Jeremiah 23
1 Woe be vnto the pastors that destroy and scatter the sheepe of my pasture, saith 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 thus saith the Lord God of Israel vnto the pastors that feede my people, Yee haue scattered my flock and thrust them out, and haue not visited them: beholde, I will visite you for the wickednesse of your works, saith 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 And I will gather the remnant of my sheepe out of all countreyes, whither I had driuen them, and will bring them againe to their foldes, and they shall growe and encrease.
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 And I will set vp shepheardes ouer them, which shall feede them: and they shall dread no more nor be afraide, neither shall any of them be lacking, saith 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 dayes come, saith the Lord, that I will raise vnto Dauid a righteous branche, and a King shall reigne, and prosper, and shall execute iudgement, and iustice in the earth.
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 dayes Iudah shalbe saued, and Israel shall dwell safely, and this is the Name wherby they shall call him, The Lord our righteousnesse.
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 Therefore behold, the dayes come, sayth the Lord, that they shall no more say, The Lord liueth, which brought vp the children of Israel out of the lande 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 But the Lord liueth, which brought vp and led the seede of the house of Israel out of the North countrey and from all countryes where I had scattered them, and they shall dwell in their owne lande.
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 Mine heart breaketh within mee, because of the prophets, all my bones shake: I am like a drunken man (and like a man whome wine hath ouercome) for the presence of the Lord and for his holie wordes.
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 lande is full of adulterers, and because of othes the lande mourneth, the pleasant places of the wildernesse are dried vp, and their course is euill, and their force is not right.
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 the prophet and the Priest doe wickedly: and their wickednesse haue I found in mine House, saith the Lord.
Yahweh says, “[Yes, even] the priests and the prophets are ungodly; they do wicked things even in my temple.
12 Wherefore their way shalbe vnto them as slipperie wayes in the darknesse: they shalbe driuen foorth and fall therein: for I will bring a plague vpon them, euen the yeere of their visitation, saith the Lord.
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 And I haue seene foolishnesse in the prophets of Samaria, that prophecied in Baal, and caused my people Israel to erre.
[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 I haue seene also in the prophets of Ierusalem filthines: they commit adulterie and walke in lies: they strengthen also the hands of the wicked that none can returne from his wickednesse: they are all vnto me as Sodom, and the inhabitants thereof as Gomorah.
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 thus saith the Lord of hostes concerning the prophets, Beholde, I will feede them with wormewood, and make them drinke the water of gall: for from the prophets of Ierusalem is wickednesse gone forth into all the lande.
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 Thus sayth ye Lord of hosts, Heare not the wordes of the prophets that prophecie vnto you, and teach you vanitie: they speake the vision of their owne heart, and not out of 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 say still vnto them that despise mee, The Lord hath sayde, Ye shall haue peace: and they say vnto euery one that walketh after the stubbernesse of his owne heart, No euill shall come vpon 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 For who hath stand in the counsel of the Lord that he hath perceiued and heard his word? Who hath marked his worde and heard 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 Beholde, the tempest of the Lord goeth forth in his wrath, and a violent whirlewinde shall fall downe vpon the head 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 shall not returne vntill he haue executed, and till he haue perfourmed the thoughts of his heart: in the latter dayes ye shall vnderstande it plainely.
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 haue not sent these prophets, sayth the Lord, yet they ranne; I haue not spoken to them, and yet they prophecied.
[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 stande in my counsell, and had declared my words to my people, then they should haue turned them from their euill way, and from the wickednesse of their inuentions.
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 a God at hande, saith the Lord, and not a God farre off?
Yahweh [also] says, “Am I a God who is only nearby? No, I am a God who is far away, also.
24 Can any hide him selfe in secrete places, that I shall not see him, sayth the Lord? Do not I fill heauen and earth, saieth 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 haue heard what the prophets said, that prophecie lies in my Name, saying, I haue dreamed, I haue dreamed.
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 Howe long? Doe the prophets delite to prophecie lies, euen prophecying the deceit of their owne heart?
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 Thinke they to cause my people to forget my Name by their dreames, which they tell euery man to his neyghbour, as their forefathers haue forgotten my Name for 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 The prophet that hath a dreame, let him tell a dreame, and hee that hath my worde, let him speake my worde faithfully: what is the chaffe to the wheate, sayth 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 euen like a fire, sayeth the Lord? and like an hammer, that breaketh the stone?
[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 beholde, I will come against the prophets, saieth the Lord, that steale my word euerie one from his neighbour.
Therefore, [I, ] Yahweh say, 'I oppose all those prophets who steal messages from each other and claim that those messages came from me.
31 Beholde, I will come against the prophets, saith the Lord, which haue sweete tongues, and say, He saith.
I oppose those prophets who speak their own messages but claim that those messages came from me.
32 Beholde, I will come against them that prophecie false dreames, saith the Lord, and doe tell them, and cause my people to erre by their lies, and by their flatteries, and I sent them not, nor commanded them: therefore they bring no profite vnto this people, saith 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 And when this people, or the prophet, or a Priest shall aske thee, saying, What is the burden of the Lord? thou shalt then say vnto them, What burden? I will euen forsake you, saith 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 And the prophet, or the Priest, or the people that shall say, The burden of the Lord, I will euen visite euerie such one, and his house.
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 Thus shall yee say euery one to his neighbour, and euerie one to his brother, What hath the Lord answered? and what hath 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 And the burden of the Lord shall yee mention no more: for euery mans worde shall bee his burden: for ye haue peruerted the words of the liuing God, the Lord of hostes 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 shalt thou say to the Prophet, What hath the Lord answered thee? and what hath 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 And if you say, The burden of the Lord, Then thus saith the Lord, Because yee say this word, The burden of the Lord, and I haue sent vnto you, saying, Ye shall not say, The burden of the Lord,
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 beholde, I, euen I will vtterly forget you, and I will forsake you, and the citie that I gaue you and your fathers, and cast you out of my presence,
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 will bring an euerlasting reproche vpon you, and a perpetual shame which shall neuer be forgotten.
I will cause people to make fun of you forever. People will never forget that you were disgraced.”
