Jer 23 | RLT | STEP | Woe be unto the pastors that destroy and scatter the sheep of my pasture ! saith Yhwh .

‏ Jeremiah 23

CHAP. XXIII.

1 Woe be unto the pastors that destroy and scatter the sheep of my pasture! saith Yhwh. 2 Therefore thus saith Yhwh God of Israel against the pastors that feed my people; Ye have scattered my flock, and driven them away, and have not visited them: behold, I will visit upon you the evil of your doings, saith Yhwh. 3 And I will gather the remnant of my flock out of all countries whither I have driven them, and will bring them again to their folds; and they shall be fruitful and increase. 4 And I will set up shepherds over them which shall feed them: and they shall fear no more, nor be dismayed, neither shall they be lacking, saith Yhwh.

5 Behold, the days come, saith Yhwh, that I will raise unto David a righteous Branch, and a King shall reign and prosper, and shall execute judgment and justice in the earth. 6 In his days Judah shall be saved, and Israel shall dwell safely: and this is his name whereby he shall be called, Jehovah-Tsidkenu, Yhwh Our Righteousness. ^{▼▼ THE Lord…: Heb. Jehovah–tsidkenu.} 7 Therefore, behold, the days come, saith Yhwh, that they shall no more say, Yhwh liveth, which brought up the children of Israel out of the land of Egypt; 8 But, Yhwh liveth, which brought up and which led the seed of the house of Israel out of the north country, and from all countries whither I had driven them; and they shall dwell in their own land.

9 Mine heart within me is broken because of the prophets; all my bones shake; I am like a drunken man, and like a man whom wine hath overcome, because of Yhwh, and because of the words of his holiness. 10 For the land is full of adulterers; for because of swearing the land mourneth; the pleasant places of the wilderness are dried up, and their course is evil, and their force is not right. ^{▼▼ swearing: or, cursing.
,} ^{▼▼ course: or, violence.} 11 For both prophet and priest are profane; yea, in my house have I found their wickedness, saith Yhwh. 12 Wherefore their way shall be unto them as slippery ways in the darkness: they shall be driven on, and fall therein: for I will bring evil upon them, even the year of their visitation, saith Yhwh. 13 And I have seen folly in the prophets of Samaria; they prophesied in Baal, and caused my people Israel to err. ^{▼▼ folly: or, an absurd thing: Heb. unsavoury.} 14 I have seen also in the prophets of Jerusalem an horrible thing: they commit adultery, and walk in lies: they strengthen also the hands of evildoers, that none doth return from his wickedness: they are all of them unto me as Sodom, and the inhabitants thereof as Gomorrah. ^{▼▼ an…: or, filthiness.} 15 Therefore thus saith Yhwh of Armies concerning the prophets; Behold, I will feed them with wormwood, and make them drink the water of gall: for from the prophets of Jerusalem is profaneness gone forth into all the land. ^{▼▼ profaneness: or, hypocrisy.} 16 Thus saith Yhwh of Armies, Hearken not unto the words of the prophets that prophesy unto you: they make you vain: they speak a vision of their own heart, and not out of the mouth of Yhwh. 17 They say still unto them that despise me, Yhwh hath said, Ye shall have peace; and they say unto every one that walketh after the imagination of his own heart, No evil shall come upon you. ^{▼▼ imagination: or, stubbornness.} 18 For who hath stood in the counsel of Yhwh, and hath perceived and heard his word? who hath marked his word, and heard it? ^{▼▼ counsel: or, secret.} 19 Behold, a whirlwind of Yhwh is gone forth in fury, even a grievous whirlwind: it shall fall grievously upon the head of the wicked. 20 The anger of Yhwh shall not return, until he have executed, and till he have performed the thoughts of his heart: in the latter days ye shall consider it perfectly. 21 I have not sent these prophets, yet they ran: I have not spoken to them, yet they prophesied. 22 But if they had stood in my counsel, and had caused my people to hear my words, then they should have turned them from their evil way, and from the evil of their doings. 23 Am I a God at hand, saith Yhwh, and not a God afar off? 24 Can any hide himself in secret places that I shall not see him? saith Yhwh. Do not I fill heaven and earth? saith Yhwh. 25 I have heard what the prophets said, that prophesy lies in my name, saying, I have dreamed, I have dreamed. 26 How long shall this be in the heart of the prophets that prophesy lies? yea, they are prophets of the deceit of their own heart; 27 Which think to cause my people to forget my name by their dreams which they tell every man to his neighbour, as their fathers have forgotten my name for Baal. 28 The prophet that hath a dream, let him tell a dream; and he that hath my word, let him speak my word faithfully. What is the chaff to the wheat? saith Yhwh. ^{▼▼ that hath a dream: Heb. with whom is, etc.} 29 Is not my word like as a fire? saith Yhwh; and like a hammer that breaketh the rock in pieces? 30 Therefore, behold, I am against the prophets, saith Yhwh, that steal my words every one from his neighbour. 31 Behold, I am against the prophets, saith Yhwh, that use their tongues, and say, He saith. ^{▼▼ that…: or, that smooth their tongues.} 32 Behold, I am against them that prophesy false dreams, saith Yhwh, and do tell them, and cause my people to err by their lies, and by their lightness; yet I sent them not, nor commanded them: therefore they shall not profit this people at all, saith Yhwh.

33 And when this people, or the prophet, or a priest, shall ask thee, saying, What is the burden of Yhwh? thou shalt then say unto them, What burden? I will even forsake you, saith Yhwh. 34 And as for the prophet, and the priest, and the people, that shall say, The burden of Yhwh, I will even punish that man and his house. ^{▼▼ punish: Heb. visit upon.} 35 Thus shall ye say every one to his neighbour, and every one to his brother, What hath Yhwh answered? and, What hath Yhwh spoken? 36 And the burden of Yhwh shall ye mention no more: for every man’s word shall be his burden; for ye have perverted the words of the living God, of Yhwh of Armies our God. 37 Thus shalt thou say to the prophet, What hath Yhwh answered thee? and, What hath Yhwh spoken? 38 But since ye say, The burden of Yhwh; therefore thus saith Yhwh; Because ye say this word, The burden of Yhwh, and I have sent unto you, saying, Ye shall not say, The burden of Yhwh; 39 Therefore, behold, I, even I, will utterly forget you, and I will forsake you, and the city that I gave you and your fathers, and cast you out of my presence: 40 And I will bring an everlasting reproach upon you, and a perpetual shame, which shall not be forgotten.