Jeremiah 23

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

Yahweh declares, “Terrible things will happen to [the leaders] [MET] [of my people—those who are like] shepherds of [the people who are like] my sheep—because they have scattered my people and sent them away, and have not taken care of them.

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.

So, this is what [I, ] Yahweh, the God whom the Israeli [people worship], say to those leaders: ‘Instead of taking care of my people and [leading them to places where they are safe, like a shepherd does for] his sheep, you have scattered them. So I will punish you for the evil things that you have done.

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.

But later I will gather those who are still alive, from the countries where I have forced them to go. I will bring them back to their own country, where they will have many children, and their number/population will increase.

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.

[Then] I will appoint [other] leaders for my people, leaders who will take care of them. And my people will never be afraid [DOU] of anything again, and none of them will be [like a] lost [sheep].’”

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.

Yahweh [also] says, “Some day I will appoint for you a righteous man who will be a descendant of King David. He will be a king who rules wisely. He will do what is just and right throughout 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.

At that time, all the Israeli people [DOU] will be saved [from their enemies], and they will be safe. And his name will be ‘Yahweh, the one who vindicates/defends us.’”

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.’

Yahweh [also] says that at that time, people [who are solemnly promising to do something] will no longer say, “[I will do it as surely] as Yahweh lives, who rescued the Israeli people from 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.”

Instead, they will say, “[I will do it] as surely as Yahweh lives, who brought [us] Israeli people back to our own land, from the land to the northeast and from all the [other] countries to which he had exiled us.” And they will live in their own land [again].

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.

I am very shocked because of the sacred message that Yahweh has spoken about [what will happen to] the [false] prophets; [it is as though] all my bones shake. I stagger like a man who is drunk after drinking a lot of wine.

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.

The land is full of [people who commit] adultery; and [Yahweh] has cursed the land. Even the pastures in the desert are all dried up, because the people do what is evil, and [the false prophets] use their power to do things that are not just/fair.

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

Yahweh says, “[Yes, even] the priests and the prophets are ungodly; they do wicked things even in my temple.

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,”

Therefore, [it will be as though] the paths that they walk on are slippery. [It will be as though] they are being chased in the darkness, and there they will fall down, because I will cause them to experience disasters at the time that I will punish them. [That will surely happen because I], Yahweh, have said it.”

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

[Previously] I saw that the prophets in Samaria were doing something that was wrong; they were prophesying, saying that Baal [gave them the messages that they were proclaiming], and they were deceiving my people.

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.”

And [now] I have seen the prophets in Jerusalem doing terrible things. They commit adultery and habitually tell lies. They encourage evil people to continue to do evil things, with the result that the people do not stop sinning. Those prophets are as wicked as the people in Sodom and Gomorrah were.

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.”

So, this is what the Commander of the armies of angels says about those [false] prophets: “I will give those prophets bitter things to eat and poison to drink, because it is because of them that this land is filled with [people who do] wicked things.”

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.

This is what the Commander of the armies of angels says: “Do not pay any attention to what those [false] prophets say to you, because they are just deceiving you. They tell you about visions that they have thought/created [only] in their own minds, not about visions that I have given them.

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 habitually say to those who hate me, ‘[Yahweh says that] you will have peace.’ And they say to those who stubbornly do what they want to do, ‘Nothing bad will happen to you [because of your doing those things].’

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?

But none of them has ever been in a council [meeting] in heaven in order to listen to a message from me. None of them has paid attention to anything that [I], Yahweh, have said.

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

So, listen to this: I will punish them; it will be [like] a great storm; it will come down [like] a whirlwind, swirling around the heads of those wicked people.

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.

I will not stop being angry until I completely accomplish all that I have planned. In the future, you will understand [all of] this clearly.”

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

[Yahweh also says, ] “I have not appointed those prophets, but they run [around telling people their messages]. I did not speak to them, but they [continue to] prophesy.

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.”

If they had been in my council [meetings], they would have been able to speak messages from me, and they would have caused people to turn away from committing evil things.”

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

Yahweh [also] says, “Am I a God who is only nearby? No, I am a God who is far away, also.

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.

So, no one can hide in some secret place with the result that I cannot see him. I am everywhere, in heaven and on the earth! [That is what I], Yahweh, say!

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 those prophets prophesy lies, saying that they are telling people messages from me. They say, ‘[Listen to me tell you] the dream that God gave me last night! I [really] had this dream!’

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 will they continue to do this? How long will those lying prophets continue to prophesy things that come only from their own minds?

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.

They think that because of the dreams that they tell to each other, people will forget me, like their ancestors forgot about me when they started to worship 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.

Allow those [false] prophets to tell people their dreams, but those who have messages that [really] come from me should proclaim those messages faithfully. I, Yahweh, say [that like] straw and grain are certainly very different, [my messages and the messages from those false prophets are certainly very different].

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

[It is as though] my messages [burn] like a fire; they [strike people’s inner beings like] someone strikes a rock with a hammer and smashes it into pieces.

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

Therefore, [I, ] Yahweh say, 'I oppose all those prophets who steal messages from each other and claim that those messages came from me.

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

I oppose those prophets who speak their own messages but claim that those messages came from me.

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.

I oppose those prophets who falsely say that I told them something in a vision, but they are [only] telling lies that cause my people to sin. I did not send those prophets. I did not even appoint them [to be prophets]. And they have no messages that will benefit my people at all.' [That is what I, ] Yahweh, declare.”

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.’

[Yahweh said to me], “If one of those prophets or priests or one of the [other] people asks you, ‘What problem has Yahweh told you about [now]?’, you must reply, ‘You are the problem! And Yahweh says that he will abandon you!’

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 if any prophet or priest or anyone [else falsely] says, ‘[I have] a prophecy from Yahweh,’ I will punish that person and his family.

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?’

What you should continually ask each other is, ‘[When you spoke to Yahweh, ] what did he reply? What is he saying [to us]?’

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.

But stop saying ‘[I have] a prophecy/message from Yahweh,’ because those who say that are doing it only because they want people to accept their ideas, and by doing that they distort/change the messages that are from our God, the Commander of the armies of angels.

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

This is what you should ask each prophet: ‘What did Yahweh reply [when you talked to him]? What is he saying [to us]?’

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,

If he replies, ‘[What I told you] is a prophecy/message from Yahweh,’ you should say to him, ‘You have continued to say, “[I received] a prophecy/message from Yahweh” even though I told you to not claim that you have received prophecies/messages from Yahweh.’

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.

So I [, Yahweh, ] will get rid of you [false prophets]. I will expel you from my presence. And I will get rid of this city that I gave to you and to your ancestors.

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

I will cause people to make fun of you forever. People will never forget that you were disgraced.”