New International Version
Jeremiah 23:33
33“When these people, or a prophet or a priest, ask you, ‘What is the message from the Lord?’ say to them, ‘What message? I will forsake you, declares the Lord.’
Jeremiah 23:33 in other versions
- King James Version (KJV)And 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.
- English Standard Version (ESV)"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, declares the Lord.'
- New King James Version (NKJV)“So when these people or the prophet or the priest ask you, saying, ‘What is the oracle of the Lord?’ you shall then say to them, ‘What oracle?’ I will even forsake you,” says the Lord.
- New Living Translation (NLT)“Suppose one of the people or one of the prophets or priests asks you, ‘What prophecy has the Lord burdened you with now?’ You must reply, ‘You are the burden! The Lord says he will abandon you!’
Context of Jeremiah 23:33
31Yes,” declares the Lord, “I am against the prophets who wag their own tongues and yet declare, ‘The Lord declares.’ 32Indeed, I am against those who prophesy false dreams,” declares the Lord. “They tell them and lead my people astray with their reckless lies, yet I did not send or appoint them. They do not benefit these people in the least,” declares the Lord. “When these people, or a prophet or a priest, ask you, ‘What is the message from the Lord?’ say to them, ‘What message? I will forsake you, declares the Lord.’ 34If a prophet or a priest or anyone else claims, ‘This is a message from the Lord,’ I will punish them and their household. 35This is what each of you keeps saying to your friends and other Israelites: ‘What is the Lord’s answer?’ or ‘What has the Lord spoken?’
Read all of Jeremiah 23Jeremiah 23:33 word by word
וְכִי־יִשְׁאָלְךָ֩ הָעָ֨ם הַזֶּ֜ה אֽוֹ־הַנָּבִ֤יא אֽוֹ־כֹהֵן֙ לֵאמֹ֔ר מַה־מַשָּׂ֖א יְהוָ֑ה וְאָמַרְתָּ֤ אֲלֵיהֶם֙ אֶת־מַה־מַשָּׂ֔א וְנָטַשְׁתִּ֥י אֶתְכֶ֖ם נְאֻם־יְהוָֽה׃Read the interlinear
Words taken from the KJV.
- And when this peopleעַם‛am · peopleH5971
- or the prophetנָבִיאnâbîy' · prophetH5030
- or a priestכֹּהֵןkôhên · priestH3548
- shall askשָׁאַלshâ'al shâ'êl · to askH7592
- thee, sayingאָמַר'âmar · to sayH559
- the burdenמַשָּׂאmaώώâ' · oracleH4853
- of the Lordיְהֹוָהyehôvâh · LORDH3068
- I will even forsakeנָטַשׁnâţash · to leaveH5203
- you, saithנְאֻםne'ûm · utteranceH5002
Cross-references for Jeremiah 23:33
- Jeremiah 17:15They keep saying to me, “Where is the word of the Lord? Let it now be fulfilled!”
- Jeremiah 20:7You deceived me, Lord, and I was deceived; you overpowered me and prevailed. I am ridiculed all day long; everyone mocks me.
- Isaiah 13:1A prophecy against Babylon that Isaiah son of Amoz saw:
- Isaiah 14:28This prophecy came in the year King Ahaz died:
- Nahum 1:1A prophecy concerning Nineveh. The book of the vision of Nahum the Elkoshite.
- Habakkuk 1:1The prophecy that Habakkuk the prophet received.
- Malachi 1:1A prophecy: The word of the Lord to Israel through Malachi.
- Jeremiah 23:39Therefore, I will surely forget you and cast you out of my presence along with the city I gave to you and your ancestors.
- Jeremiah 12:7“I will forsake my house, abandon my inheritance; I will give the one I love into the hands of her enemies.
- Deuteronomy 31:17And in that day I will become angry with them and forsake them; I will hide my face from them, and they will be destroyed. Many disasters and calamities will come on them, and in that day they will ask, ‘Have not these disasters come on us because our God is not with us?’
- Deuteronomy 32:19The Lord saw this and rejected them because he was angered by his sons and daughters.
- 2 Chronicles 15:2He went out to meet Asa and said to him, “Listen to me, Asa and all Judah and Benjamin. The Lord is with you when you are with him. If you seek him, he will be found by you, but if you forsake him, he will forsake you.
- Psalms 78:59When God heard them, he was furious; he rejected Israel completely.
- Hosea 9:12Even if they rear children, I will bereave them of every one. Woe to them when I turn away from them!
Commentaries on Jeremiah 23:33
- Adam Clarke Bible Commentary · v. 33What is the burden of the Lord? - The word משא massa, here used, signifies burden, oracle, prophetic discourse; and is used by almost every prophet. But the persons in the text appear to have been mockers. "Where is this burden of the Lord?" - "What is the burden now?" To this insolent question the prophet answers in the following verses. I will ever forsake you - I will punish the prophet, the priest and the people, that speak thus, Jeremiah 23:34. Here…Read the comment
- Barnes’ Notes on the Bible · v. 33Burden - Here a prophecy, either (1) as being something weighty: or (2) a something said aloud. Isaiah brought the word into general use: Jeremiah never used it, though his predictions were all of impending evil. The false prophets, however, applied it in derision to Jeremiah‘s prophecies, playing upon its double sense, and so turning solemn realities into mockery (see Jeremiah 23:34). What burden? - Or, according to another reading, Ye are the burden. I…Read the comment
- Matthew Henry Concise Commentary · v. 33-40Verses 33-40 Those are miserable indeed who are forsaken and forgotten of God; and men's jesting at God's judgments will not baffle them. God had taken Israel to be a people near to him, but they shall now be cast out of his presence. It is a mark of great and daring impiety for men to jest with the words of God. Every idle and profane word will add to the sinner's burden in the day of judgment, when everlasting shame will be his portion.Read the comment
- Tyndale Open Study Notes · v. 33The false prophets might mock Jeremiah by asking for the latest message from the Lord. What burden?: This is a wordplay. People often called a prophetic message "a burden." The false prophets were a heavy load that the Lord would discard and abandon.Read the comment
- Jamieson–Fausset–Brown Commentary · v. 3333. What is the burden--play on the double sense of the Hebrew: an oracle and a burden. They scoffingly ask, Has he got any new burden (burdensome oracle: for all his prophecies are disasters) to announce (Mal 1:1)? Jeremiah indignantly repeats their own question, Do you ask, What burden? This, then, it is, "I will forsake you." My word is burdensome in your eyes, and you long to be rid if it. You shall get your wish. There will be no more prophecy: I…Read the comment
Topics related to Jeremiah 23:33
In the dictionaries
Commentaries on Jeremiah 23
- Adam Clarke Bible Commentary
- Barnes’ Notes on the Bible
- Matthew Henry Concise Commentary
- Tyndale Open Study Notes
- Jamieson–Fausset–Brown Commentary
- Rashi on Tanakh
- Calvin’s Commentaries
- Keil & Delitzsch Commentary
- John Wesley’s Notes
- Darby Translation Notes
- Geneva Bible Translation Notes
- Kingcomments
- Matthew Henry’s Complete Commentary
- Matthew Henry’s Modern English Commentary
- Scofield Reference Notes, 1917 Edition
- Seventh-day Adventist Bible Commentary
- EGW Writings
New International Version — © NIV® 1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 Biblica
Commentaries