Jeremiah 23
Holman Christian Standard Bible
The Lord and His Sheep
23 “Woe to the shepherds who destroy and scatter the sheep of My pasture!”(A) This is the Lord’s declaration. 2 “Therefore, this is what the Lord, the God of Israel, says about the shepherds who shepherd My people: You have scattered My flock, banished them, and have not attended to them.(B) I will attend to you because of your evil acts”—this is the Lord’s declaration. 3 “I will gather the remnant of My flock from all the lands where I have banished them, and I will return them to their grazing land. They will become fruitful and numerous.(C) 4 I will raise up shepherds over them who will shepherd them.(D) They will no longer be afraid or dismayed, nor will any be missing.” This is the Lord’s declaration.
The Righteous Branch of David
5 “The days are coming”(E)—this is the Lord’s declaration—
“when I will raise up a Righteous Branch of David.(F)
He will reign wisely as king
and administer justice and righteousness in the land.(G)
6 In His days Judah will be saved,
and Israel will dwell securely.(H)
This is what He will be named:
Yahweh Our Righteousness.(I)
7 “The days are coming”—the Lord’s declaration—“when it will no longer be said, ‘As the Lord lives who brought the Israelites from the land of Egypt,’(J) 8 but, ‘As the Lord lives, who brought and led the descendants of the house of Israel from the land of the north and from all the other countries where I[a] had banished them.’ They will dwell once more in their own land.”(K)
False Prophets Condemned
9 Concerning the prophets:
My heart is broken within me,(L)
and all my bones tremble.
I have become like a drunkard,
like a man overcome by wine,
because of the Lord,
because of His holy words.
10 For the land is full of adulterers;(M)
the land mourns because of the curse,
and the grazing lands in the wilderness have dried up.
Their way of life[b] has become evil,
and their power is not rightly used
11 because both prophet and priest are ungodly,(N)
even in My house I have found their evil.
This is the Lord’s declaration.
12 Therefore, their way will be to them
like slippery paths in the gloom.(O)
They will be driven away and fall down there,
for I will bring disaster on them,
the year of their punishment.
This is the Lord’s declaration.
13 Among the prophets of Samaria
I saw something disgusting:
They prophesied by[c] Baal
and led My people Israel astray.(P)
14 Among the prophets of Jerusalem also
I saw a horrible thing:
They commit adultery and walk in lies.
They strengthen the hands of evildoers,
and none turns his back on evil.
They are all like Sodom(Q) to Me;
Jerusalem’s residents are like Gomorrah.
15 Therefore, this is what the Lord of Hosts says concerning the prophets:
I am about to feed them wormwood
and give them poisoned water to drink,(R)
for from the prophets of Jerusalem
ungodliness[d] has spread throughout the land.
16 This is what the Lord of Hosts says: “Do not listen to the words of the prophets who prophesy to you. They are making you worthless. They speak visions from their own minds, not from the Lord’s mouth. 17 They keep on saying to those who despise Me, ‘The Lord has said: You will have peace.’(S) They have said to everyone who follows the stubbornness of his heart, ‘No harm will come to you.’”
18 For who has stood in the council(T) of the Lord
to see and hear His word?
Who has paid attention to His word and obeyed?
19 Look, a storm from the Lord!(U)
Wrath has gone out,
a whirling storm.
It will whirl about the heads of the wicked.
20 The Lord’s anger will not turn back
until He has completely fulfilled the purposes of His heart.
In time to come you will understand it clearly.(V)
21 I did not send these prophets,(W)
yet they ran with a message.
I did not speak to them,
yet they prophesied.
22 If they had really stood in My council,
they would have enabled My people to hear My words
and would have turned them back from their evil ways
and their evil deeds.
23 “Am I a God who is only near”(X)—this is the Lord’s declaration—“and not a God who is far away? 24 Can a man hide himself in secret places where I cannot see him?”(Y)—the Lord’s declaration. “Do I not fill the heavens and the earth?”(Z)—the Lord’s declaration.
