Jeremiah 23:27-40

Complete Jewish Bible

²⁷With their dreams that they keep telling each other, they hope to cause my people to forget my name; just as their ancestors forgot my name when they worshipped Ba‘al.

²⁸“If a prophet has a dream,
let him tell it as a dream.
But someone who has my word
should speak my word faithfully.
What do chaff and wheat
have in common?” asks Adonai.
²⁹“Isn’t my word like fire,” asks Adonai,
“like a hammer shattering rocks?
³⁰So, I am against the prophets,” says Adonai,
“who steal my words from each other.
³¹Yes, I am against the prophets,” says Adonai,
“who speak their own words, then add, ‘He says.’

³²“I am against those who concoct prophecies out of fake dreams,” says Adonai. “They tell them, and by their lies and arrogance they lead my people astray. I didn’t send them, I didn’t commission them, and they don’t do this people any good at all,” says Adonai.

³³“When [someone from] this people, a prophet or a cohen asks you, ‘What is the burden of Adonai?’ you are to answer them, ‘What burden? I am throwing you off,’ says Adonai. ³⁴As for a prophet, cohen or [someone else from] this people who speaks about ‘the burden of Adonai,’ I will punish him and his household.”

³⁵So, when you speak with your neighbor or brother, ask, “What answer has Adonai given?” or “What has Adonai said?” ³⁶Don’t use the expression, “burden of Adonai” any more; for every person’s own word will be his burden. Must you twist the words of the living God, of Adonai-Tzva’ot, our God? ³⁷So, when speaking to a prophet, ask, “What answer has Adonai given you?” or “What did Adonai say?” ³⁸But if you talk about “the burden of Adonai,” then here is what Adonai says: “Because you use this expression, ‘the burden of Adonai,’ after I have already sent you the order not to say, ‘the burden of Adonai,’ ³⁹I will lift you up, burden that you are, and throw you off, away from my presence — you and the city I gave you and your ancestors. ⁴⁰Then I will subject you to everlasting disgrace — eternal, unforgettable shame.”