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
Restoration after Exile
1Woe to the shepherds who destroy and scatter the sheep of my pasture! says the Lord. 2Therefore thus says the Lord, the God of Israel, concerning the shepherds who shepherd my people: It is you who have scattered my flock, and have driven them away, and you have not attended to them. So I will attend to you for your evil doings, says the Lord. 3Then I myself will gather the remnant of my flock out of all the lands where I have driven them, and I will bring them back to their fold, and they shall be fruitful and multiply. 4I will raise up shepherds over them who will shepherd them, and they shall not fear any longer, or be dismayed, nor shall any be missing, says the Lord.
The Righteous Branch of David
5The days are surely coming, says the Lord, when I will raise up for David a righteous Branch, and he shall reign as king and deal wisely, and shall execute justice and righteousness in the land. 6In his days Judah will be saved and Israel will live in safety. And this is the name by which he will be called: “The Lord is our righteousness.”
7Therefore, the days are surely coming, says the Lord, when it shall no longer be said, “As the Lord lives who brought the people of Israel up out of the land of Egypt,” 8but “As the Lord lives who brought out and led the offspring of the house of Israel out of the land of the north and out of all the lands where he#23.8 Gk: Heb I had driven them.” Then they shall live in their own land.
False Prophets of Hope Denounced
9Concerning the prophets:
My heart is crushed within me,
all my bones shake;
I have become like a drunkard,
like one overcome by wine,
because of the Lord
and because of his holy words.
10For the land is full of adulterers;
because of the curse the land mourns,
and the pastures of the wilderness are dried up.
Their course has been evil,
and their might is not right.
11Both prophet and priest are ungodly;
even in my house I have found their wickedness,
says the Lord.
12Therefore their way shall be to them
like slippery paths in the darkness,
into which they shall be driven and fall;
for I will bring disaster upon them
in the year of their punishment,
says the Lord.
13In the prophets of Samaria
I saw a disgusting thing:
they prophesied by Baal
and led my people Israel astray.
14But in the prophets of Jerusalem
I have seen a more shocking thing:
they commit adultery and walk in lies;
they strengthen the hands of evildoers,
so that no one turns from wickedness;
all of them have become like Sodom to me,
and its inhabitants like Gomorrah.
15Therefore thus says the Lord of hosts concerning the prophets:
“I am going to make them eat wormwood,
and give them poisoned water to drink;
for from the prophets of Jerusalem
ungodliness has spread throughout the land.”
16Thus says the Lord of hosts: Do not listen to the words of the prophets who prophesy to you; they are deluding you. They speak visions of their own minds, not from the mouth of the Lord. 17They keep saying to those who despise the word of the Lord, “It shall be well with you”; and to all who stubbornly follow their own stubborn hearts, they say, “No calamity shall come upon you.”
18For who has stood in the council of the Lord
so as to see and to hear his word?
Who has given heed to his word so as to proclaim it?
19Look, the storm of the Lord!
Wrath has gone forth,
a whirling tempest;
it will burst upon the head of the wicked.
20The anger of the Lord will not turn back
until he has executed and accomplished
the intents of his mind.
In the latter days you will understand it clearly.
21I did not send the 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 proclaimed my words to my people,
and they would have turned them from their evil way,
and from the evil of their doings.
23Am I a God near by, says the Lord, and not a God far off? 24Who can hide in secret places so that I cannot see them? says the Lord. Do I not fill heaven and earth? says the Lord. 25I have heard what the prophets have said who prophesy lies in my name, saying, “I have dreamed, I have dreamed!” 26How long? Will the hearts of the prophets ever turn back—those who prophesy lies, and who prophesy the deceit of their own heart? 27They plan to make my people forget my name by their dreams that they tell one another, just as their ancestors forgot my name for Baal. 28Let the prophet who has a dream tell the dream, but let the one who has my word speak my word faithfully. What has straw in common with wheat? says the Lord. 29Is not my word like fire, says the Lord, and like a hammer that breaks a rock in pieces? 30See, therefore, I am against the prophets, says the Lord, who steal my words from one another. 31See, I am against the prophets, says the Lord, who use their own tongues and say, “Says the Lord.” 32See, I am against those who prophesy lying dreams, says the Lord, and who tell them, and who lead my people astray by their lies and their recklessness, when I did not send them or appoint them; so they do not profit this people at all, says the Lord.
33When this people, or a prophet, or a priest asks you, “What is the burden of the Lord?” you shall say to them, “You are the burden,#23.33 Gk Vg: Heb What burden and I will cast you off, says the Lord.” 34And as for the prophet, priest, or the people who say, “The burden of the Lord,” I will punish them and their households. 35Thus shall you say to one another, among yourselves, “What has the Lord answered?” or “What has the Lord spoken?” 36But “the burden of the Lord” you shall mention no more, for the burden is everyone's own word, and so you pervert the words of the living God, the Lord of hosts, our God. 37Thus you shall ask the prophet, “What has the Lord answered you?” or “What has the Lord spoken?” 38But if you say, “the burden of the Lord,” thus says the Lord: Because you have said these words, “the burden of the Lord,” when I sent to you, saying, You shall not say, “the burden of the Lord,” 39therefore, I will surely lift you up#23.39 Heb Mss Gk Vg: MT forget you and cast you away from my presence, you and the city that I gave to you and your ancestors. 40And I will bring upon you everlasting disgrace and perpetual shame, which shall not be forgotten.
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New Revised Standard Version of the Bible, copyright © 1989 Division of Christian Education of the National Council of the Churches of Christ in the USA. Used by permission. All rights reserved.