Jeremiah 23
23
1“Woe to the shepherds who destroy and scatter the sheep of my pasture!” says the LORD. 2Therefore the LORD, the God of Israel, says against the shepherds who feed my people: “You have scattered my flock, driven them away, and have not visited them. Behold, I will visit on you the evil of your doings,” says the LORD. 3“I will gather the remnant of my flock out of all the countries where I have driven them, and will bring them again to their folds; and they will be fruitful and multiply. 4I will set up shepherds over them who will feed them. They will no longer be afraid or dismayed, neither will any be lacking,” says the LORD.
5“Behold, the days come,” says the LORD,
“that I will raise to David a righteous Branch;
and he will reign as king and deal wisely,
and will execute justice and righteousness in the land.
6 In his days Judah will be saved,
and Israel will dwell safely.
This is his name by which he will be called:
The LORD our righteousness.
7“Therefore, behold, the days come,” says the LORD, “that they will no more say, ‘As the LORD lives, who brought up the children of Israel out of the land of Egypt;’ 8but, ‘As the LORD lives, who brought up and who led the offspring of the house of Israel out of the north country, and from all the countries where I had driven them.’ Then they will dwell in their own land.”
9 Concerning the prophets:
My heart within me is broken.
All 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.
10“For the land is full of adulterers;
for because of the curse the land mourns.
The pastures of the wilderness have dried up.
Their course is evil,
and their might is not right;
11 for both prophet and priest are profane.
Yes, in my house I have found their wickedness,” says the LORD.
12 Therefore their way will be to them as slippery places in the darkness.
They will be driven on,
and fall therein;
for I will bring evil on them,
even the year of their visitation,” says the LORD.
13“I have seen folly in the prophets of Samaria.
They prophesied by Baal,
and caused my people Israel to err.
14 In the prophets of Jerusalem I have also seen a horrible thing:
they commit adultery and walk in lies.
They strengthen the hands of evildoers,
so that no one returns from his wickedness.
They have all become to me as Sodom,
and its inhabitants as Gomorrah.”
15 Therefore the LORD of Armies says concerning the prophets:
“Behold, I will feed them with wormwood,
and make them drink poisoned water;
for from the prophets of Jerusalem ungodliness has gone out into all the land.”
16 The LORD of Armies says,
“Don’t listen to the words of the prophets who prophesy to you.
They teach you vanity.
They speak a vision of their own heart,
and not out of the mouth of the LORD.
17 They say continually to those who despise me,
‘The LORD has said, “You will have peace;”’
and to everyone who walks in the stubbornness of his own heart they say,
‘No evil will come on you.’
18 For who has stood in the council of the LORD,
that he should perceive and hear his word?
Who has listened to my word, and heard it?
19 Behold, the LORD’s storm, his wrath, has gone out.
Yes, a whirling storm!
It will burst on the head of the wicked.
20 The LORD’s anger will not return until he has executed
and performed the intents of his heart.
In the latter days, you will understand it perfectly.
21 I didn’t send these prophets, yet they ran.
I didn’t speak to them, yet they prophesied.
22 But if they had stood in my council,
then they would have caused my people to hear my words,
and would have turned them from their evil way,
and from the evil of their doings.
23“Am I a God at hand,” says the LORD,
“and not a God afar off?
24 Can anyone hide himself in secret places
so that I can’t see him?” says the LORD.
“Don’t I fill heaven and earth?” says the LORD.
25“I have heard what the prophets have said, who prophesy lies in my name, saying, ‘I had a dream! I had a dream!’ 26How long will this be in the heart of the prophets who prophesy lies, even the prophets of the deceit of their own heart? 27They intend to cause my people to forget my name by their dreams which they each tell his neighbour, as their fathers forgot my name because of Baal. 28The 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 straw to the wheat?” says the LORD. 29“Isn’t my word like fire?” says the LORD; “and like a hammer that breaks the rock in pieces?
30“Therefore behold, I am against the prophets,” says the LORD, “who each steal my words from his neighbour. 31Behold, I am against the prophets,” says the LORD, “who use their tongues, and say, ‘He says.’ 32Behold, I am against those who prophesy lying dreams,” says the LORD, “who tell them, and cause my people to err by their lies, and by their vain boasting; yet I didn’t send them or command them. They don’t profit this people at all,” says the LORD.
33“When this people, or the prophet, or a priest, asks you, saying, ‘What is the message from the LORD?’ Then you shall tell them, ‘“What message? I will cast you off,” says the LORD.’ 34As for the prophet, the priest, and the people, who say, ‘The message from the LORD,’ I will even punish that man and his household. 35You will say everyone to his neighbour, and everyone to his brother, ‘What has the LORD answered?’ and, ‘What has the LORD said?’ 36You will mention the message from the LORD no more, for every man’s own word has become his message; for you have perverted the words of the living God, of the LORD of Armies, our God. 37You will say to the prophet, ‘What has the LORD answered you?’ and, ‘What has the LORD spoken?’ 38Although you say, ‘The message from the LORD,’ therefore the LORD says: ‘Because you say this word, “The message from the LORD,” and I have sent to you, telling you not to say, “The message from the LORD,” 39therefore behold, I will utterly forget you, and I will cast you off with the city that I gave to you and to your fathers, away from my presence. 40I will bring an everlasting reproach on you, and a perpetual shame, which will not be forgotten.’”
