Jeremiah 23:1-28 ▼

1 “Woe to shepherds destroying, || And scattering the flock of My pasture,” || A declaration of YHWH.

2 Therefore, thus said YHWH, God of Israel, || Against the shepherds who feed My people: “You have scattered My flock, and drive them away, || And have not inspected them, || Behold, I am charging on you the evil of your doings,” || A declaration of YHWH.

3 “And I gather the remnant of My flock || Out of all the lands to where I drove them, || And have brought them back to their fold, || And they have been fruitful, and multiplied.

4 And I have raised shepherds for them, || And they have fed them, || And they no longer fear, nor are frightened, || Nor are they lacking,” || A declaration of YHWH.

5 “Behold, days are coming,” || A declaration of YHWH, || “And I have raised a righteous shoot to David, || And a king has reigned and acted wisely, || And done judgment and righteousness in the earth.

6 Judah is saved in His days, and Israel dwells confidently, || And this [is] His Name that YHWH proclaims Him: Our Righteousness.

7 Therefore, behold, days are coming,” || A declaration of YHWH, || “And they no longer say, YHWH lives who brought up || The sons of Israel out of the land of Egypt,

8 But—YHWH lives, who brought up, || And who brought in, the seed of the house of Israel, || From the land of the north, || And from all the lands to where I drove them, || And they have dwelt on their own ground!”

9 In reference to the prophets: My heart has been broken in my midst, || All my bones have fluttered, || I have been as a man—a drunkard, || And as a man—wine has passed over him, || Because of YHWH, and of His holy words.

10 For the land has been full of adulterers, || For the land has mourned because of these, || The pleasant places of the wilderness have dried up, || And their course is evil, and their might—not right.

11 “For both prophet and priest have been profane, || Indeed, I found their wickedness in My house,” || A declaration of YHWH.

12 “Therefore their way is as slippery places to them, || They are driven into thick darkness, || And they have fallen in it, || For I bring in calamity against them, || The year of their inspection,” || A declaration of YHWH.

13 “And I have seen folly in prophets of Samaria, || They have prophesied by Ba‘al, || And cause My people—Israel—to err.

14 And I have seen a horrible thing in prophets of Jerusalem, || Committing adultery, and walking falsely, || Indeed, they strengthened the hands of evildoers, || So that they have not turned back, || Each from his wickedness, || All of them have been as Sodom to me, || And its inhabitants as Gomorrah.”

15 Therefore, thus said YHWH of Hosts, concerning the prophets: “Behold, I am causing them to eat wormwood, || And have caused them to drink water of gall, || For from prophets of Jerusalem || Profanity has gone forth to all the land.”

16 Thus said YHWH of Hosts: “You do not listen to the words || Of the prophets who are prophesying to you, || They are making you vain things, || They speak a vision of their own heart, || Not from the mouth of YHWH.

17 Diligently saying to those despising, || The word of YHWH: Peace is for you, || And [to] everyone walking in the stubbornness of his heart, they have said: Evil does not come to you.”

18 For who has stood in the counsel of YHWH, || And sees and hears His word? Who has regarded My word, and listens?

19 Behold, a whirlwind of YHWH—Fury has gone out, even a piercing whirlwind, || It stays on the head of the wicked.

20 The anger of YHWH does not turn back || Until His doing, and until His establishing, || The thoughts of His heart, || In the latter end of the days || You attend to it with understanding.

21 “I have not sent the prophets, and they have run, || I have not spoken to them, and they have prophesied.

22 But if they stood in My counsel, || Then they cause My people to hear My words, || And they turn them back from their evil way, || And from the evil of their doings.

23 [Am] I a God near,” || A declaration of YHWH, || “And not a God far off?

24 Is anyone hidden in secret places, || And I do not see him?” A declaration of YHWH, “Do I not fill the heavens and the earth?” A declaration of YHWH.

25 “I have heard that which the prophets said, || Who prophesy falsehood in My Name, saying, || I have dreamed, I have dreamed.

26 Until when is it in the heart of the prophets? The prophets of falsehood, || Indeed, prophets of the deceit of their heart,

27 Who are devising to cause My people || To forget My Name by their dreams, || That they each recount to his neighbor, || As their fathers forgot My Name for Ba‘al.

28 The prophet with whom [is] a dream, || Let him recount the dream, || And he with whom [is] My word, || Let him truly speak My word. What does the straw [have to do] with the grain?” A declaration of YHWH.