Jeremiah 23
23
1 "Woe to the shepherds who scatter and tear apart the sheep of my pasture, says the Lord.
2 Because of this, thus says the Lord, the God of Israel, to the shepherds who pasture my people: You have scattered my flock, and you have driven them away, and you have not visited them. Behold, I will visit upon you because of your evil pursuits, says the Lord.
3 And I will gather together the remnant of my flock from the entire earth, from the places to which I had cast them out. And I will return them to their own fields. And they will increase and be multiplied.
4 And I will raise up shepherds over them, and they will pasture them. They will no longer dread, and they will no longer fear. And no one among their number will be seeking more, says the Lord.
5 Behold, the days are approaching, says the Lord, when I will raise up to David a righteous branch. And a king will reign, and he will be wise. And he will exercise judgment and justice upon the earth.
6 In those days, Judah will be saved, and Israel will live in confidence. And this is the name that they will call him: 'The Lord, our Just One.'
7 Because of this, behold, the days are approaching, says the Lord, when they will no longer say, 'As the Lord lives, who led the sons of Israel away from the land of Egypt,'
8 but instead, 'As the Lord lives, who led away and brought back the offspring of the house of Israel from the land of the north and from the entire earth,' from the places to which I had cast them out. And they will live in their own land."
9 To the prophets: "My heart is crushed within me. All my bones are trembling. I have become like an inebriated man, and like a man maddened by wine, before the face of the Lord, and before the face of his holy words.
10 For the earth is full of adulterers! And the earth has mourned before the face of evil talk. The plains of the desert have dried up, and their course has become hazardous, and their firmness has become uneven."
11 "For both the prophet and the priest have become polluted, and I have found their wickedness within my own house, says the Lord.
12 For this reason, their way will be like a slippery path in the dark. For they will be impelled forward, and they will fall in it. For I will bring evils over them, in the year of their visitation, says the Lord.
13 And I have seen the foolishness of the prophets of Samaria. They have prophesied in Baal, and they have deceived my people Israel.
14 And in the prophets of Jerusalem, I have seen the likeness of adulterers and the path of falsehood. And they have strengthened the hands of the wicked, so that each one would not convert from his malice. They have all become to me like Sodom, and its inhabitants have become like Gomorrah."
15 Because of this, thus says the Lord of hosts to the prophets: "Behold, I will feed them absinthe, and I will give them gall to drink. For from the prophets of Jerusalem corruption has gone forth over the entire earth."
16 Thus says the Lord of hosts: "Do not choose to listen to the words of the prophets who prophesy to you and deceive you. They speak a vision from their own heart, and not from the mouth of the Lord.
17 To those who blaspheme me, they say: 'The Lord has said: You shall have peace.' And to every one who walks in the depravity of his own heart, they have said: 'No evil will overwhelm you.' "
18 For who has been present in the counsel of the Lord, and who has seen and heard his word? Who has considered his word and heard it?
19 Behold, the whirlwind of the Lord's indignation will go forth, and a tempest will break out; it will overwhelm the head of the impious.
20 The fury of the Lord will not return until it succeeds, and until it completes the plan of his heart. In the last days, you will understand this counsel.
21 "I did not send these prophets, yet they hurry forward. I was not speaking to them, yet they were prophesying.
22 If they had stood in my counsel, and if I had made my words known to my people, certainly I would have turned them away from their evil ways and from their most wicked plans.
23 Do you not realize that I am a God close by, says the Lord, and not a God far away?
24 If a man is hidden in concealed places, do I not see him, says the Lord? Do I not fill up heaven and earth, says the Lord?
25 I have heard what the prophets have said, prophesying falsehoods in my name, and also saying: 'I have dreamed! I have dreamed!'
26 How long will this be in the heart of the prophets who predict what is false, and who prophesy deceptions from their own heart?
27 They want to cause my people to forget my name, by means of their dreams, which each of them describes to his neighbor, just as their fathers forgot my name for the sake of Baal.
28 The prophet who has had a dream, let him describe the dream. And he who receives my word, let him speak my word in truth. For what has the chaff to do with the wheat, says the Lord?
29 Are not my words like a fire, says the Lord, and like a hammer crushing rock?
30 Therefore, behold: I am against the prophets, says the Lord, who steal my words, each one from his neighbor.
31 Behold, I am against the prophets, says the Lord, who take up their tongues and say: 'The Lord says it.'
32 Behold, I am against the prophets, who dream what is false, says the Lord; who explain and so seduce my people with their falsehoods and with their miracles, though I did not send them, nor did I command them. They have offer nothing beneficial to this people, says the Lord.
33 Therefore, if this people, or a prophet, or a priest questions you, saying, 'What is the burden of the Lord?' you shall say to them, 'You are the burden. And certainly I will cast you away, says the Lord.'
