Jeremiah 23
23
The Righteous Branch
1 # ch. 6:3; 10:21; 22:22; 25:34, 36; Isa. 56:11; Ezek. 34:2; Zech. 11:17; [John 10:12, 13] “Woe to the shepherds who destroy and scatter the sheep of my pasture!” declares the Lord. 2Therefore thus says the Lord, the God of Israel, concerning #[See ver. 1 above] the shepherds who care for my people: “You have scattered my flock and have driven them away, and you have not attended to them. #ver. 22; ch. 4:4Behold, I will attend to you for your evil deeds, declares the Lord. 3#ch. 29:14; 32:37; Deut. 30:3; Ezek. 20:34, 41; 37:21; [Ps. 107:3]; See Ezek. 34:11-16 Then I will gather the remnant of my flock #[ch. 8:3] out of all the countries where I have driven them, and I will bring them back to their fold, #[Gen. 1:28]and they shall be fruitful and multiply. 4#ch. 3:15I will set shepherds over them who will care for them, and they shall fear no more, nor be dismayed, neither shall any be missing, declares the Lord.
5 # For ver. 5, 6, see ch. 33:14-16 “Behold, the days are coming, declares the Lord, when I will raise up for David a righteous #Isa. 4:2; 11:1 Branch, and #ch. 30:9; Isa. 32:1; Ezek. 37:24; Hos. 3:5; Zech. 9:9; Matt. 2:2; Luke 1:32; 19:38; John 1:49he shall reign as king and deal wisely, and shall execute justice and righteousness in the land. 6In his days Judah will be saved, and #Deut. 33:28; [Zech. 14:11] Israel will #ch. 32:37 dwell securely. And this is the name by which he will be called: #Rom. 10:4; 1 Cor. 1:30‘The Lord is our righteousness.’
7 # For ver. 7, 8, see ch. 16:14, 15 “Therefore, behold, the days are coming, declares the Lord, when they shall no longer say, ‘As the Lord lives who brought up the people of Israel out of the land of Egypt,’ 8but ‘As the Lord lives who brought up and led the offspring of the house of Israel out of the north country and out of all the countries where he#23:8 Septuagint; Hebrew I had driven them.’ Then they shall dwell in their own land.”
Lying Prophets
9Concerning the prophets:
#
Ezek. 6:9 My heart is broken within me;
#
Hab. 3:16
all my bones shake;
I am like a drunken man,
like a man overcome by wine,
because of the Lord
and because of his holy words.
10 # ch. 5:7, 8; 9:2 For the land is full of adulterers;
#
Ps. 10:7; 59:12; Hos. 4:2, 3 because of the curse #ch. 4:28 the land mourns,
and #ch. 9:10; 12:4; Ps. 107:34 the pastures of the wilderness are dried up.
# [ch. 22:17] Their course is evil,
and their might is not right.
11 # [ver. 33, 34; Zeph. 3:4]; See ch. 6:13 “Both prophet and priest are ungodly;
even #ch. 7:30; 32:34; Ezek. 8:16; 23:39in my house I have found their evil,
declares the Lord.
12 #
Ps. 35:6; 73:18 Therefore their way shall be to them
like slippery paths #Prov. 4:19; [ch. 13:16] in the darkness,
into which they shall be driven and fall,
for I will bring disaster upon them
# ch. 11:23 in the year of their punishment,
declares the Lord.
13In the prophets of #Isa. 7:9; Ezek. 16:46, 51, 53, 55; 23:4, 33 Samaria
#
Lam. 2:14 I saw an unsavory thing:
# ch. 2:8 they prophesied by Baal
#
Isa. 9:16; Mic. 3:5 and led my people Israel astray.
14But in the prophets of Jerusalem
I have seen a horrible thing:
# ch. 29:23 they commit adultery and walk in lies;
#
Ps. 64:5; Ezek. 13:22 they strengthen the hands of evildoers,
so that no one turns from his evil;
#
Isa. 1:9, 10; 13:19 all of them have become like Sodom to me,
#
Isa. 1:9, 10; 13:19 and its inhabitants like Gomorrah.”
15Therefore thus says the Lord of hosts concerning the prophets:
# ch. 9:15; Prov. 5:4 “Behold, I will feed them with bitter food
# ch. 9:15; Prov. 5:4 and give them #ch. 8:14poisoned water to drink,
for from the prophets of Jerusalem
ungodliness 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, #[Ps. 12:2] filling you with vain hopes. #[ver. 21, 26; Num. 16:28]They speak visions of their own minds, not from the mouth of the Lord. 17They say continually to those who despise the word of the Lord, #[Zech. 10:2]; See ch. 6:14 ‘It shall be well with you’; and to everyone who #See ch. 3:17 stubbornly follows his own heart, they say, #ch. 5:12; Mic. 3:11‘No disaster shall come upon you.’”
