Jer 23 | NASB2020 | STEP | “ Woe to the shepherds who are causing the sheep of My pasture to perish and are scattering them! ” declares the Lord .

Jeremiah 23

The Coming Messiah: the Righteous Branch

1 “ ^aWoe to the shepherds who are causing the ^bsheep of My pasture to ^cperish and are scattering them!” declares the Lord. 2 Therefore this is what the Lord, the God of Israel says concerning the shepherds who are ^{▼▼Lit shepherding}tending My people: “You have scattered My flock and driven them away, and have not been concerned about them; behold, I am going to ^ecall you to account for the ^fevil of your deeds,” declares the Lord. 3 “Then I Myself will ^ggather the remnant of My flock out of all the countries where I have driven them, and bring them back to their pasture, and they will be fruitful and multiply. 4 I will also raise up ^hshepherds over them and they will ^{▼▼Or shepherd}tend them; and they will ^jnot be afraid any longer, nor be terrified, ^knor will any be missing,” declares the Lord.

5 “Behold, the ^ldays are coming,” declares the Lord,
“When I will raise up for David a righteous ^{▼▼Lit Sprout
,} ⁿBranch;
And He will ^oreign as king and ^{▼▼Or succeed}act wisely
And ^qdo justice and righteousness in the land.
6 “In His days Judah will be saved,
And ^rIsrael will live securely;
And this is His ^sname by which He will be called,
‘The ^tLord Our Righteousness.’
7 “ ^uTherefore behold, the days are coming,” declares the Lord, “when they will no longer say, ‘As the Lord lives, who brought the sons of Israel up from the land of Egypt,’ 8 ^vbut, ‘As the Lord lives, who ^wbrought up and led the descendants of the household of Israel back from the north land and from all the countries where I had driven them.’ Then they will live on their own soil.”

False Prophets Denounced

9 As for the prophets:
My ^xheart is broken within me,
All my bones tremble;
I have become like a drunken man,
And like a man overcome by wine,
Because of the Lord
And because of His holy words.
10 For the land is full of ^yadulterers;
For the land ^zmourns because of the curse.
The ^aapastures of the wilderness have dried up.
Their course is evil
And their might is not right.
11 “For ^abboth prophet and priest are defiled;
Even in My house I have found their wickedness,” declares the Lord.
12 “Therefore their way will be like ^acslippery paths to them,
They will be driven away into the ^adgloom and fall down in it;
For I will bring ^aedisaster upon them,
The year of their punishment,” declares the Lord.

13 “Moreover, among the prophets of Samaria I saw an ^afoffensive thing:
They ^agprophesied by Baal and ^ahled My people Israel astray.
14 “Also among the prophets of Jerusalem I have seen a ^aihorrible thing:
The committing of ^ajadultery and walking in deceit;
And they strengthen the hands of ^akevildoers,
So that no one has turned back from his wickedness.
All of them have become to Me like ^alSodom,
And her inhabitants like Gomorrah.
15 Therefore this is what the Lord of armies says concerning the prophets:

‘Behold, I am going to ^amfeed them wormwood
And make them drink poisonous water,
For from the prophets of Jerusalem
Ungodliness has spread into all the land.’”

16 This is what the Lord of armies says:
“ ^anDo not listen to the words of the prophets who are prophesying to you.
They are ^aoleading you into futility;
They tell a ^apvision of their own ^{▼▼Lit heart}imagination,
Not ^arfrom the mouth of the Lord.
17 “They keep saying to those who ^asdespise Me,
‘The Lord has said, “ ^atYou will have peace”’;
And as for everyone who walks in the ^austubbornness of his own heart,
They say, ‘ ^avDisaster will not come on you.’
18 “But ^awwho has stood in the council of the Lord,
That he should see and hear His word?
Who has paid ^axattention to ^{▼▼Another reading is My}His word and listened?
19 “Behold, the ^azstorm of the Lord has gone forth in wrath,
Even a whirling tempest;
It will swirl down on the head of the wicked.
20 “The ^baanger of the Lord will not turn back
Until He has ^bbperformed and carried out the purposes of His heart;
^bcIn the last days you will clearly understand it.
21 “ ^bdI did not send these prophets,
But they ran.
I did not speak to them,
But they prophesied.
22 “But if they had ^bestood in My council,
Then they would have ^bfannounced My words to My people,
And would have turned them back from their evil way
And from the evil of their deeds.

23 “Am I a God who is ^bgnear,” declares the Lord,
“And not a God far off?
24 “Can a person ^bhhide himself in hiding places
So that I do not see him?” declares the Lord.
“ ^biDo I not fill the heavens and the earth?” declares the Lord.
25 “I have ^bjheard what the prophets have said who ^bkprophesy falsely in My name, saying, ‘I had a ^bldream, I had a dream!’ 26 How long? Is there anything in the hearts of the prophets who prophesy falsehood, these prophets of the ^bmdeceitfulness of their own heart, 27 who intend to ^bnmake My people forget My name by their dreams which they report to one another, just as their fathers ^boforgot My name because of Baal? 28 The prophet who has a dream may report his dream, but let him who has ^bpMy word speak My word truthfully. ^bqWhat does straw have in common with grain?” declares the Lord. 29 “Is My word not like ^brfire?” declares the Lord, “and like a ^bshammer which shatters a rock? 30 Therefore behold, ^btI am against the prophets,” declares the Lord, “who steal My words from each other. 31 Behold, I am against the prophets,” declares the Lord, “who ^{▼▼Lit take}use their tongues and declare, ‘The Lord declares!’ 32 Behold, I am against those who have prophesied ^bvfalse dreams,” declares the Lord, “and reported them and led My people astray by their lies and ^bwreckless boasting; yet ^bxI did not send them nor command them, nor do they ^byprovide this people the slightest benefit,” declares the Lord.

33 “Now when this people or the prophet or a priest asks you, saying, ‘What is the ^{▼▼Or burden, and so throughout the ch
,} ^capronouncement of the Lord?’ then you shall say to them, ‘What ^{▼▼Or burden, and so throughout the ch}pronouncement?’ The Lord declares, ‘I will ^ccabandon you.’ 34 Then as for the prophet or the priest or the people who say, ‘The ^cdpronouncement of the Lord,’ I will bring punishment upon that person and his household. 35 This is what each one of you will say to his neighbor and to his brother: ‘ ^ceWhat has the Lord answered?’ or, ‘What has the Lord spoken?’ 36 For you will no longer remember the pronouncement of the Lord, because every person’s own word will become the pronouncement, and you have ^cfperverted the words of the ^cgliving God, the Lord of armies, our God. 37 This is what you will say to that prophet: ‘What has the Lord answered you?’ and, ‘What has the Lord spoken?’ 38 And if you say, ‘The pronouncement of the Lord!’ for that reason the Lord says this: ‘Because you said this word, “The pronouncement of the Lord!” I have also sent word to you, saying, “You shall not say, ‘The pronouncement of the Lord!’”’ 39 Therefore behold, ^chI will certainly forget you and thrust you away from My presence, along with the city which I gave you and your fathers. 40 I will put an everlasting ^cidisgrace on you and an everlasting humiliation which will not be forgotten.”