Jeremiah 23

Woe be unto the pastors that destroy and scatter the sheep of my pasture! saith the LORD.

1The LORD says this: "Trouble is coming to the shepherds who hurt my sheep and scatter them."

Note"Pastors" in the old English here means shepherds. It stands for the kings, leaders, and teachers who were supposed to care for the people.

2Therefore thus saith the LORD 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 the LORD.

2So the LORD, the God of Israel, speaks about the shepherds who were caring for his people. "You have scattered my flock. You drove them away. You did not look after them. So now I will look at the wrong you did, and I will punish you," says the LORD.

3And 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.

3"I myself will gather the sheep who are left. I will bring them back from every land I sent them to. I will bring them home to their own field. There they will grow into a big flock."

4And 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 the LORD.

4"I will give them shepherds who really take care of them. My people will not be afraid or upset again. Not one of them will be missing," says the LORD.

5Behold, the days come, saith the LORD, 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.

5"Look, the days are coming," says the LORD. "I will grow a good new branch from David's family. He will be a king, and he will rule wisely. He will do what is right and fair in the land."

6In his days Judah shall be saved, and Israel shall dwell safely: and this is his name whereby he shall be called, THE LORD OUR RIGHTEOUSNESS.

6"When he is king, Judah will be saved. Israel will live safely. And this is the name he will be called: The LORD Our Righteousness. That name means the LORD is the one who does right."

7Therefore, behold, the days come, saith the LORD, that they shall no more say, The LORD liveth, which brought up the children of Israel out of the land of Egypt;

7"So the days are coming," says the LORD. "People will not say this anymore: 'As surely as the LORD lives, he brought Israel out of Egypt.'"

8But, The LORD 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.

8"Instead they will say, 'As surely as the LORD lives, he brought Israel's family back from the land in the north. He brought them back from every land he had sent them to.' Then they will live in their own land again."

9Mine 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 the LORD, and because of the words of his holiness.

9Now Jeremiah speaks about the prophets, the people who say they bring messages from God. My heart is broken inside me. All my bones shake. I feel like a man who has drunk too much wine. I feel this way because of the LORD and his holy words.

10For 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.

10The land is full of people who break their marriage promises. Because of their cursing, the land is sad. The open grasslands have dried up. The people run to do wrong, and they use their strength in wrong ways.

11For both prophet and priest are profane; yea, in my house have I found their wickedness, saith the LORD.

11"Even the prophets and the priests, the men who serve me at my temple, do not care about me," says the LORD. "I have found them doing wrong things right inside my house."

12Wherefore 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 the LORD.

12"So their path will be like slippery ground in the dark. They will be pushed along, and they will fall. I will bring trouble on them in the year I punish them," says the LORD.

13And I have seen folly in the prophets of Samaria; they prophesied in Baal, and caused my people Israel to err.

13"I saw something wrong in the prophets of Samaria. They spoke messages from Baal, a god who is not real. They led my people Israel the wrong way."

14I 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.

14"And in the prophets of Jerusalem I have seen something terrible. They break their marriage promises. They live by lies. They help people who do evil, so no one turns away from doing wrong. To me they are all like Sodom. The people of Jerusalem are like Gomorrah."

NoteSodom and Gomorrah were two towns God destroyed long ago because of the evil done there. The story is in Genesis 19.

15Therefore thus saith the LORD of hosts 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.

15So the LORD, who rules the armies of heaven, says this about the prophets: "I will give them bitter wormwood to eat. I will give them poisoned water to drink. Wrong living has spread through the whole land, and it started with the prophets in Jerusalem."

NoteWormwood is a plant with a very bitter taste. "Gall" means bitter, poisonous water. Together they mean food and drink nobody would want.

16Thus saith the LORD of hosts, 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 the LORD.

16The LORD who rules the armies of heaven says this: "Do not listen to what those prophets tell you. They fill you with hopes that are not true. Their messages come from their own minds, not from my mouth."

17They say still unto them that despise me, The LORD 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.

17"They keep telling people who hate me, 'The LORD says you will have peace.' They tell every stubborn person, 'Nothing bad will happen to you.'"

18For who hath stood in the counsel of the LORD, and hath perceived and heard his word? who hath marked his word, and heard it?

18But which of these prophets has stood in the LORD's meeting? Who has really seen and heard his word? Who has listened closely to it and obeyed?

19Behold, a whirlwind of the LORD is gone forth in fury, even a grievous whirlwind: it shall fall grievously upon the head of the wicked.

