Jeremiah 23
23
Gathering His Flock
1“Woe to the shepherds who are destroying and scattering the sheep of My pasture!” It is a declaration of Adonai.
2Therefore thus says Adonai, the God of Israel, about the shepherds who feed My people: “You have scattered My flock, driven them away, and have not taken care of them. I will soon visit on you the evil of your deeds.” It is a declaration of Adonai.
3“I will gather the remnant of My flock out of all the countries where I have driven them, and will bring them back to their folds, and they will be fruitful and multiply.
4I will raise up shepherds over them who will feed them. They will no longer be afraid or dismayed, nor will any be missing,” It is a declaration of Adonai.
The Righteous Branch
5“Behold, days are coming” —it is a declaration of Adonai— “when I will raise up for David a righteous Branch, and He will reign as king wisely, and execute justice and righteousness in the land.
6In His days Judah will be saved, and Israel will dwell in safely; and this is His Name by which He will be called: Adonai our righteousness.
7“Therefore behold, days are coming,” says Adonai, “when they will no longer say: ‘As Adonai lives, who brought up the children of Israel out of the land of Egypt.’
8Rather, ‘As Adonai lives, who brought up and led the offspring of the house of Israel out of the north country and from all the lands where He had banished them.’ So they will dwell in their own soil.
Avoid Ungodly Prophets
9As for the prophets: My heart within me is broken, all my bones shake. I am like a drunken man, like a man overcome by wine because of Adonai, because of His holy words.
10For the land is full of adulterers. The land mourns because of a curse. Pastures of the wilderness are dry. Their running is evil, and their might is not right.
11For both prophet and kohen are ungodly. Even in My House I found their evil.” It is a declaration of Adonai.
12“Therefore their way will be for them like slippery places in the gloom. They will be driven away and fall there, for I will bring calamity on them, even the year of their visitation.” It is a declaration of Adonai.
13Moreover, I have seen unseemliness in the prophets of Samaria: they prophesied by Baal, and led My people Israel astray.
14But in the prophets of Jerusalem I have seen a horrible thing: committing adultery and walking in lies. They strengthen the hands of evildoers. No one turns back from his evil. They are all like Sodom to Me and her inhabitants like Gomorrah.”
15Therefore thus says Adonai-Tzva’ot concerning the prophets: “I myself will feed them wormwood and make them drink poisoned water. For from the prophets of Jerusalem pollution has spread into all the land.”
16Thus says Adonai-Tzva’ot: “Do not listen to the words of prophets who are prophesying to you. They are leading you into illusion, speaking a vision of their own heart and not out of the mouth of Adonai.
17They keep saying to those who despise Me, ‘Adonai has said, you will have shalom.’ To everyone who walks in the stubbornness of his own heart they say: ‘No evil will come on you.’”
18For who has stood in the council of Adonai, that he should see and hear His word? Who has heard to His word and obeyed?
19Look, a storm of Adonai goes out in fury, yes, a whirling tempest will swirl down on the head of the wicked.
20The anger of Adonai will not turn until He has executed and fulfilled the purposes of His heart. In the last days you will discern it clearly.
21“I did not send those prophets, yet they ran. I did not speak to them, yet they prophesied.
22If they have stood in My council, then they would have announced My words to My people, and turned them from their evil way, and from the evil of their deeds.”
23“Am I God only when near” —it is a declaration of Adonai— “and not God when far off?
24Can anyone hide himself in places so secret that I will not see him? Do I not fill heaven and earth?” It is a declaration of Adonai.
25“I have heard what the prophets said, who prophesy lies in My Name, saying: ‘I had a dream, I had a dream!’
26How long will this continue? Is there anything in the heart of such prophets prophesying lies? These prophets have deception in their heart.
27Through their dreams that they each tell to his companion, that intend to make My people forget My Name—just as their fathers forgot My Name because of Baal.
28“The prophet who has a dream may recount a dream, but let the one who has My word speak My word in truth. For what is straw compared with wheat?” It is a declaration of Adonai.