25 “I have heard what the prophets who prophesy a lie in My name have said, ‘I had a dream! I had a dream!’ 26 How long will this continue in the minds of the prophets prophesying lies, prophets of the deceit of their own minds? 27 Through their dreams that they tell one another, they plan to cause My people to forget My name as their fathers forgot My name through Baal worship.(AA) 28 The prophet who has only a dream should recount the dream, but the one who has My word should speak My word truthfully, for what is straw compared to grain?”—this is the Lord’s declaration. 29 “Is not My word like fire”—this is the Lord’s declaration—“and like a hammer that pulverizes rock? 30 Therefore, take note! I am against the prophets”(AB)—the Lord’s declaration—“who steal My words from each other. 31 I am against the prophets”—the Lord’s declaration—“who use their own tongues to make a declaration. 32 I am against those who prophesy false dreams”(AC)—the Lord’s declaration—“telling them and leading My people astray with their falsehoods and their boasting. It was not I who sent or commanded them, and they are of no benefit at all(AD) to these people”—this is the Lord’s declaration.
The Burden of the Lord
33 “Now when these people or a prophet or a priest asks you, ‘What is the burden of the Lord?’ you will respond to them: What is the burden? I will throw you away”—this is the Lord’s declaration. 34 “As for the prophet, priest, or people who say, ‘The burden of the Lord,’ I will punish that man and his household. 35 This is what each man is to say to his friend and to his brother, ‘What has the Lord answered?’ or ‘What has the Lord spoken?’ 36 But no longer refer to[e] the burden of the Lord, for each man’s word becomes his burden and you pervert the words of the living God, the Lord of Hosts, our God. 37 You must say to the prophet: What has the Lord answered you? and What has the Lord spoken? 38 But if you say, ‘The burden of the Lord,’ then this is what the Lord says: Because you have said, ‘The burden of the Lord,’ and I specifically told you not to say, ‘The burden of the Lord,’ 39 I will surely forget you[f] and throw away from My presence both you and the city that I gave you and your fathers. 40 I will bring on you everlasting shame and humiliation(AE) that will never be forgotten.”
Footnotes
- Jeremiah 23:8 LXX reads He
- Jeremiah 23:10 Lit Their manner of running
- Jeremiah 23:13 = in the name of
- Jeremiah 23:15 Or pollution
- Jeremiah 23:36 Or longer remember
- Jeremiah 23:39 Some Hb mss; other Hb mss, LXX, Syr, Vg read surely lift you up
Jeremiah 23
Lexham English Bible
Woe to the Evil Shepherds
23 “Woe to the shepherds who destroy and scatter the flock of my pasture,” declares[a] Yahweh. 2 Therefore[b] thus says Yahweh, the God of Israel concerning the shepherds who shepherd my people, “You yourselves have scattered my flock, and you have driven them away, and you do not attend to them. Look, I will punish you for the evil of your deeds,” declares[c] Yahweh. 3 “Then I myself will gather together the remnant of my flock from all the lands where I have driven them, and I will bring them back to their grazing place, and they will be fruitful, and they will become numerous. 4 And I will raise up over them shepherds, and they will shepherd them, and they will no longer fear, and they will not be dismayed, and they will not be missing,” declares[d] Yahweh.
The Righteous Branch
5 “Look, days are coming,” declares[e] Yahweh,
“when I will raise up for David a righteous branch,
and he will reign as king, and he will achieve success,
and he will do justice and righteousness in the land.
6 In his days Judah will be saved,
and Israel will dwell in safety,[f]
and this is his name by which he will be called:
‘Yahweh is our righteousness.’
7 “Therefore[g] look, days are coming,” declares[h] Yahweh, “when they will no longer say, ‘As Yahweh lives,[i] who led up the Israelites[j] from the land of Egypt,’ 8 but ‘As Yahweh lives,[k] who led up, and who brought the offspring of the house of Israel from the land of the north and from all the lands where he had driven them.’ Then they will live in their land.”
The Unfaithful Prophets
9 Concerning the prophets:
My heart is broken in my midst.
All my bones tremble.
I have become like a drunken man,
even like a man over whom wine has passed,
because of Yahweh,
and because of his holy words.[l]
10 For the land is full of adulterers;
for the land mourns because of a curse.
The pastures of the desert[m] are dry,
and their evil has been their way of running,
and their power is not right.
11 “For both prophet as well as priest are godless,
even in my temple I have found their wickedness,” declares[n] Yahweh.