18For #ver. 22; Isa. 40:14who among them has stood in the council of the Lord
to see and to hear his word,
or who has paid attention to his word and listened?
19 # ch. 30:23 Behold, the storm of the Lord!
Wrath has gone forth,
# ch. 25:32 a whirling tempest;
it will burst upon the head of the wicked.
20 # ch. 30:24; [Isa. 55:11] The anger of the Lord will not turn back
until he has executed and #ch. 30:24; [Isa. 55:11] accomplished
the intents of his heart.
# ch. 30:24 In the latter days you will understand it clearly.
21 # See ch. 14:14 “I did not send the prophets,
yet they ran;
I did not speak to them,
yet they prophesied.
22 # ver. 18 But if they had stood in my council,
then they would have proclaimed my words to my people,
# ch. 25:5; [Luke 1:17] and they would have turned them from their evil way,
and #ver. 2from the evil of their deeds.
23 # [Ps. 94:7, 9; Amos 9:2, 3]; See Ps. 139:7-12 “Am I a God at hand, declares the Lord, and not a God far away? 24#[See ver. 23 above] Can a man hide himself in secret places so that I cannot see him? declares the Lord. #Isa. 66:1; Acts 7:49Do I not fill heaven and earth? declares the Lord. 25I have heard what the prophets have said #See ch. 5:31 who prophesy lies in my name, saying, #[Zech. 10:2]‘I have dreamed, I have dreamed!’ 26How long shall there be lies in the heart of #[ver. 16, 21; Num. 16:28]the prophets who prophesy lies, and who prophesy the deceit of their own heart, 27who think to make my people forget my name #[See ver. 25 above] by their dreams that they tell one another, even as their #Judg. 3:7; 8:33, 34fathers forgot my name for Baal? 28#[Num. 12:6] Let the prophet who has a dream #ver. 25 tell the dream, but let him who has my word speak my word faithfully. #[Luke 3:17]What has straw in common with wheat? declares the Lord. 29#[See ver. 28 above] Is not my word like fire, declares the Lord, and #[Dan. 2:34, 45]like a hammer that breaks the rock in pieces? 30#Ezek. 13:8; [ch. 14:15; Deut. 18:20]Therefore, behold, I am against the prophets, declares the Lord, who steal my words from one another. 31Behold, I am against the prophets, declares the Lord, who use their tongues and declare, ‘declares the Lord.’ 32Behold, I am against those who prophesy lying dreams, declares the Lord, and who tell them and #ver. 13 lead my people astray by their lies and their recklessness, when #ver. 21; See ch. 14:14I did not send them or charge them. So they do not profit this people at all, declares the Lord.
33 # See Ezek. 14:1-11 “When one of 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 Septuagint, Vulgate; Hebrew What burden? and #[Hos. 4:6]I will cast you off, declares the Lord.’ 34And as for the prophet, priest, or one of the people who says, ‘The burden of the Lord,’ #[See ver. 33 above]I will punish that man and his household. 35Thus shall you say, every one to his neighbor and every one to his brother, ‘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 every man’s own word, and #[Matt. 15:6] you pervert the words of #Ps. 42:2the living God, the Lord of hosts, our God. 37Thus you shall say to 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, behold, I will surely lift you up#23:39 Or surely forget you and #[See ver. 33 above]cast you away from my presence, you and the city that I gave to you and your fathers. 40#ch. 20:11And I will bring upon you everlasting reproach and #ch. 20:11perpetual shame, which shall not be forgotten.’”
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The Holy Bible, English Standard Version® (ESV®), copyright © 2001 by Crossway, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers.
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Jeremiah 23
23
1Woe unto the shepherds that destroy and scatter the sheep of my pasture! saith the LORD. 2Therefore thus saith the LORD, the God of Israel, against the shepherds that feed my people: Ye have scattered my flock, and driven them away, and have not visited them; behold, I will visit upon you the evil of your doings, saith the LORD. 3And I will gather the remnant of my flock out of all the countries whither I have driven them, and will bring them again to their folds; and they shall be fruitful and multiply. 4And I will set up shepherds over them which shall feed them: and they shall fear no more, nor be dismayed, neither shall any be lacking, saith the LORD. 5Behold, the days come, saith the LORD, that I will raise unto David a righteous Branch, and he shall reign as king and deal wisely, and shall execute judgement and justice in the land. 6In his days Judah shall be saved, and Israel shall dwell safely: and this is his name whereby he shall be called, The LORD is our righteousness. 7Therefore, behold, the days come, saith the LORD, that they shall no more say, As the LORD liveth, which brought up the Children of Israel out of the land of Egypt; 8but, As the LORD liveth, which brought up and which led the seed of the house of Israel out of the north country, and from all the countries whither I had driven them; and they shall dwell in their own land.
