Jeremiah 23

VIN(i) 1 "Woe to the shepherds who are destroying and scattering the sheep of my pasture!" Says the LORD. 2 Therefore thus says the LORD, the God of Israel, against the shepherds who feed my people: "You have scattered my flock, and driven them away, and have not visited them; look, I will visit on you the evil of your doings," says the LORD. 3 "I'll gather the remnant of my flock from all the countries where I've driven them, and bring them back to their pasture where they'll be fruitful and increase in numbers. 4 I will set up shepherds over them, who will feed them. They will no longer be afraid or dismayed, neither will any be lacking,” says the LORD. 5 "The days are coming," declares the LORD, "when I will raise up for David a righteous Branch. He will reign as king and act wisely and do justice and righteousness in the land. 6 In his days Judah will be saved, and Israel will dwell safely. This is his name by which he will be called: the LORD our righteousness. 7 "Therefore, the time is coming," declares the LORD, "when people will no longer say, 'As surely as the LORD lives who brought up the Israelites from the land of Egypt,' 8 but they'll say, 'As surely as the LORD lives who brought the descendants of the Israelites from the land of the north and from all the lands where I had driven them and brought them into the land.' Then they'll live in their own land." 9 Concerning the prophets: My heart is broken within me, and all my bones shake. I'm like a drunk man, like a person overcome with wine, because of the LORD, and because of his holy words. 10 For the land is full of adulterers; for because of the curse the land mourns. The pastures of the wilderness have dried up. Their course is evil, and their might is not right; 11 "For both prophet as well as priest are godless, even in my temple I have found their wickedness," declares the LORD. 12 Therefore their way will be slippery. They'll be driven out into the darkness, where they'll fall. For I'll bring disaster on them, the year of their judgment," declares the LORD. 13 "Among the prophets of Samaria I saw a disgusting thing, for they prophesied by Baal and led my people Israel astray. 14 In the prophets of Jerusalem I have also seen a horrible thing: they commit adultery and walk in lies. They strengthen the hands of evildoers, so that no one returns from his wickedness. They have all become to me as Sodom, and its inhabitants as Gomorrah.” 15 Therefore the LORD of Armies says concerning the prophets: “Behold, I will feed them with wormwood, and make them drink poisoned water; for from the prophets of Jerusalem ungodliness has gone out into all the land.” 16 This is what the LORD Almighty says: "Do not listen to what the prophets are saying to you. They fill you with false hope. They speak about visions that they dreamed up. These visions are not from the LORD. 17 They say continually to those who despise me, the LORD has said, You will have peace. And to everyone who walks in the stubbornness of his own heart they say, No evil will come upon you. 18 For which of them hath stood in the council of the Lord and seen? who hath hearkened and heard his voice?" 19 The storm of the LORD vents his wrath. A whirling tempest will swirl down on the head of the wicked. 20 The anger of the LORD shall not turn back until He has executed, and until He has set up the purposes of His heart. In latter days you shall understand it perfectly. 21 I did not send these prophets, but they ran of themselves; I did not speak to them, yet they prophesied. 22 But if they had stood in my council, then they would have proclaimed my words to my people, and they would have caused them to turn from their evil way, and from the evil of their deeds. 23 Am I a God near by, says the LORD, and not a God from afar? 24 Can any hide himself in secret places so that I shall not see him? saith the LORD. Do not I fill heaven and earth? saith the LORD. 25 "I have heard what the prophets have said who prophesy falsely in my name. They say: 'I had a dream! I had a dream!" 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 "They think the dreams they tell will make my people forget my name, just as their ancestors forgot my name and turned to Baal worship. 28 Let the prophet who has a dream relate the dream, but let whoever receives my word speak my word truthfully. What does straw have in common with wheat?" declares the LORD. 29 Is not my word like fire? says the LORD and like a hammer that breaks the rock in pieces? 30 Then, the LORD says, Behold, I am against the prophets who steal My words, each one from his neighbor. 31 the LORD says, Behold, I am against the prophets who use their tongues and say, He says. 32 Look, I'm against those who prophesy based on false dreams," declares the LORD, "and relate them and lead my people astray with their lies and their recklessness. I didn't send them; I didn't command them, and they provide no benefit at all to these people," declares the LORD. 33 "Jeremiah, when these people, the prophet, or a priest ask you, 'What is the oracle of the LORD?' say to them, 'You are the burden, and I'll cast you out,'" declares the LORD. 34 "And the prophet, and the priest, and the people who say, 'The burden of the LORD,' I will punish that man and his house. 35 This is what you should say to one another and among yourselves, 'What has the LORD answered?' or 'What has the LORD said?' 36 But you shall not mention the burden of the LORD, for the burden is to each one his word, and so you twist the words of the living God, the LORD Almighty, our God. 37 Thus shall you say to the prophet, What has the LORD answered you? and, What has the LORD spoken? 38 But, since ye keep on saying, The Oracle of the LORD, therefore, Thus saith the LORD, Because ye have said this word, The oracle of the LORD, whereas I had sent unto you saying, Ye shall not say, The oracle of the LORD 39 therefore behold, I will utterly forget you, and I will cast you off, far from my face, and the city that I gave to you and to your fathers. 40 and I will bring upon you an everlasting disgrace and an everlasting shame that will not be forgotten."