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Oracles against the prophets

As for the prophets:
My heart inside me is broken;
    my body aches.[a]
I stagger like a drunk
    who has had too much wine to drink,
        because of the Lord
        and because of God’s holy words.
10 Because the country teems
    with adulterers,
    because of them,[b]
        yes, because their might isn’t right
        and their way is evil,
        the land dries up,
        and the grazing areas in the wilderness wither.[c]
11 Both prophet and priest are godless;
    I even find their evil in my temple,
        declares the Lord.
12 Therefore, they will find themselves on slippery ground
    and will be thrust into darkness,
    where they will collapse.
I will bring disaster upon them,
    when their time comes, declares the Lord.
13 In the prophets of Samaria
    I saw something shocking:
    They prophesied by Baal
        and led astray my people Israel.
14 In the prophets of Jerusalem
    I saw something horrible:
    They commit adultery and tell lies.
    They encourage evildoers
        so that no one turns from their wickedness.
In my eyes, they are no better than Sodom;
    its people are like Gomorrah.

15 Therefore, this is what the Lord of heavenly forces proclaims concerning the prophets:

    I’m going to feed them bitter food
        and give them poison to drink.
Wickedness has spread from the prophets of Jerusalem
    throughout the land.

16 The Lord proclaims:
Don’t listen to the prophets
    who are speaking to you;
        they are deceiving you.
    Their visions come from their own hearts,
        not from the Lord’s mouth.
17 They keep saying to those who scorn God’s message,
        “All will go well for you,”
    and to those who follow their own willful hearts,
        “Nothing bad will happen to you.”
18 But who has stood in the Lord’s council
    to listen to God’s word?
        Who has paid attention to his word and announced it?
19 Look! The Lord’s angry storm breaks out;
    it whirls around the heads of the wicked.
20 The Lord’s fierce anger
    won’t turn back
    until it accomplishes all that he has planned.
In the days to come,
    you will understand what this means.

21 I didn’t send the prophets,
    yet they ran anyway.
I didn’t speak to them,
    yet they prophesied anyway.
22 If they had stood in my council,
    they would have proclaimed
    my words to my people;
        they would have turned them
        from their evil ways and deeds.
23 The Lord declares, Am I a God
    who is only nearby and not far off?
24 Can people hide themselves in secret places
    so I might not see them?
        Don’t I fill heaven and earth?

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Footnotes

  1. Jeremiah 23:9 Heb uncertain; or my bones shake
  2. Jeremiah 23:10 LXX; MT a curse
  3. Jeremiah 23:10 Heb uncertain

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