Beginning
A Righteous King for God’s People
23 “How terrible for the shepherds[a] who are destroying and scattering the sheep of my pasture!” declares the Lord. 2 Therefore, this is what the Lord God of Israel says about the shepherds who are shepherding my people, “You have scattered my flock and driven them away. You haven’t taken care of them, and now I’m about to take care of you[b] because of your evil deeds,” declares the Lord. 3 “I’ll gather the remnant of my flock from all the countries where I’ve driven them, and bring them back to their pasture where they’ll be fruitful and increase in numbers. 4 I’ll raise up shepherds over them, and they’ll shepherd them. My flock[c] will no longer be afraid or terrified, and none will be missing,” declares the Lord.
5 “The time is coming,” declares the Lord,
“when I’ll raise up a righteous branch for David.
He will be a king who rules wisely,
and he will administer justice and righteousness in the land.
6 In his time[d] Judah will be delivered
and Israel will dwell in safety.
This is the name by which he will be known:
‘The Lord Our Righteousness.’
7 “Therefore, the time is coming,” declares the Lord, “when people will no longer say, ‘As surely as the Lord lives who brought up the Israelis from the land of Egypt,’ 8 but they’ll say,[e] ‘As surely as the Lord lives who brought the descendants of the Israelis from the land of the north and from all the lands where I had driven them and brought them into the land.’[f] Then they’ll live in their own land.”
An Oracle about False Prophets
9 Concerning the prophets:
My heart is broken within me,
and all my bones shake.
I’m like a drunk man,
like a person overcome with wine,
because of the Lord,
and because of his holy words.
10 Indeed, the land is full of adulterers.
Indeed, the land mourns because of the curse;
the pastures of the wilderness have dried up.
The adulterers’[g] lifestyles are evil,
and they use[h] their strength for what[i] is not right.
11 Indeed, both priest and prophet are ungodly.
Even in my house I find evil,” declares the Lord.
12 Therefore their way will be slippery.
They’ll be driven out into the darkness,
where they’ll fall.
For I’ll bring disaster on them,
the year of their judgment,”
declares the Lord.
13 “Among the prophets of Samaria I saw a disgusting thing,
for they prophesied by Baal
and led my people Israel astray.
14 Among the prophets of Jerusalem I saw a horrible thing,
for they commit adultery and live a lie.
They strengthen the hands of those who do evil,
so that no one repents of his evil.
All of them are like Sodom to me,
and her[j] residents like Gomorrah.”
15 Therefore, this is what the Lord God of the Heavenly Armies says about the prophets,
“I’m about to make them eat wormwood[k]
and drink poisoned water,
because godlessness has spread from the
prophets of Jerusalem throughout the land.”
16 This is what the Lord of the Heavenly Armies says:
“Don’t listen to the words of the prophets
who are prophesying to you;
they’re giving you false hopes.
They declare visions from their own minds—
they don’t come from the Lord![l]
17 They keep on saying to those who despise me,
‘The Lord has said, “You will have peace.”’
To all who stubbornly follow their own desires[m] they say,
‘Disaster won’t come upon you.’
18 But who has stood in the Lord’s council
to see and hear his message?
Who has paid attention to his message and obeyed it?[n]
19 Look, the storm of the Lord’s wrath has gone forth,
a whirling tempest,
and it will swirl down
around the head of the wicked.
20 The Lord’s anger won’t turn back
until he has accomplished
what he intended to do.
In the future
you will clearly understand it.
21 I didn’t send these prophets,[o]
but they ran anyway.
I didn’t speak to them,
but they prophesied.
22 If they had stood in my council
and had delivered my words to my people,
then they would have turned them back
from their evil way,
from their evil deeds.”
23 “Am I a God who is near,” declares the Lord,
“rather than a God who is far away?
24 If a person hides himself in secret places,
will I not see him?”
declares the Lord.
“I fill the heavens and the earth, do I not?”
declares the Lord.
25 “I’ve heard what the prophets who prophesy lies in my name have said: ‘I had a dream; I had a dream.’ 26 How long will this go on?[p] Is there anything[q] in the hearts of the prophets who prophesy lies, and who prophesy from the deceit that is in their hearts? 27 With their dreams that they relate to one another,[r] they plan to make my people forget my name just as their ancestors forgot my name by embracing[s] Baal. 28 Let the prophet who has a dream relate the dream, but let whoever receives my message[t] speak my message truthfully. What does straw have in common with wheat?” declares the Lord. 29 “My message is like fire or like a hammer that shatters rock, is it not?” declares the Lord.
