Jeremiah 23

Shepherds and a righteous Branch

1“Woe to the shepherds who destroy and scatter the sheep of my pasture!” declares the LORD. 2So this is what the LORD, the God of Israel, says about the shepherds who tend my people: “You have scattered my flock and driven them away. You have not attended to them. Now I will attend to you for your evil deeds, declares the LORD. 3I myself will gather what remains of my flock from all the countries where I drove them. I will bring them back to their pasture, and they will be fruitful and multiply. 4I will appoint shepherds over them who will tend them. They will no longer be afraid or dismayed, and none will be missing, declares the LORD.

5“Look, days are coming, declares the LORD,
when I will raise up a righteous Branch for David.
A king will reign and act wisely,
doing what is just and right in the land. 6In his days Judah will be saved
and Israel will live securely.
This is the name by which he will be called:
‘The LORD is our righteousness.’ 7“So look, days are coming, declares the LORD, when people will no longer say, ‘As the LORD lives, who brought the Israelites up from the land of Egypt,’ 8but, ‘As the LORD lives, who brought up and led the offspring of the house of Israel out of the land of the north and all the countries where I drove them.’ Then they will live on their own soil.”

Concerning the prophets

9Concerning the prophets:
My heart is broken within me;
all my bones shake.
I have become like a drunk,
like a man overcome by wine,
because of the LORD
and because of his holy words. 10For the land is full of adulterers.
Because of the curse the land mourns,
and the wilderness pastures have dried up.
Their course is evil,
and their strength serves what is wrong. 11“Both prophet and priest are godless;
even in my own house I have found their evil,”
declares the LORD. 12“So their way will become slippery ground in the dark.
They will be driven along it and fall,
for I will bring disaster on them
in the year when I call them to account,”
declares the LORD.

13“Among the prophets of Samaria
I saw a repulsive thing:
they prophesied by Baal
and led my people Israel astray. 14But among the prophets of Jerusalem
I have seen a horrifying thing:
adultery and a life of lies.
They strengthen the hands of evildoers,
so no one turns back from wickedness.
To me they have all become like Sodom,
and the city's inhabitants like Gomorrah.” 15So the LORD of hosts says this about the prophets:
“Look, I will feed them wormwood
and give them poisoned water to drink,
for godlessness has spread from the prophets of Jerusalem
throughout the land.”

16The LORD of hosts says:
“Do not listen to the words of the prophets who prophesy to you.
They fill you with empty hopes.
They speak visions from their own hearts,
not from the mouth of the LORD. 17They keep telling those who despise me,
‘The LORD has said: You will have peace.’
To everyone who follows a stubborn heart they say,
‘No disaster will come upon you.’ 18But who has stood in the council of the LORD
to see and hear his word?
Who has paid attention to his word and listened? 19Look! The storm of the LORD!
Wrath has burst out, a whirling storm;
it whirls down on the heads of the wicked. 20The anger of the LORD will not turn back
until he has done and accomplished
what his heart intends.
In days to come you will understand it clearly.

21I did not send these prophets,
but they ran.
I did not speak to them,
but they prophesied. 22If they had stood in my council,
they would have made my people hear my words
and turned them back from their evil way
and from their evil deeds. 23Am I a God only nearby, declares the LORD,
and not a God far away? 24Can anyone hide in secret places
where I cannot see them? declares the LORD.
Do I not fill heaven and earth? declares the LORD.

Dreams and faithful words

25“I have heard what the prophets say who prophesy lies in my name: ‘I had a dream! I had a dream!’ 26How long will this go on in the hearts of the prophets who prophesy lies, who prophesy the deceit of their own hearts? 27With the dreams they tell one another, they intend to make my people forget my name, just as their ancestors forgot my name for Baal. 28Let the prophet who has a dream tell the dream. But let the one who has my word speak my word faithfully. What does straw have in common with grain? declares the LORD. 29Is not my word like fire, declares the LORD, and like a hammer that shatters rock?

30“So I am against the prophets, declares the LORD, who steal my words from one another. 31I am against the prophets, declares the LORD, who use their tongues to pronounce oracles. 32I am against those who prophesy false dreams, declares the LORD. They tell them and lead my people astray with their lies and their reckless boasting. I did not send them or commission them. They bring this people no benefit at all, declares the LORD.

The burden of the LORD

33“When this people, or a prophet or a priest, asks you, ‘What is the burden of the LORD?’ tell them, ‘What burden? I will abandon you, declares the LORD.’ 34If a prophet, priest, or anyone among the people says, ‘The burden of the LORD,’ I will call that person and their household to account. 35This is what each of you should ask your neighbor and your brother: ‘What has the LORD answered?’ or ‘What has the LORD spoken?’ 36But do not mention ‘the burden of the LORD’ again. Each person's own word will become their burden, because you have twisted the words of the living God, the LORD of hosts, our God. 37This is what you should ask the prophet: ‘What has the LORD answered you?’ or ‘What has the LORD spoken?’ 38But if you say, ‘The burden of the LORD,’ then the LORD says: Because you have used these words, ‘The burden of the LORD,’ even though I sent word to you not to say, ‘The burden of the LORD,’ 39I will utterly forget you and cast you away from my presence, along with the city I gave you and your ancestors. 40I will bring everlasting disgrace on you and everlasting shame that will not be forgotten.”