Jeremiah 23
23
Promise of restoration
1Watch out, you shepherds who destroy and scatter the sheep of my pasture, declares the LORD. 2This is what the LORD, the God of Israel, proclaims about the shepherds who “tend to” my people: You are the ones who have scattered my flock and driven them away. You haven’t attended to their needs, so I will take revenge on you for the terrible things you have done to them, declares the LORD. 3I myself will gather the few remaining sheep from all the countries where I have driven them. I will bring them back to their pasture, and they will be fruitful and multiply. 4I will place over them shepherds who care for them. Then they will no longer be afraid or dread harm, nor will any be missing, declares the LORD.
Promise of a righteous and just king
5The time is coming, declares the LORD, when I will raise up a righteous descendant#23.5 Or branch from David’s line, and he will rule as a wise king. He will do what is just and right in the land. 6During his lifetime, Judah will be saved and Israel will live in safety. And his name will be The LORD Is Our Righteousness.#23.6 Or of Our Righteousness, possibly a play on the name Zedekiah
7So the time is coming, declares the LORD, when no one will say, “As the LORD lives who brought up the Israelites from the land of Egypt.” 8Instead, they will say, “As the LORD lives who brought up the descendants of the people of Israel from the land of the north and from all the lands where he#23.8 Or I has banished them so that they can live in their own land.”
Oracles against the prophets
9As for the prophets:
My heart inside me is broken;
my body aches.#23.9 Heb uncertain; or my bones shake
I stagger like a drunk
who has had too much wine to drink,
because of the LORD
and because of God’s holy words.
10Because the country teems
with adulterers,
because of them,#23.10 LXX; MT a curse
yes, because their might isn’t right
and their way is evil,
the land dries up,
and the grazing areas in the wilderness wither.#23.10 Heb uncertain
11Both prophet and priest are godless;
I even find their evil in my temple,
declares the LORD.
12Therefore, they will find themselves on slippery ground
and will be thrust into darkness,
where they will collapse.
I will bring disaster upon them,
when their time comes, declares the LORD.
13In the prophets of Samaria
I saw something shocking:
They prophesied by Baal
and led astray my people Israel.
14In the prophets of Jerusalem
I saw something horrible:
They commit adultery and tell lies.
They encourage evildoers
so that no one turns from their wickedness.
In my eyes, they are no better than Sodom;
its people are like Gomorrah.
15Therefore, this is what the LORD of heavenly forces proclaims concerning the prophets:
I’m going to feed them bitter food
and give them poison to drink.
Wickedness has spread from the prophets of Jerusalem
throughout the land.
16The LORD proclaims:
Don’t listen to the prophets
who are speaking to you;
they are deceiving you.
Their visions come from their own hearts,
not from the LORD’s mouth.
17They keep saying to those who scorn God’s message,
“All will go well for you,”
and to those who follow their own willful hearts,
“Nothing bad will happen to you.”
18But who has stood in the LORD’s council
to listen to God’s word?
Who has paid attention to his word and announced it?
19Look! The LORD’s angry storm breaks out;
it whirls around the heads of the wicked.
20The LORD’s fierce anger
won’t turn back
until it accomplishes all that he has planned.
In the days to come,
you will understand what this means.
21I didn’t send the prophets,
yet they ran anyway.
I didn’t speak to them,
yet they prophesied anyway.
22If they had stood in my council,
they would have proclaimed
my words to my people;
they would have turned them
from their evil ways and deeds.
23The LORD declares, Am I a God
who is only nearby and not far off?
24Can people hide themselves in secret places
so I might not see them?
Don’t I fill heaven and earth?
25I have heard the prophets prophesying lies in my name. They claim, “I’ve had a dream; I’ve had a dream!” 26How long will deceitful prophecies dominate the minds of the prophets? Those prophets are treacherous. 27They scheme to make my people forget me by their dreams that people tell each other, just as their ancestors forgot me because of Baal. 28Let the prophet who has a dream declare it, but let the one who has my word proclaim it faithfully.
What a difference between straw and wheat!
declares the LORD.
29Isn’t my word like fire
and like a hammer that shatters rock?
declares the LORD.
30Therefore, I’m against the prophets
who steal my words from each other,
declares the LORD.
31I’m against the prophets
who carelessly deliver oracles,#23.31 Heb uncertain
declares the LORD.
32I’m against the prophets who dream up lies
and then proclaim them,
declares the LORD.
With their reckless lies,
they lead my people astray.
I didn’t send them;
I didn’t commission them.
They are completely useless to these people,
declares the LORD.
33When these people or a prophet or a priest asks you, “What is the LORD’s message?”#23.33 Or burden say to them, “What message? I will cast you off, declares the LORD.” 34I will punish anyone, including prophet or priest, who says, “This is the LORD’s message.” 35This is what you should ask each other: “What has the LORD said?” “What has the LORD declared?” 36But you are no longer to mention the LORD’s message, because everyone thinks they have received a message from the LORD. You destroy the very word of the living God, the LORD of heavenly forces, our God. 37So this is what you should say to the prophet: “What has the LORD said to you?” “What has the LORD declared?” 38But if you insist on saying, “This is the LORD’s message,” the LORD says to you: Because you have made this claim—this is the LORD’s message—when I told you not to proclaim the LORD’s message, 39I will lift you up#23.39 LXX, Syr, Vulg; MT forget you and cast you out of my presence, together with the city that I gave to your ancestors. 40I will make you an object of disgrace and enduring shame that no one will ever forget.
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2011 Common English Bible. All rights reserved.
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.