Jeremiah 23
1 What trouble is coming to the shepherds who destroy and scatter the sheep of my pasture! declares the Lord.
A curse is on the keepers who are causing the destruction and loss of the sheep of my field, says the Lord.
2 This is what the Lord, the God of Israel, says about the shepherds who were meant to look after my people: You have scattered my flock. You have chased them away You didn't take care of them, so now I will take care of you for all the evil you've done, declares the Lord.
So this is what the Lord, the God of Israel, has said against the keepers who have the care of my people: You have let my flock be broken up, driving them away and not caring for them; see, I will send on you the punishment for the evil of your doings, says the Lord.
3 I myself will gather what's left of my flock from all the countries where I exiled them, and I will bring them back to their pasture, where they will increase in number.
And I will get the rest of my flock together from all the countries where I have sent them, and will make them come back again to their resting-place; and they will have offspring and be increased.
4 I will put shepherds in charge of them who will take care of them, and they won't be afraid or discouraged anymore, and none of them will be missing, declares the Lord.
And I will put over them keepers who will take care of them: never again will they be overcome with fear or be troubled, and there will not be the loss of one of them, says the Lord.
5 Look, the time is coming, declares the Lord, when I will choose a descendant of David who does what is right. As king he will rule with wisdom and do what is just and right throughout the country.
See, the days are coming, says the Lord, when I will give to David a true Branch, and he will be ruling as king, acting wisely, doing what is right, and judging uprightly in the land.
6 When he is king, Judah will be saved, and Israel will live in safety. This is the name he will be called: The Lord Who Makes Us Right.
In his days Judah will have salvation and Israel will be living without fear: and this is the name by which he will be named, The Lord is our righteousness.
7 Look, the time is coming, declares the Lord, when people won't say anymore, “On the Lord's life, who led the Israelites out of Egypt.”
And so, truly, the days are coming when they will say no longer, By the living Lord, who took the children of Israel up out of the land of Egypt;
8 Instead they'll say, “On the Lord's life, who led the Israelites back from the northern country and all the other countries where he had exiled them.” Then they'll live in their own country.
But, By the living Lord, who took up the seed of Israel, and made them come out of the north country, and from all the countries where I had sent them; and they will be living in the land which is theirs.
9 When it comes to the prophets: I'm really disturbed—I'm shaking inside! I stagger like a drunk, like someone who's had too much wine, because of what the Lord is like, because of his holy words.
About the prophets. My heart is broken in me, all my bones are shaking; I am like a man full of strong drink, like a man overcome by wine; because of the Lord, and because of his holy words.
10 For the country is full of people committing adultery so it's under a curse. The land mourns and the desert pastures have dried up. The people live evil lives, using their energy to do wrong.
For the land is full of men who are untrue to their wives; because of the curse the land is full of grief; the green fields of the waste land have become dry; and they are quick to do evil, their strength is for what is not right.
11 Both prophets and priests show no respect for me. I see wickedness even in my Temple, declares the Lord.
For the prophet as well as the priest is unclean; even in my house I have seen their evil-doing, says the Lord.
12 That's why their path will become slippery; they will be chased away in the dark and fall down. I'm going to bring disaster on them at the time when they're punished, declares the Lord.
For this cause their steps will be slipping on their way: they will be forced on into the dark and have a fall there: for I will send evil on them in the year of their punishment, says the Lord.
13 I saw the prophets of Samaria doing something really offensive: They prophesied in the name of Baal and led my people Israel to sin.
And I have seen ways without sense in the prophets of Samaria; they became prophets of the Baal, causing my people Israel to go wrong.
14 But now I see the prophets of Jerusalem doing something even more disgusting: They commit adultery and their lives are a lie. They support the wicked, so no one stops sinning. To me they're all like Sodom; the people of Jerusalem are like Gomorrah.
And in the prophets of Jerusalem I have seen a shocking thing; they are untrue to their wives, walking in deceit, and they make strong the hands of evil-doers, so that a man may not be turned back from his evil-doing: they have all become like Sodom to me, and its people like Gomorrah.
15 So this is what the Lord Almighty says about the prophets: I will give them wormwood to eat and poisoned water to drink, because evil has spread across the country from the prophets of Jerusalem.
So this is what the Lord of armies has said about the prophets: See, I will give them a bitter plant for their food, and bitter water for their drink: for from the prophets of Jerusalem unclean behaviour has gone out into all the land.
16 This is what the Lord Almighty says: Don't pay attention to what these prophets say when they prophesy to you. They're fooling you with visions they make up in their own minds. They're not from me.
This is what the Lord of armies has said: Do not give ear to the words which the prophets say to you: they give you teaching of no value: it is from themselves that their vision comes, and not out of the mouth of the Lord.
17 They keep on telling people who don't respect me, “The Lord says that you'll live in peace,” and to everyone following their own stubborn attitude, “Nothing bad is going to happen to you.”
They keep on saying to those who have no respect for the word of the Lord, You will have peace; and to everyone who goes on his way in the pride of his heart, they say, No evil will come to you.
18 But who of them has attended the Lord's council to hear and understand what he's saying? Who has paid attention to his instructions and followed them?
For which of them has knowledge of the secret of the Lord, and has seen him, and given ear to his word? which of them has taken note of his word and given attention to it?