34 And as for the prophet, and the priest, and the people who say, 'The burden of the Lord!' I will visit upon that man and upon his house.
35 And then you will speak in this way, each one to his neighbor and to his brother: 'What has the Lord answered? And what has the Lord said?'
36 And the burden of the Lord will be no longer be called to mind. For each one's own word will be a burden. For you have perverted the words of the living God, of the Lord of hosts, our God.
37 And then you will speak in this way to the prophet: 'What has the Lord answered you? And what has the Lord spoken?'
38 But if you say, 'The burden of the Lord!' then because of this, thus says the Lord: Since you have spoken this word, 'The burden of the Lord!' though I sent to you telling you not to say: 'The burden of the Lord,'
39 because of this, behold, I will take you away, like a burden, and I will forsake you, as well as the city that I gave to you and to your fathers, before my face.
40 And I will give you over to an everlasting reproach and an eternal disgrace, which shall never be wiped away into oblivion."
Currently Selected:
Jeremiah 23: CPDV
Highlight
Share
Copy
Want to have your highlights saved across all your devices? Sign up or sign in
Jeremiah 23
23
The Branch of Righteousness
1“Woe #Is. 56:9–12; Jer. 10:21to the shepherds who destroy and scatter the sheep of My pasture!” says the Lord. 2Therefore thus says the Lord God of Israel against the shepherds who feed My people: “You have scattered My flock, driven them away, and not attended to them. #Ex. 32:34Behold, I will attend to you for the evil of your doings,” says the Lord. 3“But #Is. 11:11, 12, 16; Jer. 32:37I will gather the remnant of My flock out of all countries where I have driven them, and bring them back to their folds; and they shall be fruitful and increase. 4I will set up #Jer. 3:15; (Ezek. 34:23)shepherds over them who will feed them; and they shall fear no more, nor be dismayed, nor shall they be lacking,” says the Lord.
5“Behold, #Is. 4:2; 11:1; 40:10, 11; Jer. 33:14; (Dan. 9:24; Zech. 6:12); Matt. 1:1, 6; Luke 3:31; (John 1:45; 7:42)the days are coming,” says the Lord,
“That I will raise to David a Branch of righteousness;
A King shall reign and prosper,
#Ps. 72:2; Is. 9:7; 32:1, 18; (Dan. 9:24)And execute judgment and righteousness in the earth.
6#Deut. 33:28; Jer. 30:10; Zech. 14:11In His days Judah will be saved,
And Israel #Jer. 32:37will dwell safely;
Now #Is. 45:24; Jer. 33:16; (Dan. 9:24; Rom. 3:22; 1 Cor. 1:30)this is His name by which He will be called:
THE LORD OUR RIGHTEOUSNESS.
7“Therefore, behold, #Is. 43:18, 19; Jer. 16:14the days are coming,” says the Lord, “that they shall no longer say, ‘As the Lord lives who brought up the children of Israel from the land of Egypt,’ 8but, ‘As the Lord lives who brought up and led the descendants of the house of Israel from the north country #Is. 43:5, 6; Ezek. 34:13; Amos 9:14, 15and from all the countries where I had driven them.’ And they shall dwell in their own #Gen. 12:7; Jer. 16:14, 15; 31:8land.”
False Prophets and Empty Oracles
9My heart within me is broken
Because of the prophets;
#Jer. 8:18; Hab. 3:16All 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.
10For #Jer. 9:2the land is full of adulterers;
For #Hos. 4:2; Mal. 3:5because of a curse the land mourns.
#Ps. 107:34; Jer. 9:10The pleasant places of the wilderness are dried up.
Their course of life is evil,
And their might is not right.
11“For #Jer. 6:13; Zeph. 3:4both prophet and priest are profane;
Yes, #Jer. 7:30; 32:34; Ezek. 8:11; 23:39in My house I have found their wickedness,” says the Lord.
12“Therefore#Ps. 35:6; (Prov. 4:19); Jer. 13:16 their way shall be to them
Like slippery ways;
In the darkness they shall be driven on
And fall in them;
For I #Jer. 11:23will bring disaster on them,
The year of their punishment,” says the Lord.
13“And I have seen folly in the prophets of Samaria:
#1 Kin. 18:18–21; Jer. 2:8They prophesied by Baal
And #Is. 9:16caused My people Israel to err.
14Also I have seen a horrible thing in the prophets of Jerusalem:
#Jer. 29:23They commit adultery and walk in lies;
They also #Jer. 23:22; Ezek. 13:22, 23strengthen the hands of evildoers,
So that no one turns back from his wickedness.
All of them are like #Gen. 18:20; Deut. 32:32; Is. 1:9, 10Sodom to Me,
And her inhabitants like Gomorrah.
