Jeremiah 23:9-24
English Standard Version
Lying Prophets
9 Concerning the prophets:
(A)My heart is broken within me;
(B)all my bones shake;
I am like a drunken man,
like a man overcome by wine,
because of the Lord
and because of his holy words.
10 (C)For the land is full of adulterers;
(D)because of the curse (E)the land mourns,
and (F)the pastures of the wilderness are dried up.
(G)Their course is evil,
and their might is not right.
11 (H)“Both prophet and priest are ungodly;
even (I)in my house I have found their evil,
declares the Lord.
12 (J)Therefore their way shall be to them
like slippery paths (K)in the darkness,
into which they shall be driven and fall,
for I will bring disaster upon them
(L)in the year of their punishment,
declares the Lord.
13 In the prophets of (M)Samaria
(N)I saw an unsavory thing:
(O)they prophesied by Baal
(P)and led my people Israel astray.
14 But in the prophets of Jerusalem
I have seen a horrible thing:
(Q)they commit adultery and walk in lies;
(R)they strengthen the hands of evildoers,
so that no one turns from his evil;
(S)all of them have become like Sodom to me,
(T)and its inhabitants like Gomorrah.”
15 Therefore thus says the Lord of hosts concerning the prophets:
(U)“Behold, I will feed them with bitter food
(V)and give them (W)poisoned water to drink,
for from the prophets of Jerusalem
ungodliness has gone out into all the land.”
16 Thus says the Lord of hosts: “Do not listen to the words of the prophets who prophesy to you, (X)filling you with vain hopes. (Y)They speak visions of their own minds, not from the mouth of the Lord. 17 They say continually to those who despise the word of the Lord, (Z)‘It shall be well with you’; and to everyone who (AA)stubbornly follows his own heart, they say, (AB)‘No disaster shall come upon you.’”
18 For (AC)who among them has stood in the council of the Lord
to see and to hear his word,
or who has paid attention to his word and listened?
19 (AD)Behold, the storm of the Lord!
Wrath has gone forth,
(AE)a whirling tempest;
it will burst upon the head of the wicked.
20 (AF)The anger of the Lord will not turn back
until he has executed and (AG)accomplished
the intents of his heart.
(AH)In the latter days you will understand it clearly.
21 (AI)“I did not send the prophets,
yet they ran;
I did not speak to them,
yet they prophesied.
22 (AJ)But if they had stood in my council,
then they would have proclaimed my words to my people,
(AK)and they would have turned them from their evil way,
and (AL)from the evil of their deeds.
23 (AM)“Am I a God at hand, declares the Lord, and not a God far away? 24 (AN)Can a man hide himself in secret places so that I cannot see him? declares the Lord. (AO)Do I not fill heaven and earth? declares the Lord.
Read full chapter
Jeremiah 23:9-24
Common English Bible
Oracles against the prophets
9 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?
Footnotes
- Jeremiah 23:9 Heb uncertain; or my bones shake
- Jeremiah 23:10 LXX; MT a curse
- Jeremiah 23:10 Heb uncertain
The Holy Bible, English Standard Version. ESV® Text Edition: 2016. Copyright © 2001 by Crossway Bibles, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers.
Copyright © 2011 by Common English Bible