Jeremiah 23

NIV — New International Version Bible (NIV)

SVL — Swedish Contemporary Bible (SVL)

Verse 1

“Woe to the shepherds who are destroying and scattering the sheep of my pasture!” declares the Lord.

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Verse 2

Therefore this is what the Lord, the God of Israel, says to the shepherds who tend my people: “Because you have scattered my flock and driven them away and have not bestowed care on them, I will bestow punishment on you for the evil you have done,” declares the Lord.

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Verse 3

“I myself will gather the remnant of my flock out of all the countries where I have driven them and will bring them back to their pasture, where they will be fruitful and increase in number.

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Verse 4

I will place shepherds over them who will tend them, and they will no longer be afraid or terrified, nor will any be missing,” declares the Lord.

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Verse 5

“The days are coming,” declares the Lord,
“when I will raise up for David^[a] a righteous Branch,
a King who will reign wisely
and do what is just and right in the land.

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Verse 6

In his days Judah will be saved
and Israel will live in safety.
This is the name by which he will be called:
The Lord Our Righteous Savior.

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Verse 7

“So then, the days are coming,” declares the Lord, “when people will no longer say, ‘As surely as the Lord lives, who brought the Israelites up out of Egypt,’

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Verse 8

but they will say, ‘As surely as the Lord lives, who brought the descendants of Israel up out of the land of the north and out of all the countries where he had banished them.’ Then they will live in their own land.”

Lying Prophets

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Verse 9

Concerning the prophets:

My heart is broken within me;
    all my bones tremble.
I am like a drunken man,
    like a strong man overcome by wine,
because of the Lord
    and his holy words.

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Verse 10

The land is full of adulterers;
    because of the curse^[b] the land lies parched
    and the pastures in the wilderness are withered.
The prophets follow an evil course
    and use their power unjustly.

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Verse 11

“Both prophet and priest are godless;
even in my temple I find their wickedness,”
declares the Lord.

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Verse 12

“Therefore their path will become slippery;
    they will be banished to darkness
    and there they will fall.
I will bring disaster on them
    in the year they are punished,”
declares the Lord.

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Verse 13

“Among the prophets of Samaria
I saw this repulsive thing:
They prophesied by Baal
and led my people Israel astray.

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Verse 14

And among the prophets of Jerusalem
    I have seen something horrible:
    They commit adultery and live a lie.
They strengthen the hands of evildoers,
    so that not one of them turns from their wickedness.
They are all like Sodom to me;
    the people of Jerusalem are like Gomorrah.”

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Verse 15

Therefore this is what the Lord Almighty says concerning the prophets:

“I will make them eat bitter food
and drink poisoned water,
because from the prophets of Jerusalem
ungodliness has spread throughout the land.”

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Verse 16

This is what the Lord Almighty says:

“Do not listen to what the prophets are prophesying to you;
they fill you with false hopes.
They speak visions from their own minds,
not from the mouth of the Lord.

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Verse 17

They keep saying to those who despise me,
‘The Lord says: You will have peace.’
And to all who follow the stubbornness of their hearts
they say, ‘No harm will come to you.’

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Verse 18

But which of them has stood in the council of the Lord
to see or to hear his word?
Who has listened and heard his word?

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Verse 19

See, the storm of the Lord
will burst out in wrath,
a whirlwind swirling down
on the heads of the wicked.

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Verse 20

The anger of the Lord will not turn back
    until he fully accomplishes
    the purposes of his heart.
In days to come
    you will understand it clearly.

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Verse 21

I did not send these prophets,
yet they have run with their message;
I did not speak to them,
yet they have prophesied.

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Verse 22

But if they had stood in my council,
they would have proclaimed my words to my people
and would have turned them from their evil ways
and from their evil deeds.

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Verse 23

“Am I only a God nearby,”
declares the Lord,
“and not a God far away?

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Verse 24

Who can hide in secret places
so that I cannot see them?”
declares the Lord.
“Do not I fill heaven and earth?”
declares the Lord.

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Verse 25

“I have heard what the prophets say who prophesy lies in my name. They say, ‘I had a dream! I had a dream!’

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Verse 26

How long will this continue in the hearts of these lying prophets, who prophesy the delusions of their own minds?

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Verse 27

They think the dreams they tell one another will make my people forget my name, just as their ancestors forgot my name through Baal worship.

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Verse 28

Let the prophet who has a dream recount the dream, but let the one who has my word speak it faithfully. For what has straw to do with grain?” declares the Lord.

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Verse 29

“Is not my word like fire,” declares the Lord, “and like a hammer that breaks a rock in pieces?

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Verse 30

“Therefore,” declares the Lord, “I am against the prophets who steal from one another words supposedly from me.

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Verse 31

Yes,” declares the Lord, “I am against the prophets who wag their own tongues and yet declare, ‘The Lord declares.’

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Verse 32

Indeed, 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.

False Prophecy

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Verse 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.’

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Verse 34

If a prophet or a priest or anyone else claims, ‘This is a message from the Lord,’ I will punish them and their household.

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Verse 35

This 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?’

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Verse 36

But you must not mention ‘a message from the Lord’ again, because each one’s word becomes their own message. So you distort the words of the living God, the Lord Almighty, our God.

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Verse 37

This is what you keep saying to a prophet: ‘What is the Lord’s answer to you?’ or ‘What has the Lord spoken?’

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Verse 38

Although you claim, ‘This is a message from the Lord,’ this is what the Lord says: You used the words, ‘This is a message from the Lord,’ even though I told you that you must not claim, ‘This is a message from the Lord.’

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Verse 39

Therefore, I will surely forget you and cast you out of my presence along with the city I gave to you and your ancestors.

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Verse 40

I will bring on you everlasting disgrace—everlasting shame that will not be forgotten.”

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