Jeremiah 23
23
A message of hope
The LORD said:
1You leaders of my people are like shepherds that kill and scatter the sheep. 2You were supposed to take care of my people, but instead you chased them away. So now I'll really take care of you, and believe me, you will pay for your crimes!
3I will bring the rest of my people home from the lands where I have scattered them, and they will grow into a mighty nation. 4I promise to choose leaders who will care for them like real shepherds. All my people will be there, and they will never again be frightened.
5Some day I will appoint#Jr 33.14-16.
an honest king
from the family of David,
a king who will be wise
and rule with justice.
6As long as he is king,
Israel will have peace,
and Judah will be safe.
The name of this king will be
“The LORD Gives Justice”.
7A time will come when you will again worship me. But you will no longer call me the Living God who rescued Israel from Egypt. 8Instead, you will call me the Living God who rescued you from the land in the north and from all the other countries where I had forced you to go. And you will once again live in your own land.
Jeremiah thinks about unfaithful prophets
9When I think of the prophets,
I am shocked, and I tremble#23.9 tremble: Or “become weak”.
like someone drunk,
because of the LORD
and his sacred words.
10Those unfaithful prophets
misuse their power
all over the country.
So God turned the pasture lands
into scorching deserts.#23.10 deserts: One possible meaning for the difficult Hebrew text of verse 10.
The LORD will punish unfaithful prophets
11The LORD told me to say:
You prophets and priests
think so little of me, the LORD,
that you even sin
in my own temple!
12Now I will punish you
with disaster,
and you will slip and fall
in the darkness.
I, the LORD, have spoken.
13The prophets in Samaria
were disgusting to me,
because they preached
in the name of Baal
and led my people astray.
14And you prophets in Jerusalem#Gn 18.20; Ez 16.49.
are even worse.
You're unfaithful in marriage#23.14 in marriage: Or “to me”.
and never tell the truth.#23.14 never tell the truth: Or “worship other gods”.
You even lead others to sin
instead of helping them
turn back to me.
You and the people of Jerusalem
are evil like Sodom
and Gomorrah.#23.14 Sodom and Gomorrah: Two cities that the LORD destroyed because their people were so evil (see Genesis 18.16—19.29).
15You prophets in Jerusalem
have spread evil everywhere.
That's why I, the LORD, promise
to give you bitter poison
to eat and drink.
The LORD gives a warning
The LORD said:
16Don't listen to the lies
of these false prophets,
you people of Judah!
The message they preach
is something they imagined;
it did not come from me,
the LORD All-Powerful.
17These prophets go to people
who refuse to respect me
and who are stubborn
and do whatever they want.
The prophets tell them,
“The LORD has promised
everything will be fine.”
18But I, the LORD, tell you
that these prophets
have never attended a meeting
of my council in heaven#23.18 a meeting of my council in heaven: Sometimes, prophets had visions of the LORD meeting with his angels (see 1 Kings 22.19-23).
or heard me speak.
19They are evil! So in my anger
I will strike them
like a violent storm.
20I won't calm down,
until I have finished
what I have decided to do.
Some day you will understand
exactly what I mean.
21I did not send these prophets
or speak to them,
but they ran to find you
and to preach their message.
22If they had been in a meeting
of my council in heaven,
they would have told
you people of Judah
to give up your sins
and come back to me.
23I am everywhere—
both near and far,
24in heaven and on earth.
There are no secret places
where you can hide from me.
25These unfaithful prophets claim that I have given them a dream or a vision, and then they tell lies in my name. 26But everything they say comes from their own twisted minds. How long can this go on? 27They tell each other their dreams and try to get my people to reject me, just as their ancestors left me and worshipped Baal. 28Their dreams and my truth are as different as straw and wheat. But when prophets speak for me, they must say only what I have told them. 29My words are a powerful fire; they are a hammer that shatters rocks.
30-32These unfaithful prophets claim I give them their dreams, but it isn't true. I didn't choose them to be my prophets, and yet they babble on and on, speaking in my name, while stealing words from each other. And when my people hear these liars, they are led astray instead of being helped. So I warn you that I am now the enemy of these prophets. I, the LORD, have spoken.
News and nuisance
The LORD said to me:
33Jeremiah, when a prophet or a priest or anyone else comes to you and asks, “Does the LORD have news for us?” tell them, “You people are a nuisance#23.33 news…nuisance: The Hebrew word for “news” in verses 33-38 is the same as “nuisance” and is related to “pick up” in verse 39. to the LORD, and he#23.33 You people are a nuisance to the LORD, and he: Two ancient translations; Hebrew “Does the LORD have news for us? He”. will get rid of you.”
34If any of you say, “Here is news from the LORD,” I will punish you and your families, even if you are a prophet or a priest. 35Instead, you must ask your friends and relatives, “What answer did the LORD give?” or “What has the LORD said?” 36It seems that you each have your own news! So if you say, “Here is news from the LORD,” you are twisting my words into a lie. Remember that I am your God, the LORD All-Powerful.
37If you go to a prophet, it's all right to ask, “What answer did the LORD give to my question?” or “What has the LORD said?” 38But if you disobey me and say, “Here is news from the LORD,” 39I will pick you up#23.39 pick you up: A few Hebrew manuscripts and three ancient translations; most Hebrew manuscripts “forget you completely”. and throw you far away. And I will abandon this city of Jerusalem that I gave to your ancestors. 40You will never be free from your shame and disgrace.
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© British and Foreign Bible Society 2012
Jeremiah 23
23
The Evil Leaders of Judah
1“How terrible it will be for the leaders of Judah, who are scattering and destroying my people,” says the Lord.
