Jeremiah 23

1 Woe unto the shepherds that destroy and scatter the flocks of my pasture! saith the Lord.

Woe to shepherds destroying, And scattering the flock of My pasture, An affirmation of Jehovah.

2 Therefore thus hath said the Lord the God of Israel concerning the shepherds that feed my people, Ye have scattered my flocks, and driven them away, and have not taken care of them: now, behold, I will visit upon you the evil of your doings, saith the Lord.

Therefore, thus said Jehovah, God of Israel, Against the shepherds who feed My people, Ye have scattered My flock, and drive them away, And have not inspected them, Lo, I am charging on you the evil of your doings, An affirmation of Jehovah.

3 And I will indeed gather the remnant of my flock together out of all the countries whither I have driven them; and I will bring them back again to their folds: and they shall be fruitful and multiply.

And I do gather the remnant of My flock Out of all the lands whither I drove them, And have brought them back unto their fold, And they have been fruitful, and multiplied.

4 And I will raise up over them shepherds who shall feed them: and they shall fear no more, nor be dismayed, and none of them shall be missing, saith the Lord.

And I have raised for them shepherds, And they have fed them, And they fear no more, nor are affrighted, Nor are they lacking — an affirmation of Jehovah.

5 Behold, days are coming, saith the Lord, when I will raise up unto David a righteous sprout, and he shall reign as king, and prosper, and he shall execute justice and righteousness on the earth.

Lo, days are coming — an affirmation of Jehovah, And I have raised to David a righteous shoot, And a king hath reigned and acted wisely, And done judgment and righteousness in the earth.

6 In his days shall Judah be helped, and Israel shall dwell in safety: and this is his name whereby he shall be called, The Lord is our righteousness.

In his days is Judah saved, and Israel dwelleth confidently, And this his name that Jehovah proclaimeth him, 'Our Righteousness.'

7 Therefore, behold, days are coming, saith the Lord, when they shall no more say, As the Lord liveth, who hath brought up the children of Israel out of the land of Egypt;

Therefore, lo, days are coming, An affirmation of Jehovah, And they do not say any more, Jehovah liveth who brought up The sons of Israel out of the land of Egypt,

8 But, As the Lord liveth, who hath brought up and who hath led forth the seed of the house of Israel out of the north country, and out of all countries whither I had driven them: and they shall dwell in their own land.

But — Jehovah liveth, who brought up, And who brought in, the seed of the house of Israel, From the land of the north, And from all the lands whither I drove them, And they have dwelt on their own ground!

9 To the prophets—Broken is my heart within me; all my bones shake; I am like a drunken man, and like a person whom wine hath overcome, because of the Lord, and because of his holy words.

In reference to the prophets: Broken hath been my heart in my midst, Fluttered have all my bones, I have been as a man — a drunkard, And as a man — wine hath passed over him, Because of Jehovah, and of His holy words.

10 For of adulterers is the land full; for because of false swearing mourneth the land, dried up are the pastures in the wilderness; because their course was for evil, and their strength was for injustice.

For of adulterers hath the land been full, For because of these hath the land mourned, Dried up hath been the pleasant places of the wilderness, And their course is evil, and their might — not right.

11 For both prophet and priest are hypocrites: yea, in my own house have I found their wickedness, saith the Lord.

For both prophet and priest have been profane, Yea, in My house I found their wickedness, An affirmation of Jehovah.

12 Therefore shall their way be unto them as slippery ways in the darkness; they shall be pushed forward, and fall thereon; for I will bring upon them evil, the year of their punishment, saith the Lord.

Therefore is their way to them as slippery places, Into thick darkness they are driven, And they have fallen in it, For I bring in against them evil, The year of their inspection, An affirmation of Jehovah.

13 And on the prophets of Samaria have I seen absurdity: they prophesied by Ba'al, and misled my people Israel.

And in prophets of Samaria I have seen folly, They have prophesied by Baal, And cause my people — Israel — to err.

