Jeremiah 31:36 (DRB)

Passage

If these ordinances shall fail before me, saith the Lord: then also the seed of Israel shall fail, so as not to be a nation before me for ever.

Nearby Context

Jeremiah 31:34 And they shall teach no more every man his neighbour, and every man his brother, saying: Know the Lord: for all shall know me from the least of them even to the greatest, saith the Lord: for I will forgive their iniquity, and I will remember their sin no more.

Jeremiah 31:35 Thus saith the Lord, who giveth the sun for the light of the day, the order of the moon and of the stars, for the light of the night: who stirreth up the sea, and the waves thereof roar, the Lord of hosts is his name.

Jeremiah 31:36 If these ordinances shall fail before me, saith the Lord: then also the seed of Israel shall fail, so as not to be a nation before me for ever.

Jeremiah 31:37 Thus saith the Lord: If the heavens above can be measured, and the foundations of the earth searched out beneath, I also will cast away all the seed of Israel, for all that they have done, saith the Lord.

Jeremiah 31:38 Behold the days come, saith the Lord, that the city shall be built to the Lord from the tower of Hanameel even to the gate of the corner.

Study Lenses

The verse centers on "ordinances", "shall", "fail", "before", "saith", "lord", "seed", and "israel". It is saying that the verse draws attention to "ordinances" and "shall", so its meaning should be read from those terms before moving to application.

The nearby context moves from verse 35's "Thus saith the Lord who giveth the..." into verse 37's "Thus saith the Lord If the heavens...", so "ordinances" and "shall" belong inside that flow. In Jeremiah context, the local focus is covenant, worship, and faithfulness.

A plain takeaway is to answer the verse's own emphasis on "ordinances" and "shall" with trust shaped by these words, not by a vague optimism outside the passage.