Jeremiah, 23

1. 'Disaster for the shepherds who lose and scatter the sheep of my pasture, Yahweh declares.

1. "Woe to the shepherds who destroy and scatter the sheep of my pasture!" says the LORD.

2. This, therefore, is what Yahweh, God of Israel, says about the shepherds who shepherd my people, "You have scattered my flock, you have driven them away and have not taken care of them. Right, I shall take care of you for your misdeeds, Yahweh declares!

2. Therefore thus says the LORD, the God of Israel, concerning the shepherds who care for my people: "You have scattered my flock, and have driven them away, and you have not attended to them. Behold, I will attend to you for your evil doings, says the LORD.

3. But the remnant of my flock I myself shall gather from all the countries where I have driven them, and bring them back to their folds; they will be fruitful and increase in numbers.

3. Then I will gather the remnant of my flock out of all the countries where I have driven them, and I will bring them back to their fold, and they shall be fruitful and multiply.

4. For them I shall raise up shepherds to shepherd them and pasture them. No fear, no terror for them any more; not one shall be lost, Yahweh declares!

4. I will set shepherds over them who will care for them, and they shall fear no more, nor be dismayed, neither shall any be missing, says the LORD.

5. Look, the days are coming, Yahweh declares, when I shall raise an upright Branch for David; he will reign as king and be wise, doing what is just and upright in the country.

5. "Behold, the days are coming, says the LORD, when I will raise up for David a righteous Branch, and he shall reign as king and deal wisely, and shall execute justice and righteousness in the land.

6. In his days Judah will triumph and Israel live in safety. And this is the name he will be called, 'Yahweh-is-our-Saving-Justice.' "

6. In his days Judah will be saved, and Israel will dwell securely. And this is the name by which he will be called: `The LORD is our righteousness.'

7. 'So, look, the days are coming, Yahweh declares, when people will no longer say, "As Yahweh lives who brought the Israelites out of Egypt,"

7. "Therefore, behold, the days are coming, says the LORD, when men shall no longer say, `As the LORD lives who brought up the people of Israel out of the land of Egypt,'

8. but, "As Yahweh lives who led back and brought home the offspring of the House of Israel from the land of the north and all the countries to which he had driven them, to live on their own soil." '

8. but `As the LORD lives who brought up and led the descendants of the house of Israel out of the north country and out of all the countries where he had driven them.' Then they shall dwell in their own land."

9. On the prophets. My heart is broken within me, I tremble in all my bones; I am like a drunken man, like a man overcome with wine, because of Yahweh and his holy words:

9. Concerning the prophets: My heart is broken within me, all 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. 'For the country is full of adulterers; yes, because of a curse, the country is in mourning and the pasturage in the desert has dried up; they are prompt to do wrong, make no effort to do right.

10. For the land is full of adulterers; because of the curse the land mourns, and the pastures of the wilderness are dried up. Their course is evil, and their might is not right.

11. Yes, even prophet and priest are godless, I have detected their wickedness in my own House, Yahweh declares.

11. "Both prophet and priest are ungodly; even in my house I have found their wickedness, says the LORD.

12. Because of this, their way will prove treacherous going for them; in the darkness where they are driven, there they will fall. For I shall bring disaster on them, when the year for punishing them comes, Yahweh declares.

12. Therefore their way shall be to them like slippery paths in the darkness, into which they shall be driven and fall; for I will bring evil upon them in the year of their punishment, says the LORD.

13. 'In the prophets of Samaria I have seen insanity: they prophesied in the name of Baal and led my people Israel astray.

13. In the prophets of Sama'ria I saw an unsavory thing: they prophesied by Ba'al and led my people Israel astray.

14. But in the prophets of Jerusalem I have seen something horrible: adultery, persistent lying, such abetting of the wicked that no one renounces his wickedness. To me they are all like Sodom and its inhabitants are like Gomorrah.

14. But in the prophets of Jerusalem I have seen a horrible thing: they commit adultery and walk in lies; they strengthen the hands of evildoers, so that no one turns from his wickedness; all of them have become like Sodom to me, and its inhabitants like Gomor'rah."

15. So this is what Yahweh Sabaoth says about the prophets, "Now I shall give them wormwood to eat and make them drink poisoned water, since from the prophets of Jerusalem godlessness has spread throughout the land."

15. Therefore thus says the LORD of hosts concerning the prophets: "Behold, I will feed them with wormwood, and give them poisoned water to drink; for from the prophets of Jerusalem ungodliness has gone forth into all the land."

16. 'Yahweh Sabaoth says this, "Do not listen to what those prophets prophesy to you; they are deluding you, they retail visions of their own, and not what comes from Yahweh's mouth.

16. Thus says the LORD of hosts: "Do not listen to the words of the prophets who prophesy to you, filling you with vain hopes; they speak visions of their own minds, not from the mouth of the LORD.

17. To those who despise me, they keep saying: Yahweh has spoken: you will have peace! and to all who follow their own stubborn inclinations: No disaster will touch you."

17. They say continually to those who despise the word of the LORD, `It shall be well with you'; and to every one who stubbornly follows his own heart, they say, `No evil shall come upon you.'"

