Jeremiah 23:9-24
Expanded Bible
False Prophets Will Be Punished
9 A message to the prophets:
My heart is ·broken [L shattered within me].
All my bones shake.
I’m like someone who is drunk,
like someone who has been ·overcome [inebriated] with wine.
This is because of the Lord
and his holy words.
10 The land [C of Judah] is full of people who are guilty of adultery.
Because of the curse the land ·is sad [mourns],
and the pastures of the ·desert [wilderness] have dried up.
The people [Their lives/L courses] are evil
and ·they use their power in the wrong way [L their power is not right].
11 “Both the prophets and the priests are ungodly.
I have found even in my own ·Temple [L house],” says the Lord.
12 “So their ·lives [L ways; paths] will be slippery and dark [C they will be in danger].
They will ·be defeated [L fall].
I will bring ·disaster [evil; trouble] on them
in the year I punish them,” says the Lord.
13 “I saw the prophets of Samaria [C capital of the northern kingdom destroyed in 722 bc]
do something ·wrong [disgusting].
Those prophets prophesied by Baal
and led my people Israel away [Deut. 13:1–5].
14 And I have seen the prophets of Jerusalem
do ·terrible [shocking] things.
They are guilty of adultery
and ·live [walk] by lies.
They ·encourage [strengthen] ·evil people to keep on doing evil [L the hands of evildoers],
so the people don’t ·stop sinning [L turn back from their evil].
All of those people are like the city of Sodom.
The people of Jerusalem are like the city of Gomorrah to me [C sinful and soon to be punished; Gen. 18–19]!”
15 So this is what the Lord ·All-Powerful [Almighty; of Heaven’s Armies; T of hosts] says about the prophets:
“I will make those prophets eat ·bitter food [L wormwood; C the bitter tasting leaves of a shrub; 9:15]
and drink poisoned water,
because the prophets of Jerusalem spread ·wickedness [godlessness]
through the whole country.”
16 This is what the Lord ·All-Powerful [Almighty; of Heaven’s Armies; T of hosts] says:
“Don’t ·pay attention [listen] to what those prophets are ·saying [prophesying] to you.
They are trying to ·fool [delude] you.
They talk about visions their own ·minds [L hearts] made up,
not ·about visions from me [L from the mouth of the Lord].
17 They say to those who ·hate [despise] me:
‘The Lord says: You will have peace.’
They say to all those who ·are stubborn and do as they please [L walk in the stubbornness of their heart]:
‘Nothing ·bad [evil; disastrous] will happen to you.’
18 ·But none of these prophets has stood in the meeting of angels [L Who has stood in the assembly/council of the Lord…?; 1 Kin. 22:19–23; Job 1—2; 15:8; Ps. 82; Is. 6:1–3]
to see or hear the message of the Lord.
·None of them [L Who…?] has paid close attention to his message.
19 Look, the ·storm [whirlwind] of the Lord!
His anger will pour forth like a ·hurricane [storm; whirlwind].
It will come swirling down on the heads of those wicked people [30:23].
20 The Lord’s anger will not ·stop [turn back]
until he finishes what he plans to do.
When that day is over,
you will understand this clearly [30:24].
21 I did not send those prophets,
but they ran [C to tell their message].
I did not speak to them,
but they prophesied anyway.
22 But if they had stood in ·the meeting of angels [L my assembly/council],
they would have told my message to my people.
They would have turned the people from their evil ways
and from doing evil.
23 “·I am [L Am I only…?] a God who is near,” says the Lord.
“·I am [L And not…?] also a God who is far away.
24 ·No one [L Who…?] can hide
where I cannot see him,” says the Lord.
“·I [L Do I not…?] fill all of heaven and earth,” says the Lord.
Jeremiah 23:9-24
Amplified Bible
False Prophets Denounced
9
Concerning the prophets:
My heart [says Jeremiah] is broken within me,
All my bones shake;
I have become like a drunken man,
A man whom wine has overcome,
Because of the Lord
And because of His holy words [declared against unfaithful leaders].
10
For the land is full of adulterers (unfaithful to God);
The land mourns because of the curse [of God upon it].
The pastures of the wilderness have dried up.
The course of action [of the false prophets] is evil and they rush into wickedness;
And their power is not right.
11
“For both [false] prophet and priest are ungodly (profane, polluted);
Even in My house I have found their wickedness,” says the Lord.
12
“Therefore their way will be to them like slippery paths
In the dark; they will be pushed and fall into them;
For I will bring disaster on them,
In the year of their punishment,” says the Lord.
13
“And I have seen a foolish and an offensive thing in the prophets of Samaria:
They prophesied by Baal and caused My people Israel to go astray.
14
“Also I have seen a horrible thing in the prophets of Jerusalem:
They commit adultery and walk in lies;
They encourage and strengthen the hands of evildoers,
So that no one has turned back from his wickedness.
All of them have become like Sodom to Me,
And her inhabitants like Gomorrah.
15 Therefore thus says the Lord of hosts in regard to the prophets,
‘Behold, I am going to feed them [the bitterness of] wormwood
And make them drink the poisonous water [of gall],
For from the [counterfeit] prophets of Jerusalem
Profaneness and ungodliness have spread into all the land.’”
16
Thus says the Lord of hosts,
“Do not listen to the words of the [false] prophets who prophesy to you.
They are teaching you worthless things and are leading you into futility;
They speak a vision of their own mind and imagination
And not [truth] from the mouth of the Lord.
17
“They are continually saying to those who despise Me [and My word],
‘The Lord has said, “You will have peace”’;
And they say to everyone who walks after the stubbornness of his own heart,
‘No evil will come on you.’
18
“But who [among them] has stood in the council of the Lord,
That he would perceive and hear His word?
Who has marked His word [noticing and observing and paying attention to it] and has [actually] heard it?
19
“Behold, the tempest of the Lord has gone forth in wrath,
A whirling tempest;
It will whirl and burst on the heads of the wicked.
20
“The anger of the Lord will not turn back
Until He has set in motion and accomplished the thoughts and intentions of His heart;
In the last days you will clearly understand it.
21
“I did not send [these counterfeit] prophets,
Yet they ran;
I did not speak to them,
Yet they prophesied.
22
“But if they had stood in My council,
Then they would have caused My people to hear My words,
Then they would have turned My people from their evil way
And from the evil of their decisions and deeds.
23
“Am I a God who is at hand,” says the Lord,
“And not a God far away?”
24
“Can anyone hide himself in secret places
So that I cannot see him?” says the Lord.
“Do I not fill heaven and earth?” says the Lord.
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Copyright © 2015 by The Lockman Foundation, La Habra, CA 90631. All rights reserved.
