Jeremiah 23
1 What trouble is coming to the shepherds who destroy and scatter the sheep of my pasture! declares the Lord.
Woe to the shepherds, Who lose and scatter the sheep of my pasture, saith Jehovah.
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.
For concerning the shepherds, the feeders of my people, Thus saith Jehovah, the God of Israel: Ye have scattered my flock, and driven them away, And have not taken care of them. Behold, I am about to requite you For the evil of your doings, saith Jehovah.
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.
But I will gather the remnant of my flock From all the countries whither I have driven them, And I will bring them back to their folds, And they shall be fruitful and increase.
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 raise up shepherds over them, who shall feed them; They shall fear no more, nor be dismayed; Nor shall they be lost, saith Jehovah.
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.
Behold, the days are coming, saith Jehovah, When I will raise up from David a righteous Branch, And a king shall reign and prosper, And shall maintain justice and equity 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 shall be saved, And Israel shall dwell securely; And this is the name which shall be given him, Jehovah-is-our-salvation.
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.”
Therefore, behold, the days shall come, saith Jehovah, When they shall no more say, “As Jehovah liveth Who brought up the children of Israel from 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, “As Jehovah liveth Who brought up and led the race of Israel from the north country, And from all the countries whither I had driven them!” And they shall dwell in their own land.
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.
Concerning the Prophets. My heart is broken within me; All my bones tremble. I am become like a drunken man, Like a man whom wine hath overcome, Because of Jehovah, 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 adulteries; Because of a curse doth the land mourn; The pastures of the waste are dried up; For they run to do evil, And their might is without right.
11 Both prophets and priests show no respect for me. I see wickedness even in my Temple, declares the Lord.
Yea, both prophet and priest are profane; Even in my house have I found their wickedness, saith Jehovah.
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.
Therefore shall their way become as slippery places in the dark; They shall be driven on and fall therein; For I will bring evil upon them In the time of their visitation, saith Jehovah.
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.
In the prophets of Samaria have I seen folly; They prophesy in the name of Baal, and cause my people Israel to err.
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.
In the prophets of Jerusalem also have I seen a horrible thing; They commit adultery, and walk in falsehood; They strengthen the hands of evil-doers, So that none doth turn from his iniquity. They have all become to me as Sodom, And her inhabitants as 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.
Therefore thus saith Jehovah of hosts concerning the prophets: Behold, I will feed them with wormwood, And give them the water of hemlock to drink; For from the prophets of Jerusalem Hath profaneness gone forth 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.
Thus saith Jehovah of hosts: Hearken not to the words of the prophets; They lead you to vanity; They utter the vision of their own heart, And not from the mouth of Jehovah.
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.”
To them that despise me they say continually, “Jehovah hath said, Ye shall have peace”; And to every one that walketh after the perverseness of his heart, “No evil shall come upon 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 who of them hath stood in the council of Jehovah, And hath seen and heard his word? Who hath listened to his word and heard it?
19 Watch out! The Lord has sent out a furious storm, a tornado swirling around the heads of the wicked.
Behold a whirlwind from Jehovah goeth forth in fury, Even a rushing whirlwind; Upon the head of the wicked shall it rush.
20 The Lord's anger won't fade until he's finished doing everything he wants. Only then will you really understand.
The fierce anger of Jehovah shall not turn back, Until he shall have executed, until he shall have accomplished the purpose of his heart. In the latter days ye shall understand it fully.
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 sent not these prophets, yet they ran; I spake not to them, yet they prophesied.
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.
For if they had stood in my council, Then would they have caused my people to hear my words, And would have turned them from their evil way. And from the wickedness of their doings.
23 Am I only a local God and not a God who operates widely? asks the Lord.
Am I a God near at hand, saith Jehovah, And not a God afar off?
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.
Can any one hide himself in secret places, So that I shall not see him? saith Jehovah; Do I nor fill heaven and earth? saith Jehovah.
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!”
I have heard what the prophets say, Who prophesy falsehood in my name, Saying, “I have dreamed, I have dreamed.”
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?
How long shall this be In the heart of the prophets, who prophesy falsehood, The prophets of the deceit of their own heart,
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.
Who think to cause my people to forget my name By the dreams which they relate one to another, As their fathers forgot my name through 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.
The prophet who hath a dream, let him tell a dream; And he that hath my word, let him speak my word truly! What is the chaff to the wheat? saith Jehovah.
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, saith Jehovah, And like a hammer, that breaketh the rock in pieces?
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.
Therefore, behold, I am against the prophets, saith Jehovah, That steal my words one from another.
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.”
Behold, I am against the prophets, saith Jehovah, That take their tongues and utter oracles.
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.
Behold, I am against the prophets of false dreams, saith Jehovah, Who tell them, and cause my people to err By their lies and their arrogance. I have not sent them, nor commanded them, And they shall not profit this people at all, saith Jehovah.
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 when this people, or a prophet, or a priest Shall ask thee, saying, “What is the burden from Jehovah?” Then say thou to them, “What is the burden?” That I will cast you away, saith Jehovah.
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 the prophet, the priest, and the people, Who shall say, “The burden of Jehovah,” I will punish that man and 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?”
Thus shall ye speak, one to another: “What hath Jehovah answered?” And, “What hath Jehovah spoken?”
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 of a burden of Jehovah shall ye speak no more; Else shall every man's word be his burden, Because ye pervert the words of the living God, Of Jehovah of hosts, our God.
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?”
Thus shalt thou say to the prophet: “What hath Jehovah answered thee?” And, “What hath Jehovah spoken?”
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,
If ye shall say, “The burden of Jehovah,” Then thus saith Jehovah: Because ye say, “The burden of Jehovah,” Although I sent to you and said, Ye shall not say, “The burden of Jehovah,”
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.
Therefore, behold, I will utterly forget you, And I will cast you, and the city which I gave to your fathers, out of my presence;
40 I will disgrace you forever, you shame will never be forgotten.
And I will bring upon you an everlasting reproach, And a perpetual shame which shall not be forgotten.
