Jeremiah 23

Promise of Restoration Jeremiah 23:3–4

³Verse 3. “I will gather the remnant of my flock out of all the countries where I have driven them, and will bring them again to their folds; and they will be fruitful and multiply. ⁴Verse 4. I will set up shepherds over them, who will feed them. They will no longer be afraid or dismayed, neither will any be lacking,” says Yahweh.

The Righteous Branch Jeremiah 23:5–8

⁵Verse 5. “Behold, the days come,” says Yahweh, “that I will raise to David a righteous Branch, and he will reign as king and deal wisely, and will execute justice and righteousness in the land. ⁶Verse 6. In his days Judah will be saved, and Israel will dwell safely. This is his name by which he will be called: Yahweh our righteousness. ⁷Verse 7. “Therefore behold, the days come,” says Yahweh, “that they will no more say, ‘As Yahweh lives, who brought up the children of Israel out of the land of Egypt;’ ⁸Verse 8. but, ‘As Yahweh lives, who brought up and who led the offspring of the house of Israel out of the north country, and from all the countries where I had driven them.’ Then they will dwell in their own land.”

Grief over False Prophets Jeremiah 23:9–14

⁹Verse 9. Concerning the prophets:My heart within me is broken.All my bones shake.I am like a drunken man,and like a man whom wine has overcome,because of Yahweh,and because of his holy words.¹⁰Verse 10. For the land is full of adulterers;for because of the curse the land mourns.The pastures of the wilderness have dried up.Their course is evil,and their might is not right;¹¹Verse 11. for both prophet and priest are profane.Yes, in my house I have found their wickedness,” says Yahweh.¹²Verse 12. Therefore their way will be to them as slippery places in the darkness.They will be driven on,and fall therein;for I will bring evil on them,even the year of their visitation,” says Yahweh.¹³Verse 13. “I have seen folly in the prophets of Samaria.They prophesied by Baal,and caused my people Israel to err.¹⁴Verse 14. In the prophets of Jerusalem I have also seen a horrible thing:they commit adultery and walk in lies.They strengthen the hands of evildoers,so that no one returns from his wickedness.They have all become to me as Sodom,and its inhabitants as Gomorrah.”

Judgment on False Prophets Jeremiah 23:15–22

¹⁵Verse 15. Therefore Yahweh of Armies says concerning the prophets:“Behold, I will feed them with wormwood,and make them drink the water of gall;for from the prophets of Jerusalem ungodliness has gone out into all the land.”¹⁶Verse 16. Yahweh of Armies says,“Don’t listen to the words of the prophets who prophesy to you.They teach you vanity.They speak a vision of their own heart,and not out of the mouth of Yahweh.¹⁷Verse 17. They say continually to those who despise me,‘Yahweh has said, “You will have peace;”’and to everyone who walks in the stubbornness of his own heart they say,‘No evil will come on you.’¹⁸Verse 18. For who has stood in the council of Yahweh,that he should perceive and hear his word?Who has listened to my word, and heard it?¹⁹Verse 19. Behold, Yahweh’s storm, his wrath, has gone out.Yes, a whirling storm:It will burst on the head of the wicked.²⁰Verse 20. Yahweh’s anger will not return until he has executed,and until he has performed the intents of his heart.In the latter days, you will understand it perfectly.²¹Verse 21. I didn’t send these prophets, yet they ran.I didn’t speak to them, yet they prophesied.²²Verse 22. But if they had stood in my council,then they would have caused my people to hear my words,and would have turned them from their evil way,and from the evil of their doings.

The Nature of God’s Presence Jeremiah 23:23–32

²³Verse 23. “Am I a God at hand,” says Yahweh, “and not a God afar off? ²⁴Verse 24. Can anyone hide himself in secret places so that I can’t see him?” says Yahweh. “Don’t I fill heaven and earth?” says Yahweh. ²⁵Verse 25. “I have heard what the prophets have said, who prophesy lies in my name, saying, ‘I had a dream! I had a dream!’ ²⁶Verse 26. How long will this be in the heart of the prophets who prophesy lies, even the prophets of the deceit of their own heart? ²⁷Verse 27. They intend to cause my people to forget my name by their dreams which they each tell his neighbor, as their fathers forgot my name because of Baal.

²⁸Verse 28. The prophet who has a dream, let him tell a dream; and he who has my word, let him speak my word faithfully. What is the straw to the wheat?” says Yahweh. ²⁹Verse 29. “Isn’t my word like fire?” says Yahweh; “and like a hammer that breaks the rock in pieces? ³⁰Verse 30. “Therefore behold, I am against the prophets,” says Yahweh, “who each steal my words from his neighbor. ³¹Verse 31. Behold, I am against the prophets,” says Yahweh, “who use their tongues, and say, ‘He says.’ ³²Verse 32. Behold, I am against those who prophesy lying dreams,” says Yahweh, “who tell them, and cause my people to err by their lies, and by their vain boasting; yet I didn’t send them or command them. They don’t profit this people at all,” says Yahweh.

Consequences of Misuse of Prophecy Jeremiah 23:33–40

³³Verse 33. “When this people, or the prophet, or a priest, asks you, saying, ‘What is the message from Yahweh?’ Then you shall tell them, ‘“What message? I will cast you off,” says Yahweh.’ ³⁴Verse 34. As for the prophet, the priest, and the people, who say, ‘The message from Yahweh,’ I will even punish that man and his household. ³⁵Verse 35. You will say everyone to his neighbor, and everyone to his brother, ‘What has Yahweh answered?’ and, ‘What has Yahweh said?’ ³⁶Verse 36. You will mention the message from Yahweh no more: for every man’s own word has become his message; for you have perverted the words of the living God, of Yahweh of Armies, our God.

³⁷Verse 37. You will say to the prophet, ‘What has Yahweh answered you?’ and, ‘What has Yahweh spoken?’ ³⁸Verse 38. Although you say, ‘The message from Yahweh;’ therefore Yahweh says: ‘Because you say this word, “The message from Yahweh,” and I have sent to you, telling you not to say, “The message from Yahweh;” ³⁹Verse 39. therefore, behold, I will utterly forget you, and I will cast you off, and the city that I gave to you and to your fathers, away from my presence. ⁴⁰Verse 40. I will bring an everlasting reproach on you, and a perpetual shame, which will not be forgotten.’”