29“Is not My word like fire?” says Adonai, “or like a hammer that shatters rock?
30“Therefore here I am against the prophets”—it is a declaration of Adonai—“who steal My words from each other.
31Indeed, I am against the prophets”, declares Adonai, “who use their tongues to utter a prophecy, ‘It is a declaration!’
32Behold, I am against those who prophesy lying dreams,” declares Adonai, “and tell them, and so lead My people astray with their lies and with their reckless boasts. Yet I never sent them or commanded them. Nor do they benefit this people at all.” It is a declaration of Adonai.
33“Now when this people or a prophet or a kohen is asking you: ‘What is the burden of Adonai?’ then you are to say to them, ‘What burden? I will cast you off!’” It is a declaration of Adonai.
34“As for the prophet or kohen or people who keep saying, ‘The burden of Adonai!’—I will punish that man and his household.
35Thus each of you may say to his companion and each one to his brother, ‘What has Adonai answered?’ or ‘What has Adonai spoken?’
36But you should no longer remember ‘the burden of Adonai’—for to each one, his own word is becoming ‘the burden’! So you have perverted the words of the living God, of Adonai-Tzva’ot our God.
37“So you are to say to such a prophet, ‘What has Adonai answered you?’ and ‘What has Adonai spoken?’
38But if you say, ‘The burden of Adonai,’” then surely Adonai says, “because you keep saying this word: ‘The burden of Adonai,’ when I sent this word to you, you are not to say ‘The burden of Adonai’—
39therefore, I will surely forget you when I will cast you off, along with the city that I gave to you and to your fathers, away from My presence.
40Then I will bring everlasting disgrace on you and everlasting shame that will not be forgotten.”
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Jeremiah 23: TLV
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Copyright © 2014 - Messianic Jewish Family Bible Society
Jeremiah 23
23
The Godly Branch
1“How terrible it will be for the shepherds who lead my people astray!” announces the Lord. “They are destroying and scattering the sheep that belong to my flock.” 2So the Lord, the God of Israel, speaks to the shepherds who take care of my people. He tells them, “You have scattered my sheep. You have driven them away. You have not taken good care of them. So I will punish you for the evil things you have done,” announces the Lord. 3“I myself will gather together those who are left alive in my flock. I will gather them out of all the countries where I have driven them. And I will bring them back to their own land. There my sheep will have many lambs. There will be many more of them. 4I will place shepherds over them who will take good care of them. My sheep will not be afraid or terrified anymore. And none of them will be missing,” announces the Lord.
5“A new day is coming,” announces the Lord.
“At that time I will raise up for David’s royal line
a godly Branch.
He will be a King who will rule wisely.
He will do what is fair and right in the land.
6In his days Judah will be saved.
Israel will live in safety.
And the Branch will be called
The Lord Who Makes Us Right With Himself.
7Other days are also coming,” announces the Lord. “At that time people will no longer say, ‘The Lord brought the Israelites up out of Egypt. And that’s just as sure as he is alive.’ 8Instead, they will say, ‘The Lord brought the Israelites up out of the land of the north. He gathered them out of all the countries where he had forced them to go. And that’s just as sure as he is alive.’ Then they will live in their own land.”
Prophets Who Tell Lies
9Here is my message about the prophets.
My heart is broken inside me.
All my bones tremble with fear.
I am like a man who is drunk.
I am like a strong man who has had too much wine.
That’s what the Lord’s holy words
have done to me.
10The land is full of people
who aren’t faithful to the Lord.
Now the land is under his curse.
And that’s why it is thirsty for water.
That’s why the desert grasslands are dry.
The prophets are leading sinful lives.
They don’t use their power in the right way.
11“Prophets and priests alike are ungodly,”
announces the Lord.
“Even in my temple I find them sinning.
12So their path will become slippery.
They will be thrown out into darkness.
There they will fall.
I will bring trouble on them
when the time to punish them comes,”
announces the Lord.
13“Among the prophets of Samaria
I saw something I can’t stand.
They were prophesying in the name of Baal.
They were leading my people Israel astray.
