- Jeremiah
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23
1 What trouble is coming to the shepherds who destroy and scatter the sheep of my pasture! declares the Lord.
2 This is what the Lord, the God of Israel, says about the shepherds who were meant to look after my people: You have scattered my flock. You have chased them away. You didn't take care of them, so now I will take care of you for all the evil you've done, declares the Lord.
3 I myself will gather what's left of my flock from all the countries where I exiled them, and I will bring them back to their pasture, where they will increase in number. 4 I will put shepherds in charge of them who will take care of them, and they won't be afraid or discouraged anymore, and none of them will be missing, declares the Lord.
5 Look, the time is coming, declares the Lord, when I will choose a descendant of David who does what is right. As king he will rule with wisdom and do what is just and right throughout the country. 6 When he is king, Judah will be saved, and Israel will live in safety. This is the name he will be called: The Lord Who Makes Us Right.
7 Look, the time is coming, declares the Lord, when people won't say anymore, “On the Lord's life, who led the Israelites out of Egypt.” 8 Instead they'll say, “On the Lord's life, who led the Israelites back from the northern country and all the other countries where he had exiled them.” Then they'll live in their own country.
9 When it comes to the prophets: I'm really disturbed—I'm shaking inside! I stagger like a drunk, like someone who's had too much wine, because of what the Lord is like, because of his holy words.*Jeremiah is alarmed at the contrast between what he knows of the Lord's nature and the degraded state of the nation—and what this means in terms of the coming disaster. 10 For the country is full of people committing adultery so it's under a curse. The land mourns and the desert pastures have dried up. The people live evil lives, using their energy to do wrong. 11 Both prophets and priests show no respect for me. I see wickedness even in my Temple, declares the Lord. 12 That's why their path will become slippery; they will be chased away in the dark and fall down. I'm going to bring disaster on them at the time when they're punished, declares the Lord.
13 I saw the prophets of Samaria doing something really offensive: They prophesied in the name of Baal and led my people Israel to sin.
14 But now I see the prophets of Jerusalem doing something even more disgusting: They commit adultery and their lives are a lie. They support the wicked, so no one stops sinning. To me they're all like Sodom; the people of Jerusalem are like Gomorrah.
15 So this is what the Lord Almighty says about the prophets: I will give them wormwood to eat and poisoned water to drink, because evil has spread across the country from the prophets of Jerusalem.
16 This is what the Lord Almighty says: Don't pay attention to what these prophets say when they prophesy to you. They're fooling you with visions they make up in their own minds. They're not from me. 17 They keep on telling people who don't respect me, “The Lord says that you'll live in peace,” and to everyone following their own stubborn attitude, “Nothing bad is going to happen to you.”
18 But who of them has attended the Lord's council to hear and understand what he's saying? Who has paid attention to his instructions and followed them? 19 Watch out! The Lord has sent out a furious storm, a tornado swirling around the heads of the wicked. 20 The Lord's anger won't fade until he's finished doing everything he wants. Only then will you really understand.
21 I didn't send these prophets, but they run to deliver their messages. I didn't tell them to say anything, but they still go on prophesying. 22 Now if they had attended my council, they would have delivered my instructions to my people and brought them back from their evil way of life, from their evil actions.
23 Am I only a local God and not a God who operates widely? asks the Lord. 24 Can people hide in secret places where I can't see them? asks the Lord. Don't I operate everywhere in heaven and on earth? asks the Lord.
25 I've listened to the prophets who prophesy lies in my name. They say, “I've had a dream! I've had a dream!” 26 How long will this continue? How long will these prophets go on prophesying these lies which are just the product of their own deluded minds? 27 They think the dreams that they repeat to one another will lead my people to forget me, just like their forefathers forgot me by worshiping Baal.
28 A prophet who has a dream should say it's just a dream, but anyone I've spoken to should deliver my message faithfully. What is straw in comparison to grain? asks the Lord. 29 Doesn't my word burn like fire? asks the Lord. Isn't it like a hammer smashing a rock?
30 Pay attention to this, declares the Lord. I'm opposed to those prophets who steal words from one another and then say it's a message from me.
31 Pay attention to this, declares the Lord. I'm opposed to those prophets who make up their own stories†“Make up their own stories”: literally, “take their own tongues.” and then announce, “This is what the Lord says.”
32 Pay attention to this, declares the Lord, I'm opposed to those who prophesy fictional dreams. They tell them in order to lead my people into sin with their wild lies. I didn't send them or give them any instructions, and they don't do anybody any good, declares the Lord.
33 So when a prophet or priest or anyone else comes and asks you, “What is ‘the burden of the Lord?’ ”‡“The burden of the Lord” in the sense of some requirement that the Lord is imposing on the people. Clearly the people saw the various laws and regulations as “burdens” and related to the Lord as this legalistic “burden-giver.” Though they lived evil lives it seems they thought that if they observed such “burdens,” including new ones, then the Lord would be satisfied. tell them, I'm not giving you a burden. I'm giving up on you, declares the Lord.
34 If a prophet or priest or anyone else claims, “This is the burden of the Lord,” I will punish that person and their family.
35 This is what everybody should say to their friends and relatives: “What answer has the Lord given?” or, “What has the Lord said?” 36 Don't talk about “the burden of the Lord” anymore, because everybody has different ideas about this “burden,” perverting the words of the living God, the Lord Almighty, our God.
37 This is what you are to ask any prophet: “What message has the Lord given you?” and “What has the Lord told you?”
38 If they say, “This is the burden of the Lord,” then this is the Lord's response: Because you said, “This is the burden of the Lord,” and I warned you not to, 39 now I'm going to pick you up like a burden and throw you away, you and the city that I gave to you and your forefathers. 40 I will disgrace you forever, your shame will never be forgotten.

- Jeremiah
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- 23
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*23:9 Jeremiah is alarmed at the contrast between what he knows of the Lord's nature and the degraded state of the nation—and what this means in terms of the coming disaster.

†23:31 “Make up their own stories”: literally, “take their own tongues.”

‡23:33 “The burden of the Lord” in the sense of some requirement that the Lord is imposing on the people. Clearly the people saw the various laws and regulations as “burdens” and related to the Lord as this legalistic “burden-giver.” Though they lived evil lives it seems they thought that if they observed such “burdens,” including new ones, then the Lord would be satisfied.

© 2018 Dr. Jonathan Gallagher