Jeremiah 23

1Woe unto the shepherds that destroy and scatter the sheep of my pasture! saith Jehovah.

1Destruction is coming to the leaders who destroy and scatter the sheep of my pasture! says the LORD.

2Therefore thus saith Jehovah, the God of Israel, against the shepherds 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 Jehovah.

2Therefore, the LORD, the God of Israel, says this to the leaders who are supposed to take care of my people: You have scattered my flock and driven them away, and you have not taken care of them. Now I am going to punish you for the evil things you have done, says the LORD.

3And I will gather the remnant of my flock out of all the countries whither I have driven them, and will bring them again to their folds; and they shall be fruitful and multiply.

3Then I will gather the survivors of my flock from all the countries where I have driven them. I will bring them back to their own pasture, and they will have many children and grow in number.

4And I will set up shepherds over them, who shall feed them; and they shall fear no more, nor be dismayed, neither shall any be lacking, saith Jehovah.

4I will appoint new leaders over them who will truly care for them. They will no longer be afraid or terrified, and none of them will be missing, says the LORD.

5Behold, the days come, saith Jehovah, that I will raise unto David a righteous Branch, and he shall reign as king and deal wisely, and shall execute justice and righteousness in the land.

5The time is coming, says the LORD, when I will raise up a righteous descendant from David’s line. He will rule as a wise king and do what is just and right 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: Jehovah our righteousness.

6In his days, Judah will be saved and Israel will live in safety. This is the name he will be given: The LORD Our Righteousness.

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

7So the time is coming, says the LORD, when people will no longer say, 'As surely as the LORD lives, who brought the Israelites out of Egypt.'

8but, As Jehovah liveth, who brought up and who led the seed of the house of Israel out of the north country, and from all the countries whither I had driven them. And they shall dwell in their own land.

8Instead, they will say, 'As surely as the LORD lives, who brought the descendants of Israel out of the land of the north and out of all the countries where he had driven them.' Then they will live in their own land.

9Concerning the prophets. My heart within me is broken, all my bones shake; I am like a drunken man, and like a man whom wine hath overcome, because of Jehovah, and because of his holy words.

9Concerning the prophets: My heart is broken within me, and all my bones tremble. I am like a drunk man overcome by wine, because of the LORD and because of his holy words.

10For the land is full of adulterers; for because of swearing the land mourneth; the pastures of the wilderness are dried up. And their course is evil, and their might is not right;

10For the land is full of people who are unfaithful to God. Because of the curse, the land is drying up; the wilderness pastures have withered. These people run toward evil and use their power wrongly.

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

11Both the prophets and the priests are ungodly; I have even found their wickedness inside my own Temple, says the LORD.

12Wherefore their way shall be unto them as slippery places 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 Jehovah.

12Therefore, their path will become slippery; they will be pushed into the darkness and fall. I will bring disaster on them when the time comes to punish them, says the LORD.

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

13I saw the foolish things the prophets of Samaria did: they prophesied in the name of Baal and led my people Israel astray.

14In the prophets of Jerusalem also I have seen a horrible thing: they commit adultery, and walk in lies; and they strengthen the hands of evil-doers, so that none doth return from his wickedness: they are all of them become unto me as Sodom, and the inhabitants thereof as Gomorrah.

14But in the prophets of Jerusalem, I have seen something even more horrible: they commit adultery and live in lies. They encourage those who do evil so that no one turns away from their sin. To me, they are all like Sodom, and the people of the city are like Gomorrah.

15Therefore thus saith Jehovah 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 ungodliness gone forth into all the land.

15Therefore, this is what the LORD of Heaven’s Armies says about the prophets: I will feed them bitter food and give them poisoned water to drink, because the prophets of Jerusalem have spread ungodliness throughout the entire land.

16Thus saith Jehovah of hosts, Hearken not unto the words of the prophets that prophesy unto you: they teach you vanity; they speak a vision of their own heart, and not out of the mouth of Jehovah.

16The LORD of Heaven’s Armies says: Do not listen to what these prophets are saying to you. They are filling you with false hopes. They speak about visions they made up themselves, not messages that come from the LORD's mouth.

17They say continually unto them that despise me, Jehovah hath said, Ye shall have peace; and unto every one that walketh in the stubbornness of his own heart they say, No evil shall come upon you.

