Yirmeyahu (Jer) 23
23
1“Oh no! The shepherds are destroying and scattering the sheep in my pasture!” says Adonai. 2Therefore this is what Adonai, the God of Isra’el, says against the shepherds who shepherd my people: “You have scattered my flock, driven them away and not taken care of them. So I will ‘take care of’ you because of your evil deeds,” says Adonai. 3“I myself will gather what remains of my flock from all the countries where I have driven them and bring them back to their homes, and they will be fruitful and increase their numbers. 4I will appoint shepherds over them who will shepherd them; then they will no longer be afraid or disgraced; and none will be missing,” says Adonai.
5“The days are coming,” says Adonai
when I will raise a righteous Branch for David.
He will reign as king and succeed,
he will do what is just and right in the land.
6In his days Y’hudah will be saved,
Isra’el will live in safety,
and the name given to him will be
Adonai Tzidkenu [Adonai our righteousness].
7“Therefore,” says Adonai, “the day will come when people no longer swear, ‘As Adonai lives, who brought the people of Isra’el out of the land of Egypt,’ 8but, ‘As Adonai lives, who brought the descendants of the house of Isra’el up from the land to the north’ and from all the countries where I drove them. Then they will live in their own land.”
9Concerning the prophets:
My heart within me is broken,
all my bones are shaking;
I am like a drunk,
like a man overcome by wine,
because of Adonai,
because of his holy words.
10For the land is full of adulterers;
because of a curse the land is in mourning —
the desert pastures have dried up.
Their course is evil, their power misused.
11“Both prophet and cohen are godless;
In my own house I find their wickedness,” says Adonai.
12“Therefore their way will be slippery for them;
they will be driven into darkness and fall there.
For I will bring disaster upon them,
their year of punishment,” says Adonai.
13“I have seen inappropriate conduct
in the prophets of Shomron —
they prophesied by Ba‘al
and led my people Isra’el astray.
14But in the prophets of Yerushalayim
I have seen a horrible thing —
they commit adultery, live in lies,
so encouraging evildoers
that none returns from his sin.
For me they have all become like S’dom,
its inhabitants like ‘Amora.”
15Therefore, this is what Adonai-Tzva’ot says concerning the prophets:
“I will feed them bitter wormwood
and make them drink poisonous water,
for ungodliness has spread through all the land
from the prophets of Yerushalayim.”
16Adonai-Tzva’ot says:
“Don’t listen to the words of the prophets
who are prophesying to you.
They are making you act foolishly,
telling you visions from their own minds
and not from the mouth of Adonai.
17They keep reassuring those who despise me,
‘Adonai says you will be safe and secure,’
and saying to all living by their own stubborn hearts,
‘Nothing bad will happen to you.’
18But which of them has been present at the council
of Adonai to see and hear his word?
Who has paid attention to
his word enough to hear it?”
19Look! The storm of Adonai,
bursting out in fury,
a whirling storm, whirling down
upon the heads of the wicked!
20Adonai’s anger will not abate
till he fully accomplishes the purpose in his heart.
In the acharit-hayamim,
you will understand everything.
21“I did not send these prophets; yet they ran.
I did not speak to them; yet they prophesied.
22If they have been present at my council,
they should let my people hear my words
and turn them from their evil way
and the evil of their actions.
23Am I God only when near,” asks Adonai,
“and not when far away?
24Can anyone hide in a place so secret
that I won’t see him?” asks Adonai.
Adonai says, “Do I not
fill heaven and earth?
25“I have heard what these prophets prophesying lies in my name are saying: ‘I’ve had a dream! I’ve had a dream!’ 26How long will this go on? Is [my word] in the hearts of prophets who are prophesying lies, who are prophesying the deceit of their own minds? 27With their dreams that they keep telling each other, they hope to cause my people to forget my name; just as their ancestors forgot my name when they worshipped Ba‘al.
28“If a prophet has a dream,
let him tell it as a dream.
But someone who has my word
should speak my word faithfully.
What do chaff and wheat
have in common?” asks Adonai.
29“Isn’t my word like fire,” asks Adonai,
“like a hammer shattering rocks?
30So, I am against the prophets,” says Adonai,
“who steal my words from each other.
31Yes, I am against the prophets,” says Adonai,
“who speak their own words, then add, ‘He says.’
32“I am against those who concoct prophecies out of fake dreams,” says Adonai. “They tell them, and by their lies and arrogance they lead my people astray. I didn’t send them, I didn’t commission them, and they don’t do this people any good at all,” says Adonai.
33“When [someone from] this people, a prophet or a cohen asks you, ‘What is the burden of Adonai?’ you are to answer them, ‘What burden? I am throwing you off,’ says Adonai. 34As for a prophet, cohen or [someone else from] this people who speaks about ‘the burden of Adonai,’ I will punish him and his household.”
35So, when you speak with your neighbor or brother, ask, “What answer has Adonai given?” or “What has Adonai said?” 36Don’t use the expression, “burden of Adonai” any more; for every person’s own word will be his burden. Must you twist the words of the living God, of Adonai-Tzva’ot, our God? 37So, when speaking to a prophet, ask, “What answer has Adonai given you?” or “What did Adonai say?” 38But if you talk about “the burden of Adonai,” then here is what Adonai says: “Because you use this expression, ‘the burden of Adonai,’ after I have already sent you the order not to say, ‘the burden of Adonai,’ 39I will lift you up, burden that you are, and throw you off, away from my presence — you and the city I gave you and your ancestors. 40Then I will subject you to everlasting disgrace — eternal, unforgettable shame.”
