Jeremiah 22:21-23:13

New International Version

²¹I warned you when you felt secure,^(A)
    but you said, ‘I will not listen!’
This has been your way from your youth;^(B)
    you have not obeyed^(C) me.
²²The wind^(D) will drive all your shepherds^(E) away,
    and your allies^(F) will go into exile.
Then you will be ashamed and disgraced^(G)
    because of all your wickedness.
²³You who live in ‘Lebanon,^[a]^(H)’
    who are nestled in cedar buildings,
how you will groan when pangs come upon you,
    pain^(I) like that of a woman in labor!

²⁴“As surely as I live,” declares the Lord, “even if you, Jehoiachin^[b]^(J) son of Jehoiakim king of Judah, were a signet ring^(K) on my right hand, I would still pull you off. ²⁵I will deliver^(L) you into the hands of those who want to kill you, those you fear—Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon and the Babylonians.^[c] ²⁶I will hurl^(M) you and the mother^(N) who gave you birth into another country, where neither of you was born, and there you both will die. ²⁷You will never come back to the land you long to return^(O) to.”

²⁸Is this man Jehoiachin^(P) a despised, broken pot,^(Q)
    an object no one wants?
Why will he and his children be hurled^(R) out,
    cast into a land^(S) they do not know?
²⁹O land,^(T) land, land,
    hear the word of the Lord!
³⁰This is what the Lord says:
“Record this man as if childless,^(U)
    a man who will not prosper^(V) in his lifetime,
for none of his offspring^(W) will prosper,
    none will sit on the throne^(X) of David
    or rule anymore in Judah.”

The Righteous Branch

23 “Woe to the shepherds^(Y) who are destroying and scattering^(Z) the sheep of my pasture!”^(AA) declares the Lord. ²Therefore this is what the Lord, the God of Israel, says to the shepherds^(AB) who tend my people: “Because you have scattered my flock^(AC) and driven them away and have not bestowed care on them, I will bestow punishment on you for the evil^(AD) you have done,” declares the Lord. ³“I myself will gather the remnant^(AE) of my flock out of all the countries where I have driven them and will bring them back to their pasture,^(AF) where they will be fruitful and increase in number. ⁴I will place shepherds^(AG) over them who will tend them, and they will no longer be afraid^(AH) or terrified, nor will any be missing,^(AI)” declares the Lord.

⁵“The days are coming,” declares the Lord,
    “when I will raise up for David^[d] a righteous Branch,^(AJ)
a King^(AK) who will reign^(AL) wisely
    and do what is just and right^(AM) in the land.
⁶In his days Judah will be saved
    and Israel will live in safety.^(AN)
This is the name^(AO) by which he will be called:
    The Lord Our Righteous Savior.^(AP)

⁷“So then, the days are coming,”^(AQ) declares the Lord, “when people will no longer say, ‘As surely as the Lord lives, who brought the Israelites up out of Egypt,’^(AR) ⁸but they will say, ‘As surely as the Lord lives, who brought the descendants of Israel up out of the land of the north and out of all the countries where he had banished them.’ Then they will live in their own land.”^(AS)

Lying Prophets

⁹Concerning the prophets:

My heart^(AT) is broken within me;
    all my bones tremble.^(AU)
I am like a drunken man,
    like a strong man overcome by wine,
because of the Lord
    and his holy words.^(AV)
¹⁰The land is full of adulterers;^(AW)
    because of the curse^[e]^(AX) the land lies parched
    and the pastures^(AY) in the wilderness are withered.^(AZ)
The prophets follow an evil course
    and use their power unjustly.

¹¹“Both prophet and priest are godless;^(BA)
    even in my temple^(BB) I find their wickedness,”
declares the Lord.
¹²“Therefore their path will become slippery;^(BC)
    they will be banished to darkness
    and there they will fall.
I will bring disaster on them
    in the year they are punished,^(BD)”
declares the Lord.