14 But on the prophets of Jerusalem have I seen a horrible thing; they commit adultery, and walk in falsehood; and they strengthen the hands of evil-doers, so that not one of these doth return from his wickedness: they are become unto me all of them as Sodom, and its inhabitants as Gomorrah.

And in prophets of Jerusalem I have seen a horrible thing, Committing adultery, and walking falsely, Yea, they strengthened the hands of evil doers, So that they have not turned back Each from his wickedness, They have been to me — all of them — as Sodom, And its inhabitants as Gomorrah.

15 Therefore thus hath said the Lord of hosts concerning the prophets, Behold, I will feed them with wormwood, and make them drink poison-water; for from the prophets of Jerusalem is hypocrisy gone forth over all the land.

Therefore, thus said Jehovah of Hosts, concerning the prophets: Lo, I am causing them to eat wormwood, And have caused them to drink water of gall, For, from prophets of Jerusalem Hath profanity gone forth to all the land.

16 Thus hath said the Lord of hosts, Hearken not unto the words of the prophets that prophesy unto you, they bring you unto vanity: a vision of their own heart do they ever speak, not out of the mouth of the Lord.

Thus said Jehovah of Hosts: Ye do not hearken unto the words Of the prophets who are prophesying to you, They are making you vain things, A vision of their own heart they speak, Not from the mouth of Jehovah.

17 They say indeed unto those that incense me, The Lord hath spoken, Peace shall ye have; and unto every one that walketh in the stubbornness of his own heart, they said, There shall come no evil upon you.

Saying diligently to those despising The word of Jehovah: Peace is for you, And [to] every one walking in the stubbornness of his heart they have said: Evil doth not come in unto you.

18 For who hath stood in the secret counsel of the Lord, that he could perceive and hear his word? who hath listened to his word and heard it?

For who hath stood in the counsel of Jehovah, And seeth and heareth His word? Who hath regarded My word, and hearkeneth?

19 Behold, the storm-wind of the Lord is gone forth in fury, yea, a whirling storm: upon the head of the wicked shall it fall grievously.

Lo, a whirlwind of Jehovah — Fury hath gone out, even a piercing whirlwind, On the head of the wicked it stayeth.

20 The anger of the Lord will not return, until he have executed, and until he have fulfilled the purposes of his heart: in the end of days shall ye understand this fully.

The anger of Jehovah doth not turn back Till His doing, and till His establishing, The thoughts of His heart, In the latter end of the days ye attend to it With understanding.

21 I had not sent these prophets, yet they ran: I had not spoken to them, yet they prophesied.

I have not sent the prophets, and they have run, I have not spoken unto them, and they have prophesied.

22 But if they had stood in my secret counsel, they should have announced my words to my people, and have caused them to turn back from their evil way, and from the wrongfulness of their doings.

But — if they stood in My counsel, Then they cause My people to hear My words, And they turn them back from their evil way, And from the evil of their doings.

23 Am I a God for those near at hand, saith the Lord, and not a God for those who are afar off?

A God near [am] I — an affirmation of Jehovah, And not a God afar off?

24 If a man should hide himself in secret places should I not then see him? saith the Lord. Do I not fill the heavens and the earth? saith the Lord.

Is any one hidden in secret places, And I see him not? an affirmation of Jehovah, Do not I fill the heavens and the earth? An affirmation of Jehovah.

25 I have heard what the prophets have said, that prophesy falsely in my name, saying, I have dreamt, I have dreamt.

I have heard that which the prophets said, Who prophesy in My name falsehood, saying, 'I have dreamed, I have dreamed.'

26 How long shall it be in the heart of the prophets that prophesy falsehood? yea, the prophets of the deceit of their own heart, —

Till when is it in the heart of the prophets? The prophets of falsehood, Yea, prophets of the deceit of their heart,

27 [How long] do they think to cause my people to forget my name by their dreams which they relate every man to his neighbor, as their fathers forgot my name for the sake of Ba'al?