15“Therefore thus says the Lord of hosts concerning the prophets:
‘Behold, I will feed them with #Deut. 29:18; Jer. 9:15wormwood,
And make them drink the water of gall;
For from the prophets of Jerusalem
Profaneness has gone out into all the land.’ ”
16Thus says the Lord of hosts:
“Do not listen to the words of the prophets who prophesy to you.
They make you worthless;
#Jer. 14:14; Ezek. 13:3, 6They speak a vision of their own heart,
Not from the mouth of the Lord.
17They continually say to those who despise Me,
‘The Lord has said, #Jer. 8:11; Ezek. 13:10; Zech. 10:2“You shall have peace” ’;
And to everyone who #Deut. 29:19; Jer. 3:17walks according to the dictates of his own heart, they say,
#Jer. 5:12; Amos 9:10; Mic. 3:11‘No evil shall come upon you.’ ”
18For #Job 15:8, 9; (Jer. 23:22; 1 Cor. 2:16)who has stood in the counsel of the Lord,
And has perceived and heard His word?
Who has marked His word and heard it?
19Behold, a #Jer. 25:32; 30:23; Amos 1:14whirlwind of the Lord has gone forth in fury—
A violent whirlwind!
It will fall violently on the head of the wicked.
20The #2 Kin. 23:26, 27; Jer. 30:24anger of the Lord will not turn back
Until He has executed and performed the thoughts of His heart.
#Gen. 49:1In the latter days you will understand it perfectly.
21“I#Jer. 14:14; 23:32; 27:15 have not sent these prophets, yet they ran.
I have not spoken to them, yet they prophesied.
22But if they had stood in My counsel,
And had caused My people to hear My words,
Then they would have #Jer. 25:5turned them from their evil way
And from the evil of their doings.
23“Am I a God near at hand,” says the Lord,
“And not a God afar off?
24Can anyone #(Ps. 139:7); Amos 9:2, 3hide himself in secret places,
So I shall not see him?” says the Lord;
#(1 Kin. 8:27); Ps. 139:7“Do I not fill heaven and earth?” says the Lord.
25“I have heard what the prophets have said who prophesy lies in My name, saying, ‘I have dreamed, I have dreamed!’ 26How long will this be in the heart of the prophets who prophesy lies? Indeed they are prophets of the deceit of their own heart, 27who try to make My people forget My name by their dreams which everyone tells his neighbor, #Judg. 3:7as their fathers forgot My name for Baal.
28“The 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 chaff to the wheat?” says the Lord.
29“Is not My word like a #Jer. 5:14fire?” says the Lord,
“And like a hammer that breaks the rock in pieces?
30“Therefore behold, #Deut. 18:20; Ps. 34:16; Jer. 14:14, 15; Ezek. 13:8, 9I am against the prophets,” says the Lord, “who steal My words every one from his neighbor. 31Behold, I am #Ezek. 13:9against the prophets,” says the Lord, “who use their tongues and say, ‘He says.’ 32Behold, I am against those who prophesy false dreams,” says the Lord, “and tell them, and cause My people to err by their #Jer. 20:6; 27:10; Lam. 2:14; 3:37lies and by #Zeph. 3:4their recklessness. Yet I did not send them or command them; therefore they shall not #Jer. 7:8; Lam. 2:14profit this people at all,” says the Lord.
33“So when these people or the prophet or the priest ask you, saying, ‘What is #Is. 13:1; Nah. 1:1; Hab. 1:1; Zech. 9:1; Mal. 1:1the oracle of the Lord?’ you shall then say to them, ‘What oracle?’ I will even forsake you,” says the Lord. 34“And as for the prophet and the priest and the people who say, ‘The oracle of the Lord!’ I will even punish that man and his house. 35Thus every one of you shall say to his neighbor, and every one to his brother, ‘What has the Lord answered?’ and, ‘What has the Lord spoken?’ 36And the oracle of the Lord you shall mention no more. For every man’s word will be his oracle, for you have #Deut. 4:2perverted the words of the living God, the Lord of hosts, our God. 37Thus you shall say to the prophet, ‘What has the Lord answered you?’ and, ‘What has the Lord spoken?’ 38But since you say, ‘The oracle of the Lord!’ therefore thus says the Lord: ‘Because you say this word, “The oracle of the Lord!” and I have sent to you, saying, “Do not say, ‘The oracle of the Lord!’ ” 39therefore behold, I, even I, #Hos. 4:6will utterly forget you and forsake you, and the city that I gave you and your fathers, and will cast you out of My presence. 40And I will bring #Jer. 20:11; Ezek. 5:14, 15an everlasting reproach upon you, and a perpetual #Mic. 3:5–7shame, which shall not be forgotten.’ ”
Currently Selected:
:
Highlight
Share
Copy
Want to have your highlights saved across all your devices? Sign up or sign in
The Holy Bible, New King James Version, Copyright © 1982 Thomas Nelson. All rights reserved.