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23 Woe to the pastors, that destroy and tear the sheep of my pasture, saith the Lord.

Therefore thus saith the Lord the God of Israel to the pastors that feed my people: You have scattered my flock, and driven them away, and have not visited them: behold I will visit upon you for the evil of your doings, saith the Lord.

And I will gather together the remnant of my flock, out of all the lands into which I have cast them out: and I will make them return to their own fields, and they shall increase and be multiplied.

And I will set up pastors over them, and they shall feed them: they shall fear no more, and they shall not be dismayed: and none shall be wanting of their number, saith the Lord.

Behold the days come, saith the Lord, and I will raise up to David a just branch: and a king shall reign, and shall be wise, and shall execute judgement and justice in the earth.

In those days shall Juda be saved, and Israel shall dwell confidently: and this is the name that they shall call him: the Lord our just one.

Therefore behold the days to come, saith the Lord, and they shall say no more: The Lord liveth, who brought up the children of Israel out of the land of Egypt:

But the Lord liveth, who hath brought out, and brought hither the seed of the house of Israel from the land of the north, and out of all the lands, to which I had cast them forth: and they shall dwell in their own land.

To the prophets: My heart is broken within me, all my bones tremble: I am become as a drunken man, and as a man full of wine, at the presence of the Lord, and at the presence of his holy words.

10 Because the land is full of adulterers, because the land hath mourned by reason of cursing, the fields of the desert are dried up: and their course is become evil, and their strength unlike.

11 For the prophet and the priest are defiled: and in my house I have found their wickedness, saith the Lord.

12 Therefore their way shall be as a slippery way in the dark: for they shall be driven on, and fall therein: for I will bring evils upon them, the year of their visitation, saith the Lord.

13 And I have seen folly in the prophets of Samaria: they prophesied in Baal, and deceived my people Israel.

14 And I have seen the likeness of adulterers, and the way of lying in the prophets of Jerusalem: and they strengthened the hands of the wicked, that no man should return from his evil doings: they are all become unto me as Sodom, and the inhabitants thereof as Gomorrha.

15 Therefore thus saith the Lord of hosts to the prophets: Behold I will feed them with wormwood, and will give them gall to drink: for from the prophets of Jerusalem corruption has gone forth into all the land.

16 Thus saith the Lord of hosts: Hearken not to the words of the prophets that prophesy to you, and deceive you: they speak a vision of their own heart, and not out of the mouth of the Lord.

17 They say to them that blaspheme me: The Lord hath said: You shall have peace: and to every one that walketh in the perverseness of his own heart, they have said: No evil shall come upon you.

18 For who hath stood in the counsel of the Lord, and hath seen and heard his word? Who hath considered his word and heard it?

19 Behold the whirlwind of the Lord's indignation shall come forth, and a tempest shall break out and come upon the head of the wicked.

20 The wrath of the Lord shall not return till he execute it, and till he accomplish the thought of his heart: in the latter days you shall understand his counsel.

21 I did not send prophets, yet they ran: I have not spoken to them, yet they prophesied.

22 If they stood in my counsel, and had made my words known to my people, I should have turned them from their evil way and from their wicked doings.

23 Am I, think ye, a God at hand, saith the Lord, and not a God afar off?

24 Shall a man be hid in secret places, and I not see him, saith the Lord? do not I fill heaven and earth, saith the Lord?

25 I have heard what the prophets said, that prophesy lies in my name, and say: I have dreamed, I have dreamed.

26 How long shall this be in the heart of the prophets that prophesy lies, and that prophesy the delusions of their own heart?

27 Who seek to make my people forget my name through their dreams, which they tell every man to his neighbour: as their fathers forgot my name for Baal.

28 The prophet that hath a dream, let him tell a dream: and he that hath my word, let him speak my word with truth: what hath the chaff to do with the wheat, saith the Lord?

