Chapter 23

“¹Woe to the shepherds who destroy and scatter the sheep of My pasture!” declares the LORD. ²Therefore this is what the LORD, the God of Israel, says about the shepherds who tend My people: “You have scattered My flock and driven them away, and have not attended to them. Behold, I will attend to you for the evil of your deeds, declares the LORD. ³Then I Myself will gather the remnant of My flock from all the lands to which I have banished them, and I will return them to their pasture, where they will be fruitful and multiply. ⁴I will raise up shepherds over them who will tend them, and they will no longer be afraid or dismayed, nor will any go missing, declares the LORD.

⁵Behold, the days are coming, ⁶In His days Judah will be saved,

⁷So behold, the days are coming, declares the LORD, when they will no longer say, ‘As surely as the LORD lives, who brought the Israelites up out of the land of Egypt.’ ⁸Instead they will say, ‘As surely as the LORD lives, who brought and led the descendants of the house of Israel up out of the land of the north and all the other lands to which He had banished them.’ Then they will dwell once more in their own land.”

A⁹s for the prophets: ¹⁰For the land is full of adulterers — ¹¹“For both prophet and priest are ungodly; ¹²“Therefore their path will become slick; ¹³“Among the prophets of Samaria ¹⁴And among the prophets of Jerusalem ¹⁵Therefore this is what the LORD of Hosts says concerning the prophets:

¹⁶This is what the LORD of Hosts says: ¹⁷They keep saying to those who despise Me, ¹⁸But which of them has stood in the council of the LORD ¹⁹Behold, the storm of the LORD ²⁰The anger of the LORD will not turn back ²¹I did not send these prophets, ²²But if they had stood in My council,

²³“Am I only a God nearby,” declares the LORD, “and not a God far away?” ²⁴“Can a man hide in secret places where I cannot see him?” declares the LORD. ²⁵“I have heard the sayings of the prophets who prophesy lies in My name: ‘I had a dream! I had a dream!’ ²⁶How long will this continue in the hearts of these prophets who prophesy falsehood, these prophets of the delusion of their own minds? ²⁷They suppose the dreams that they tell one another will make My people forget My name, just as their fathers forgot My name through the worship of Baal. ²⁸Let the prophet who has a dream retell it, but let him who has My word speak it truthfully. For what is straw compared to grain?” declares the LORD. ²⁹“Is not My word like fire,” declares the LORD, “and like a hammer that smashes a rock?”

³⁰“Therefore behold,” declares the LORD, “I am against the prophets who steal from one another words they attribute to Me.” ³¹“Yes,” declares the LORD, “I am against the prophets who wag their own tongues and proclaim, ‘The LORD declares it.’” ³²“Indeed,” declares the LORD, “I am against those who prophesy false dreams and retell them to lead My people astray with their reckless lies. It was not I who sent them or commanded them, and they are of no benefit at all to these people,” declares the LORD.

“³³Now when this people or a prophet or priest asks you, ‘What is the burden of the LORD?’ you are to say to them, ‘What burden? I will forsake you, declares the LORD.’ ³⁴As for the prophet or priest or anyone who claims, ‘This is the burden of the LORD,’ I will punish that man and his household. ³⁵This is what each man is to say to his friend and to his brother: ‘What has the LORD answered?’ or ‘What has the LORD spoken?’ ³⁶But refer no more to the burden of the LORD, for each man’s word becomes the burden, so that you pervert the words of the living God, the LORD of Hosts, our God.

³⁷Thus you are to say to the prophet: ‘What has the LORD answered you?’ and ‘What has the LORD spoken?’ ³⁸But if you claim, ‘This is the burden of the LORD,’ then this is what the LORD says: Because you have said, ‘This is the burden of the LORD,’ and I specifically told you not to make this claim, ³⁹therefore I will surely forget you and will cast you out of My presence, both you and the city that I gave to you and your fathers. ⁴⁰And I will bring upon you everlasting shame and perpetual humiliation that will never be forgotten.”