάνοιαν ἱερεῖς τοῦ Θεοῦ διαλείψειν ὁ λόγος προφητεύει, τὸ πνευματικὸν ἀναφέροντας θυμίαμα, καὶ τὴν δι' ἔργων ἀγαθῶν καὶ λόγων εὐώδη καὶ ἀναίμακτον καὶ καθαρὰν θυσίαν. Εἰ γὰρ μὴ ταῦθ' οὕτως ἐκλάβοιμεν, ὥρα ψευδεῖς ἀπελέγχειν τὰς προφητείας, τῷ μήτε τὸν θρόνον ∆αυὶδ σωματικῶς, μήτε τὴν ἱερατικὴν λειτουργείαν τὴν τυπικὴν εἰσέτι νῦν συνεστάναι· τῶν μὲν ἐκ σπέρματος ∆αυὶδ βασιλέων ἐξ αὐτῶν τῶν Ἱερεμίου χρόνων διαλελοιπότων, τῆς δὲ Λευιτικῆς καὶ ἱερατικῆς λειτουργίας μετ' οὐ πολὺ τῆς τοῦ Σωτῆρος ἡμῶν παρουσίας· ἐξ ἧς 140 καὶ εἰς δεῦρο οὐδὲ ἐπιβαίνειν αὐτοῖς τῆς Ἱερουσαλὴμ ἔξεστιν. Καὶ εἰ φάσκοιέν γε οἱ ἐκ περιτομῆς δι' ὃν φασὶ πατριάρχην μὴ ἐκλελοιπέναι τὸ σπέρμα ∆αυὶδ, ἀλλ' ἐλεγκτέον τε γε αὐτοὺς μὴ δυναμένους ἀποδεῖξαι καθήμενον αὐτὸν ἐπὶ θρόνου ∆αυὶδ, καὶ βασιλεύοντα ἐπὶ τοῦ θρόνου αὐτοῦ, καὶ ἄρχοντα τοῦ Ἰσραήλ· ταῦτα γὰρ ἡ προφητεία φησὶ μηδεπώποτε διαλείψειν, ἃ καὶ σαφῶς παρίσταται ἀπὸ τῶν τῆς αἰχμαλωσίας χρόνων διαλελοιπότα, ἐξ οὗ μὴ δὲ εἷς βασιλεύσας τοῦ Ἰσραὴλ ἐκ τοῦ σπέρματος ∆αυὶδ ἀποδείκνυται· τί δ' ἂν φήσαιεν καὶ περὶ τῆς ἐναργῶς κατὰ τὸν παρόντα καιρὸν καθῃρημένης ἱερατείας, ἣν μηδεπώποτε ἐξολοθρευθήσεσθαι ἡ προφητεία προαγορεύει; Ψ. Τοῦ αὐτοῦ. ΛΖʹ. Ἰδοὺ ἡμέραι ἔρχονται, φησὶ Κύριος, καὶ διαθήσομαι τῷ οἴκῳ Ἰσραὴλ καὶ τῷ οἴκῳ Ἰούδα διαθήκην καινήν· οὐ κατὰ τὴν διαθήκην ἣν διεθέμην τοῖς πατράσιν αὐτῶν ἐν ἡμέρᾳ ἐπιλαβομένου μου τῆς χειρὸς αὐτῶν ἐξαγαγεῖν αὐτοὺς ἐκ γῆς Αἰγύπτου· ὅτι αὐτοὶ οὐκ ἐνέμειναν ἐν τῇ διαθήκῃ μου, καὶ ἐγὼ ἠμέλησα αὐτῶν, φησὶ Κύριος, ὅτι αὕτη ἡ διαθήκη, ἣν διαθήσομαι τῷ οἴκῳ Ἰσραήλ· μετὰ τὰς ἡμέρας ἐκείνας, φησὶ Κύριος, διδοὺς νόμους μου εἰς τὴν διάνοιαν