14I have also seen something horrible among Jerusalem’s prophets.
They are not faithful to me.
They are not living by the truth.
They strengthen the hands of those who do evil.
So not one of them turns from their sinful ways.
All of them are like the people of Sodom to me.
They are just like the people of Gomorrah.”
15So the Lord who rules over all speaks about the prophets. He says,
“I will make them eat bitter food.
I will make them drink poisoned water.
The prophets of Jerusalem have spread
their ungodly ways all through the land.”
16The Lord who rules over all says to the people of Judah,
“Do not listen to what the prophets are saying to you.
They fill you with false hopes.
They talk about visions that come from their own minds.
What they say does not come from my mouth.
17They keep speaking to those who hate me. They say,
‘The Lord says you will have peace.’
They speak to all those who do
what their stubborn hearts want them to do.
They tell them, ‘No harm will come to you.’
18But which of them has ever stood in my courts?
Have they been there to see a vision or hear my message?
Who has listened and heard my message there?
19A storm will burst out
because of my great anger.
A windstorm will sweep down
on the heads of sinful people.
20My anger will not turn back.
I will accomplish everything
I plan to do.
In days to come
you will understand it clearly.
21I did not send these prophets.
But they have run to tell you their message anyway.
I did not speak to them.
But they have still prophesied.
22Suppose they had stood in my courts.
Then they would have announced my message to my people.
They would have turned my people from their evil ways.
They would have turned them away from their sins.
23“Am I only a God who is nearby?”
announces the Lord.
“Am I not a God who is also far away?
24Who can hide in secret places
so that I can’t see them?”
announces the Lord.
“Don’t I fill heaven and earth?”
announces the Lord.
25“I have heard what the prophets are saying. They prophesy lies in my name. They say, ‘I had a dream! The Lord has given me a dream!’ 26How long will that continue in the hearts of these prophets who tell lies? They try to get others to believe their own mistaken ideas. 27They tell one another their dreams. They think that will make my people forget my name. In the same way, their people of long ago forgot my name when they worshiped Baal. 28Let the prophet who has a dream describe the dream. But let the one who has my message speak it faithfully. Your prophets have given you straw to eat instead of grain,” announces the Lord. 29“My message is like fire,” announces the Lord. “It is like a hammer that breaks a rock in pieces.
30“So I am against these prophets,” announces the Lord. “I am against those who steal messages from one another. They claim that the messages come from me. 31Yes,” announces the Lord. “I am against the prophets who speak their own words. But they still say, ‘Here is what the Lord says.’ 32I am against prophets who talk about dreams that did not come from me,” announces the Lord. “They tell foolish lies. Their lies lead my people astray. But I did not send these prophets. I did not appoint them. They do not help my people in the least,” announces the Lord.
Prophets Who Give Messages That Are Not From the Lord
33“Jeremiah, these people might ask you a question. Or a prophet or priest might do this. They might ask, ‘What message have you received from the Lord?’ Then tell them, ‘You ask, “What message?” Here it is. “I will desert you,” announces the Lord.’ 34A prophet or priest might make a claim. Or someone else might do this. He might claim, ‘This is a message from the Lord.’ Then I will punish them and their family. 35Here is what each of you people keeps on saying to your friends and other Israelites. You ask, ‘What is the Lord’s answer?’ Or you ask, ‘What has the Lord spoken?’ 36But you must not talk about ‘a message from the Lord’ again. That’s because each person’s own words become their message. And so you twist the Lord’s words. He is the living God. He is the Lord who rules over all. And he is our God. 37Here is what you keep saying to a prophet. You ask, ‘What is the Lord’s answer to you?’ Or you ask, ‘What has the Lord spoken?’ 38You claim, ‘This is a message from the Lord.’ But here is what the Lord says. ‘You used the words, “This is a message from the Lord.” But I told you that you must not claim, “This is a message from the Lord.” ’ 39So you can be sure I will forget you. I will throw you out of my sight. I will also destroy the city I gave you and your people of long ago. 40I will bring on you shame that will last forever. It will never be forgotten.”
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