12 “Therefore[o] their way will be to them like the slippery places,
they will be pushed in the darkness,
and they will fall into it,
for I will bring disaster on them in the year of their punishment,” declares[p] Yahweh.
13 “Now in the prophets of Samaria I saw a disgusting thing.
They prophesied by Baal and they caused my people Israel to err.
14 And in the prophets of Jerusalem I have seen something horrible.
They commit adultery, and they walk in lies,[q]
and they make strong the hands of evildoers,
so that they have not turned back each from his wickedness.
All of them have become to me like Sodom,
and its inhabitants like Gomorrah.”
15 Therefore[r] thus says Yahweh concerning the prophets,
“Look, I am going to let them eat wormwood
and I will give them water of poison to drink,
for from the prophets of Jerusalem
went out ungodliness to all the land.”
16 Thus says Yahweh of hosts,
“You must not listen to the words of the prophets who prophesy to you.
They are deluding you with visions of their mind,[s]
They do not speak from the mouth of Yahweh.
17 They are[t] continually saying to those who disregard the word of Yahweh,
‘Peace it will be to you,’
and to each one[u] who walks in the stubbornness of his heart they say,
‘Calamity will not come upon you.’
18 For who has stood in the council of Yahweh,
that he has seen and heard his word?
Who has listened attentively to his word
and heard it?[v]
19 Look, the storm of Yahweh has gone forth in wrath,
even a whirling tempest.
It will whirl upon the head of the wicked.
20 The anger[w] of Yahweh will not turn back
until his doing and until his keeping the plans of his mind.[x]
In latter days[y] you will look closely at it with understanding.
21 I have not sent the prophets, yet they ran.
I have not spoken to them, yet they prophesied.
22 But if they had stood in my council,
then they would have proclaimed my words to my people,
and they would have caused them to turn from their evil way,
and from the evil of their deeds.
23 Am I a God from near,” declares[z] Yahweh,
“and not a God from far?
24 Or can a person hide himself in secret places
and I cannot see him?” declares[aa] Yahweh.
“Do I not fill up the heaven and the earth?” declares[ab] Yahweh.
25 “I have heard what the prophets who prophesy lies[ac] have said in my name, saying,[ad] ‘I have dreamed! I have dreamed!’ 26 How long[ae] will this be in the hearts[af] of the prophets who prophesy lies,[ag] even the prophets of the deceitfulness of their hearts,[ah] 27 who plan to make my people forget my name by their dreams that they tell each one to his neighbor, just as their ancestors[ai] forgot my name through Baal? 28 The prophet who has with him a dream, let him tell the dream. But the prophet[aj] who has my word with him, let him speak my word faithfully. What is straw compared to wheat?”[ak] declares[al] Yahweh. 29 “Is not my word like fire?” declares[am] Yahweh, “and like a blacksmith’s hammer that breaks a rock into pieces?
30 “Therefore[an] look, I am against the prophets,” declares[ao] Yahweh, “who steal my words each one from his neighbor. 31 Look, I am against the prophets,” declares[ap] Yahweh, “who take their tongues[aq] and declare as prophets, ‘Yahweh declares.’[ar] 32 Look, I am against those who prophesy dreams of lies,”[as] declares[at] Yahweh, “and tell them, and they caused my people to err through their lies, and in their recklessness, when I myself have not sent them nor commanded them, so they profit not this people at all,” declares[au] Yahweh.
33 “Now when this people, or a prophet, or a priest, ask you, saying,[av] ‘What is the burden[aw] of Yahweh?’ then you shall say to them, ‘You are the burden,[ax] and I will forsake you,’” declares[ay] Yahweh. 34 “And the prophet, and the priest, and the people who say, ‘The burden[az] of Yahweh,’ I will punish that man and his house. 35 Thus you shall say, each one to his neighbor and each one to his brother: ‘What has Yahweh answered?’ or, ‘What has Yahweh spoken?’ 36 But you shall not mention the burden[ba] of Yahweh, for the burden[bb] is to each one his word, and so you twist the words of the living God, Yahweh of hosts, our God. 37 Thus you shall say to that prophet, ‘What has Yahweh answered you?’ or, ‘What has Yahweh spoken?’ 38 But if you say, ‘The burden[bc] of Yahweh,’ therefore[bd] thus says Yahweh, ‘because of your saying these words,[be] “The burden[bf] of Yahweh,” then I will send to you, saying,[bg] “You shall not say, ‘The burden[bh] of Yahweh.’”’ 39 Therefore[bi] look, here I am, and I will surely lift you up and forsake you and the city that I gave to you and to your ancestors[bj] from my presence[bk], 40 and I will bring upon you an everlasting disgrace[bl] and an everlasting shame[bm] that will not be forgotten.”
