Jeremiah 23
23
Jeremiah 23
1¶ Woe be unto the pastors that waste and scatter the sheep of my pasture! said the Lord.
2Therefore thus hath the Lord God of Israel said unto the pastors that feed my people: Ye have scattered my flock and driven them away and have not visited them; behold, I visit upon you the evil of your doings, said the Lord.
3And I will gather the remnant of my sheep out of all the lands where I have driven them and will cause them to return to their folds; and they shall be fruitful and increase.
4And I will set up shepherds over them which shall feed them; and they shall fear no more nor be dismayed neither shall they be lacking, said the Lord.
5Behold, the days come, saith the Lord, that I will raise unto David a righteous Branch, and a King shall reign and prosper and shall execute judgment and righteousness in the earth.
6In his days Judah shall be saved, and Israel shall dwell safely: and this shall be his name by which they shall call him, THE Lord OUR RIGHTEOUSNESS.
7Therefore, behold, the days come, said the Lord, and they shall no longer say, The Lord lives, who brought up the sons of Israel out of the land of Egypt;
8but, The Lord lives, who caused the seed of the house of Israel to come up and out of the land of the north wind, and from all the lands where I had driven them, and they shall dwell in their own land.
9¶ My heart is broken within me because of the prophets, all my bones shake; I was like a drunken man, and like a man whom wine has overcome, before the Lord, and before the words of his holiness.
10For the land is full of adulterers; for because of the oath the land is deserted; the booths of the wilderness are dried up, and their course was evil, and their force was not right.
11For both prophet and priest are feigned; even in my house I have found their wickedness, said the Lord.
12Therefore their way shall be unto them as slippery ways in the darkness; they shall be driven on and fall therein; for I will bring evil upon them, even the year of their visitation, saith the Lord.
13And I have seen folly in the prophets of Samaria; they prophesied in Baal and caused my people Israel to err.
14I have also seen a horrible thing in the prophets of Jerusalem: they committed adultery and walked by lies; they strengthened also the hands of evildoers, that no one is converted from his malice; they are all of them unto me as Sodom and the inhabitants thereof as Gomorrah.
15Therefore, thus hath the Lord of the hosts said against those prophets: Behold, I will cause them to eat wormwood and make them drink the waters of gall, for from the prophets of Jerusalem is hypocrisy gone forth upon all the land.
16Thus hath the Lord of the hosts said, Hearken not unto the words of the prophets that prophesy unto you: they make you vain: they speak a vision of their own heart, and not out of the mouth of the Lord.
17They say boldly unto those that stir me to anger, The Lord hath said, Ye shall have peace; and they say unto anyone that walks after the imagination of his own heart, No evil shall come upon you.
18For who has stood in the secret of the Lord and has seen and heard his word? Who has paid attention to his word and heard it?
19Behold, that the whirlwind of the Lord shall go forth with fury, and the whirlwind which is ready shall fall grievously upon the head of the wicked.
20The anger of the Lord shall not return until he has executed and until he has performed the thoughts of his heart: in the last of the days ye shall understand it with understanding.
21 I did not send those prophets, yet they ran; I did not speak to them, yet they prophesied.
22But if they had stood in my secret, they would also have caused my people to hear my words, and they would have caused them to return from their evil way and from the evil of their doings.
23 Am I a God of the near only, said the Lord, and not a God of the far?
24Can any hide himself in hiding places that I shall not see him? said the Lord. Do I not fill heaven and earth? said the Lord.
25I have heard what those prophets said, that prophesy lies in my name, saying, I have dreamed, I have dreamed.
26How long shall this be in the heart of the prophets that prophesy lies and that prophesy the deceit of their own heart?
27Do they not think to cause my people to forget my name by their dreams which each one tells his neighbour, so much that their fathers have forgotten my name for Baal?
28The prophet with whom the dream came, let him tell the dream; and he with whom my word came, let him speak my true word. What is the chaff to the wheat? said the Lord.
29 Is not my word like as a fire? saith the Lord; and like a hammer that breaks the rock in pieces?
30Therefore, behold, I am against the prophets, saith the Lord, that steal my words each one from his neighbour.
31Behold, I am against the prophets, saith the Lord, that sweeten their tongues and say, He said.
32Behold, I am against those that prophesy false dreams, saith the Lord, and did tell them, and caused my people to err by their lies, and by their flattery; yet I did not send them, nor command them; and they did not profit this people at all, said the Lord.
33¶ And when this people or the prophet or the priest shall ask thee, saying, What is the burden of the Lord? thou shalt then say unto them, What burden? I will forsake you, said 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 ye say each one to his neighbour and each one to his brother, What has the Lord answered? and, What has the Lord spoken?
