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.
6In 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.’
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.”
False Prophets Denounced
9Concerning 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.
14Also 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.’ ”
16Thus 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.
17They 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.’
18But 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?
19Behold, the tempest of the Lord has gone forth in wrath,
A whirling tempest;
It will whirl and burst on the heads of the wicked.
20The 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.
21I did not send [these counterfeit] prophets,
Yet they ran;
I did not speak to them,
Yet they prophesied.
22But 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 #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
1Woe to shepherds destroying, And scattering the flock of My pasture, An affirmation of Jehovah.
2Therefore, thus said Jehovah, God of Israel, Against the shepherds who feed My people, Ye have scattered My flock, and drive them away, And have not inspected them, Lo, I am charging on you the evil of your doings, An affirmation of Jehovah.
3And I do gather the remnant of My flock Out of all the lands whither I drove them, And have brought them back unto their fold, And they have been fruitful, and multiplied.
4And I have raised for them shepherds, And they have fed them, And they fear no more, nor are affrighted, Nor are they lacking — an affirmation of Jehovah.
5Lo, days are coming — an affirmation of Jehovah, And I have raised to David a righteous shoot, And a king hath reigned and acted wisely, And done judgment and righteousness in the earth.
6In his days is Judah saved, and Israel dwelleth confidently, And this his name that Jehovah proclaimeth him, ‘Our Righteousness.’
7Therefore, lo, days are coming, An affirmation of Jehovah, And they do not say any more, Jehovah liveth who brought up The sons of Israel out of the land of Egypt,
8But — Jehovah liveth, who brought up, And who brought in, the seed of the house of Israel, From the land of the north, And from all the lands whither I drove them, And they have dwelt on their own ground!
9In reference to the prophets: Broken hath been my heart in my midst, Fluttered have all my bones, I have been as a man — a drunkard, And as a man — wine hath passed over him, Because of Jehovah, and of His holy words.
10For of adulterers hath the land been full, For because of these hath the land mourned, Dried up hath been the pleasant places of the wilderness, And their course is evil, and their might — not right.
11For both prophet and priest have been profane, Yea, in My house I found their wickedness, An affirmation of Jehovah.
12Therefore is their way to them as slippery places, Into thick darkness they are driven, And they have fallen in it, For I bring in against them evil, The year of their inspection, An affirmation of Jehovah.
13And in prophets of Samaria I have seen folly, They have prophesied by Baal, And cause my people — Israel — to err.
14And in prophets of Jerusalem I have seen a horrible thing, Committing adultery, and walking falsely, Yea, they strengthened the hands of evil doers, So that they have not turned back Each from his wickedness, They have been to me — all of them — as Sodom, And its inhabitants as Gomorrah.
15Therefore, thus said Jehovah of Hosts, concerning the prophets: Lo, I am causing them to eat wormwood, And have caused them to drink water of gall, For, from prophets of Jerusalem Hath profanity gone forth to all the land.
16Thus said Jehovah of Hosts: Ye do not hearken unto the words Of the prophets who are prophesying to you, They are making you vain things, A vision of their own heart they speak, Not from the mouth of Jehovah.
17Saying diligently to those despising The word of Jehovah: Peace is for you, And [to] every one walking in the stubbornness of his heart they have said: Evil doth not come in unto you.
18For who hath stood in the counsel of Jehovah, And seeth and heareth His word? Who hath regarded My word, and hearkeneth?
19Lo, a whirlwind of Jehovah — Fury hath gone out, even a piercing whirlwind, On the head of the wicked it stayeth.
20The anger of Jehovah doth not turn back Till His doing, and till His establishing, The thoughts of His heart, In the latter end of the days ye attend to it With understanding.
21I have not sent the prophets, and they have run, I have not spoken unto them, and they have prophesied.
22But — if they stood in My counsel, Then they cause My people to hear My words, And they turn them back from their evil way, And from the evil of their doings.
23A God near [am] I — an affirmation of Jehovah, And not a God afar off?
24Is any one hidden in secret places, And I see him not? an affirmation of Jehovah, Do not I fill the heavens and the earth? An affirmation of Jehovah.
25I have heard that which the prophets said, Who prophesy in My name falsehood, saying, ‘I have dreamed, I have dreamed.’
26Till when is it in the heart of the prophets? The prophets of falsehood, Yea, prophets of the deceit of their heart,
27Who are devising to cause My people To forget My name by their dreams, That they recount each to his neighbour, As their fathers forgot my name for Baal.
28The prophet with whom [is] a dream, Let him recount the dream, And he with whom [is] My word, Let him truly speak My word. What — to the straw with the corn? An affirmation of Jehovah.
29Is it not thus? My word [is] as a fire, An affirmation of Jehovah. And as a hammer — it breaketh in pieces a rock.
30Therefore, lo, I [am] against the prophets, An affirmation of Jehovah, Stealing My words each from his neighbour.
31Lo, I [am] against the prophets, An affirmation of Jehovah, Who are making smooth their tongue, And they affirm — an affirmation.
32Lo, I [am] against the prophets of false dreams, An affirmation of Jehovah, And they recount them, and cause my people to err, By their falsehoods, and by their instability, And I — I have not sent them, Nor have I commanded them, And they are not at all profitable to this people, An affirmation of Jehovah.
33And when this people, or the prophet, Or a priest, doth ask thee, saying, What [is] the burden of Jehovah? Then thou hast said unto them: Ye [are] the burden, and I have left you, An affirmation of Jehovah.
34And the prophet, and the priest, and the people, That saith, The burden of Jehovah, I have seen after that man, and after his house.
35Thus do ye say each unto his neighbour, And each unto his brother: What hath Jehovah answered? And what hath Jehovah spoken?
36And the burden of Jehovah ye do not mention any more, For the burden to each is — His word, And ye have overturned the words of the living God, Jehovah of Hosts, our God.
37Thus dost thou say unto the prophet What hath Jehovah answered thee? And what hath Jehovah spoken?
38And if the burden of Jehovah ye say, Therefore thus said Jehovah: Because of your saying this word, The burden of Jehovah, And I do send unto you, saying, Ye do not say, The burden of Jehovah.
39Therefore, lo, I — I have taken you utterly away, And I have sent you out, And the city that I gave to you, And to your fathers, from before My face,
40And I have put on you reproach age-during, And shame age-during that is not forgotten!
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