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Jeremiah 23
23
The Lord and His Sheep
1“Woe to the shepherds who destroy and scatter the sheep of my pasture!” #Ps 100:3; Ezk 34:2,31; Zch 11:5–7,15–17 This is the Lord’s declaration. 2“Therefore, this is what the Lord, the God of Israel, says about the shepherds who tend my people: You have scattered my flock,#Jr 10:21; 50:6; Ezk 34:5,12,31 banished them, and have not attended to them.#Ps 8:4; Is 23:16; Ezk 34:3 I am about to attend to you because of your evil acts” — this is the Lord’s declaration. 3“I will gather the remnant of my flock from all the lands where I have banished them,#Ezk 34:12–13 and I will return them to their grazing land. They will become fruitful and numerous.#Gn 1:26–28; 9:1–7; 35:11 4I will raise up shepherds over them who will tend them.#Ezk 34:23; Mc 5:2–6 They will no longer be afraid or discouraged, nor will any be missing.”#Ezk 34:25; Mc 7:14 This is the Lord’s declaration.
The Righteous Branch of David
5“Look, the days are coming”#Jr 7:32; 9:25; 16:14; 19:6; 23:5,7; 30:3; 31:27,31; 33:14–16; 48:12; 49:2; 51:47,52 — this is the Lord’s declaration —
“when I will raise up a Righteous Branch for David.#1Kg 12:16; Is 4:2; 55:3–4; Jr 30:9; 33:15; Ezk 34:23; 37:24–25; Hs 3:5; Zch 3:8; 6:12
He will reign wisely as king
and administer justice and righteousness in the land.#1Ch 18:14; Ps 99:4; Is 9:7; 11:1–9; 33:5; Jr 9:24; 22:15; 33:15
6In his days Judah will be saved,
and Israel will dwell securely.#Dt 33:12,28; Ps 16:9; Pr 1:33; Jr 33:16
This is the name he will be called:
The Lord Is Our Righteousness.#23:6 = Yahweh-zidkenu#Ps 4:1; Jr 33:16; 1Co 1:30
7“Look, the days are coming”#Jr 7:32; 16:14; 19:6; 48:12; 49:2; 51:47,52 — the Lord’s declaration — “when it will no longer be said, ‘As the Lord lives#Jdg 8:19; 1Sm 14:39,45; 2Sm 4:9; 1Kg 1:29; 2:24; Jr 4:1–2; 5:2; 16:14–15; 38:16; Hs 4:15 who brought the Israelites from the land of Egypt,’ 8but, ‘As the Lord lives, who brought and led the descendants of the house of Israel from the land of the north and from all the other countries where I#23:8 LXX reads he had banished them.’ They will dwell once more in their own land.”#Jr 16:15
False Prophets Condemned
9Concerning the prophets:
My heart is broken within me,#Hab 3:16
and all my bones tremble.
I have become like a drunkard,
like a man overcome by wine,
because of the Lord,
because of his holy words.
10For the land is full of adulterers;#Jr 9:2; Hs 7:4; Mal 3:5
the land mourns#Jr 12:4; Am 1:2; Rm 8:22 because of the curse,#Dt 11:29; 27:13; Gl 3:13
and the grazing lands in the wilderness have dried up.
Their way of life#23:10 Lit Their manner of running has become evil,
and their power is not rightly used
11because both prophet and priest are ungodly,#Jr 6:13; 14:18; Zph 3:4
even in my house#1Ch 17:14; 28:6; Is 56:5,7; Jr 11:15; 12:7; Ezk 23:39; Hs 9:15; Hab 1:9; Zch 1:16; Mal 3:10 I have found their evil.
This is the Lord’s declaration.
12Therefore, their way will seem
like slippery paths in the gloom.#Ps 35:6; 73:18
They will be driven away and fall down there,
for I will bring disaster on them,
the year of their punishment.#Jr 11:23; 48:44
This is the Lord’s declaration.
13Among the prophets of Samaria
I saw something disgusting:
They prophesied by Baal
and led my people Israel astray.#Pr 12:26; Is 3:12; Jr 50:6; Mc 3:5
14Among the prophets of Jerusalem also
I saw a horrible thing:#Jr 5:30; Hs 6:10
They commit adultery and walk in lies.
They strengthen the hands of evildoers,
and none turns his back on evil.
They are all like Sodom#Gn 13:10–13; 18:16–19:28; Is 1:10–17 to me;
Jerusalem’s residents are like Gomorrah.
