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
1What trouble is coming to the shepherds who destroy and scatter the sheep of my pasture! declares the Lord.
2This is what the Lord, the God of Israel, says about the shepherds who were meant to look after my people: You have scattered my flock. You have chased them away. You didn't take care of them, so now I will take care of you for all the evil you've done, declares the Lord.
3I myself will gather what's left of my flock from all the countries where I exiled them, and I will bring them back to their pasture, where they will increase in number. 4I will put shepherds in charge of them who will take care of them, and they won't be afraid or discouraged anymore, and none of them will be missing, declares the Lord.
5Look, the time is coming, declares the Lord, when I will choose a descendant of David who does what is right. As king he will rule with wisdom and do what is just and right throughout the country. 6When he is king, Judah will be saved, and Israel will live in safety. This is the name he will be called: The Lord Who Makes Us Right.
7Look, the time is coming, declares the Lord, when people won't say anymore, “On the Lord's life, who led the Israelites out of Egypt.” 8Instead they'll say, “On the Lord's life, who led the Israelites back from the northern country and all the other countries where he had exiled them.” Then they'll live in their own country.
9When it comes to the prophets: I'm really disturbed—I'm shaking inside! I stagger like a drunk, like someone who's had too much wine, because of what the Lord is like, because of his holy words.#23:9. Jeremiah is alarmed at the contrast between what he knows of the Lord's nature and the degraded state of the nation—and what this means in terms of the coming disaster. 10For the country is full of people committing adultery so it's under a curse. The land mourns and the desert pastures have dried up. The people live evil lives, using their energy to do wrong. 11Both prophets and priests show no respect for me. I see wickedness even in my Temple, declares the Lord. 12That's why their path will become slippery; they will be chased away in the dark and fall down. I'm going to bring disaster on them at the time when they're punished, declares the Lord.
13I saw the prophets of Samaria doing something really offensive: They prophesied in the name of Baal and led my people Israel to sin.
14But now I see the prophets of Jerusalem doing something even more disgusting: They commit adultery and their lives are a lie. They support the wicked, so no one stops sinning. To me they're all like Sodom; the people of Jerusalem are like Gomorrah.
15So this is what the Lord Almighty says about the prophets: I will give them wormwood to eat and poisoned water to drink, because evil has spread across the country from the prophets of Jerusalem.
16This is what the Lord Almighty says: Don't pay attention to what these prophets say when they prophesy to you. They're fooling you with visions they make up in their own minds. They're not from me. 17They keep on telling people who don't respect me, “The Lord says that you'll live in peace,” and to everyone following their own stubborn attitude, “Nothing bad is going to happen to you.”
18But who of them has attended the Lord's council to hear and understand what he's saying? Who has paid attention to his instructions and followed them? 19Watch out! The Lord has sent out a furious storm, a tornado swirling around the heads of the wicked. 20The Lord's anger won't fade until he's finished doing everything he wants. Only then will you really understand.
21I didn't send these prophets, but they run to deliver their messages. I didn't tell them to say anything, but they still go on prophesying. 22Now if they had attended my council, they would have delivered my instructions to my people and brought them back from their evil way of life, from their evil actions.
23Am I only a local God and not a God who operates widely? asks the Lord. 24Can people hide in secret places where I can't see them? asks the Lord. Don't I operate everywhere in heaven and on earth? asks the Lord.
25I've listened to the prophets who prophesy lies in my name. They say, “I've had a dream! I've had a dream!” 26How long will this continue? How long will these prophets go on prophesying these lies which are just the product of their own deluded minds? 27They think the dreams that they repeat to one another will lead my people to forget me, just like their forefathers forgot me by worshiping Baal.
28A prophet who has a dream should say it's just a dream, but anyone I've spoken to should deliver my message faithfully. What is straw in comparison to grain? asks the Lord. 29Doesn't my word burn like fire? asks the Lord. Isn't it like a hammer smashing a rock?
30Pay attention to this, declares the Lord. I'm opposed to those prophets who steal words from one another and then say it's a message from me.
31Pay attention to this, declares the Lord. I'm opposed to those prophets who make up their own stories#23:31. “Make up their own stories”: literally, “take their own tongues.” and then announce, “This is what the Lord says.”
32Pay attention to this, declares the Lord, I'm opposed to those who prophesy fictional dreams. They tell them in order to lead my people into sin with their wild lies. I didn't send them or give them any instructions, and they don't do anybody any good, declares the Lord.
33So when a prophet or priest or anyone else comes and asks you, “What is ‘the burden of the Lord?’”#23:33. “The burden of the Lord” in the sense of some requirement that the Lord is imposing on the people. Clearly the people saw the various laws and regulations as “burdens” and related to the Lord as this legalistic “burden-giver.” Though they lived evil lives it seems they thought that if they observed such “burdens,” including new ones, then the Lord would be satisfied. tell them, I'm not giving you a burden. I'm giving up on you, declares the Lord.
34If a prophet or priest or anyone else claims, “This is the burden of the Lord,” I will punish that person and their family.
35This is what everybody should say to their friends and relatives: “What answer has the Lord given?” or, “What has the Lord said?” 36Don't talk about “the burden of the Lord” anymore, because everybody has different ideas about this “burden,” perverting the words of the living God, the Lord Almighty, our God.
37This is what you are to ask any prophet: “What message has the Lord given you?” and “What has the Lord told you?”
38If they say, “This is the burden of the Lord,” then this is the Lord's response: Because you said, “This is the burden of the Lord,” and I warned you not to, 39now I'm going to pick you up like a burden and throw you away, you and the city that I gave to you and your forefathers. 40I will disgrace you forever, your shame will never be forgotten.
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Dr. Jonathan Gallagher. Released under Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 Unported License. Version 4.3. For corrections send email to jonathangallagherfbv@gmail.com