19Look! A storm from the LORD has gone out. It is a wild, angry wind. It will come down hard on the heads of people who do evil.

20The anger of the LORD 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.

20The LORD's anger will not turn back. It will keep going until he has done all he planned. Later on, you will understand this clearly.

21I have not sent these prophets, yet they ran: I have not spoken to them, yet they prophesied.

21"I did not send these prophets, but they ran to speak anyway. I did not talk to them, but they told people messages anyway."

22But 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.

22"If they had stood in my meeting, they would have told my people my words. Then my people would have turned away from their evil ways and deeds."

23Am I a God at hand, saith the LORD, and not a God afar off?

23"Am I only a God who is close by?" says the LORD. "Am I not also a God who is far away?"

24Can any hide himself in secret places that I shall not see him? saith the LORD. Do not I fill heaven and earth? saith the LORD.

24"Can anyone hide in a secret place where I cannot see him?" says the LORD. "I fill the heavens and the earth," says the LORD.

25I have heard what the prophets said, that prophesy lies in my name, saying, I have dreamed, I have dreamed.

25"I have heard what those prophets say. They tell lies and say the lies came from me. They say, 'I had a dream! I had a dream!'"

26How long shall this be in the heart of the prophets that prophesy lies? yea, they are prophets of the deceit of their own heart;

26"How long will this go on in the minds of prophets who tell lies? They only speak the tricks they make up in their own hearts."

27Which 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.

27"They think their dreams will make my people forget my name. They tell these dreams to each other. Long ago their fathers forgot my name too, because they followed Baal."

28The 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 the LORD.

28"If a prophet has a dream, let him tell it as a dream. But the one who has my word must speak my word truly. Dry straw is not the same as good grain," says the LORD.

29Is not my word like as a fire? saith the LORD; and like a hammer that breaketh the rock in pieces?

29"Is my word not like fire?" says the LORD. "Is it not like a hammer that smashes a rock to pieces?"

30Therefore, behold, I am against the prophets, saith the LORD, that steal my words every one from his neighbour.

30"So listen," says the LORD. "I am against the prophets who steal words from each other and say the words came from me."

31Behold, I am against the prophets, saith the LORD, that use their tongues, and say, He saith.

31"I am against the prophets who use their own tongues," says the LORD. "They speak their own words and then say, 'The LORD said this.'"

32Behold, I am against them that prophesy false dreams, saith the LORD, 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 the LORD.

32"I am against those who tell dreams that are not true," says the LORD. "They tell them and lead my people the wrong way with careless lies. I did not send them. I did not tell them to speak. They do not help these people at all," says the LORD.

33And when this people, or the prophet, or a priest, shall ask thee, saying, What is the burden of the LORD? thou shalt then say unto them, What burden? I will even forsake you, saith the LORD.

33"Someone may ask you, 'What is the burden of the LORD?' It may be one of the people, or a prophet, or a priest. Then say to them, 'What burden? I will leave you, says the LORD.'"

NoteThe old word "burden" means a heavy load. The same Hebrew word also means a message from God. So the question turned God's message into a heavy load people complained about.

34And as for the prophet, and the priest, and the people, that shall say, The burden of the LORD, I will even punish that man and his house.

34"If a prophet, a priest, or anyone else says, 'This is the burden of the LORD,' I will punish that man and everyone in his house."

35Thus shall ye say every one to his neighbour, and every one to his brother, What hath the LORD answered? and, What hath the LORD spoken?

35Instead, say this to your friend and to your brother: "What answer did the LORD give?" or "What did the LORD say?"

36And the burden of the LORD 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 the LORD of hosts our God.

36"Do not talk about the burden of the LORD anymore. Each person's own words become his burden. You have twisted the words of the living God, the LORD who rules the armies of heaven, our God."

37Thus shalt thou say to the prophet, What hath the LORD answered thee? and, What hath the LORD spoken?

37"This is what you should say to a prophet: 'What answer did the LORD give you?' and 'What did the LORD say?'"

38But since ye say, The burden of the LORD; therefore thus saith the LORD; Because ye say this word, The burden of the LORD, and I have sent unto you, saying, Ye shall not say, The burden of the LORD;

38"But you keep saying, 'This is the burden of the LORD.' So the LORD says this: I told you not to say those words. You said them anyway."

39Therefore, 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:

39"So I will surely forget you. I will push you away from me. I will also push away the city I gave to you and your fathers."

40And I will bring an everlasting reproach upon you, and a perpetual shame, which shall not be forgotten.

40"I will bring shame on you that lasts forever. People will never forget it."