30 “Therefore, look, I’m against the prophets,” declares the Lord, “who steal my words from each other. 31 Look, I’m against the prophets,” declares the Lord, “who use their tongues to issue a declaration.[u] 32 Look, I’m against those who prophesy based on false dreams,” declares the Lord, “and relate them and lead my people astray with their lies and their recklessness. I didn’t send them; I didn’t command them, and they provide no benefit at all to these people,” declares the Lord.
The Oracle-Burden[v] of the Lord
33 “Jeremiah,[w] when these people, the prophet, or a priest ask you,[x] ‘What is the oracle[y] of the Lord?’ say to them, ‘You are the burden,[z] and I’ll cast you out,’” declares the Lord. 34 “As for the prophet, the priest, or the people who say, ‘I have[aa] 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,[ab] ‘What has the Lord answered?’ or ‘What has the Lord said?’ 36 But you are to no longer mention[ac] the oracle of the Lord, because the oracle is only for the person to whom the Lord gives his message,[ad] 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,’[ae] therefore this is what the Lord says: He will answer your message with this message, ‘Burden[af] 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[ag] be forgotten.”
Two Baskets of Figs
24 After Nebuchadnezzar, king of Babylon, had taken Jehoiakim’s son Jeconiah,[ah] king of Judah, along with the officials[ai] of Judah, the craftsmen, and the smiths from Jerusalem into exile, and had brought them to Babylon, the Lord showed me two baskets of figs placed right in front of the Temple of the Lord. 2 One basket contained very good figs like the first figs that ripen on the tree. The other basket contained very bad figs that were too bad to be eaten. 3 The Lord told me, “What do you see?”
I replied, “Figs. The good figs are very good, and the bad figs are very bad. They’re too bad to be eaten.”
4 Then this message from the Lord came to me: 5 “This is what the Lord God of Israel says: ‘Like these good figs, so I’ll regard as good the exiles of Judah whom I sent from this place to the land of the Chaldeans. 6 I’ll look at them with good intentions, and I’ll bring them back to this land. I’ll build them up. I won’t tear them down; I’ll plant them and not rip them up. 7 I’ll give them the ability[aj] to know me, for I am the Lord. They will be my people, and I will be their God when they return to me with all their heart.
8 “‘Like the bad figs that are too bad to be eaten—for this is what the Lord says—so I’ll give up on Zedekiah king of Judah, along with his officials, the remnant of Jerusalem that is left in this land, and those living in the land of Egypt. 9 I’ll make them into a horrifying sight to all the kingdoms of the earth; into a cause for contempt, into a byword, into a taunt, and into a curse in all the places to which I drive them. 10 I’ll send the sword, famine, and plague against them until they’re completely destroyed from the land which I gave them and their ancestors.’”
The Irrevocable Judgment on Judah
25 This message from the Lord came to Jeremiah concerning all the people of Judah in the fourth year of Josiah’s son Jehoiakim, king of Judah. (This was also the first year of the reign of[ak] King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon.) 2 This is what Jeremiah the prophet told all the people of Judah and all the residents of Jerusalem: 3 “From the thirteenth year of the reign of[al] Ammon’s son Josiah, the king of Judah, until the present time, for 23 years this message from the Lord has come to me, and I’ve spoken to you again and again,[am] but you haven’t listened. 4 Again and again,[an] the Lord sent all his servants, the prophets, to you, but you wouldn’t listen or even turn your ears in my direction to hear. 5 They said, ‘Turn, each one of you, from your[ao] evil habits[ap] and evil deeds, and live in the land that the Lord gave to you and your ancestors forever and ever. 6 Don’t follow other gods to serve and worship them. Don’t provoke me with the idols[aq] you make with your hands, and I won’t bring disaster on you.’ 7 But you didn’t listen to me,” declares the Lord, “so as to provoke me with the idols[ar] you make with your hands to your own harm.
