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The Oracle-Burden[a] of the Lord

33 “Jeremiah,[b] when these people, the prophet, or a priest ask you,[c] ‘What is the oracle[d] of the Lord?’ say to them, ‘You are the burden,[e] and I’ll cast you out,’” declares the Lord. 34 “As for the prophet, the priest, or the people who say, ‘I have[f] an oracle of the Lord,’ I’ll judge that person and his household. 35 This is what you should say to one another and among yourselves,[g] ‘What has the Lord answered?’ or ‘What has the Lord said?’ 36 But you are to no longer mention[h] the oracle of the Lord, because the oracle is only for the person to whom the Lord gives his message,[i] and you have overturned the words of the living God, the Lord of the Heavenly Armies, our God. 37 This is what you should say to the prophet, ‘What has the Lord answered?’ or ‘What has the Lord said?’ 38 Since you’re saying, ‘We have an oracle of the Lord,’[j] therefore this is what the Lord says: He will answer your message with this message, ‘Burden[k] of the Lord,’ and I’ll send you away with these words: ‘Don’t say, “Oracle of the Lord.”’ 39 Therefore I’ll surely forget you and cast you and the city I gave you and your ancestors out of my presence. 40 I’ll bring on you everlasting reproach and everlasting humiliation that won’t ever[l] be forgotten.”

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Footnotes

  1. Jeremiah 23:33 An oracle is a message that claims to be a revelation from the Lord. The same Heb. word means both oracle and burden, and this entire section invokes a word play between the two meanings of this Heb. word.
  2. Jeremiah 23:33 The Heb. lacks Jeremiah
  3. Jeremiah 23:33 I.e. the prophet Jeremiah; MT is masculine sing.
  4. Jeremiah 23:33 Or burden
  5. Jeremiah 23:33 Or oracle; MT reads What oracle?
  6. Jeremiah 23:34 The Heb. lacks I have
  7. Jeremiah 23:35 Lit. each to his neighbor and each to his brother
  8. Jeremiah 23:36 Or remember
  9. Jeremiah 23:36 Lit. for the person of his word
  10. Jeremiah 23:38 The Heb. lacks of the Lord
  11. Jeremiah 23:38 Or Oracle
  12. Jeremiah 23:40 The Heb. lacks ever