29 Are not my words as a fire, saith the Lord: and as a hammer that breaketh the rock in pieces?

30 Therefore behold I am against the prophets, saith the Lord: who steal my words every one from his neighbour.

31 Behold I am against the prophets, saith the Lord: who use their tongues, and say: The Lord saith it.

32 Behold I am against the prophets that have lying dreams, saith the Lord: and tell them, and cause my people to err by their lying, and by their wonders: when I sent them not, nor commanded them, who have not profited this people at all, saith the Lord.

33 If therefore this people, or the prophet, or the priest shall ask thee, saying: What is the burden of the Lord? thou shalt say to them: You are the burden: for I will cast you away, saith the Lord.

34 And as for the prophet, and the priest, and the people that shall say: The burden of the Lord: I will visit upon that man, and upon his house.

35 Thus shall you say every one to his neighbour, and to his brother: What hath the Lord answered? and what hath the Lord spoken?

36 And the burden of the Lord shall be mentioned no more, for every man's word shall be his burden: for you have perverted the words of the living God, of the Lord of hosts our God.

37 Thus shalt thou say to the prophet: What hath the Lord answered thee? and what hath the Lord spoken?

38 But if you shall say: The burden of the Lord: therefore thus saith the Lord: Because you have said this word: The burden of the Lord: and I have sent to you saying: Say not, The burden of the Lord:

39 Therefore behold I will take you away carrying you, and will forsake you, and the city which I gave to you, and to your fathers, out of my presence.

40 And I will bring an everlasting reproach upon you, and a perpetual shame which shall never be forgotten.

The Righteous Branch

23 “Woe to the shepherds(A) who are destroying and scattering(B) the sheep of my pasture!”(C) declares the Lord. Therefore this is what the Lord, the God of Israel, says to the shepherds(D) who tend my people: “Because you have scattered my flock(E) and driven them away and have not bestowed care on them, I will bestow punishment on you for the evil(F) you have done,” declares the Lord. “I myself will gather the remnant(G) of my flock out of all the countries where I have driven them and will bring them back to their pasture,(H) where they will be fruitful and increase in number. I will place shepherds(I) over them who will tend them, and they will no longer be afraid(J) or terrified, nor will any be missing,(K)” declares the Lord.

“The days are coming,” declares the Lord,
    “when I will raise up for David[a] a righteous Branch,(L)
a King(M) who will reign(N) wisely
    and do what is just and right(O) in the land.
In his days Judah will be saved
    and Israel will live in safety.(P)
This is the name(Q) by which he will be called:
    The Lord Our Righteous Savior.(R)

“So then, the days are coming,”(S) declares the Lord, “when people will no longer say, ‘As surely as the Lord lives, who brought the Israelites up out of Egypt,’(T) but they will say, ‘As surely as the Lord lives, who brought the descendants of Israel up out of the land of the north and out of all the countries where he had banished them.’ Then they will live in their own land.”(U)

Lying Prophets

Concerning the prophets:

My heart(V) is broken within me;
    all my bones tremble.(W)
I am like a drunken man,
    like a strong man overcome by wine,
because of the Lord
    and his holy words.(X)
10 The land is full of adulterers;(Y)
    because of the curse[b](Z) the land lies parched
    and the pastures(AA) in the wilderness are withered.(AB)
The prophets follow an evil course
    and use their power unjustly.

11 “Both prophet and priest are godless;(AC)
    even in my temple(AD) I find their wickedness,”
declares the Lord.
12 “Therefore their path will become slippery;(AE)
    they will be banished to darkness
    and there they will fall.
I will bring disaster on them
    in the year they are punished,(AF)
declares the Lord.

13 “Among the prophets of Samaria
    I saw this repulsive thing:
They prophesied by Baal(AG)
    and led my people Israel astray.(AH)
14 And among the prophets of Jerusalem
    I have seen something horrible:(AI)
    They commit adultery and live a lie.(AJ)
They strengthen the hands of evildoers,(AK)
    so that not one of them turns from their wickedness.(AL)
They are all like Sodom(AM) to me;
    the people of Jerusalem are like Gomorrah.”(AN)

15 Therefore this is what the Lord Almighty says concerning the prophets:

“I will make them eat bitter food
    and drink poisoned water,(AO)
because from the prophets of Jerusalem
    ungodliness(AP) has spread throughout the land.”

