Jeremiah 23
1 Woe to the pastors, that destroy and tear the sheep of my pasture, saith the Lord.
Alas for the shepherds who are destroying and scattering the sheep of my pasture Declareth Yahweh.
2 Therefore thus saith the Lord the God of Israel to the pastors that feed my people: You have scattered my flock, and driven them away, and have not visited them: behold I will visit upon you for the evil of your doings, saith the Lord.
Therefore, Thus, saith Yahweh God of Israel, Concerning the shepherds who are tending my people, —Ye have scattered my flock and have driven them away, and have not visited them, —Behold me! visiting upon you the wickedness of your doings Declareth Yahweh.
3 And I will gather together the remnant of my flock, out of all the lands into which I have cast them out: and I will make them return to their own fields, and they shall increase and be multiplied.
I myself, therefore will gather the remnant of my flock, out of all the lands whither I have driven them, —And will bring them back unto their own fold, And they shall be fruitful and multiply;
4 And I will set up pastors over them, and they shall feed them: they shall fear no more, and they shall not be dismayed: and none shall be wanting of their number, saith the Lord.
And I will raise up over them shepherds who will tend them, —So shall they not be afraid any more, nor be dismayed nor be missing, Declareth Yahweh.
5 Behold the days come, saith the Lord, and I will raise up to David a just branch: and a king shall reign, and shall be wise, and shall execute judgement and justice in the earth.
Lo! days are coming, Declareth Yahweh, when I will raise up to David A righteous Bud, And he shall reign as king, and prosper, And shall execute justice and righteousness in the land.
6 In those days shall Juda be saved, and Israel shall dwell confidently: and this is the name that they shall call him: the Lord our just one.
In his days, Shall Judah be saved, And Israel abide securely, —And, this, is his name whereby he shall be called Yahweh, our Righteousness.
7 Therefore behold the days to come, saith the Lord, and they shall say no more: The Lord liveth, who brought up the children of Israel out of the land of Egypt:
Therefore, lo! days are coming, Declareth Yahweh, When it shall not be said any more As Yahweh liveth, who brought up the sons of Israel out of the land of Egypt;
8 But the Lord liveth, who hath brought out, and brought hither the seed of the house of Israel from the land of the north, and out of all the lands, to which I had cast them forth: and they shall dwell in their own land.
but—As Yahweh liveth who hath brought up and who hath brought in the seed of the house of Israel out of the land of the North, and out of all the lands whither I have driven them, —And they shall remain upon their own soil.
9 To the prophets: My heart is broken within me, all my bones tremble: I am become as a drunken man, and as a man full of wine, at the presence of the Lord, and at the presence of his holy words.
As for the prophets, —Broken is my heart within me Trembled have all my bones, I have become as a drunken man, And as a strong man whom wine hath overcome, —Because of Yahweh, And because of his holy words.
10 Because the land is full of adulterers, because the land hath mourned by reason of cursing, the fields of the desert are dried up: and their course is become evil, and their strength unlike.
For with adulterers, is the land filled, Yea because of cursing, doth the land mourn, Dried up are the oases of the desert, —And, their oppression hath become wicked, And, their might is not right.
11 For the prophet and the priest are defiled: and in my house I have found their wickedness, saith the Lord.
For both prophet and priest, are profane, —Even in my house, have I found their wickedness, Declareth Yahweh.
12 Therefore their way shall be as a slippery way in the dark: for they shall be driven on, and fall therein: for I will bring evils upon them, the year of their visitation, saith the Lord.
Therefore, shall their way become to them like slippery places in darkness, They shall be driven on and shall fall therein, —For I will bring in upon them calamity—The year of their visitation, Declareth Yahweh.
13 And I have seen folly in the prophets of Samaria: they prophesied in Baal, and deceived my people Israel.
Even among the prophets of Samaria, had I seen a foolish thing, —They prophesied by Baal, And led astray my people Israel.
14 And I have seen the likeness of adulterers, and the way of lying in the prophets of Jerusalem: and they strengthened the hand of the wicked, that no man should return from his evil doings: that are all become unto me as Sodom, and the inhabitants thereof as Gomorrha.
But among the prophets of Jerusalem, have I seen a horrible thing, —Committing adultery, And walking in falsehood, And so strengthening the hands of doers of wickedness, not to return any man from his wickedness: They have all of them become to me as Sodom, And her inhabitants as Gomorrah.
15 Therefore thus saith the Lord of hosts to the prophets: Behold I will feed them with wormwood, and I will give them gall to drink: for from the prophets of Jerusalem corruption has gone forth into all the land.
Therefore, Thus, saith Yahweh of hosts Concerning the prophets, —Behold me! Feeding them with wormwood, And I will cause them to drink poisoned water, —For from the prophets of Jerusalem, hath there gone forth profanity unto all the land.
16 Thus saith the Lord of hosts: Hearken not to the words of the prophets that prophesy to you, and deceive you: they speak a vision of their own heart, and not out of the mouth of the Lord.
Thus, saith Yahweh of hosts, —Do not hearken unto the words of the prophets who are prophesying unto you, They are filling you, with vain hopes, —The vision of their own hearts, do they speak, Not from the mouth of Yahweh!
17 They say to them that blaspheme me: The Lord hath said: You shall have peace: and to every one that walketh in the perverseness of his own heart, they have said: No evil shall come to you.
They keep on saying to them who despise me, Yahweh, hath spoken, saying, Prosperity, shall ye have! And to every one who is going on in the stubbornness of his own heart, have they said, There shall come on you, no calamity
18 For who hath stood in the counsel of the Lord, and hath seen and heard his word? Who hath considered his word and heard it?
For who hath stood in the council of Yahweh, that he should see and hear his word? Who hath given ear to his word and heard it?
