Chapter 23
1 " Woe to the shepherds who destroy and scatter the sheep of my pasture !" says Yahweh .
2 Therefore Yahweh , the God of Israel , says against the shepherds who feed my people : " You have scattered my flock , driven them away , and have not visited them . Behold , I will visit on you the evil of your doings ," says Yahweh .
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 .
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 .
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.
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 .
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 ;’
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."
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 .
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 ;
11 for both prophet and priest are profane . Yes , in my house I have found their wickedness ," says Yahweh .
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 .
13 " I have seen folly in the prophets of Samaria . They prophesied by Baal , and caused my people Israel to err .
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 ."
15 Therefore Yahweh of Armies says concerning the prophets : " Behold , I will feed them with wormwood , and make them drink poisoned water ; for from the prophets of Jerusalem ungodliness has gone out into all the land."
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 .
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 .’
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 ?
19 Behold , Yahweh ’s storm , his wrath , has gone out . Yes , a whirling storm ! It will burst on the head of the wicked .
20 Yahweh ’s anger will not return until he has executed and performed the intents of his heart . In the latter days , you will understand it perfectly.
21 I didn’t send these prophets , yet they ran . I didn’t speak to them , yet they prophesied .
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 .
23 " Am I a God at hand ," says Yahweh , " and not a God afar off ?
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 .
25 " I have heard what the prophets have said , who prophesy lies in my name , saying, ‘ I had a dream ! I had a dream !’
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 ?
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 .
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 .
29 "Isn’t my word like fire?" says Yahweh ; " and like a hammer that breaks the rock in pieces ?
30 " Therefore behold , I am against the prophets ," says Yahweh , " who each steal my words from his neighbor .
31 Behold , I am against the prophets ," says Yahweh , " who use their tongues , and say , ‘ He says .’
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 .
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 .’
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 .
35 You will say everyone to his neighbor , and everyone to his brother , ‘ What has Yahweh answered ?’ and , ‘ What has Yahweh said ?’
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 .
37 You will say to the prophet , ‘ What has Yahweh answered you ?’ and , ‘ What has Yahweh spoken ?’
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 ,"
39 therefore behold , I will utterly forget you , and I will cast you off with the city that I gave to you and to your fathers, away from my presence .
40 I will bring an everlasting reproach on you , and a perpetual shame , which will not be forgotten .’"