2They are responsible for the people, so the Lord, the God of Israel, says to them: “You have scattered my people and forced them away and not taken care of them. So I will punish you for the evil things you have done,” says the Lord. 3“I sent my people to other countries, but I will gather those who are left alive and bring them back to their own country. Then they will have many children and grow in number. 4I will place new leaders over my people, who will take care of them. And my people will not be afraid or terrified again, and none of them will be lost,” says the Lord.
The Good Branch Will Come
5“The days are coming,” says the Lord,
“when I will raise up a good branch in David’s family.
He will be a king who will rule in a wise way;
he will do what is fair and right in the land.
6In his time Judah will be saved,
and Israel will live in safety.
This will be his name:
The Lord Does What Is Right.
7“So the days are coming,” says the Lord, “when people will not say again: ‘As surely as the Lord lives, who brought Israel out of Egypt . . . ’ 8But people will say something new: ‘As surely as the Lord lives, who brought the descendants of Israel from the land of the north and from all the countries where he had sent them away . . . ’ Then the people of Israel will live in their own land.”
False Prophets Will Be Punished
9A message to the prophets:
My heart is broken.
All my bones shake.
I’m like someone who is drunk,
like someone who has been overcome with wine.
This is because of the Lord
and his holy words.
10The land of Judah is full of people who are guilty of adultery.
Because of this, the Lord cursed the land.
It has become a very sad place,
and the pastures have dried up.
The people are evil
and use their power in the wrong way.
11“Both the prophets and the priests live as if there were no God.
I have found them doing evil things even in my own Temple,” says the Lord.
12“So they will be in danger.
They will be forced into darkness
where they will be defeated.
I will bring disaster on them
in the year I punish them,” says the Lord.
13“I saw the prophets of Samaria
do something wrong.
Those prophets prophesied by Baal
and led my people Israel away.
14And I have seen the prophets of Jerusalem
do terrible things.
They are guilty of adultery
and live by lies.
They encourage evil people to keep on doing evil,
so the people don’t stop sinning.
All of those people are like the city of Sodom.
The people of Jerusalem are like the city of Gomorrah to me!”
15So this is what the Lord All-Powerful says about the prophets:
“I will make those prophets eat bitter food
and drink poisoned water,
because the prophets of Jerusalem spread wickedness
through the whole country.”
16This is what the Lord All-Powerful says:
“Don’t pay attention to what those prophets are saying to you.
They are trying to fool you.
They talk about visions their own minds made up,
not about visions from me.
17They say to those who hate me:
‘The Lord says: You will have peace.’
They say to all those who are stubborn and do as they please:
‘Nothing bad will happen to you.’
18But none of these prophets has stood in the meeting of angels
to see or hear the message of the Lord.
None of them has paid close attention to his message.
19Look, the punishment from the Lord
will come like a storm.
His anger will be like a hurricane.
It will come swirling down on the heads of those wicked people.
20The Lord’s anger will not stop
until he finishes what he plans to do.
When that day is over,
you will understand this clearly.
21I did not send those prophets,
but they ran to tell their message.
I did not speak to them,
but they prophesied anyway.
22But if they had stood in the meeting of angels,
they would have told my message to my people.
They would have turned the people from their evil ways
and from doing evil.
23“I am a God who is near,” says the Lord.
“I am also a God who is far away.”
24“No one can hide
where I cannot see him,” says the Lord.
“I fill all of heaven and earth,” says the Lord.
25“I have heard the prophets who prophesy lies in my name. They say, ‘I have had a dream! I have had a dream!’ 26How long will this continue in the minds of these lying prophets? They prophesy from their own wishful thinking. 27They are trying to make the people of Judah forget me by telling each other these dreams. In the same way, their ancestors forgot me and worshiped Baal. 28Is straw the same thing as wheat?” says the Lord. “If a prophet wants to tell about his dreams, let him! But let the person who hears my message speak it truthfully! 29Isn’t my message like a fire?” says the Lord. “Isn’t it like a hammer that smashes a rock?
30“So I am against the false prophets,” says the Lord. “They keep stealing words from each other and say they are from me. 31I am against the false prophets,” says the Lord. “They use their own words and pretend it is a message from me. 32I am against the prophets who prophesy false dreams,” says the Lord. “They mislead my people with their lies and false teachings! I did not send them or command them to do anything for me. They can’t help the people of Judah at all,” says the Lord.
The Sad Message from the Lord
33“Suppose the people of Judah, a prophet, or a priest asks you: ‘Jeremiah, what is the message from the Lord?’ You will answer them and say, ‘You are a heavy load to the Lord, and I will throw you down, says the Lord.’ 34A prophet or a priest or one of the people might say, ‘This is a message from the Lord.’ That person has lied, so I will punish him and his whole family. 35This is what you will say to each other: ‘What did the Lord answer?’ or ‘What did the Lord say?’ 36But you will never again say, ‘The message of the Lord,’ because the only message you speak is your own words. You have changed the words of our God, the living God, the Lord All-Powerful. 37This is how you should speak to the prophets: ‘What answer did the Lord give you?’ or ‘What did the Lord say?’ 38But don’t say, ‘The message from the Lord.’ If you use these words, this is what the Lord says: Because you called it a ‘message from the Lord,’ though I told you not to use those words, 39I will pick you up and throw you away from me, along with Jerusalem, which I gave to your ancestors and to you. 40And I will make a disgrace of you forever; your shame will never be forgotten.”
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The Holy Bible, New Century Version, Copyright © 2005 Thomas Nelson. All rights reserved.