Jeremiah 23:9-38

Lying Prophets

9Concerning the prophets:

aMy heart is broken within me;
ball my bones shake;
I am like a drunken man,
like a man overcome by wine,
because of the Lord
and because of his holy words.
10 cFor the land is full of adulterers;
dbecause of the curse ethe land mourns,
and fthe pastures of the wilderness are dried up.
gTheir course is evil,
and their might is not right.
11 hBoth prophet and priest are ungodly;
even iin my house I have found their evil,

declares the Lord.
12 jTherefore their way shall be to them
like slippery paths kin the darkness,
into which they shall be driven and fall,
for I will bring disaster upon them
lin the year of their punishment,

declares the Lord.
13In the prophets of mSamaria
nI saw an unsavory thing:
othey prophesied by Baal
pand led my people Israel astray.
14But in the prophets of Jerusalem
I have seen a horrible thing:
qthey commit adultery and walk in lies;
rthey strengthen the hands of evildoers,
so that no one turns from his evil;
sall of them have become like Sodom to me,
tand its inhabitants like Gomorrah.”
15Therefore thus says the Lord of hosts concerning the prophets:
uBehold, I will feed them with bitter food
vand give them wpoisoned water to drink,
for from the prophets of Jerusalem
ungodliness has gone out into all the land.”
16Thus says the Lord of hosts: “Do not listen to the words of the prophets who prophesy to you, xfilling you with vain hopes. yThey speak visions of their own minds, not from the mouth of the Lord. 17They say continually to those who despise the word of the Lord, z‘It shall be well with you’; and to everyone who aastubbornly follows his own heart, they say, abNo disaster shall come upon you.’”

18 For acwho among them has stood in the council of the Lord
to see and to hear his word,
or who has paid attention to his word and listened?
19 adBehold, the storm of the Lord!
Wrath has gone forth,
aea whirling tempest;
it will burst upon the head of the wicked.
20 afThe anger of the Lord will not turn back
until he has executed and agaccomplished
the intents of his heart.
ahIn the latter days you will understand it clearly.
21 ai“I did not send the prophets,
yet they ran;
I did not speak to them,
yet they prophesied.
22 ajBut if they had stood in my council,
then they would have proclaimed my words to my people,
akand they would have turned them from their evil way,
and alfrom the evil of their deeds.
23 am“Am I a God at hand, declares the Lord, and not a God far away? 24 anCan a man hide himself in secret places so that I cannot see him? declares the Lord. aoDo I not fill heaven and earth? declares the Lord. 25I have heard what the prophets have said apwho prophesy lies in my name, saying, aq‘I have dreamed, I have dreamed!’ 26How long shall there be lies in the heart of arthe prophets who prophesy lies, and who prophesy the deceit of their own heart, 27who think to make my people forget my name asby their dreams that they tell one another, even as their atfathers forgot my name for Baal? 28 auLet the prophet who has a dream avtell the dream, but let him who has my word speak my word faithfully. awWhat has straw in common with wheat? declares the Lord. 29 axIs not my word like fire, declares the Lord, and aylike a hammer that breaks the rock in pieces? 30 azTherefore, behold, I am against the prophets, declares the Lord, who steal my words from one another. 31Behold, I am against the prophets, declares the Lord, who use their tongues and declare, ‘declares the Lord.’ 32Behold, I am against those who prophesy lying dreams, declares the Lord, and who tell them and balead my people astray by their lies and their recklessness, when bbI did not send them or charge them. So they do not profit this people at all, declares the Lord.

33 bcWhen one of this people, or a prophet or a priest asks you, ‘What is the burden of the Lord?’ you shall say to them, ‘You are the burden,
Septuagint, Vulgate; Hebrew What burden?
and beI will cast you off, declares the Lord.’
34And as for the prophet, priest, or one of the people who says, ‘The burden of the Lord,’ bfI will punish that man and his household. 35Thus shall you say, every one to his neighbor and every one to his brother, ‘What has the Lord answered?’ or ‘What has the Lord spoken?’ 36But ‘the burden of the Lord’ you shall mention no more, for the burden is every man’s own word, and bgyou pervert the words of bhthe living God, the Lord of hosts, our God. 37Thus you shall say to the prophet, ‘What has the Lord answered you?’ or ‘What has the Lord spoken?’ 38But if you say, ‘The burden of the Lord,’ thus says the Lord, ‘Because you have said these words, “The burden of the Lord,” when I sent to you, saying, “You shall not say, ‘The burden of the Lord,’”
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