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(A)As for the prophet, if he speaks a deceiving word, I the Lord am the one who deceives that prophet.[a] I will stretch out my hand against him and destroy him from the midst of my people Israel.

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Footnotes

  1. 14:9 The ancient Israelites thought that God could use deception as a means of promoting divine justice; cf. 2 Sm 24:1–3; 1 Kgs 22:19–23.

28 Moses said, “This is how you shall know that the Lord sent me to do all I have done, and that it was not of my own devising:

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For the fool speaks folly,
    his heart plans evil:
Godless actions,
    perverse speech against the Lord,
Letting the hungry go empty
    and the thirsty without drink.(A)

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Chapter 23

A Just Shepherd.[a] (A)Woe to the shepherds who destroy and scatter the flock of my pasture—oracle of the Lord.

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Footnotes

  1. 23:1–8 With the false rulers (shepherds) who have governed his people the Lord contrasts himself, the true shepherd, who will in the times of restoration appoint worthy rulers (vv. 1–4). He will provide a new king from David’s line who will rule justly, fulfilling royal ideals (vv. 5, 6). “The Lord our justice” is an ironic wordplay on the name of the weak King Zedekiah (“The Lord is justice”). Unlike Zedekiah, the future king will be true to the name he bears. Verses 7–8 may have been added during the exile.

16     Thus says the Lord of hosts:
Do not listen to the words of your prophets,
    who fill you with emptiness;
They speak visions from their own fancy,
    not from the mouth of the Lord.(A)

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25 I have heard the prophets who prophesy lies in my name say, “I had a dream! I had a dream!” 26 How long? Will the hearts of the prophets who prophesy lies and their own deceitful fancies ever turn back? 27 By the dreams they tell each other, they plan to make my people forget my name, just as their ancestors forgot my name for Baal.(A) 28 Let the prophets who have dreams tell their dreams; let those who have my word speak my word truthfully!

What has straw to do with wheat?[a]
    —oracle of the Lord.(B)
29 Is not my word like fire—oracle of the Lord
    like a hammer shattering rock?

30 Therefore I am against the prophets—oracle of the Lord—those who steal my words from each other.(C) 31 Yes, I am against the prophets—oracle of the Lord—those who compose their own speeches and call them oracles. 32 Yes, I am against the prophets who tell lying dreams—oracle of the Lord—those who lead my people astray by recounting their reckless lies. It was not I who sent them or commanded them; they do this people no good at all—oracle of the Lord.(D)

33 [b]And when this people or a prophet or a priest asks you, “What is the burden of the Lord?” you shall answer, “You are the burden, and I cast you off”—oracle of the Lord. 34 If a prophet or a priest or anyone else mentions “the burden of the Lord,” I will punish that man and his household. 35 Thus you shall ask, when speaking to one another, “What answer did the Lord give?” or “What did the Lord say?” 36 But “the burden of the Lord” you shall mention no more. For each of you, your own word becomes the burden so that you pervert the words of the living God, the Lord of hosts, our God. 37 Thus shall you ask the prophet, “What answer did the Lord give?” or “What did the Lord say?” 38 But if you ask about “the burden of the Lord,” then thus says the Lord: Because you use this phrase, “the burden of the Lord,” though I forbade you to use it, 39 therefore I will lift you on high and cast you from my presence, you and the city which I gave to you and your ancestors. 40 And I will bring upon you eternal reproach, eternal shame, never to be forgotten.(E)

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Footnotes

  1. 23:28–29 Straw…wheat: a contrast between false and true prophecy. True prophecy is also like fire (cf. 5:14; 20:9), producing violent results (v. 29); Jeremiah’s own life is a testimony of this.
  2. 23:33–40 A wordplay on massa’, which means both “oracle” (usually of woe) and “burden.” In vv. 34–40 the word massa’ itself is forbidden to the people under the meaning of a divine oracle.

11 If one possessed of a lying spirit(A)
    speaks deceitfully, saying,
“I will preach to you wine and strong drink,”
    that one would be the preacher for this people.

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