17They keep saying to those who despise my word, 'The LORD says you will have peace.' To everyone who follows the stubbornness of their own heart, they say, 'Nothing bad will happen to you.'

18For who hath stood in the council of Jehovah, that he should perceive and hear his word? who hath marked my word, and heard it?

18But which of them has stood in the LORD’s inner circle to see or hear his word? Who has actually listened and heard what he has to say?

19Behold, the tempest of Jehovah, even his wrath, is gone forth, yea, a whirling tempest: it shall burst upon the head of the wicked.

19Look! The LORD’s storm is breaking out in anger. A whirling wind will swirl down on the heads of the wicked.

20The anger of Jehovah shall not return, until he have executed, and till he have performed the intents of his heart: in the latter days ye shall understand it perfectly.

20The LORD’s anger will not pull back until he has fully finished everything he planned to do. In the days to come, you will understand this clearly.

21I sent not these prophets, yet they ran: I spake not unto them, yet they prophesied.

21I did not send these prophets, yet they ran with their messages anyway. I did not speak to them, yet they claimed to prophesy.

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

22If they had actually stood in my inner circle, they would have told my people my words. They would have turned them from their evil ways and their wicked deeds.

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

23Am I only a God who is nearby, says the LORD, and not a God who is far away?

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

24Can anyone hide in a secret place where I cannot see them? says the LORD. Do I not fill both heaven and earth? says the LORD.

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

25I have heard what these prophets say who tell lies in my name. They say, 'I had a dream! I had a dream!'

26How long shall this be in the heart of the prophets that prophesy lies, even the prophets of the deceit of their own heart?

26How long will this go on in the hearts of these lying prophets? They only prophesy the delusions of their own minds.

27that think to cause my people to forget my name by their dreams which they tell every man to his neighbor, as their fathers forgat my name for Baal.

27They think their dreams will make my people forget my name, just as their ancestors forgot my name by worshiping 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 straw to the wheat? saith Jehovah.

28If a prophet has a dream, let him tell it as a dream. But let the one who has my word speak my word truthfully. What does straw have to do with grain? says the LORD.

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

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

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

30Therefore, I am against the prophets, says the LORD, who steal messages from each other and claim they are mine.

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

31I am against the prophets, says the LORD, who use their own tongues to say, 'The LORD says.'

32Behold, I am against them that prophesy lying dreams, saith Jehovah, and do tell them, and cause my people to err by their lies, and by their vain boasting: yet I sent them not, nor commanded them; neither do they profit this people at all, saith Jehovah.

32I am against those who prophesy lying dreams, says the LORD. They tell these dreams and lead my people astray with their lies and reckless boasting. I did not send them or command them; 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 Jehovah? then shalt thou say unto them, What burden! I will cast you off, saith Jehovah.

33When these people, or a prophet, or a priest asks you, 'What is the heavy message from the LORD?' you shall say to them, 'You are the heavy burden, and I will cast you off, says the LORD.'

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

34If a prophet, a priest, or anyone else claims to have 'The burden of the LORD,' I will punish that person and their whole family.

35Thus shall ye say every one to his neighbor, and every one to his brother, What hath Jehovah answered? and, What hath Jehovah spoken?

35This is what you should say to your neighbor and your brother instead: 'What has the LORD answered?' or 'What has the LORD spoken?'

36And the burden of Jehovah shall ye mention no more: for every man’s own word shall be his burden; for ye have perverted the words of the living God, of Jehovah of hosts our God.

36But you must never use the phrase 'The burden of the LORD' again. If you do, your own words will become a burden to you, because you have twisted the words of the living God, the LORD of Heaven’s Armies, our God.

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

37This is how you should speak to a prophet: 'What has the LORD answered you?' and 'What has the LORD spoken?'

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

38But if you insist on saying, 'The burden of the LORD,' then the LORD says: Because you used this phrase after I told you not to,

39therefore, behold, I will utterly forget you, and I will cast you off, and the city that I gave unto you and to your fathers, away from my presence:

39I will certainly forget you. I will throw you out of my presence—both you and the city I gave to you and your ancestors.

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

40I will bring an everlasting disgrace and a permanent shame on you that will never be forgotten.