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1Watch out, you shepherds who destroy and scatter the sheep of my pasture, declares the LORD .
2This is what the LORD , the God of Israel, proclaims about the shepherds who “tend to” my people: You are the ones who have scattered my flock and driven them away. You haven’t attended to their needs, so I will take revenge on you for the terrible things you have done to them, declares the LORD .
3I myself will gather the few remaining sheep from all the countries where I have driven them. I will bring them back to their pasture, and they will be fruitful and multiply.
4I will place over them shepherds who care for them. Then they will no longer be afraid or dread harm, nor will any be missing, declares the LORD .
5The time is coming, declares the LORD , when I will raise up a righteous descendant from David’s line, and he will rule as a wise king. He will do what is just and right in the land.[#23.5 Or branch]
6During his lifetime, Judah will be saved and Israel will live in safety. And his name will be The LORD Is Our Righteousness.[#23.6 Or of Our Righteousness , possibly a play on the name Zedekiah]
7So the time is coming, declares the LORD , when no one will say, “As the LORD lives who brought up the Israelites from the land of Egypt.”
8Instead, they will say, “As the LORD lives who brought up the descendants of the people of Israel from the land of the north and from all the lands where he has banished them so that they can live in their own land.”[#23.8 Or I]
9As for the prophets:
My heart inside me is broken;
my body aches.
I stagger like a drunk
who has had too much wine to drink,
10Because the country teems
with adulterers,
because of them,
11Both prophet and priest are godless;
I even find their evil in my temple,
12Therefore, they will find themselves on slippery ground
and will be thrust into darkness,
where they will collapse.
I will bring disaster upon them,
when their time comes, declares the LORD .
13In the prophets of Samaria
I saw something shocking:
They prophesied by Baal
14In the prophets of Jerusalem
I saw something horrible:
They commit adultery and tell lies.
They encourage evildoers
In my eyes, they are no better than Sodom;
its people are like Gomorrah.
15Therefore, this is what the LORD of heavenly forces proclaims concerning the prophets:
I’m going to feed them bitter food
Wickedness has spread from the prophets of Jerusalem
throughout the land.
16The LORD proclaims:
Don’t listen to the prophets
who are speaking to you;
Their visions come from their own hearts,
17They keep saying to those who scorn God’s message,
and to those who follow their own willful hearts,
18But who has stood in the LORD ’s council
to listen to God’s word?
19Look! The LORD ’s angry storm breaks out;
it whirls around the heads of the wicked.
20The LORD ’s fierce anger
won’t turn back
until it accomplishes all that he has planned.
In the days to come,
you will understand what this means.
21I didn’t send the prophets,
yet they ran anyway.
I didn’t speak to them,
yet they prophesied anyway.
22If they had stood in my council,
they would have proclaimed
my words to my people;
23The LORD declares, Am I a God
who is only nearby and not far off?
24Can people hide themselves in secret places
so I might not see them?
25I have heard the prophets prophesying lies in my name. They claim, “I’ve had a dream; I’ve had a dream!”
26How long will deceitful prophecies dominate the minds of the prophets? Those prophets are treacherous.
27They scheme to make my people forget me by their dreams that people tell each other, just as their ancestors forgot me because of Baal.
28Let the prophet who has a dream declare it, but let the one who has my word proclaim it faithfully.
What a difference between straw and wheat!
29Isn’t my word like fire
and like a hammer that shatters rock?
30Therefore, I’m against the prophets
who steal my words from each other,
31I’m against the prophets
who carelessly deliver oracles,
32I’m against the prophets who dream up lies
and then proclaim them,
With their reckless lies,
they lead my people astray.
I didn’t send them;
I didn’t commission them.
They are completely useless to these people,
33When these people or a prophet or a priest asks you, “What is the LORD ’s message?” say to them, “What message? I will cast you off, declares the LORD .”[#23.33 Or burden]
34I will punish anyone, including prophet or priest, who says, “This is the LORD ’s message.”
35This is what you should ask each other: “What has the LORD said?” “What has the LORD declared?”
36But you are no longer to mention the LORD ’s message, because everyone thinks they have received a message from the LORD . You destroy the very word of the living God, the LORD of heavenly forces, our God.
37So this is what you should say to the prophet: “What has the LORD said to you?” “What has the LORD declared?”
38But if you insist on saying, “This is the LORD ’s message,” the LORD says to you: Because you have made this claim—this is the LORD ’s message—when I told you not to proclaim the LORD ’s message,
39I will lift you up and cast you out of my presence, together with the city that I gave to your ancestors.[#23.39 LXX, Syr, Vulg; MT forget you]
40I will make you an object of disgrace and enduring shame that no one will ever forget.