Jeremiah 23
23
The Coming Messiah: the Righteous Branch
1“Woe to the shepherds who are destroying and scattering the sheep of My pasture!” declares the Lord. 2Therefore thus says the Lord God of Israel concerning the shepherds who are tending My people: “You have scattered My flock and driven them away, and have not attended to them; behold, I am about to attend to you for the evil of your deeds,” declares the Lord. 3“Then I Myself will gather the remnant of My flock out of all the countries where I have driven them and bring them back to their pasture, and they will be fruitful and multiply. 4I will also raise up shepherds over them and they will tend them; and they will not be afraid any longer, nor be terrified, nor will any be missing,” declares the Lord.
5“Behold, the days are coming,” declares the Lord,
“When I will raise up for David a righteous Branch;
And He will reign as king and act wisely
And do justice and righteousness in the land.
6In His days Judah will be saved,
And Israel will dwell securely;
And this is His name by which He will be called,
‘The Lord our righteousness.’
7“Therefore behold, the days are coming,” declares the Lord, “when they will no longer say, ‘As the Lord lives, who brought up the sons of Israel from the land of Egypt,’ 8but, ‘As the Lord lives, who brought up and led back the descendants of the household of Israel from the north land and from all the countries where I had driven them.’ Then they will live on their own soil.”
False Prophets Denounced
9As for the prophets:
My heart is broken within me,
All my bones tremble;
I have become like a drunken man,
Even like a man overcome with wine,
Because of the Lord
And because of His holy words.
10For the land is full of adulterers;
For the land mourns because of the curse.
The pastures of the wilderness have dried up.
Their course also is evil
And their might is not right.
11“For both prophet and priest are polluted;
Even in My house I have found their wickedness,” declares the Lord.
12“Therefore their way will be like slippery paths to them,
They will be driven away into the gloom and fall down in it;
For I will bring calamity upon them,
The year of their punishment,” declares the Lord.
13“Moreover, among the prophets of Samaria I saw an offensive thing:
They prophesied by Baal and led My people Israel astray.
14Also among the prophets of Jerusalem I have seen a horrible thing:
The committing of adultery and walking in falsehood;
And they strengthen the hands of evildoers,
So that no one has turned back from his wickedness.
All of them have become to Me like Sodom,
And her inhabitants like Gomorrah.
15Therefore thus says the Lord of hosts concerning the prophets,
‘Behold, I am going to feed them wormwood
And make them drink poisonous water,
For from the prophets of Jerusalem
Pollution has gone forth into all the land.’ ”
16Thus says the Lord of hosts,
“Do not listen to the words of the prophets who are prophesying to you.
They are leading you into futility;
They speak a vision of their own imagination,
Not from the mouth of the Lord.
17They keep saying to those who despise Me,
‘The Lord has said, “You will have peace” ’;
And as for everyone who walks in the stubbornness of his own heart,
They say, ‘Calamity will not come upon you.’
18But who has stood in the council of the Lord,
That he should see and hear His word?
Who has given heed to His word and listened?
19Behold, the storm of the Lord has gone forth in wrath,
Even a whirling tempest;
It will swirl down on the head of the wicked.
20The anger of the Lord will not turn back
Until He has performed and carried out the purposes of His heart;
In the last days you will clearly understand it.
21I did not send these prophets,
But they ran.
I did not speak to them,
But they prophesied.
22But if they had stood in My council,
Then they would have announced My words to My people,
And would have turned them back from their evil way
And from the evil of their deeds.
23“Am I a God who is near,” declares the Lord,
“And not a God far off?
24Can a man hide himself in hiding places
So I do not see him?” declares the Lord.
“Do I not fill the heavens and the earth?” declares the Lord.
25“I have heard what the prophets have said who prophesy falsely in My name, saying, ‘I had a dream, I had a dream!’ 26How long? Is there anything in the hearts of the prophets who prophesy falsehood, even these prophets of the deception of their own heart, 27who intend to make My people forget My name by their dreams which they relate to one another, just as their fathers forgot My name because of Baal? 28The prophet who has a dream may relate his dream, but let him who has My word speak My word in truth. What does straw have in common with grain?” declares the Lord. 29“Is not My word like fire?” declares the Lord, “and like a hammer which shatters a rock? 30Therefore behold, I am against the prophets,” declares the Lord, “who steal My words from each other. 31Behold, I am against the prophets,” declares the Lord, “who use their tongues and declare, ‘The Lord declares.’ 32Behold, I am against those who have prophesied false dreams,” declares the Lord, “and related them and led My people astray by their falsehoods and reckless boasting; yet I did not send them or command them, nor do they furnish this people the slightest benefit,” declares the Lord.
33“Now when this people or the prophet or a priest asks you saying, ‘What is the #Or burden, and so throughout the choracle of the Lord?’ then you shall say to them, ‘What oracle?’ The Lord declares, ‘I will abandon you.’ 34Then as for the prophet or the priest or the people who say, ‘The oracle of the Lord,’ I will bring punishment upon that man and his household. 35Thus will each of you say to his neighbor and to his brother, ‘What has the Lord answered?’ or, ‘What has the Lord spoken?’ 36For you will no longer remember the oracle of the Lord, because every man’s own word will become the oracle, and you have perverted the words of the living God, the Lord of hosts, our God. 37Thus you will say to that prophet, ‘What has the Lord answered you?’ and, ‘What has the Lord spoken?’ 38For if you say, ‘The oracle of the Lord!’ surely thus says the Lord, ‘Because you said this word, “The oracle of the Lord!” I have also sent to you, saying, “You shall not say, ‘The oracle of the Lord!’ ” ’ 39Therefore behold, I will surely forget you and cast you away from My presence, along with the city which I gave you and your fathers. 40I will put an everlasting reproach on you and an everlasting humiliation which will not be forgotten.”