18. But who has been present in Yahweh's council and seen, and heard his word? Who has paid attention to his word and listened to it?

18. For who among them has stood in the council of the LORD to perceive and to hear his word, or who has given heed to his word and listened?

19. Look, Yahweh's hurricane, his wrath, bursts out, a fearsome hurricane, to burst on the heads of the wicked;

19. Behold, the storm of the LORD! Wrath has gone forth, a whirling tempest; it will burst upon the head of the wicked.

20. Yahweh's anger will not withdraw until he has performed, has carried out, what he has in mind. In the final days, you will understand this clearly,

20. The anger of the LORD will not turn back until he has executed and accomplished the intents of his mind. In the latter days you will understand it clearly.

21. 'I did not send these prophets, yet they ran! I did not speak to them, yet they prophesied!

21. "I did not send the prophets, yet they ran; I did not speak to them, yet they prophesied.

22. Had they been present in my council, they could have proclaimed my words to my people and turned them from their evil way and from the wickedness of their deeds!

22. But if they had stood in my council, then they would have proclaimed my words to my people, and they would have turned them from their evil way, and from the evil of their doings.

23. 'Am I a God when near, Yahweh demands, and not a God when far away?

23. "Am I a God at hand, says the LORD, and not a God afar off?

24. Can anyone hide somewhere secret without my seeing him? Yahweh demands. Do I not fill heaven and earth? Yahweh demands.

24. Can a man hide himself in secret places so that I cannot see him? says the LORD. Do I not fill heaven and earth? says the LORD.

25. 'I have heard what the prophets say who make their lying prophecies in my name. "I have had a dream," they say, "I have had a dream!"

25. I have heard what the prophets have said who prophesy lies in my name, saying, `I have dreamed, I have dreamed!'

26. How long are there to be those among the prophets who prophesy lies and are in fact prophets of their own delusions?

26. How long shall there be lies in the heart of the prophets who prophesy lies, and who prophesy the deceit of their own heart,

27. They are doing their best, by means of the dreams that they keep telling each other, to make my people forget my name, just as their ancestors forgot my name in favour of Baal.

27. who think to make my people forget my name by their dreams which they tell one another, even as their fathers forgot my name for Ba'al?

28. Let the prophet who has had a dream tell it for a dream! And let him who receives a word from me, deliver my word accurately! 'What have straw and wheat in common? Yahweh demands.

28. Let the prophet who has a dream tell the dream, but let him who has my word speak my word faithfully. What has straw in common with wheat? says the LORD.

29. Is my word not like fire, Yahweh demands, is it not like a hammer shattering a rock?

29. Is not my word like fire, says the LORD, and like a hammer which breaks the rock in pieces?

30. 'So, then, I have a quarrel with the prophets, Yahweh declares, that steal my words from one another.

30. Therefore, behold, I am against the prophets, says the LORD, who steal my words from one another.

31. I have a quarrel with the prophets, Yahweh declares, who wag their tongues to utter prophecies.

31. Behold, I am against the prophets, says the LORD, who use their tongues and say, `Says the LORD.'

32. I have a quarrel with the prophets who make prophecies out of lying dreams, Yahweh declares, who recount them, and lead my people astray by their lies and their bragging. I certainly never sent them or commissioned them, and they serve no good purpose for this people, Yahweh declares.

32. Behold, I am against those who prophesy lying dreams, says the LORD, and who tell them and lead my people astray by their lies and their recklessness, when I did not send them or charge them; so they do not profit this people at all, says the LORD.

33. 'And when this people, or a prophet, or a priest, asks you, "What is Yahweh's burden?" you must answer, "You are the burden, and I shall get rid of you, Yahweh declares!"

33. "When 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, and I will cast you off, says the LORD.'

34. 'As for the prophet, the priest, or anyone else, who says, "Yahweh's burden", I shall punish that man, and his household too.

34. And as for the prophet, priest, or one of the people who says, `The burden of the LORD,' I will punish that man and his household.

35. This is what you must say to one another, among yourselves, "What answer has Yahweh given?" or "What has Yahweh said?"

35. Thus 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?'

36. But stop using the expression "Yahweh's burden", for what each man says will be his own responsibility. And you twist the words of the living God, of Yahweh Sabaoth, our God.

36. But `the burden of the LORD' you shall mention no more, for the burden is every man's own word, and you pervert the words of the living God, the LORD of hosts, our God.

37. This is the way to speak to a prophet, "What answer has Yahweh given?" or "What has Yahweh said?"

37. Thus you shall say to the prophet, `What has the LORD answered you?' or `What has the LORD spoken?'

38. But if you say, "Yahweh's burden", then Yahweh says this, "Since you use the expression 'Yahweh's burden', when I have warned you to stop saying, 'Yahweh's burden',

38. But 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,'"

39. believe me, I shall pick you up and fling you from my presence, you and the city I gave to you and to your ancestors.

39. therefore, behold, I will surely lift you up and cast you away from my presence, you and the city which I gave to you and your fathers.

40. I shall bring down everlasting shame on you, everlasting and unforgettable disgrace." '

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