36And never again shall it come to your memory to say, The burden of the Lord; for every man’s word shall be his burden; for ye have perverted the words of the living God, of the Lord of the hosts, our God.
37Thus shalt thou say to the prophet, What has the Lord answered thee? and, What has the Lord spoken?
38But if ye say, The burden of the Lord; therefore thus hath the Lord said: Because ye say this word, The burden of the Lord, and I have sent unto you, saying, Ye shall not say, The burden of the Lord;
39therefore, behold, I, even I, will utterly forget you, and I will uproot you from my presence and the city that I gave you and your fathers:
40and I will place an everlasting reproach upon you, and eternal shame, which shall never be forgotten.
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Jeremiah 23: JUB
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The Jubilee Bible 2000 (JUB) by Ransom Press International
Jeremiah 23
23
The Branch of Righteousness
1“Woe #Is. 56:9–12; Jer. 10:21to the shepherds who destroy and scatter the sheep of My pasture!” says the Lord. 2Therefore thus says the Lord God of Israel against the shepherds who feed My people: “You have scattered My flock, driven them away, and not attended to them. #Ex. 32:34Behold, I will attend to you for the evil of your doings,” says the Lord. 3“But #Is. 11:11, 12, 16; Jer. 32:37I will gather the remnant of My flock out of all countries where I have driven them, and bring them back to their folds; and they shall be fruitful and increase. 4I will set up #Jer. 3:15; (Ezek. 34:23)shepherds over them who will feed them; and they shall fear no more, nor be dismayed, nor shall they be lacking,” says the Lord.
5“Behold, #Is. 4:2; 11:1; 40:10, 11; Jer. 33:14; (Dan. 9:24; Zech. 6:12); Matt. 1:1, 6; Luke 3:31; (John 1:45; 7:42)the days are coming,” says the Lord,
“That I will raise to David a Branch of righteousness;
A King shall reign and prosper,
#Ps. 72:2; Is. 9:7; 32:1, 18; (Dan. 9:24)And execute judgment and righteousness in the earth.
6#Deut. 33:28; Jer. 30:10; Zech. 14:11In His days Judah will be saved,
And Israel #Jer. 32:37will dwell safely;
Now #Is. 45:24; Jer. 33:16; (Dan. 9:24; Rom. 3:22; 1 Cor. 1:30)this is His name by which He will be called:
THE LORD OUR RIGHTEOUSNESS.
7“Therefore, behold, #Is. 43:18, 19; Jer. 16:14the days are coming,” says the Lord, “that they shall no longer say, ‘As the Lord lives who brought up the children of Israel from the land of Egypt,’ 8but, ‘As the Lord lives who brought up and led the descendants of the house of Israel from the north country #Is. 43:5, 6; Ezek. 34:13; Amos 9:14, 15and from all the countries where I had driven them.’ And they shall dwell in their own #Gen. 12:7; Jer. 16:14, 15; 31:8land.”
False Prophets and Empty Oracles
9My heart within me is broken
Because of the prophets;
#Jer. 8:18; Hab. 3:16All my bones shake.
I am like a drunken man,
And like a man whom wine has overcome,
Because of the Lord,
And because of His holy words.
10For #Jer. 9:2the land is full of adulterers;
For #Hos. 4:2; Mal. 3:5because of a curse the land mourns.
#Ps. 107:34; Jer. 9:10The pleasant places of the wilderness are dried up.
Their course of life is evil,
And their might is not right.
11“For #Jer. 6:13; Zeph. 3:4both prophet and priest are profane;
Yes, #Jer. 7:30; 32:34; Ezek. 8:11; 23:39in My house I have found their wickedness,” says the Lord.
12“Therefore#Ps. 35:6; (Prov. 4:19); Jer. 13:16 their way shall be to them
Like slippery ways;
In the darkness they shall be driven on
And fall in them;
For I #Jer. 11:23will bring disaster on them,
The year of their punishment,” says the Lord.
13“And I have seen folly in the prophets of Samaria:
#1 Kin. 18:18–21; Jer. 2:8They prophesied by Baal
And #Is. 9:16caused My people Israel to err.
14Also I have seen a horrible thing in the prophets of Jerusalem:
#Jer. 29:23They commit adultery and walk in lies;
They also #Jer. 23:22; Ezek. 13:22, 23strengthen the hands of evildoers,
So that no one turns back from his wickedness.
All of them are like #Gen. 18:20; Deut. 32:32; Is. 1:9, 10Sodom to Me,
And her inhabitants like Gomorrah.
15“Therefore thus says the Lord of hosts concerning the prophets:
‘Behold, I will feed them with #Deut. 29:18; Jer. 9:15wormwood,
And make them drink the water of gall;
For from the prophets of Jerusalem
Profaneness has gone out into all the land.’ ”
16Thus says the Lord of hosts:
“Do not listen to the words of the prophets who prophesy to you.
