Jeremiah 23

1 “Woe to the shepherds who destroy and scatter the sheep of My pasture!” declares the LORD.

Woe unto the shepherds that destroy and scatter the sheep of my pasture! saith the LORD.

2 Therefore this is what the LORD, the God of Israel, says about the shepherds who tend My people: “You have scattered My flock and driven them away, and have not attended to them. Behold, I will attend to you for the evil of your deeds, declares the LORD.

Therefore 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.

3 Then I Myself will gather the remnant of My flock from all the lands to which I have banished them, and I will return them to their pasture, where they will be fruitful and multiply.

And 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.

4 I will raise up shepherds over them who will tend them, and they will no longer be afraid or dismayed, nor will any go missing, declares the LORD.

And 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.

5 Behold, the days are coming, declares the LORD, when I will raise up for David a righteous Branch, and He will reign wisely as King and will administer justice and righteousness in the land.

Behold, 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 judgment and justice in the land.

6 In His days Judah will be saved, and Israel will dwell securely. And this is His name by which He will be called: The LORD Our Righteousness.

In 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.

7 So behold, the days are coming, declares the LORD, when they will no longer say, ‘As surely as the LORD lives, who brought the Israelites up out of the land of Egypt.’

Therefore, 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;

8 Instead they will say, ‘As surely as the LORD lives, who brought and led the descendants of the house of Israel up out of the land of the north and all the other lands to which He had banished them.’ Then they will dwell once more in their own land.”

but, 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.

9 As for the prophets: My heart is broken within me, and all my bones tremble. I have become like a drunkard, like a man overcome by wine, because of the LORD, because of His holy words.

Concerning 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.

10 For the land is full of adulterers— because of the curse, the land mourns and the pastures of the wilderness have dried up— their course is evil and their power is misused.

For 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.

11 “For both prophet and priest are ungodly; even in My house I have found their wickedness,”

for both prophet and priest are profane; yea, in my house have I found their wickedness, saith the LORD.

12 “Therefore their path will become slick; they will be driven away into the darkness and fall into it. For I will bring disaster upon them in the year of their punishment,”

Wherefore 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.

13 “Among the prophets of Samaria I saw an offensive thing: They prophesied by Baal and led My people Israel astray.

And I have seen folly in the prophets of Samaria; they prophesied by Baal, and caused my people Israel to err.

14 And among the prophets of Jerusalem I have seen a horrible thing: They commit adultery and walk in lies. They strengthen the hands of evildoers, so that no one turns his back on wickedness. They are all like Sodom to Me; the people of Jerusalem are like Gomorrah.”

In 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.

15 Therefore this is what the LORD of Hosts says concerning the prophets: “I will feed them wormwood and give them poisoned water to drink, for from the prophets of Jerusalem ungodliness has spread throughout the land.”

Therefore 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.

16 This is what the LORD of Hosts says: “Do not listen to the words of the prophets who prophesy to you. They are filling you with false hopes. They speak visions from their own minds, not from the mouth of the LORD.

Thus 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.

17 They keep saying to those who despise Me, ‘The LORD says that you will have peace,’ and to everyone who walks in the stubbornness of his own heart, ‘No harm will come to you.’

They 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.

18 But which of them has stood in the council of the LORD to see and hear His word? Who has given heed to His word and obeyed it?

For 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?

19 Behold, the storm of the LORD has gone out with fury, a whirlwind swirling down upon the heads of the wicked.

Behold, the tempest of the LORD, [even his] fury, is gone forth, yea, a whirling tempest: it shall burst upon the head of the wicked.

20 The anger of the LORD will not turn back until He has fully accomplished the purposes of His heart. In the days to come you will understand this clearly.

The 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.

21 I did not send these prophets, yet they have run with their message; I did not speak to them, yet they have prophesied.

I sent not these prophets, yet they ran: I spake not unto them, yet they prophesied.

22 But if they had stood in My council, they would have proclaimed My words to My people and turned them back from their evil ways and deeds.”

But 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.

23 “Am I only a God nearby,” declares the LORD, “and not a God far away?”

Am I a God at hand, saith the LORD, and not a God afar off?

24 “Can a man hide in secret places where I cannot see him?” declares the LORD. “Do I not fill the heavens and the earth?” declares the LORD.

Can 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.

25 “I have heard the sayings of the prophets who prophesy lies in My name: ‘I had a dream! I had a dream!’

I have heard what the prophets have said, that prophesy lies in my name, saying, I have dreamed, I have dreamed.

26 How long will this continue in the hearts of these prophets who prophesy falsehood, these prophets of the delusion of their own minds?

How long shall this be in the heart of the prophets that prophesy lies; even the prophets of the deceit of their own heart?

27 They suppose the dreams that they tell one another will make My people forget My name, just as their fathers forgot My name through the worship of Baal.

which 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.

28 Let the prophet who has a dream retell it, but let him who has My word speak it truthfully. For what is straw compared to grain?” declares the LORD.

The 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.

29 “Is not My word like fire,” declares the LORD, “and like a hammer that smashes a rock?”

Is not my word like as fire? saith the LORD; and like a hammer that breaketh the rock in pieces?

30 “Therefore behold,” declares the LORD, “I am against the prophets who steal from one another words they attribute to Me.”

Therefore, behold, I am against the prophets, saith the LORD, that steal my words every one from his neighbour.

31 “Yes,” declares the LORD, “I am against the prophets who wag their own tongues and proclaim, ‘The LORD declares it.’”

Behold, I am against the prophets, saith the LORD, that use their tongues, and say, He saith.

32 “Indeed,” declares the LORD, “I am against those who prophesy false dreams and retell them to lead My people astray with their reckless lies. It was not I who sent them or commanded them, and they are of no benefit at all to these people,” declares the LORD.

Behold, 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.

33 “Now when this people or a prophet or priest asks you, ‘What is the burden of the LORD?’ you are to say to them, ‘What burden? I will forsake you, declares the LORD.’

And 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.

34 As for the prophet or priest or anyone who claims, ‘This is the burden of the LORD,’ I will punish that man and his household.

And 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.

35 This is what each man is to say to his friend and to his brother: ‘What has the LORD answered?’ or ‘What has the LORD spoken?’

Thus 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?

36 But refer no more to the burden of the LORD, for each man’s word becomes the burden, so that you pervert the words of the living God, the LORD of Hosts, our God.

And 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.

37 Thus you are to say to the prophet: ‘What has the LORD answered you?’ and ‘What has the LORD spoken?’

Thus shalt thou say to the prophet, What hath the LORD answered thee? and, What hath the LORD spoken?

38 But if you claim, ‘This is the burden of the LORD,’ then this is what the LORD says: Because you have said, ‘This is the burden of the LORD,’ and I specifically told you not to make this claim,

But 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;

39 therefore I will surely forget you and will cast you out of My presence, both you and the city that I gave to you and your fathers.

therefore, 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:

40 And I will bring upon you everlasting shame and perpetual humiliation that will never be forgotten.”

and I will bring an everlasting reproach upon you, and a perpetual shame which shall not be forgotten.