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Yirmeyahu (Jer) 23: CJB
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Learn More About Complete Jewish BibleJeremiah 23
23
Hope for the Future
1How terrible will be the LORD's judgement on those rulers who destroy and scatter his people! 2This is what the LORD, the God of Israel, says about the rulers who were supposed to take care of his people: “You have not taken care of my people; you have scattered them and driven them away. Now I am going to punish you for the evil you have done. 3I will gather the rest of my people from the countries where I have scattered them, and I will bring them back to their homeland. They will have many children and increase in number. 4I will appoint rulers to take care of them. My people will no longer be afraid or terrified, and I will not punish them again.#23.4 I will not punish them again; or not one of them will be missing. I, the LORD, have spoken.”
5 #
Jer 33.14–16
The LORD says, “The time is coming when I will choose as king a righteous descendant of David. That king will rule wisely and do what is right and just throughout the land. 6When he is king, the people of Judah will be safe, and the people of Israel will live in peace. He will be called ‘The LORD Our Salvation’.
7“The time is coming,” says the LORD, “when people will no longer swear by me as the living God who brought the people of Israel out of the land of Egypt. 8Instead, they will swear by me as the living God who brought the people of Israel out of a northern land and out of all the other countries where I had scattered them. Then they will live in their own land.”
Jeremiah's Message about the Prophets
9My heart is crushed,
and I am trembling.
Because of the LORD,
because of his holy words,
I am like a man who is drunk,
a man who has had too much wine.
10The land is full of people unfaithful to the LORD;
they live wicked lives and misuse their power.
Because of the LORD's curse the land mourns
and the pastures are dry.
11The LORD says,
“The prophets and the priests are godless;
I have caught them doing evil in the Temple itself.
12The paths they follow will be slippery and dark;
I will make them stumble and fall.
I am going to bring disaster on them;
the time of their punishment is coming.
I, the LORD, have spoken.
13I have seen the sin of Samaria's prophets:
they have spoken in the name of Baal
and have led my people astray.
14 #
Gen 18.20; Ezek 16.49 But I have seen the prophets in Jerusalem do even worse:
they commit adultery and tell lies;
they help people to do wrong,
so that no one stops doing what is evil.
To me, they are all as bad
as the people of Sodom and Gomorrah.
15“So then, this is what I, the LORD Almighty, say about the prophets of Jerusalem:
I will give them bitter plants to eat
and poison to drink,
because they have spread ungodliness throughout the land.”
16The LORD Almighty said to the people of Jerusalem, “Do not listen to what the prophets say; they are filling you with false hopes. They tell you what they have imagined and not what I have said. 17To the people who refuse to listen to what I have said, they keep saying that all will go well with them. And they tell everyone who is stubborn that disaster will never touch him.”
18I said, “None of these prophets has ever known the LORD's secret thoughts. None of them has ever heard or understood his message, or ever listened or paid attention to what he said. 19His anger is a storm, a furious wind that will rage over the heads of the wicked, 20and it will not end until he has done everything he intends to do. In days to come his people will understand this clearly.”
21The LORD said, “I did not send these prophets, but even so they went. I did not give them any message, but still they spoke in my name. 22If they had known my secret thoughts, then they could have proclaimed my message to my people and could have made them give up the evil lives they live and the wicked things they do.
23“I am a God who is everywhere and not in one place only. 24No one can hide where I cannot see him. Do you not know that I am everywhere in heaven and on earth? 25I know what those prophets have said who speak lies in my name and claim that I have given them my messages in their dreams. 26How much longer will those prophets mislead my people with the lies they have invented? 27They think that the dreams they tell will make my people forget me, just as their ancestors forgot me and turned to Baal. 28The prophet who has had a dream should say it is only a dream, but the prophet who has heard my message should proclaim that message faithfully. What good is straw compared with wheat? 29My message is like a fire, and like a hammer that breaks rocks in pieces. 30I am against those prophets who take each other's words and proclaim them as my message. 31I am also against those prophets who speak their own words and claim they came from me. 32Listen to what I, the LORD, say! I am against the prophets who tell their dreams that are full of lies. They tell these dreams and lead my people astray with their lies and their boasting. I did not send them or order them to go, and they are of no help at all to the people. I, the LORD, have spoken.”
The LORD's Burden
33The LORD said to me, “Jeremiah, when one of my people or a prophet or a priest asks you, ‘What is the LORD's message?’ you are to tell him, ‘You are a burden#23.33 The Hebrew word for message and burden is the same. to the LORD, and he is going to get rid of you.’ 34If any of my people or a prophet or a priest even uses the words ‘the LORD's burden’, I will punish them and their families. 35Instead, they should each ask their friends and relatives, ‘What answer has the LORD given? What has the LORD said?’ 36So they must no longer use the words ‘the LORD's burden’, because if anyone does, I will make my message a real burden to him. The people have perverted the words of their God, the living God, the LORD Almighty. 37Jeremiah, ask the prophets, ‘What answer did the LORD give you? What did the LORD say?’ 38And if they disobey my command and use the words ‘the LORD's burden’, then tell them that 39I will certainly pick them up#23.39 The Hebrew verb for pick up comes from the same root as the Hebrew word for message and burden. and throw them far away from me, both them and the city that I gave to them and their ancestors. 40I will bring on them everlasting shame and disgrace that will never be forgotten.”
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Good News Bible. Scripture taken from the Good News Bible (r) (Today's English Version Second Edition, UK/British Edition). Copyright © 1992 British & Foreign Bible Society. Used by permission.