Who are devising to cause My people To forget My name by their dreams, That they recount each to his neighbour, As their fathers forgot my name for Baal.

28 The prophet that hath had a dream, let him relate his dream; and he that hath received my word, let him speak my word of truth. What hath the straw to do with the corn? saith the Lord.

The prophet with whom [is] a dream, Let him recount the dream, And he with whom [is] My word, Let him truly speak My word. What — to the straw with the corn? An affirmation of Jehovah.

29 Is not thus my word, like the fire? saith the Lord, and like a hammer that shivereth the rock?

Is it not thus? My word [is] as a fire, An affirmation of Jehovah. And as a hammer — it breaketh in pieces a rock.

30 Therefore, behold, I am against the prophets, saith the Lord, that steal my words every one from his neighbor.

Therefore, lo, I [am] against the prophets, An affirmation of Jehovah, Stealing My words each from his neighbour.

31 Behold, I am against the prophets, saith the Lord, that use their own word, and say, [The Lord] saith.

Lo, I [am] against the prophets, An affirmation of Jehovah, Who are making smooth their tongue, And they affirm — an affirmation.

32 Behold, I am against those that prophesy with false dreams, saith the Lord, and do relate them, and mislead my people by their falsehoods, and by their vain boasting: while I have not sent them, nor commanded them; and they cannot bring the least profit to this people, saith the Lord.

Lo, I [am] against the prophets of false dreams, An affirmation of Jehovah, And they recount them, and cause my people to err, By their falsehoods, and by their instability, And I — I have not sent them, Nor have I commanded them, And they are not at all profitable to this people, An affirmation of Jehovah.

33 And if this people, or the prophet, or a priest, should ask thee, saying, What is the message of the Lord? then shalt thou say unto them, Because of this “What is the message?” will I even cast you off, saith the Lord.

And when this people, or the prophet, Or a priest, doth ask thee, saying, What [is] the burden of Jehovah? Then thou hast said unto them: Ye [are] the burden, and I have left you, An affirmation of Jehovah.

34 And as for the prophet, and the priest, and the people, that will say, “A message of the Lord,” I will even inflict punishment on that man and on his house.

And the prophet, and the priest, and the people, That saith, The burden of Jehovah, I have seen after that man, and after his house.

35 Thus shall ye say every one to his neighbor, and every one to his brother, What hath the Lord answered? and, What hath the Lord spoken?

Thus do ye say each unto his neighbour, And each unto his brother: What hath Jehovah answered? And what hath Jehovah spoken?

36 But “A message of the Lord” shall ye not mention any more; for the message cometh indeed to the man of his [prophetic] word; but ye pervert the words of the living God, of the Lord of hosts our God.

And the burden of Jehovah ye do not mention any more, For the burden to each is — His word, And ye have overturned the words of the living God, Jehovah of Hosts, our God.

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

Thus dost thou say unto the prophet What hath Jehovah answered thee? And what hath Jehovah spoken?

38 But if ye will say, “A message of the Lord,” then thus saith the Lord, Because ye say this word, “A message of the Lord,” and I have sent unto you, saying, Ye shall not say, “A message of the Lord:”

And if the burden of Jehovah ye say, Therefore thus said Jehovah: Because of your saying this word, The burden of Jehovah, And I do send unto you, saying, Ye do not say, The burden of Jehovah.

39 Therefore, behold, I am here, and I will tear you completely away, and I will cast you off, and the city that I have given to you and to your fathers, out of my presence;

Therefore, lo, I — I have taken you utterly away, And I have sent you out, And the city that I gave to you, And to your fathers, from before My face,

40 And I will lay upon you an everlasting disgrace, and a perpetual shame, which shall not be forgotten.

And I have put on you reproach age-during, And shame age-during that is not forgotten!