19 Behold the whirlwind of the Lord’s indignation shall come forth, and a tempest shall break out and come upon the head of the wicked.
Lo! the tempest of Yahweh! Indignation, hath come forth, Even a tempest whirling along: On the head of the lawless, shall it hurl itself down.
20 The wrath of the Lord shall not return till he execute it, and till he accomplish the thought of his heart: in the latter days you shall understand his counsel.
The anger of Yahweh, wilt not return, Until he hath executed nor Until he hath established The purposes of his heart, —In the afterpart of the days, shall ye understand it perfectly.
21 I did not send prophets, yet they ran: I have not spoken to them, yet they prophesied.
I sent not the prophets yet they, ran, I spake not unto them yet, they, prophesied.
22 If they stood in my counsel, and had made my words known to my people, I should have turned them from their evil way and from their wicked doings.
But if they had stood in my council, Then might they have announced my words unto my people, And have turned them from their wicked way and from the wickedness of their doings.
23 Am I, think ye, a God at hand, saith the Lord, and not a God afar off?
Am I, a God at hand, Demandeth Yahweh, And not a God afar off?
24 Shall a man be hid in secret places, and I not see him, saith the Lord? do not I fill heaven and earth, saith the Lord?
Can any hide himself in secret places that I, shall not see him? Demandeth Yahweh, —The heavens and the earth, do I not fill? Demandeth Yahweh.
25 I have heard what the prophets said, that prophesy lies in my name, and say: I have dreamed, I have dreamed.
I have heard what the prophets have said, who prophesy in my name falsely, saying, —I have dreamed! I have dreamed!
26 How long shall this be in the heart of the prophets that prophesy lies, and that prophesy the delusions of their own heart?
How long shall it be in the heart of the prophets, To be prophets of falsehood, —And prophets of the deceit of their own heart?
27 Who seek to make my people forget my name through their dreams, which they tell every man to his neighbor: as their fathers forgot my name for Baal.
Who lay a plot to cause my people to forget my name by their dreams which they relate every man to his neighbour, —Just as their fathers forgat, my name, for Baal.
28 The prophet that hath a dream, let him tell a dream: and he that hath my word, let him speak my word with truth: what hath the chaff to do with the wheat, saith the Lord?
The prophet with whom is a dream, Let him relate it as a dream, And he with whom is my word, Let him speak my word as truth, —What is the chaff to the wheat? Demandeth Yahweh:
29 Are not my words as a fire, saith the Lord: and as a hammer that breaketh the rock in pieces?
Is not my word, like this, Like fire? Demandeth Yahweh, —And like a hammer, that breaketh in pieces a cliff?
30 Therefore behold I am against the prophets, saith the Lord: who steal my words every one from his neighbor.
Therefore! behold me! against the prophets, Declareth Yahweh, —who steal my words, every man from his neighbour:
31 Behold I am against the prophets, saith the Lord: who use their tongues, and say: The Lord saith it.
Behold me! against the prophets, Declareth Yahweh, who presume with their tongue and declare He declareth:
32 Behold I am against the prophets that have lying dreams, saith the Lord: and tell them, and cause my people to err by their lying, and by their wonders: when I sent them not, nor commanded them, who have not profited this people at all, saith the Lord.
Behold me! against such as prophesy the dreams of falsehood, Declareth Yahweh, who have related them and led astray my people, with their falsehoods and with their recklessness, —whereas, I, had not sent them nor commanded them, so that they could be of no, profit, to this people, Declareth Yahweh.
33 If therefore this people, or the prophet, or the priest shall ask thee, saying: What is the burden of the Lord? thou shalt say to them: You are the burden: for I will cast you away, saith the Lord.
But when this people or a prophet or a priest shall ask thee saying What is the oracle of Yahweh? Then shalt thou say unto them Ye, yourselves, are the oracle, Therefore will I reject you Declareth Yahweh;
34 And as for the prophet, and the priest, and the people that shall say: The burden of the Lord: I will visit upon that man, and upon his house.
But the prophet, or the priest or the people who shall say—the oracle of Yahweh, I will bring punishment upon that man and upon his house.
35 Thus shall you say every one to his neighbor, and to his brother: What hath the Lord answered? and what hath the Lord spoken?
Thus, shall ye say—every man unto his neighbour and every man unto his brother, —What hath Yahweh, answered? or, What hath Yahweh, spoken?
36 And the burden of the Lord shall be mentioned no more, for every man’s word shall be his burden: for you have perverted the words of the living God, of the Lord of hosts our God.
but the oracle of Yahweh, shall ye not mention, any more, —for, every man’s oracle, shall be his own word, because ye have perverted the words of a Living God, Yahweh of hosts our God.
37 Thus shalt thou say to the prophet: What hath the Lord answered thee? and what hath the Lord spoken?
Thus, shalt thou say unto the prophet, —What hath Yahweh, answered thee? or What hath Yahweh, spoken?
38 But if you shall say: The burden of the Lord: therefore thus saith the Lord: Because you have said this word: The burden of the Lord: and I have sent to you saying: Say not, The burden of the Lord:
But, since ye keep on saying, The Oracle of Yahweh, therefore, Thus saith Yahweh, Because ye have said this word, The oracle of Yahweh, whereas I had sent unto you saying, Ye shall not say, The oracle of Yahweh
39 Therefore behold I will take you away carrying you, and will forsake you, and the city which I gave to you, and to your fathers, out of my presence.
therefore, behold me! I will lift you up, —and carry you away, and the city which I gave to you and to your fathers from before my face;
40 And I will bring an everlasting reproach upon you, and a perpetual shame which shall never be forgotten.
and will give unto you reproach age-abiding, —and disgrace age-abiding, which shall not be forgotten.
