Jeremiah 23

1 Woe be to the shepherds that destroy and scatter the sheep of my pasture! saith the LORD.

What trouble is coming to the shepherds who destroy and scatter the sheep of my pasture! declares the Lord.

2 Therefore thus saith the LORD 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 the LORD.

This is what the Lord, the God of Israel, says about the shepherds who were meant to look after my people: You have scattered my flock. You have chased them away You didn't take care of them, so now I will take care of you for all the evil you've done, declares the Lord.

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

I myself will gather what's left of my flock from all the countries where I exiled them, and I will bring them back to their pasture, where they will increase in number.

4 And I will set shepherds over them who shall feed them: and they shall fear no more, nor be dismayed, neither shall they be lacking, saith the LORD.

I will put shepherds in charge of them who will take care of them, and they won't be afraid or discouraged anymore, and none of them will be missing, declares the Lord.

5 Behold, the days come, saith the LORD, that I will raise to David a righteous Branch, and a King shall reign and prosper, and shall execute judgment and justice upon the earth.

Look, the time is coming, declares the Lord, when I will choose a descendant of David who does what is right. As king he will rule with wisdom and do what is just and right throughout the country.

6 In his days Judah shall be saved, and Israel shall dwell in safety: and this is his name by which he shall be called, THE LORD OUR RIGHTEOUSNESS.

When he is king, Judah will be saved, and Israel will live in safety. This is the name he will be called: The Lord Who Makes Us Right.

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

Look, the time is coming, declares the Lord, when people won't say anymore, “On the Lord's life, who led the Israelites out of Egypt.”

8 But, The LORD liveth, who brought and who led the seed of the house of Israel out of the north country, and from all countries where I have driven them; and they shall dwell in their own land.

Instead they'll say, “On the Lord's life, who led the Israelites back from the northern country and all the other countries where he had exiled them.” Then they'll live in their own country.

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

When it comes to the prophets: I'm really disturbed—I'm shaking inside! I stagger like a drunk, like someone who's had too much wine, because of what the Lord is like, because of his holy words.

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

For the country is full of people committing adultery so it's under a curse. The land mourns and the desert pastures have dried up. The people live evil lives, using their energy to do wrong.

11 For both prophet and priest are profane; even, in my house have I found their wickedness, saith the LORD.

Both prophets and priests show no respect for me. I see wickedness even in my Temple, declares the Lord.

12 Therefore their way shall be to them as slippery paths in the darkness: they shall be driven on, and fall in it: for I will bring evil upon them, even the year of their punishment, saith the LORD.

That's why their path will become slippery; they will be chased away in the dark and fall down. I'm going to bring disaster on them at the time when they're punished, declares the Lord.

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

I saw the prophets of Samaria doing something really offensive: They prophesied in the name of Baal and led my people Israel to sin.

14 I have seen also in the prophets of Jerusalem an horrible thing: they commit adultery, and walk in lies: they strengthen also the hands of evildoers, that none doth return from his wickedness: they are all of them to me as Sodom, and its inhabitants as Gomorrah.

But now I see the prophets of Jerusalem doing something even more disgusting: They commit adultery and their lives are a lie. They support the wicked, so no one stops sinning. To me they're all like Sodom; the people of Jerusalem are like Gomorrah.

15 Therefore thus saith the LORD 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 profaneness gone forth into all the land.

So this is what the Lord Almighty says about the prophets: I will give them wormwood to eat and poisoned water to drink, because evil has spread across the country from the prophets of Jerusalem.

16 Thus saith the LORD of hosts, Hearken not to the words of the prophets that prophesy to you: they make you vain: they speak a vision of their own heart, and not from the mouth of the LORD.

This is what the Lord Almighty says: Don't pay attention to what these prophets say when they prophesy to you. They're fooling you with visions they make up in their own minds. They're not from me.

17 They say still to them that despise me, The LORD hath said, Ye shall have peace; and they say to every one that walketh after the imagination of his own heart, No evil shall come upon you.

They keep on telling people who don't respect me, “The Lord says that you'll live in peace,” and to everyone following their own stubborn attitude, “Nothing bad is going to happen to you.”