16 This is what the Lord Almighty says:

“Do not listen(AQ) to what the prophets are prophesying to you;
    they fill you with false hopes.
They speak visions(AR) from their own minds,
    not from the mouth(AS) of the Lord.
17 They keep saying(AT) to those who despise me,
    ‘The Lord says: You will have peace.’(AU)
And to all who follow the stubbornness(AV) of their hearts
    they say, ‘No harm(AW) will come to you.’
18 But which of them has stood in the council(AX) of the Lord
    to see or to hear his word?
    Who has listened and heard his word?
19 See, the storm(AY) of the Lord
    will burst out in wrath,
a whirlwind(AZ) swirling down
    on the heads of the wicked.
20 The anger(BA) of the Lord will not turn back(BB)
    until he fully accomplishes
    the purposes of his heart.
In days to come
    you will understand it clearly.
21 I did not send(BC) these prophets,
    yet they have run with their message;
I did not speak to them,
    yet they have prophesied.
22 But if they had stood in my council,(BD)
    they would have proclaimed(BE) my words to my people
and would have turned(BF) them from their evil ways
    and from their evil deeds.(BG)

23 “Am I only a God nearby,(BH)
declares the Lord,
    “and not a God far away?
24 Who can hide(BI) in secret places
    so that I cannot see them?”
declares the Lord.
    “Do not I fill heaven and earth?”(BJ)
declares the Lord.

25 “I have heard what the prophets say who prophesy lies(BK) in my name. They say, ‘I had a dream!(BL) I had a dream!’ 26 How long will this continue in the hearts of these lying prophets, who prophesy the delusions(BM) of their own minds?(BN) 27 They think the dreams they tell one another will make my people forget(BO) my name, just as their ancestors forgot(BP) my name through Baal worship.(BQ) 28 Let the prophet who has a dream(BR) recount the dream, but let the one who has my word(BS) speak it faithfully. For what has straw to do with grain?” declares the Lord. 29 “Is not my word like fire,”(BT) declares the Lord, “and like a hammer(BU) that breaks a rock in pieces?

30 “Therefore,” declares the Lord, “I am against(BV) the prophets(BW) who steal from one another words supposedly from me. 31 Yes,” declares the Lord, “I am against the prophets who wag their own tongues and yet declare, ‘The Lord declares.’(BX) 32 Indeed, I am against those who prophesy false dreams,(BY)” declares the Lord. “They tell them and lead my people astray(BZ) with their reckless lies,(CA) yet I did not send(CB) or appoint them. They do not benefit(CC) these people in the least,” declares the Lord.

False Prophecy

33 “When these people, or a prophet or a priest, ask you, ‘What is the message(CD) from the Lord?’ say to them, ‘What message? I will forsake(CE) you, declares the Lord.’ 34 If a prophet or a priest or anyone else claims, ‘This is a message(CF) from the Lord,’ I will punish(CG) them and their household. 35 This is what each of you keeps saying to your friends and other Israelites: ‘What is the Lord’s answer?’(CH) or ‘What has the Lord spoken?’ 36 But you must not mention ‘a message from the Lord’ again, because each one’s word becomes their own message. So you distort(CI) the words of the living God,(CJ) the Lord Almighty, our God. 37 This is what you keep saying to a prophet: ‘What is the Lord’s answer to you?’ or ‘What has the Lord spoken?’ 38 Although you claim, ‘This is a message from the Lord,’ this is what the Lord says: You used the words, ‘This is a message from the Lord,’ even though I told you that you must not claim, ‘This is a message from the Lord.’ 39 Therefore, I will surely forget you and cast(CK) you out of my presence along with the city I gave to you and your ancestors. 40 I will bring on you everlasting disgrace(CL)—everlasting shame that will not be forgotten.”

Footnotes

  1. Jeremiah 23:5 Or up from David’s line
  2. Jeremiah 23:10 Or because of these things