Jeremiah 23

The Coming Messiah: the Righteous Branch

1“1Woe to the shepherds who are 2destroying and scattering the 3sheep of My pasture!” declares the Lord. 2Therefore thus says the Lord God of Israel concerning the shepherds who are 4tending My people: “You have scattered My flock and driven them away, and have not attended to them; behold, I am about to 5attend to you for the 6evil of your deeds,” declares the Lord. 3“Then I Myself will 7gather the remnant of My flock out of all the countries where I have driven them and bring them back to their pasture, and they will be fruitful and multiply. 4I will also raise up 8shepherds over them and they will 9tend them; and they will 10not be afraid any longer, nor be terrified, 11nor will any be missing,” declares the Lord.

5“Behold, the 12days are coming,” declares the Lord, “When I will raise up for David a righteous 1314Branch; And He will 15reign as king and 16act wisely And 17do justice and righteousness in the land.6In His days Judah will be saved, And 18Israel will dwell securely; And this is His 19name by which He will be called, ‘The 20Lord our righteousness.’

7“21Therefore behold, the days are coming,” declares the Lord, “when they will no longer say, ‘As the Lord lives, who brought up the sons of Israel from the land of Egypt,’ 822but, ‘As the Lord lives, who 23brought up and led back the descendants of the household of Israel from the north land and from all the countries where I had driven them.’ Then they will live on their own soil.”

False Prophets Denounced

9As for the prophets: My 24heart is broken within me, All my bones tremble; I have become like a drunken man, Even like a man overcome with wine, Because of the Lord And because of His holy words.10For the land is full of 25adulterers; For the land 26mourns because of the curse. The 27pastures of the wilderness have dried up. Their course also is evil And their might is not right.11“For 28both prophet and priest are polluted; Even in My house I have found their wickedness,” declares the Lord.12“Therefore their way will be like 29slippery paths to them, They will be driven away into the 30gloom and fall down in it; For I will bring 31calamity upon them, The year of their punishment,” declares the Lord.

13“Moreover, among the prophets of Samaria I saw an 32offensive thing: They 33prophesied by Baal and 34led My people Israel astray.14Also among the prophets of Jerusalem I have seen a 35horrible thing: The committing of 36adultery and walking in falsehood; And they strengthen the hands of 37evildoers, So that no one has turned back from his wickedness. All of them have become to Me like 38Sodom, And her inhabitants like Gomorrah. 15Therefore thus says the Lord of hosts concerning the prophets, ‘Behold, I am going to 39feed them wormwood And make them drink poisonous water, For from the prophets of Jerusalem Pollution has gone forth into all the land.’”

16Thus says the Lord of hosts, “40Do not listen to the words of the prophets who are prophesying to you. They are 41leading you into futility; They speak a 42vision of their own 43imagination, Not 44from the mouth of the Lord.17They keep saying to those who 45despise Me, ‘The Lord has said, “46You will have peace”’; And as for everyone who walks in the 47stubbornness of his own heart, They say, ‘48Calamity will not come upon you.’18But 49who has stood in the council of the Lord, That he should see and hear His word? Who has given 50heed to 51His word and listened?19Behold, the 52storm of the Lord has gone forth in wrath, Even a whirling tempest; It will swirl down on the head of the wicked.20The 53anger of the Lord will not turn back Until He has 54performed and carried out the purposes of His heart; 55In the last days you will clearly understand it.2156I did not send these prophets, But they ran. I did not speak to them, But they prophesied.22But if they had 57stood in My council, Then they would have 58announced My words to My people, And would have turned them back from their evil way And from the evil of their deeds.

23“Am I a God who is 59near,” declares the Lord, “And not a God far off?24Can a man 60hide himself in hiding places So I do not see him?” declares the Lord. “61Do I not fill the heavens and the earth?” declares the Lord.

25“I have 62heard what the prophets have said who 63prophesy falsely in My name, saying, ‘I had a 64dream, I had a dream!’ 26How long? Is there anything in the hearts of the prophets who prophesy falsehood, even these prophets of the 65deception of their own heart, 27who intend to 66make My people forget My name by their dreams which they relate to one another, just as their fathers 67forgot My name because of Baal? 28The prophet who has a dream may relate his dream, but let him who has 68My word speak My word in truth. 69What does straw have in common with grain?” declares the Lord. 29“Is not My word like 70fire?” declares the Lord, “and like a 71hammer which shatters a rock? 30Therefore behold, 72I am against the prophets,” declares the Lord, “who steal My words from each other. 31Behold, I am against the prophets,” declares the Lord, “who use their tongues and declare, ‘The Lord declares.’ 32Behold, I am against those who have prophesied 73false dreams,” declares the Lord, “and related them and led My people astray by their falsehoods and 74reckless boasting; yet 75I did not send them or command them, nor do they 76furnish this people the slightest benefit,” declares the Lord.

33“Now when this people or the prophet or a priest asks you saying, ‘What is the 7778oracle of the Lord?’ then you shall say to them, ‘What 79oracle?’ The Lord declares, ‘I will 80abandon you.’ 34Then as for the prophet or the priest or the people who say, ‘The 81oracle of the Lord,’ I will bring punishment upon that man and his household. 35Thus will each of you say to his neighbor and to his brother, ‘82What has the Lord answered?’ or, ‘What has the Lord spoken?’ 36For you will no longer remember the oracle of the Lord, because every man’s own word will become the oracle, and you have 83perverted the words of the 84living God, the Lord of hosts, our God. 37Thus you will say to that prophet, ‘What has the Lord answered you?’ and, ‘What has the Lord spoken?’ 38For if you say, ‘The oracle of the Lord!’ surely thus says the Lord, ‘Because you said this word, “The oracle of the Lord!” I have also sent to you, saying, “You shall not say, ‘The oracle of the Lord!’”’ 39Therefore behold, 85I will surely forget you and cast you away from My presence, along with the city which I gave you and your fathers. 40I will put an everlasting 86reproach on you and an everlasting humiliation which will not be forgotten.”