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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Jeremiah 23: CEB
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2011 Common English Bible. All rights reserved.
Jeremiah 23
23
1“Woe to the shepherds who destroy and scatter the sheep of my pasture!” says the LORD. 2Therefore the LORD, the God of Israel, says against the shepherds who feed my people: “You have scattered my flock, driven them away, and have not visited them. Behold, I will visit on you the evil of your doings,” says the LORD. 3“I will gather the remnant of my flock out of all the countries where I have driven them, and will bring them again to their folds; and they will be fruitful and multiply. 4I will set up shepherds over them who will feed them. They will no longer be afraid or dismayed, neither will any be lacking,” says the LORD.
5“Behold, the days come,” says the LORD,
“that I will raise to David a righteous Branch;
and he will reign as king and deal wisely,
and will execute justice and righteousness in the land.
6 In his days Judah will be saved,
and Israel will dwell safely.
This is his name by which he will be called:
The LORD our righteousness.
7“Therefore, behold, the days come,” says the LORD, “that they will no more say, ‘As the LORD lives, who brought up the children of Israel out of the land of Egypt;’ 8but, ‘As the LORD lives, who brought up and who led the offspring of the house of Israel out of the north country, and from all the countries where I had driven them.’ Then they will dwell in their own land.”
9 Concerning the prophets:
My heart within me is broken.
All my bones shake.
I am like a drunken man,
and like a man whom wine has overcome,
because of the LORD,
and because of his holy words.
10“For the land is full of adulterers;
for because of the curse the land mourns.
The pastures of the wilderness have dried up.
Their course is evil,
and their might is not right;
11 for both prophet and priest are profane.
Yes, in my house I have found their wickedness,” says the LORD.
12 Therefore their way will be to them as slippery places in the darkness.
They will be driven on,
and fall therein;
for I will bring evil on them,
even the year of their visitation,” says the LORD.
13“I have seen folly in the prophets of Samaria.
They prophesied by Baal,
and caused my people Israel to err.
14 In the prophets of Jerusalem I have also seen a horrible thing:
they commit adultery and walk in lies.
They strengthen the hands of evildoers,
so that no one returns from his wickedness.
They have all become to me as Sodom,
and its inhabitants as Gomorrah.”
15 Therefore the LORD of Hosts says concerning the prophets:
“Behold, I will feed them with wormwood,
and make them drink poisoned water;
for from the prophets of Jerusalem ungodliness has gone out into all the land.”
16 The LORD of Hosts says,
“Don’t listen to the words of the prophets who prophesy to you.
They teach you vanity.
They speak a vision of their own heart,
and not out of the mouth of the LORD.
17 They say continually to those who despise me,
‘The LORD has said, “You will have peace;”’
and to everyone who walks in the stubbornness of his own heart they say,
‘No evil will come on you.’
18 For who has stood in the council of the LORD,
that he should perceive and hear his word?
Who has listened to my word, and heard it?
19 Behold, the LORD’s storm, his wrath, has gone out.
Yes, a whirling storm!
It will burst on the head of the wicked.
20 The LORD’s anger will not return until he has executed
and performed the intents of his heart.
In the latter days, you will understand it perfectly.
21 I didn’t send these prophets, yet they ran.
I didn’t speak to them, yet they prophesied.
22 But if they had stood in my council,
then they would have caused my people to hear my words,
and would have turned them from their evil way,
and from the evil of their doings.
23“Am I a God at hand,” says the LORD,
“and not a God afar off?
24 Can anyone hide himself in secret places
so that I can’t see him?” says the LORD.
“Don’t I fill heaven and earth?” says the LORD.
25“I have heard what the prophets have said, who prophesy lies in my name, saying, ‘I had a dream! I had a dream!’ 26How long will this be in the heart of the prophets who prophesy lies, even the prophets of the deceit of their own heart? 27They intend to cause my people to forget my name by their dreams which they each tell his neighbor, as their fathers forgot my name because of Baal. 28The prophet who has a dream, let him tell a dream; and he who has my word, let him speak my word faithfully. What is the straw to the wheat?” says the LORD. 29“Isn’t my word like fire?” says the LORD; “and like a hammer that breaks the rock in pieces?
30“Therefore behold, I am against the prophets,” says the LORD, “who each steal my words from his neighbor. 31Behold, I am against the prophets,” says the LORD, “who use their tongues, and say, ‘He says.’ 32Behold, I am against those who prophesy lying dreams,” says the LORD, “who tell them, and cause my people to err by their lies, and by their vain boasting; yet I didn’t send them or command them. They don’t profit this people at all,” says the LORD.
33“When this people, or the prophet, or a priest, asks you, saying, ‘What is the message from the LORD?’ Then you shall tell them, ‘“What message? I will cast you off,” says the LORD.’ 34As for the prophet, the priest, and the people, who say, ‘The message from the LORD,’ I will even punish that man and his household. 35You will say everyone to his neighbor, and everyone to his brother, ‘What has the LORD answered?’ and, ‘What has the LORD said?’ 36You will mention the message from the LORD no more, for every man’s own word has become his message; for you have perverted the words of the living God, of the LORD of Hosts, our God. 37You will say to the prophet, ‘What has the LORD answered you?’ and, ‘What has the LORD spoken?’ 38Although you say, ‘The message from the LORD,’ therefore the LORD says: ‘Because you say this word, “The message from the LORD,” and I have sent to you, telling you not to say, “The message from the LORD,” 39therefore behold, I will utterly forget you, and I will cast you off with the city that I gave to you and to your fathers, away from my presence. 40I will bring an everlasting reproach on you, and a perpetual shame, which will not be forgotten.’”
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