Jeremiah 23

1 “Woe to shepherds destroying, And scattering the flock of My pasture,” A declaration of YHWH.

Woe to the pastors, that destroy and tear the sheep of my pasture, saith the Lord.

2 Therefore, thus said YHWH, God of Israel, Against the shepherds who feed My people: “You have scattered My flock, and drive them away, And have not inspected them, Behold, I am charging on you the evil of your doings,” A declaration of YHWH.

Therefore thus saith the Lord the God of Israel to the pastors that feed my people: You have scattered my flock, and driven them away, and have not visited them: behold I will visit upon you for the evil of your doings, saith the Lord.

3 “And I gather the remnant of My flock Out of all the lands to where I drove them, And have brought them back to their fold, And they have been fruitful, and multiplied.

And I will gather together the remnant of my flock, out of all the lands into which I have cast them out: and I will make them return to their own fields, and they shall increase and be multiplied.

4 And I have raised shepherds for them, And they have fed them, And they no longer fear, nor are frightened, Nor are they lacking,” A declaration of YHWH.

And I will set up pastors over them, and they shall feed them: they shall fear no more, and they shall not be dismayed: and none shall be wanting of their number, saith the Lord.

5 “Behold, days are coming,” A declaration of YHWH, “And I have raised a righteous shoot to David, And a king has reigned and acted wisely, And done judgment and righteousness in the earth.

Behold the days come, saith the Lord, and I will raise up to David a just branch: and a king shall reign, and shall be wise, and shall execute judgement and justice in the earth.

6 Judah is saved in His days, and Israel dwells confidently, And this [is] His Name that YHWH proclaims Him: Our Righteousness.

In those days shall Juda be saved, and Israel shall dwell confidently: and this is the name that they shall call him: the Lord our just one.

7 Therefore, behold, days are coming,” A declaration of YHWH, “And they no longer say, YHWH lives who brought up The sons of Israel out of the land of Egypt,

Therefore behold the days to come, saith the Lord, and they shall say no more: The Lord liveth, who brought up the children of Israel out of the land of Egypt:

8 But—YHWH lives, 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 to where I drove them, And they have dwelt on their own ground!”

But the Lord liveth, who hath brought out, and brought hither the seed of the house of Israel from the land of the north, and out of all the lands, to which I had cast them forth: and they shall dwell in their own land.

9 In reference to the prophets: My heart has been broken in my midst, All my bones have fluttered, I have been as a man—a drunkard, And as a man—wine has passed over him, Because of YHWH, and of His holy words.

To the prophets: My heart is broken within me, all my bones tremble: I am become as a drunken man, and as a man full of wine, at the presence of the Lord, and at the presence of his holy words.

10 For the land has been full of adulterers, For the land has mourned because of these, The pleasant places of the wilderness have dried up, And their course is evil, and their might—not right.

Because the land is full of adulterers, because the land hath mourned by reason of cursing, the fields of the desert are dried up: and their course is become evil, and their strength unlike.

11 “For both prophet and priest have been profane, Indeed, I found their wickedness in My house,” A declaration of YHWH.

For the prophet and the priest are defiled: and in my house I have found their wickedness, saith the Lord.

12 “Therefore their way is as slippery places to them, They are driven into thick darkness, And they have fallen in it, For I bring in calamity against them, The year of their inspection,” A declaration of YHWH.

Therefore their way shall be as a slippery way in the dark: for they shall be driven on, and fall therein: for I will bring evils upon them, the year of their visitation, saith the Lord.

13 “And I have seen folly in prophets of Samaria, They have prophesied by Ba‘al, And cause My people—Israel—to err.

And I have seen folly in the prophets of Samaria: they prophesied in Baal, and deceived my people Israel.

14 And I have seen a horrible thing in prophets of Jerusalem, Committing adultery, and walking falsely, Indeed, they strengthened the hands of evildoers, So that they have not turned back, Each from his wickedness, All of them have been as Sodom to me, And its inhabitants as Gomorrah.”

And I have seen the likeness of adulterers, and the way of lying in the prophets of Jerusalem: and they strengthened the hand of the wicked, that no man should return from his evil doings: that are all become unto me as Sodom, and the inhabitants thereof as Gomorrha.

15 Therefore, thus said YHWH of Hosts, concerning the prophets: “Behold, I am causing them to eat wormwood, And have caused them to drink water of gall, For from prophets of Jerusalem Profanity has gone forth to all the land.”

Therefore thus saith the Lord of hosts to the prophets: Behold I will feed them with wormwood, and I will give them gall to drink: for from the prophets of Jerusalem corruption has gone forth into all the land.

16 Thus said YHWH of Hosts: “You do not listen to the words Of the prophets who are prophesying to you, They are making you vain things, They speak a vision of their own heart, Not from the mouth of YHWH.

Thus saith the Lord of hosts: Hearken not to the words of the prophets that prophesy to you, and deceive you: they speak a vision of their own heart, and not out of the mouth of the Lord.

17 Diligently saying to those despising, The word of YHWH: Peace is for you, And [to] everyone walking in the stubbornness of his heart, they have said: Evil does not come to you.”

They say to them that blaspheme me: The Lord hath said: You shall have peace: and to every one that walketh in the perverseness of his own heart, they have said: No evil shall come to you.

