Jer 23:32 | NETfull | STEP | I, the Lord , affirm that I am opposed to those prophets who dream up lies and report them. They are misleading my people with their reckless lies. I did not send them. I did not commission them. They are not helping these people at all. I, the Lord , affirm it!”

Jeremiah 23:32

32 I, the Lord, affirm ^{▼▼ Heb “Oracle of the Lord.”} that I am opposed to those prophets who dream up lies and report them. They are misleading my people with their reckless lies. ^{▼▼ Heb “with their lies and their recklessness.” This is an example of hendiadys where two nouns (in this case a concrete and an abstract one) are joined by “and” but one is intended to be the adjectival modifier of the other.} I did not send them. I did not commission them. They are not helping these people at all. ^{▼▼ In the light of what has been said this is a rhetorical understatement; they are not only “not helping,” they are leading them to their doom (cf. vv. 19–22). This figure of speech is known as litotes.} I, the Lord, affirm it!” ^{▼▼ Heb “Oracle of the Lord.”}