They make you worthless;
#Jer. 14:14; Ezek. 13:3, 6They speak a vision of their own heart,
Not from the mouth of the Lord.
17They continually say to those who despise Me,
‘The Lord has said, #Jer. 8:11; Ezek. 13:10; Zech. 10:2“You shall have peace” ’;
And to everyone who #Deut. 29:19; Jer. 3:17walks according to the dictates of his own heart, they say,
#Jer. 5:12; Amos 9:10; Mic. 3:11‘No evil shall come upon you.’ ”
18For #Job 15:8, 9; (Jer. 23:22; 1 Cor. 2:16)who has stood in the counsel of the Lord,
And has perceived and heard His word?
Who has marked His word and heard it?
19Behold, a #Jer. 25:32; 30:23; Amos 1:14whirlwind of the Lord has gone forth in fury—
A violent whirlwind!
It will fall violently on the head of the wicked.
20The #2 Kin. 23:26, 27; Jer. 30:24anger of the Lord will not turn back
Until He has executed and performed the thoughts of His heart.
#Gen. 49:1In the latter days you will understand it perfectly.
21“I#Jer. 14:14; 23:32; 27:15 have not sent these prophets, yet they ran.
I have not spoken to them, yet they prophesied.
22But if they had stood in My counsel,
And had caused My people to hear My words,
Then they would have #Jer. 25:5turned them from their evil way
And from the evil of their doings.
23“Am I a God near at hand,” says the Lord,
“And not a God afar off?
24Can anyone #(Ps. 139:7); Amos 9:2, 3hide himself in secret places,
So I shall not see him?” says the Lord;
#(1 Kin. 8:27); Ps. 139:7“Do I not fill heaven and earth?” says the Lord.
25“I have heard what the prophets have said who prophesy lies in My name, saying, ‘I have dreamed, I have dreamed!’ 26How long will this be in the heart of the prophets who prophesy lies? Indeed they are prophets of the deceit of their own heart, 27who try to make My people forget My name by their dreams which everyone tells his neighbor, #Judg. 3:7as their fathers forgot My name for Baal.
28“The prophet who has a dream, let him tell a dream;
And he who has My word, let him speak My word faithfully.
What is the chaff to the wheat?” says the Lord.
29“Is not My word like a #Jer. 5:14fire?” says the Lord,
“And like a hammer that breaks the rock in pieces?
30“Therefore behold, #Deut. 18:20; Ps. 34:16; Jer. 14:14, 15; Ezek. 13:8, 9I am against the prophets,” says the Lord, “who steal My words every one from his neighbor. 31Behold, I am #Ezek. 13:9against the prophets,” says the Lord, “who use their tongues and say, ‘He says.’ 32Behold, I am against those who prophesy false dreams,” says the Lord, “and tell them, and cause My people to err by their #Jer. 20:6; 27:10; Lam. 2:14; 3:37lies and by #Zeph. 3:4their recklessness. Yet I did not send them or command them; therefore they shall not #Jer. 7:8; Lam. 2:14profit this people at all,” says the Lord.
33“So when these people or the prophet or the priest ask you, saying, ‘What is #Is. 13:1; Nah. 1:1; Hab. 1:1; Zech. 9:1; Mal. 1:1the oracle of the Lord?’ you shall then say to them, ‘What oracle?’ I will even forsake you,” says the Lord. 34“And as for the prophet and the priest and the people who say, ‘The oracle of the Lord!’ I will even punish that man and his house. 35Thus every one of you shall say to his neighbor, and every one to his brother, ‘What has the Lord answered?’ and, ‘What has the Lord spoken?’ 36And the oracle of the Lord you shall mention no more. For every man’s word will be his oracle, for you have #Deut. 4:2perverted the words of the living God, the Lord of hosts, our God. 37Thus you shall say to the prophet, ‘What has the Lord answered you?’ and, ‘What has the Lord spoken?’ 38But since you say, ‘The oracle of the Lord!’ therefore thus says the Lord: ‘Because you say this word, “The oracle of the Lord!” and I have sent to you, saying, “Do not say, ‘The oracle of the Lord!’ ” 39therefore behold, I, even I, #Hos. 4:6will utterly forget you and forsake you, and the city that I gave you and your fathers, and will cast you out of My presence. 40And I will bring #Jer. 20:11; Ezek. 5:14, 15an everlasting reproach upon you, and a perpetual #Mic. 3:5–7shame, which shall not be forgotten.’ ”
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The Holy Bible, New King James Version, Copyright © 1982 Thomas Nelson. All rights reserved.