8 “Therefore, this is what the Lord of the Heavenly Armies says: ‘Because you haven’t listened to my message, 9 I’m now sending for all the tribes from the north, declares the Lord, and for my servant Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon. I’ll bring them against this land, against its inhabitants, and against all these surrounding nations. I’ll utterly destroy them and make them an object of horror and scorn,[as] and an everlasting desolation. 10 I’ll destroy the sounds of gladness and rejoicing from them, the sounds of the bridegroom and the bride, the sound of the hand mill and also the light of the lamp. 11 This entire land will be a desolation and a waste, and these nations will serve the king of Babylon for seventy years.
12 ‘Then when the seventy years have passed, I’ll judge the king of Babylon and that nation, declares the Lord, I’ll judge[at] the land of the Chaldeans for their iniquity and I’ll make it a desolation forever. 13 I’ll bring on that land all the things I spoke against it, all that is written in this book, which Jeremiah prophesied about the nations. 14 Indeed many nations and great kings will make slaves even of them, and I’ll repay them according to their deeds, according to what they have done.’”
Judgment on the Nations
15 For this is what the Lord God of Israel says to me, “Take this cup of the wine of burning anger from my hand and make all the nations to whom I send you drink it. 16 They’ll drink, stagger, and act like madmen because of the sword I’m sending among them.” 17 So I took the cup from the Lord’s hand, and I made all the nations to whom the Lord sent me drink it: 18 Jerusalem, the cities of Judah, its kings and officials[au] to make them into a ruin, an object of horror and scorn,[av] and a curse, as it is this day; 19 Pharaoh, king of Egypt, his officials,[aw] his princes, and all his people; 20 all the various people;[ax] all the kings of the land of Uz, all the kings of the land of the Philistines, Ashkelon, Gaza, Ekron, and what remains of Ashdod; 21 Edom, Moab, and the people of Ammon; 22 all the kings of Tyre, all the kings of Sidon, and all the kings of the coast lands that are beyond the sea; 23 Dedan, Tema, Buz, and those who shave the corners of their beards;[ay] 24 all the kings of Arabia and all the kings of the various people[az] who live in the desert; 25 all the kings of Zimri, all the kings of Elam, and all the kings of Media; 26 all the kings of the north near and far, one after another, and all the kingdoms of the world on the face of the earth. The king of Sheshak[ba] will drink after all the others.[bb]
27 “You are to say to them, ‘This is what the Lord of the Heavenly Armies, the God of Israel, says: “Drink, get drunk, and vomit! Fall down and don’t get up because of the sword I’m sending among you.”’ 28 And if they refuse to take the cup from your hand to drink it, say to them, ‘This is what the Lord of the Heavenly Armies says: “You will surely drink it! 29 Look, I’m beginning to bring disaster on the city that is called by my name, and do you actually think you will avoid punishment? You won’t avoid punishment because I’m summoning the sword against all those who live in the land,” declares the Lord of the Heavenly Armies.’”
The Lord will Judge the Nations
30 “You are to prophesy all these things against them, and you are to say to them,
‘The Lord roars from his high place,
from his holy dwelling he lifts his voice.
He roars loudly against his flock,[bc]
and against all who live on the earth;
he shouts like those treading grapes.[bd]
31 A tumult reaches to the ends of the earth
because the Lord is bringing an indictment against the nations.
He judges all flesh.
He has given the wicked over to the sword,’
declares the Lord.
32 ‘This is what the Lord of the Heavenly Armies says:
“Look, disaster is going from nation to nation,
a great storm is being stirred up
from the most distant parts of the earth.
33 “Those slain by the Lord on that day will extend[be] from one end of the earth to the other. They won’t be mourned for or gathered up or buried. They’ll be like dung on the surface of the ground.
34 “Scream, you shepherds! Cry out!
Roll in the dust, you leaders of the flock!
Indeed, the time for your slaughter
and your dispersion has arrived,
and you will break like a choice vessel.
35 Flight will be impossible[bf] for the shepherds,
as will be escape for the leaders of the flock.
36 A sound—it’s the cry of the shepherds
and the scream of the leaders of the flock—
because the Lord is destroying their pastures.
37 The peaceful meadows are silent
because of the Lord’s fierce anger.
38 Like a lion, he has left his den.[bg]
Indeed, their land has become a waste
because of the anger of the oppressor
and because of the Lord’s[bh] fierce anger.”
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