‏ Jeremiah 23

CHAPTER 23

Two Kinds of Shepherds

1O the shepherds, the ones scattering and destroying the sheep   of my pasture. 2On account of this, thus says the lord, the God of Israel, against the shepherds, the ones tending   my people; You scattered   my sheep, and pushed them out, and did not visit them. Behold, I shall take vengeance upon you, against   [²wicked ³practices ¹your]. 3And I will take in the ones remaining   of my people upon all the earth of which place  I pushed them there; and I shall place them into   their pasture, and they shall grow and be multiplied. 4And I shall raise up to them shepherds   tending them, and they shall not be fearful any more, nor shall they be terrified, nor shall they be seeking after, says the lord. 5Behold, days come, says the lord, and I will raise up to  David [²dawn ¹a just]; and [²shall reign ¹a king], and shall perceive, and shall execute equity and righteousness upon the earth. 6In   his days Judah shall be delivered, and Israel shall encamp complying. And this   is his name, which [²shall call ³him ¹the lord] -- Josedek. 7On account of this, behold, days come, says the lord, and they will not say any longer, As the lord lives, who led the house of Israel from out of the land of Egypt. 8But as the lord lives, who led up and gathered all together the seed of Israel from the land of the north, and from all the places of which they were pushed there; and he restored them unto   their land. 9In the prophets [²was broken   ¹my heart]; in me [³were shaken ¹all   ²my bones]; I became as a man being broken, and as a man constrained by wine, from the countenance of the lord, and from the countenance of the beauty of his glory. 10For [⁴of adulterers ³is full ¹the ²land]. For from the countenance of these things  [³mourned ¹the ²land]; [⁵were dried up ¹the ²pastures ³of the ⁴wilderness]; and [²became   ¹their race] wicked, and   their strength not thus.

The Wicked Priests and Prophets

11For priest and prophet were tainted; and in   my house I saw their wickedness, says the lord. 12On account of this let [²become   ¹their way] to them for a slip in dimness! And they shall be tripped up and shall fall in it. Because I shall bring upon them bad things  in the year of their visitation, says the lord. 13And among the prophets of Samaria I beheld violations of the laws; they prophesied by Baal, and they misled   my people   Israel. 14And among the prophets of Jerusalem I have seen causes for shuddering -- committing adultery and going by lies, and taking hold of hands of wicked ones   [²to not ³be turned ¹for each] from   [³way ¹his   ²wicked]. They [²became ³to me ¹all] as Sodom, and the ones dwelling in it as Gomorrah. 15On account of this, thus says the lord  of the forces to the prophets; Behold, I will feed them grief, and I shall give them to drink [²water ¹bitter]; for from the prophets of Jerusalem [²came forth ¹contamination] to all the land. 16Thus says the lord  the almighty, Do not hearken to the words of the prophets! of the ones prophesying to you. For they frame in folly [²for themselves ¹a vision]. From their heart they speak, and not from the mouth of the lord. 17They say to the ones thrusting away the word of the lord, Peace will be to you; and to all the ones going   by their wants, and to all   going in a delusion of his heart, [²shall not come ³upon ⁴you ¹Evils]. 18For who stood in the garrison of the lord, and beheld and heard   his word? Who gave ear and heard? 19Behold, a quaking by the lord, and anger shall go forth in a rumbling. [²contracting ³upon ⁴the ⁵impious ¹It shall come]. 20And [⁴shall not turn away ¹the ²rage ³of the lord] until whenever he should execute it, and until whenever he should establish it according to the enterprise of his heart. At the latter end of the days they shall comprehend them. 21I did not send the false prophets, yet they ran. I did not speak to them, and they prophesied. 22And if they stood with my support, and they hearkened   to my words, then   my people would have turned from   [²wicked ³practices ¹their]. 23[³a God ⁴being near ¹I ²am], says the lord, and not a God at a distance. 24Shall any be hid in secret, and I not see him, says the lord, no. Is it not that [³the ⁴heaven ⁵and ⁶the ⁷earth ¹I ²shall fill], says the lord? 25I heard what [³speak ¹the ²prophets] who prophesy [²by   ³my name ¹lies], saying, I dreamed a dream. 26For how long shall it be in the heart of the prophets   prophesying lies, and in   their prophesying the wants   of their heart? 27The ones devising ways    to forget   my name by   their dreams, which [²was described ¹each] to   his neighbor; as [²forgot   ¹their fathers]   my name in service to    Baal. 28The prophet by which the dream is, let him describe   his dream! and the one by which   my word is truly  with him, let him describe   my word in truth! What is  the straw to the grain? Thus are    my words, says the lord. 29Are not   my words as fire blazing, says the lord? and as a hewing axe beating the rock? 30Behold, I am  against the prophets, says the lord    God, the ones stealing   my words each from   his neighbor. 31Behold, I am  against the prophets, says the lord, the ones casting out prophecies of the tongue, and slumbering of their own slumber. 32Behold, I am  against the prophets   prophesying [²dreams ¹false], and of whom described them, and misled   my people by   their lies, and in   their delusions; and I [³not ¹sent ²them], and I did not give charge to them, and [³a benefit ²not ¹they derived]   for this people, says the lord.

The Concern of The LORD

33And if [²should ask ³you   ¹this people], or priest, or prophet, saying, What is    the concern of the lord? then you shall say to them, You are the concern, and I will dash you down, says the lord, 34and the prophet, and the priest, and the people, the ones who should say, The concern of the lord; even I will punish   that man, and   his house. 35Thus you shall say each to   his neighbor, and each to   his brother, What did the lord answer? And what did the lord speak? 36And the concern of the lord  name not again! for the concern to the man will be   his word. And you distorted the words of the living God. 37Thus you shall say to the prophet, What spoke the lord    our God? 38On account of this, thus says the lord, Because you said   this word, The concern of the lord, that I sent to you, saying, You shall not say, The concern of the lord. 39On account of this, behold, I will take and dash you down, and the city which I have given to you and to  your fathers. 40And I shall put upon you [²scorn ¹eternal] and [²dishonor ¹eternal], which shall not be forgotten.