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Jeremiah 23: NASB1995
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NEW AMERICAN STANDARD BIBLE®
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Jeremias (Jeremiah) 23
23
1Woe to the pastors that destroy and tear the sheep of my pasture, saith the Lord.
2Therefore, thus saith the Lord the God of Israel to the pastors that feed my people: You have scattered my flock and driven them away, and have not visited them: behold, I will visit upon you for the evil of your doings, saith the Lord.
3And I will gather together the remnant of my flock out of all the lands into which I have cast them out. And I will make them return to their own fields: and they shall increase and be multiplied.
4And I will set up pastors over them, and they shall feed them: they shall fear no more and they shall not be dismayed. And none shall be wanting of their number, saith the Lord.
5Behold, the days come, saith the Lord, and I will raise up to David a just branch. And a king shall reign, and shall be wise, and shall execute judgement and justice in the earth.
6In those days shall Juda be saved and Israel shall dwell confidently: and this is the name that they shall call him: The Lord, Our Just One.
7Therefore, behold, the days to come, saith the Lord, and they shall say no more: The Lord liveth, who brought up the children of Israel out of the land of Egypt:
8But, The Lord liveth, who hath brought out and brought hither the seed of the house of Israel, from the land of the north and out of all the lands to which I had cast them forth: and they shall dwell in their own land.
9To the prophets: My heart is broken within me, all my bones tremble: I am become as a drunken man, and as a man full of wine, at the presence of the Lord and at the presence of his holy words.
10Because the land is full of adulterers, because the land hath mourned by reason of cursing. The fields of the desert are dried up, and their course is become evil, and their strength unlike.
11For the prophet and the priest are defiled: and in my house I have found their wickedness, saith the Lord.
12Therefore, their way shall be as a slippery way in the dark: for they shall be driven on and fall therein: for I will bring evils upon them, the year of their visitation, saith the Lord.
13And I have seen folly in the prophets of Samaria: they prophesied in Baal and deceived my people Israel.
14And I have seen the likeness of adulterers and the way of lying in the prophets of Jerusalem: and they strengthened the hand of the wicked, that no man should return from his evil doings. That are all become unto me as Sodom, and the inhabitants thereof as Gomorrha.
15Therefore thus saith the Lord of hosts to the prophets: Behold, I will feed them with wormwood and I will give them gall to drink: for from the prophets of Jerusalem corruption is gone forth into all the land.
16Thus saith the Lord of hosts: Hearken not to the words of the prophets that prophesy to you and deceive you. They speak a vision of their own heart. And not out of the mouth of the Lord.
17They say to them that blaspheme me: The Lord hath said, You shall have peace. And to every one that walketh in the perverseness of his own heart they have said: No evil shall come to you.
18For who hath stood in the counsel of the Lord and hath seen and heard his word? Who hath considered his word and heard it?
19Behold, the whirlwind of the Lord's indignation shall come forth: and a tempest shall break out and come upon the head of the wicked.
20The wrath of the Lord shall not return till he execute it and till he accomplish the thought of his heart: in the latter days you shall understand his counsel.
21I did not send prophets, yet they ran: I have not spoken to them, yet they prophesied.
22If they stood in my counsel and had made my words known to my people, I should have turned them from their evil way and from their wicked doings.
23Am I, think ye, a God at hand, saith the Lord, and not a God afar off?
24Shall a man be hid in secret places and I not see him, saith the Lord? Do not I fill heaven and earth, saith the Lord?
25I have heard what the prophets said that prophesy lies in my name and say: I have dreamed, I have dreamed.
26How long shall this be in the heart of the prophets that prophesy lies and that prophesy the delusions of their own heart?
27Who seek to make my people forget my name through their dreams, which they tell every man to his neighbour: as their fathers forgot my name for Baal.
28The prophet that hath a dream, let him tell a dream: and he that hath my word, let him speak my word with truth. What hath the chaff to do with the wheat, saith the Lord?
29Are not my words as a fire, saith the Lord, and as a hammer that breaketh the rock in pieces?
30Therefore, behold, I am against the prophets, saith the Lord: who steal my words every one from his neighbour.
31Behold, I am against the prophets, saith the Lord: who use their tongues and say: The Lord saith it.
32Behold, I am against the prophets that have lying dreams, saith the Lord, and tell them and cause my people to err by their lying and by their wonders: when I sent them not nor commanded them, who have not profited this people at all, saith the Lord.
33If therefore this people or the prophet or the priest shall ask thee, saying: What is the burden of the Lord? Thou shalt say to them: You are the burden: for I will cast you away, saith the Lord.
34And as for the prophet and the priest and the people that shall say: The burden of the Lord: I will visit upon that man and upon his house.
35Thus shall you say, every one to his neighbour, and to his brother: What hath the Lord answered and what hath the Lord spoken?
36And the burden of the Lord shall be mentioned no more, for every man's word shall be his burden: for you have perverted the words of the living God, of the Lord of hosts our God.
37Thus shalt thou say to the prophet: What hath the Lord answered thee and what hath the Lord spoken?
38But if you shall say, The burden of the Lord: therefore thus saith the Lord: Because you have said this word, The burden of the Lord: and I have sent to you, saying: Say not, The burden of the Lord:
39Therefore, behold, I will take you away, carrying you, and will forsake you and the city which I gave to you and to your fathers, out of my presence.
40And I will bring an everlasting reproach upon you and a perpetual shame which shall never be forgotten.
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An historical text maintained by the British and Foreign Bible Society.