15Therefore, this is what the Lord of Armies says concerning the prophets:
I am about to feed them wormwood#Am 5:7; 6:12
and give them poisoned water to drink,#Jr 8:14; 9:15
for from the prophets of Jerusalem
ungodliness#23:15 Or pollution has spread throughout the land.
16This is what the Lord of Armies says: “Do not listen to the words of the prophets who prophesy to you. They are deluding you. They speak visions from their own minds,#Jr 14:14; Lm 2:9; Ezk 7:26; 12:24; 13:16; Mc 3:6 not from the Lord’s mouth.#Is 1:20; 40:5; 58:14; 62:2; Jr 9:12; Mc 4:4 17They keep on saying to those who despise me,#Is 5:24 ‘The Lord has spoken: You will have peace.’#Jr 4:10 They have said to everyone who follows the stubbornness of his heart, ‘No harm will come to you.’”
18For who has stood in the council#Jb 15:8; Ps 25:14; 89:7 of the Lord
to see and hear his word?
Who has paid attention to his word and obeyed?
19Look, a storm from the Lord!#Ps 83:15; Is 29:6; Zch 9:14
Wrath has gone out,
a whirling storm.
It will whirl about the heads of the wicked.
20The Lord’s anger will not turn away#Gn 27:45; Is 5:25; 9:12,17,21; 10:4; Jr 2:35
until he has completely fulfilled the purposes of his heart.
In time to come you will understand it clearly.#Jr 30:23–24
21I did not send out these prophets,#Jr 14:14
yet they ran.#Jos 7:22; 2Sm 18:21; Ps 147:15
I did not speak to them,
yet they prophesied.
22If they had really stood in my council,
they would have enabled my people to hear my words
and would have turned them from their evil ways
and their evil deeds.#Jr 4:18
23“Am I a God who is only near”#Ps 139:1–10; Am 9:2–3 — this is the Lord’s declaration — “and not a God who is far away? 24Can a person hide in secret places where I cannot see him?” #Gn 3:8; 4:14; Jb 34:22 — the Lord’s declaration. “Do I not fill the heavens and the earth?” #Ps 139:7–12; Am 9:2–4 — the Lord’s declaration.
25“I have heard what the prophets who prophesy a lie in my name have said: ‘I had a dream! I had a dream! ’ #Jr 5:31; 14:14; 20:6; 23:32; 27:10,14–16; 29:9,21,31 26How long will this continue in the minds of the prophets prophesying lies, prophets of the deceit of their own minds? 27Through their dreams that they tell one another, they plan to cause my people to forget my name as their ancestors forgot my name through Baal worship.#Jdg 3:7; 8:33–34 28The prophet who has only a dream should recount the dream, but the one who has my word should speak my word truthfully, for what is straw compared to grain?” — this is the Lord’s declaration. 29“Is not my word like fire” — this is the Lord’s declaration — “and like a hammer that pulverizes rock? 30Therefore, take note! I am against the prophets”#Dt 18:20; Jr 14:14–15; Ezk 13:8 — the Lord’s declaration — “who steal my words from each other. 31I am against the prophets” — the Lord’s declaration — “who use their own tongues to make a declaration. 32I am against those who prophesy false dreams”#Dt 18:20 — the Lord’s declaration — “telling them and leading my people astray with their reckless lies. It was not I who sent or commanded them, and they are of no benefit at all#Is 30:5–6; Jr 2:8,11 to these people” — this is the Lord’s declaration.
The Burden of the Lord
33“Now when these people or a prophet or a priest asks you, ‘What is the burden#23:33 The Hb word for burden (Ex 23:5; 2Sm 15:33) can also mean “oracle” (Is 13:1; Nah 1:10). of the Lord? ’ you will respond to them, ‘What is the burden? I will throw you away! This is the Lord’s declaration.’ 34As for the prophet, priest, or people who say, ‘The burden of the Lord,’ I will punish that man and his household. 35This is what each man is to say to his friend and to his brother: ‘What has the Lord answered? ’ or ‘What has the Lord spoken?’ 36But no longer refer to#23:36 Or longer remember the burden of the Lord, for each man’s word becomes his burden and you pervert the words of the living God, the Lord of Armies, our God. 37Say to the prophet, ‘What has the Lord answered you? ’ or ‘What has the Lord spoken?’ 38But if you say, ‘The burden of the Lord,’ then this is what the Lord says: Because you have said, ‘The burden of the Lord,’ and I specifically told you not to say, ‘The burden of the Lord,’ 39I will surely forget you.#23:39 Some Hb mss; other Hb mss, LXX, Syr, Vg read surely lift you up I will throw you away from my presence — both you and the city that I gave you and your ancestors. 40I will bring on you everlasting disgrace and humiliation#Ps 78:66; Jr 20:11 that will never be forgotten.”
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