Jeremiah 23
23
The Coming Messiah: the Righteous Branch
1“Woe to the shepherds (civil leaders, rulers) who are destroying and scattering the sheep of My pasture!” says the Lord. 2Therefore thus says the Lord, the God of Israel, in regard to the shepherds who care for and feed My people: “You have scattered My flock and driven them away, and have not attended to them; hear this, I am about to visit and attend to you for the evil of your deeds,” says the Lord. 3“Then I will gather the remnant of My flock out of all the countries to which I have driven them and bring them back to their folds and pastures; and they will be fruitful and multiply. 4I will set up shepherds over them who will feed them. And they will not be afraid any longer, nor be terrified, nor will any be missing,” says the Lord.
5¶“Behold (listen closely), the days are coming,” says the Lord,
“When I will raise up for David a righteous Branch;
And He will reign as King and act wisely
And will do [those things that accomplish] justice and righteousness in the land.
6“In His days Judah will be saved,
And Israel will dwell safely;
Now this is His name by which He will be called;
‘The Lord Our Righteousness.’ [Matt 1:21-23; Rom 3:22]
7“Therefore behold, the days are coming,” says the Lord, “when they will no longer say, ‘As the Lord lives, who brought up the children of Israel from the land of Egypt,’ 8but [they will say], ‘As the Lord lives, who brought up and led back the descendants of the house of Israel from the north country and from all the countries to which I had driven them.’ Then they will live in their own land.” [Jer 16:14, 15]
False Prophets Denounced
9¶Concerning the prophets:
My heart [says Jeremiah] is broken within me,
All my bones shake;
I have become like a drunken man,
A man whom wine has overcome,
Because of the Lord
And because of His holy words [declared against unfaithful leaders].
10For the land is full of adulterers (unfaithful to God);
The land mourns because of the curse [of God upon it].
The pastures of the wilderness have dried up.
The course of action [of the false prophets] is evil and they rush into wickedness;
And their power is not right.
11“For both [false] prophet and priest are ungodly (profane, polluted);
Even in My house I have found their wickedness,” says the Lord.
12“Therefore their way will be to them like slippery paths
In the dark; they will be pushed and fall into them;
For I will bring disaster on them,
In the year of their punishment,” says the Lord.
13¶“And I have seen a foolish and an offensive thing in the prophets of Samaria:
They prophesied by Baal and caused My people Israel to go astray.
14“Also I have seen a horrible thing in the prophets of Jerusalem:
They commit adultery and walk in lies;
They encourage and strengthen the hands of evildoers,
So that no one has turned back from his wickedness.
All of them have become like Sodom to Me,
And her inhabitants like Gomorrah.
15Therefore thus says the Lord of hosts in regard to the prophets,
‘Behold, I am going to feed them [the bitterness of] wormwood
And make them drink the poisonous water [of gall],
For from the [counterfeit] prophets of Jerusalem
Profaneness and ungodliness have spread into all the land.’ ”
16¶Thus says the Lord of hosts,
“Do not listen to the words of the [false] prophets who prophesy to you.
They are teaching you worthless things and are leading you into futility;
They speak a vision of their own mind and imagination
And not [truth] from the mouth of the Lord.
17“They are continually saying to those who despise Me [and My word],
‘The Lord has said, “You will have peace” ’;
And they say to everyone who walks after the stubbornness of his own heart,
‘No evil will come on you.’
18“But who [among them] has stood in the council of the Lord,
That he would perceive and hear His word?
Who has marked His word [noticing and observing and paying attention to it] and has [actually] heard it?
19“Behold, the tempest of the Lord has gone forth in wrath,
A whirling tempest;
It will whirl and burst on the heads of the wicked.
20“The anger of the Lord will not turn back
Until He has set in motion and accomplished the thoughts and intentions of His heart;
In the last days you will clearly understand it.
21“I did not send [these counterfeit] prophets,
Yet they ran;
I did not 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,
Then they would have turned My people from their evil way
And from the evil of their decisions and deeds.
23¶“Am I a God who is at hand,” says the Lord,
“And not a God far away?”
24“Can anyone hide himself in secret places
So that I cannot see him?” says the Lord.
“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 [visions when on my bed at night].’ 26How long [shall this state of affairs continue]? Is there anything in the hearts of the prophets who prophesy falsehood, even these prophets of the deception of their own heart, 27who think that they can make My people forget My Name by their [contrived] dreams which each one tells another, just as their fathers forgot My Name because of Baal? 28The prophet who has a dream may tell his dream; but he who has My word, let him speak My word faithfully. What has straw in common with wheat [for nourishment]?” says the Lord. 29“Is not My word like fire [that consumes all that cannot endure the test]?” says the Lord, “and like a hammer that breaks the [most stubborn] rock [in pieces]? 30Therefore behold (hear this), I am against the [counterfeit] prophets,” says the Lord, “[I am descending on them with punishment, these prophets] who steal My words from one another [imitating the words of the true prophets]. 31Hear this, I am against the prophets,” says the Lord, “who use their [own deceitful] tongues and say, ‘Thus says the Lord.’ 32Hear this, I am against those who have prophesied false and made-up dreams,” says the Lord, “and have told them and have made My people err and go astray by their lies and by their reckless boasting; yet I did not send them or command them nor do they benefit and enhance [the life of] these people in the slightest way,” says the Lord.
33“Now when this people or a prophet or a priest asks you [in jest], ‘What is the #23:33 I.e. an urgent message the true prophet of God is under compulsion to proclaim.oracle of the Lord [the burden to be lifted up and carried]?’ Then you shall say to them, ‘What oracle [besides the one that declares you people to be the burden]!’ The Lord says, ‘I will unburden Myself and I will abandon you.’ 34And as for the prophet, the priest, or [any of] the people, whoever says, ‘The oracle of the Lord,’ [as if he knows God’s will], I will punish that man and his household. 35[For the future, in speaking of the words of the Lord] thus each of you shall 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, [for as they mockingly call all prophecies oracles, whether good or bad, so will it prove to be to them; God will take them at their own word]; and you have perverted the words [not of a lifeless idol, but] of the living God, the Lord of hosts, our God. 37Thus you will [reverently] say to the 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!” when I have also sent to you, saying, “You shall not say, ‘The oracle of the Lord!’ ” ’ 39Therefore behold, I, even I, will assuredly forget you and send you away from My presence, you and the city (Jerusalem) which I gave to you and to your fathers. 40And I will bring an everlasting disgrace on you and a perpetual humiliation (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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