Footnotes
- Jeremiah 23:1 Literally “a declaration of”
- Jeremiah 23:2 Literally “To thus”
- Jeremiah 23:2 Literally “a declaration of”
- Jeremiah 23:4 Literally “a declaration of”
- Jeremiah 23:5 Literally “a declaration of”
- Jeremiah 23:6 Literally “with confidence”
- Jeremiah 23:7 Literally “To thus”
- Jeremiah 23:7 Literally “a declaration of”
- Jeremiah 23:7 Literally “the life of Yahweh”
- Jeremiah 23:7 Literally “sons/children of Israel”
- Jeremiah 23:8 Literally “the life of Yahweh”
- Jeremiah 23:9 Literally “words of his holiness”
- Jeremiah 23:10 Or “wilderness”
- Jeremiah 23:11 Literally “a declaration of”
- Jeremiah 23:12 Literally “To thus”
- Jeremiah 23:12 Literally “a declaration of”
- Jeremiah 23:14 Hebrew “the lie”
- Jeremiah 23:15 Literally “To thus”
- Jeremiah 23:16 Literally “heart”
- Jeremiah 23:17 Here the subject and verb are supplied from context in the English translation
- Jeremiah 23:17 Literally “all”
- Jeremiah 23:18 Here the direct object is supplied from context in the English translation
- Jeremiah 23:20 Literally “nose”
- Jeremiah 23:20 Literally “heart”
- Jeremiah 23:20 Literally “In the last of the days”
- Jeremiah 23:23 Literally “a declaration of”
- Jeremiah 23:24 Literally “a declaration of”
- Jeremiah 23:24 Literally “a declaration of”
- Jeremiah 23:25 Hebrew “lie”
- Jeremiah 23:25 Literally “to say”
- Jeremiah 23:26 Literally “Until when”
- Jeremiah 23:26 Hebrew “heart”
- Jeremiah 23:26 Hebrew “the lie”
- Jeremiah 23:26 Hebrew “heart”
- Jeremiah 23:27 Or “fathers”
- Jeremiah 23:28 Here the subject is supplied from context in the English translation
- Jeremiah 23:28 Literally “What to the straw in comparison with the wheat”
- Jeremiah 23:28 Literally “a declaration of”
- Jeremiah 23:29 Literally “a declaration of”
- Jeremiah 23:30 Literally “To thus”
- Jeremiah 23:30 Literally “a declaration of”
- Jeremiah 23:31 Literally “a declaration of”
- Jeremiah 23:31 Hebrew “tongue”
- Jeremiah 23:31 Literally “a declaration of”
- Jeremiah 23:32 Hebrew “lie”
- Jeremiah 23:32 Literally “a declaration of”
- Jeremiah 23:32 Literally “a declaration of”
- Jeremiah 23:33 Literally “to say”
- Jeremiah 23:33 Or “oracle”
- Jeremiah 23:33 Literally “What burden”
- Jeremiah 23:33 Literally “a declaration of”
- Jeremiah 23:34 Or “oracle”
- Jeremiah 23:36 Or “oracle”
- Jeremiah 23:36 Or “oracle”
- Jeremiah 23:38 Or “oracle”
- Jeremiah 23:38 Literally “to thus”
- Jeremiah 23:38 Hebrew “word”
- Jeremiah 23:38 Or “oracle”
- Jeremiah 23:38 Literally “to say”
- Jeremiah 23:38 Or “oracle”
- Jeremiah 23:39 Literally “To thus”
- Jeremiah 23:39 Or “fathers”
- Jeremiah 23:39 Literally “my face”
- Jeremiah 23:40 Literally “a disgrace of eternity”
- Jeremiah 23:40 Literally “a shame of eternity”
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