18 For who has stood in the counsel of YHWH, And sees and hears His word? Who has regarded My word, and listens?

For who hath stood in the counsel of the Lord, and hath seen and heard his word? Who hath considered his word and heard it?

19 Behold, a whirlwind of YHWH—Fury has gone out, even a piercing whirlwind, It stays on the head of the wicked.

Behold the whirlwind of the Lord’s indignation shall come forth, and a tempest shall break out and come upon the head of the wicked.

20 The anger of YHWH does not turn back Until His doing, and until His establishing, The thoughts of His heart, In the latter end of the days You attend to it with understanding.

The wrath of the Lord shall not return till he execute it, and till he accomplish the thought of his heart: in the latter days you shall understand his counsel.

21 “I have not sent the prophets, and they have run, I have not spoken to them, and they have prophesied.

I did not send prophets, yet they ran: I have not spoken to them, yet they prophesied.

22 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.

If they stood in my counsel, and had made my words known to my people, I should have turned them from their evil way and from their wicked doings.

23 [Am] I a God near,” A declaration of YHWH, “And not a God far off?

Am I, think ye, a God at hand, saith the Lord, and not a God afar off?

24 Is anyone hidden in secret places, And I do not see him?” A declaration of YHWH, “Do I not fill the heavens and the earth?” A declaration of YHWH.

Shall a man be hid in secret places, and I not see him, saith the Lord? do not I fill heaven and earth, saith the Lord?

25 “I have heard that which the prophets said, Who prophesy falsehood in My Name, saying, I have dreamed, I have dreamed.

I have heard what the prophets said, that prophesy lies in my name, and say: I have dreamed, I have dreamed.

26 Until when is it in the heart of the prophets? The prophets of falsehood, Indeed, prophets of the deceit of their heart,

How long shall this be in the heart of the prophets that prophesy lies, and that prophesy the delusions of their own heart?

27 Who are devising to cause My people To forget My Name by their dreams, That they each recount to his neighbor, As their fathers forgot My Name for Ba‘al.

Who seek to make my people forget my name through their dreams, which they tell every man to his neighbor: as their fathers forgot my name for Baal.

28 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 does the straw [have to do] with the grain?” A declaration of YHWH.

The prophet that hath a dream, let him tell a dream: and he that hath my word, let him speak my word with truth: what hath the chaff to do with the wheat, saith the Lord?

29 “Is it not thus? My word [is] as fire,” A declaration of YHWH. “And as a hammer—it breaks a rock in pieces.

Are not my words as a fire, saith the Lord: and as a hammer that breaketh the rock in pieces?

30 Therefore, behold, I [am] against the prophets,” A declaration of YHWH, “Each stealing My words from his neighbor.

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

31 Behold, I [am] against the prophets,” A declaration of YHWH, “Who are making their tongue smooth, And they affirm—an affirmation.

Behold I am against the prophets, saith the Lord: who use their tongues, and say: The Lord saith it.

32 Behold, I [am] against the prophets of false dreams,” A declaration of YHWH, “And they recount them, and cause My people to err, By their falsehoods, and by their instability, And I have not sent them, Nor have I commanded them, And they are not profitable to this people at all,” A declaration of YHWH.

Behold I am against the prophets that have lying dreams, saith the Lord: and tell them, and cause my people to err by their lying, and by their wonders: when I sent them not, nor commanded them, who have not profited this people at all, saith the Lord.

33 “And when this people, or the prophet, Or a priest, asks you, saying, What [is] the burden of YHWH? Then you have said to them: You [are] the burden, and I have left you,” A declaration of YHWH.

If therefore this people, or the prophet, or the priest shall ask thee, saying: What is the burden of the Lord? thou shalt say to them: You are the burden: for I will cast you away, saith the Lord.

34 “And the prophet, and the priest, and the people, That says, The burden of YHWH, I have seen after that man, and after his house.

And as for the prophet, and the priest, and the people that shall say: The burden of the Lord: I will visit upon that man, and upon his house.

35 Thus you each say to his neighbor, And each to his brother: What has YHWH answered? And what has YHWH spoken?

Thus shall you say every one to his neighbor, and to his brother: What hath the Lord answered? and what hath the Lord spoken?

36 And you do not mention the burden of YHWH anymore, For the burden to each is His word, And you have overturned the words of the living God, YHWH of Hosts, our God.

And the burden of the Lord shall be mentioned no more, for every man’s word shall be his burden: for you have perverted the words of the living God, of the Lord of hosts our God.

37 Thus you say to the prophet, What has YHWH answered you? And what has YHWH spoken?

Thus shalt thou say to the prophet: What hath the Lord answered thee? and what hath the Lord spoken?

38 And if you say, The burden of YHWH, Therefore, thus said YHWH: Because of your saying this word, The burden of YHWH, And I send to you, saying, You do not say, The burden of YHWH.

But if you shall say: The burden of the Lord: therefore thus saith the Lord: Because you have said this word: The burden of the Lord: and I have sent to you saying: Say not, The burden of the Lord:

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

Therefore behold I will take you away carrying you, and will forsake you, and the city which I gave to you, and to your fathers, out of my presence.

40 And I have put continuous reproach on you, And continuous shame that is not forgotten!”

And I will bring an everlasting reproach upon you, and a perpetual shame which shall never be forgotten.