Jeremiah 23:11, 1, 3-10, 2, 12-20

The LORD told me to say: You prophets and priests think so little of me, the LORD, that you even sin in my own temple!

You leaders of my people are like shepherds that kill and scatter the sheep.

I will bring the rest of my people home from the lands where I have scattered them, and they will grow into a mighty nation. I promise to choose leaders who will care for them like real shepherds. All of my people will be there, and they will never again be frightened. Someday I will appoint an honest king from the family of David, a king who will be wise and rule with justice. As 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.” A time will come when you will again worship me. But you will no longer call me the Living God who rescued Israel from Egypt. Instead, 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. When I think of the prophets, I am shocked, and I tremble like someone drunk, because of the LORD and his sacred words. Those unfaithful prophets misuse their power all over the country. So God turned the pasturelands into scorching deserts.

You were supposed to take care of my people, but instead you chased them away. So now I'll punish you severely and make you pay for your crimes!

Now I will punish you with disaster, and you will slip and fall in the darkness. I, the LORD, have spoken. The prophets in Samaria were repulsive to me, because they preached in the name of Baal and led my people astray. And you prophets in Jerusalem are even worse. You're unfaithful in marriage and never tell the truth. 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. You prophets in Jerusalem have spread evil everywhere. That's why I, the LORD, promise to give you bitter poison to eat and drink. LORD LORD Don'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. These prophets go to people who refuse to respect me and who are stubborn and do whatever they please. The prophets tell them, “The LORD has promised everything will be fine.” But I, the LORD, tell you that these prophets have never attended a meeting of my council in heaven or heard me speak. They are evil! So in my anger I will strike them like a violent storm. I won't calm down, until I have finished what I have decided to do. Someday you will understand exactly what I mean.