Jer 23 | ABEn | STEP | O the shepherds, the ones scattering and destroying the sheep of my pasture.

Jeremiah 23

CHAPTER 23 Two Kinds of Shepherds

1 O the shepherds, the ones scattering and destroying the sheep of my pasture. 2 On 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]. 3 And 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. 4 And 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. 5 Behold, 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. 6 In his days Judah shall be delivered, and Israel shall encamp complying. And this is his name, which [²shall call ³him ¹the lord] -- Josedek. 7 On 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. 8 But 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. 9 In 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. 10 For [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

11 For priest and prophet were tainted; and in my house I saw their wickedness, says the lord. 12 On 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. 13 And among the prophets of Samaria I beheld violations of the laws; they prophesied by Baal, and they misled my people Israel. 14 And 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. 15 On 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. 16 Thus 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. 17 They 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]. 18 For who stood in the garrison of the lord, and beheld and heard his word? Who gave ear and heard? 19 Behold, a quaking by the lord, and anger shall go forth in a rumbling. [²contracting ³upon ⁴the ⁵impious ¹It shall come]. 20 And [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. 21 I did not send the false prophets, yet they ran. I did not speak to them, and they prophesied. 22 And 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. 24 Shall 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? 25 I heard what [³speak ¹the ²prophets] who prophesy [²by ³my name ¹lies], saying, I dreamed a dream. 26 For how long shall it be in the heart of the prophets prophesying lies, and in their prophesying the wants of their heart? 27 The 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. 28 The 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. 29 Are not my words as fire blazing, says the lord? and as a hewing axe beating the rock? 30 Behold, I am against the prophets, says the lord God, the ones stealing my words each from his neighbor. 31 Behold, I am against the prophets, says the lord, the ones casting out prophecies of the tongue, and slumbering of their own slumber. 32 Behold, 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

33 And 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, 34 and 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. 35 Thus you shall say each to his neighbor, and each to his brother, What did the lord answer? And what did the lord speak? 36 And 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. 37 Thus you shall say to the prophet, What spoke the lord our God? 38 On 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. 39 On account of this, behold, I will take and dash you down, and the city which I have given to you and to your fathers. 40 And I shall put upon you [²scorn ¹eternal] and [²dishonor ¹eternal], which shall not be forgotten.