Jeremiah 23 — FBV
23Verse 1What trouble is coming to the shepherds who destroy and scatter the sheep of my pasture! declares the Lord.Verse 2This is what the Lord, the God of Israel, says about the shepherds who were meant to look after my people: You have scattered my flock. You have chased them away. You didn't take care of them, so now I will take care of you for all the evil you've done, declares the Lord.Verse 3I myself will gather what's left of my flock from all the countries where I exiled them, and I will bring them back to their pasture, where they will increase in number.Verse 4I will put shepherds in charge of them who will take care of them, and they won't be afraid or discouraged anymore, and none of them will be missing, declares the Lord.Verse 5Look, the time is coming, declares the Lord, when I will choose a descendant of David who does what is right. As king he will rule with wisdom and do what is just and right throughout the country.Verse 6When he is king, Judah will be saved, and Israel will live in safety. This is the name he will be called: The Lord Who Makes Us Right.Verse 7Look, the time is coming, declares the Lord, when people won't say anymore, “On the Lord's life, who led the Israelites out of Egypt.”Verse 8Instead they'll say, “On the Lord's life, who led the Israelites back from the northern country and all the other countries where he had exiled them.” Then they'll live in their own country.Verse 9When it comes to the prophets: I'm really disturbed—I'm shaking inside! I stagger like a drunk, like someone who's had too much wine, because of what the Lord is like, because of his holy words.+Verse 10For the country is full of people committing adultery so it's under a curse. The land mourns and the desert pastures have dried up. The people live evil lives, using their energy to do wrong.Verse 11Both prophets and priests show no respect for me. I see wickedness even in my Temple, declares the Lord.Verse 12That's why their path will become slippery; they will be chased away in the dark and fall down. I'm going to bring disaster on them at the time when they're punished, declares the Lord.Verse 13I saw the prophets of Samaria doing something really offensive: They prophesied in the name of Baal and led my people Israel to sin.Verse 14But now I see the prophets of Jerusalem doing something even more disgusting: They commit adultery and their lives are a lie. They support the wicked, so no one stops sinning. To me they're all like Sodom; the people of Jerusalem are like Gomorrah.Verse 15So this is what the Lord Almighty says about the prophets: I will give them wormwood to eat and poisoned water to drink, because evil has spread across the country from the prophets of Jerusalem.Verse 16This is what the Lord Almighty says: Don't pay attention to what these prophets say when they prophesy to you. They're fooling you with visions they make up in their own minds. They're not from me.Verse 17They keep on telling people who don't respect me, “The Lord says that you'll live in peace,” and to everyone following their own stubborn attitude, “Nothing bad is going to happen to you.”Verse 18But who of them has attended the Lord's council to hear and understand what he's saying? Who has paid attention to his instructions and followed them?Verse 19Watch out! The Lord has sent out a furious storm, a tornado swirling around the heads of the wicked.Verse 20The Lord's anger won't fade until he's finished doing everything he wants. Only then will you really understand.Verse 21I didn't send these prophets, but they run to deliver their messages. I didn't tell them to say anything, but they still go on prophesying.Verse 22Now if they had attended my council, they would have delivered my instructions to my people and brought them back from their evil way of life, from their evil actions.Verse 23Am I only a local God and not a God who operates widely? asks the Lord.Verse 24Can people hide in secret places where I can't see them? asks the Lord. Don't I operate everywhere in heaven and on earth? asks the Lord.Verse 25I've listened to the prophets who prophesy lies in my name. They say, “I've had a dream! I've had a dream!”Verse 26How long will this continue? How long will these prophets go on prophesying these lies which are just the product of their own deluded minds?Verse 27They think the dreams that they repeat to one another will lead my people to forget me, just like their forefathers forgot me by worshiping Baal.Verse 28A prophet who has a dream should say it's just a dream, but anyone I've spoken to should deliver my message faithfully. What is straw in comparison to grain? asks the Lord.Verse 29Doesn't my word burn like fire? asks the Lord. Isn't it like a hammer smashing a rock?Verse 30Pay attention to this, declares the Lord. I'm opposed to those prophets who steal words from one another and then say it's a message from me.Verse 31Pay attention to this, declares the Lord. I'm opposed to those prophets who make up their own stories+and then announce, “This is what the Lord says.”Verse 32Pay attention to this, declares the Lord, I'm opposed to those who prophesy fictional dreams. They tell them in order to lead my people into sin with their wild lies. I didn't send them or give them any instructions, and they don't do anybody any good, declares the Lord.Verse 33So when a prophet or priest or anyone else comes and asks you, “What is ‘the burden of the Lord?’”+tell them, I'm not giving you a burden. I'm giving up on you, declares the Lord.Verse 34If a prophet or priest or anyone else claims, “This is the burden of the Lord,” I will punish that person and their family.Verse 35This is what everybody should say to their friends and relatives: “What answer has the Lord given?” or, “What has the Lord said?”Verse 36Don't talk about “the burden of the Lord” anymore, because everybody has different ideas about this “burden,” perverting the words of the living God, the Lord Almighty, our God.Verse 37This is what you are to ask any prophet: “What message has the Lord given you?” and “What has the Lord told you?”Verse 38If they say, “This is the burden of the Lord,” then this is the Lord's response: Because you said, “This is the burden of the Lord,” and I warned you not to,Verse 39now I'm going to pick you up like a burden and throw you away, you and the city that I gave to you and your forefathers.Verse 40I will disgrace you forever, your shame will never be forgotten.