18 For who hath stood in the counsel of the LORD, and hath perceived and heard his word? who hath marked his word, and heard it?

But who of them has attended the Lord's council to hear and understand what he's saying? Who has paid attention to his instructions and followed them?

19 Behold, a whirlwind of the LORD is gone forth in fury, even a grievous whirlwind: it shall fall grievously upon the head of the wicked.

Watch out! The Lord has sent out a furious storm, a tornado swirling around the heads of the wicked.

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

The Lord's anger won't fade until he's finished doing everything he wants. Only then will you really understand.

21 I have not sent these prophets, yet they ran: I have not spoken to them, yet they prophesied.

I didn't send these prophets, but they run to deliver their messages. I didn't tell them to say anything, but they still go on prophesying.

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

Now if they had attended my council, they would have delivered my instructions to my people and brought them back from their evil way of life, from their evil actions.

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

Am I only a local God and not a God who operates widely? asks the Lord.

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

Can people hide in secret places where I can't see them? asks the Lord. Don't I operate everywhere in heaven and on earth? asks the Lord.

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

I've listened to the prophets who prophesy lies in my name. They say, “I've had a dream! I've had a dream!”

26 How long shall this be in the heart of the prophets that prophesy lies? yea, they are prophets of the deceit of their own heart;

How long will this continue? How long will these prophets go on prophesying these lies which are just the product of their own deluded minds?

27 Who think to cause my people to forget my name by their dreams which they tell every man to his neighbour, as their fathers have forgotten my name for Baal.

They think the dreams that they repeat to one another will lead my people to forget me, just like their forefathers forgot me by worshiping Baal.

28 The 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 chaff to the wheat? saith the LORD.

A prophet who has a dream should say it's just a dream, but anyone I've spoken to should deliver my message faithfully. What is straw in comparison to grain? asks the Lord.

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

Doesn't my word burn like fire? asks the Lord. Isn't it like a hammer smashing a rock?

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

Pay attention to this, declares the Lord. I'm opposed to those prophets who steal words from one another and then say it's a message from me.

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

Pay attention to this declares the Lord. I'm opposed to those prophets who make up their own stories and then announce, “This is what the Lord says.”

32 Behold, I am against them that prophesy false dreams, saith the LORD, and do tell them, and cause my people to err by their lies, and by their reckless boasting; yet I sent them not, nor commanded them: therefore they shall not profit this people at all, saith the LORD.

Pay attention to this declares the Lord, I'm opposed to those who prophesy fictional dreams. They tell them in order to lead my people into sin with their wild lies. I didn't send them or give them any instructions, and they don't do anybody any good, declares the Lord.

33 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 to them, What burden? I will even forsake you, saith the LORD.

So when a prophet or priest or anyone else comes and asks you, “What is ‘the burden of the Lord?’” tell them, I'm not giving you a burden. I'm giving up on you, declares the Lord.

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

If a prophet or priest or anyone else claims, “This is the burden of the Lord,” I will punish that person and their family.

35 Thus shall ye say every one to his neighbour, and every one to his brother, What hath the LORD answered? and, What hath the LORD spoken?

This is what everybody should say to their friends and relatives: “What answer has the Lord given?” or, “What has the Lord said?”

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

Don't talk about “the burden of the Lord” anymore, because everybody has different ideas about this “burden,” perverting the words of the living God, the Lord Almighty, our God.

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

This is what you are to say ask any prophet: “What message has the Lord given you?” and “What has the Lord told you?”

38 But since ye say, The burden of the LORD; therefore thus saith the LORD; Because ye say this word, The burden of the LORD, and I have sent to you, saying, Ye shall not say, The burden of the LORD;

If they say, “This is the burden of the Lord,” then this is the Lord's response: Because you said, “This is the burden of the Lord,” and I warned you not to,

39 Therefore, behold, I, even I, will utterly forget you, and I will forsake you, and the city that I gave to you and your fathers, and cast you out of my presence:

now I'm going to pick you up like a burden and throw you away, you and the city that I gave to you and your forefathers.

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

I will disgrace you forever, you shame will never be forgotten.