19 Watch out! The Lord has sent out a furious storm, a tornado swirling around the heads of the wicked.
See, the storm-wind of the Lord, even the heat of his wrath, has gone out, a rolling storm, bursting on the heads of the evil-doers.
20 The Lord's anger won't fade until he's finished doing everything he wants. Only then will you really understand.
The wrath of the Lord will not be turned back till he has done, till he has put into effect, the purposes of his heart: in days to come you will have full knowledge of this.
21 I didn't send these prophets, but they run to deliver their messages. I didn't tell them to say anything, but they still go on prophesying.
I did not send these prophets, but they went running: I said nothing to them, but they gave out the prophet's word.
22 Now if they had attended my council, they would have delivered my instructions to my people and brought them back from their evil way of life, from their evil actions.
But if they had been in my secret, then they would have made my people give ear to my words, turning them from their evil way, and from the evil of their doings.
23 Am I only a local God and not a God who operates widely? asks the Lord.
Am I only a God who is near, says the Lord, and not a God at a distance?
24 Can people hide in secret places where I can't see them? asks the Lord. Don't I operate everywhere in heaven and on earth? asks the Lord.
In what secret place may a man take cover without my seeing him? says the Lord. Is there any place in heaven or earth where I am not? says the Lord.
25 I've listened to the prophets who prophesy lies in my name. They say, “I've had a dream! I've had a dream!”
My ears have been open to what the prophets have said, who say false words in my name, saying, I have had a dream, I have had a dream, I have had a dream,
26 How long will this continue? How long will these prophets go on prophesying these lies which are just the product of their own deluded minds?
Is (my word) in the hearts of the prophets who give out false words, even the prophets of the deceit of their hearts?
27 They think the dreams that they repeat to one another will lead my people to forget me, just like their forefathers forgot me by worshiping Baal.
Whose purpose is to take away the memory of my name from my people by their dreams, of which every man is talking to his neighbour, as their fathers gave up the memory of my name for the Baal.
28 A prophet who has a dream should say it's just a dream, but anyone I've spoken to should deliver my message faithfully. What is straw in comparison to grain? asks the Lord.
If a prophet has a dream, let him give out his dream; and he who has my word, let him give out my word in good faith. What has the dry stem to do with the grain? says the Lord.
29 Doesn't my word burn like fire? asks the Lord. Isn't it like a hammer smashing a rock?
Is not my word like fire? says the Lord; and like a hammer, smashing the rock to bits?
30 Pay attention to this, declares the Lord. I'm opposed to those prophets who steal words from one another and then say it's a message from me.
For this cause I am against the prophets, says the Lord, who take my words, every one from his neighbour.
31 Pay attention to this declares the Lord. I'm opposed to those prophets who make up their own stories and then announce, “This is what the Lord says.”
See, I am against the prophets, says the Lord, who let their tongues say, He has said.
32 Pay attention to this declares the Lord, I'm opposed to those who prophesy fictional dreams. They tell them in order to lead my people into sin with their wild lies. I didn't send them or give them any instructions, and they don't do anybody any good, declares the Lord.
See, I am against the prophets of false dreams, says the Lord, who give them out and make my people go out of the way by their deceit and their uncontrolled words: but I did not send them or give them orders; and they will be of no profit to this people, says the Lord.
33 So when a prophet or priest or anyone else comes and asks you, “What is ‘the burden of the Lord?’” tell them, I'm not giving you a burden. I'm giving up on you, declares the Lord.
And if this people, or the prophet, or a priest, questioning you, says, What word of weight is there from the Lord? then you are to say to them, You are the word, for I will not be troubled with you any more, says the Lord.
34 If a prophet or priest or anyone else claims, “This is the burden of the Lord,” I will punish that person and their family.
And as for the prophet and the priest and the people who say, A word of weight from the Lord! I will send punishment on that man and on his house.
35 This is what everybody should say to their friends and relatives: “What answer has the Lord given?” or, “What has the Lord said?”
But this is what you are to say, every man to his neighbour and every man to his brother, What answer has the Lord given? and, What has the Lord said?
36 Don't talk about “the burden of the Lord” anymore, because everybody has different ideas about this “burden,” perverting the words of the living God, the Lord Almighty, our God.
And you will no longer put people in mind of the word of weight of the Lord: for every man's word will be a weight on himself; for the words of the living God, of the Lord of armies, our God, have been twisted by you.
37 This is what you are to say ask any prophet: “What message has the Lord given you?” and “What has the Lord told you?”
This is what you are to say to the prophet, What answer has the Lord given to you? and, What has the Lord said?
38 If they say, “This is the burden of the Lord,” then this is the Lord's response: Because you said, “This is the burden of the Lord,” and I warned you not to,
But if you say, The word of weight of the Lord; this is what the Lord has said: Because you say, The weight of the Lord, and I have sent to you, saying, You are not to say, The weight of the Lord;
39 now I'm going to pick you up like a burden and throw you away, you and the city that I gave to you and your forefathers.
For this reason, truly, I will put you completely out of my memory, and I will put you, and the town which I gave to you and to your fathers, away from before my face:
40 I will disgrace you forever, you shame will never be forgotten.
And I will give you a name without honour for ever, and unending shame which will never go from the memory of men.