9Concerning the prophets. Mine heart within me is broken, all my bones shake; I am like a drunken man, and like a man whom wine hath overcome; because of the LORD, and because of his holy words. 10For the land is full of adulterers; for because of swearing the land mourneth; the pastures of the wilderness are dried up; and their course is evil, and their force is not right, 11for both prophet and priest are profane; yea, in my house have I found their wickedness, saith the LORD. 12Wherefore their way shall be unto them as slippery places in the darkness: they shall be driven on, and fall therein: for I will bring evil upon them, even the year of their visitation, saith the LORD. 13And I have seen folly in the prophets of Samaria; they prophesied by Baal, and caused my people Israel to err. 14In the prophets of Jerusalem also I have seen an horrible thing; they commit adultery, and walk in lies, and they strengthen the hands of evil-doers, that none doth return from his wickedness: they are all of them become unto me as Sodom, and the inhabitants thereof as Gomorrah. 15Therefore thus saith the LORD of hosts concerning the prophets: Behold, I will feed them with wormwood, and make them drink the water of gall: for from the prophets of Jerusalem is profaneness gone forth into all the land. 16Thus saith the LORD of hosts, Hearken not unto the words of the prophets that prophesy unto you; they teach you vanity: they speak a vision of their own heart, and not out of the mouth of the LORD. 17They say continually unto them that despise me, The LORD hath said, Ye shall have peace; and unto every one that walketh in the stubbornness of his own heart they say, No evil shall come upon you. 18For who hath stood in the council of the LORD, that he should perceive and hear his word? who hath marked my word, and heard it? 19Behold, the tempest of the LORD, even his fury, is gone forth, yea, a whirling tempest: it shall burst upon the head of the wicked. 20The anger of the LORD shall not return, until he have executed, and till he have performed the intents of his heart: in the latter days ye shall understand it perfectly. 21I sent not these prophets, yet they ran: I spake not unto them, yet they prophesied. 22But if they had stood in my council, then had they caused my people to hear my words, and had turned them from their evil way, and from the evil of their doings. 23Am I a God at hand, saith the LORD, and not a God afar off? 24Can any hide himself in secret places that I shall not see him? saith the LORD. Do not I fill heaven and earth? saith the LORD. 25I have heard what the prophets have said, that prophesy lies in my name, saying, I have dreamed, I have dreamed. 26How long shall this be in the heart of the prophets that prophesy lies; even the prophets of the deceit of their own heart? 27which think to cause my people to forget my name by their dreams which they tell every man to his neighbour, as their fathers forgat my name for Baal. 28The prophet that hath a dream, let him tell a dream; and he that hath my word, let him speak my word faithfully. What is the straw to the wheat? saith the LORD. 29Is not my word like as fire? saith the LORD; and like a hammer that breaketh the rock in pieces? 30Therefore, behold, I am against the prophets, saith the LORD, that steal my words every one from his neighbour. 31Behold, I am against the prophets, saith the LORD, that use their tongues, and say, He saith. 32Behold, I am against them that prophesy lying dreams, saith the LORD, and do tell them, and cause my people to err by their lies, and by their vain boasting: yet I sent them not, nor commanded them; neither shall they profit this people at all, saith the LORD.
33And when this people, or the prophet, or a priest, shall ask thee, saying, What is the burden of the LORD? then shalt thou say unto them, What burden! I will cast you off, saith the LORD. 34And as for the prophet, and the priest, and the people, that shall say, The burden of the LORD, I will even punish that man and his house. 35Thus shall ye say every one to his neighbour, and every one to his brother, What hath the LORD answered? and, What hath the LORD spoken? 36And the burden of the LORD shall ye mention no more: for every man's own word shall be his burden; for ye have perverted the words of the living God, of the LORD of hosts our God. 37Thus shalt thou say to the prophet, What hath the LORD answered thee? and, What hath the LORD spoken? 38But if ye say, The burden of the LORD; therefore thus saith the LORD: Because ye say this word, The burden of the LORD, and I have sent unto you, saying, Ye shall not say, The burden of the LORD; 39therefore, behold, I will utterly forget you, and I will cast you off, and the city that I gave unto you and to your fathers, away from my presence: 40and I will bring an everlasting reproach upon you, and a perpetual shame which shall not be forgotten.
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historical text maintained by the British and Foreign Bible Society