THE BOOK OF THE PROPHET
JEREMIAH
Jeremiah 23 ©
A prophecy against wicked pastors, with a promise concerning the gathering and restoring of the flock of God by Christ, our Righteousness, v. 1, etc. A detailed prophecy against false prophets and dreamers, with faithful admonitions and sore threatenings, 9. Against those who mocked at Jeremiah, and at the charge of the Lord, 33.
WOE be unto the pastorsa that 1destroy and scatter the sheep of my pasture! saith the LORD.
Therefore thus saith the LORD God of Israel against the pastors that feed my people; Ye have scattered my flock, and driven them away, and have not 2visited them: behold, I will 3visit upon you the evil of your doings, saith the LORD.
And I will 4gather the remnant of my flock out of all countries whither I have driven them, and will bring them again to their 5folds; and they shall be fruitful and increase.
And I will 6set up shepherdsb over them which shall feed them: and they shall fear no more, nor be dismayed, neither shall they be 7lacking, saith the LORD.
¶Behold, thec days come, saith the LORD, that I will raise unto David a 8righteous 9Branch, and a 10King shall reign and prosper, and shall execute 11judgment and justice in the earth.
Ind12his days 13Judah shall be saved, and Israel shall dwell 14safely: and this is his name whereby 15he shall be called, 16THE LORD OUR RIGHTEOUSNESS.
Therefore, behold, thee days come, saith the LORD, that they shall 17no more say, The LORD liveth, which brought up the children of Israel out of the land of Egypt;
But, The LORD liveth, which brought up and which led the seed of the house of Israel out of the north country, and from all countries whither 18I had driven them; and they shall dwell in their own land.
¶ 19Mine heart within me is 20broken because of the prophets; all my bones shake; I am like a drunken man, and like a man whom wine hath 21overcome, because of the LORD, and because of the words of his 22holiness.
For the land is fullf of adulterers; for because of 23swearing the land mourneth; the pleasant places of the wilderness are dried up, and their 24course is evil, and their force is 25not right.
For 26both prophet and priest 27areg profane; yea, in my house have I found their wickedness, saith the LORD.
Wherefore their way shall be unto them as 28slipperyhways in the darkness:i they shall be driven on, and fall 29therein: for I will bring 30evil upon them, 31even the year of their visitation, saith the LORD.
And I have seen 32folly in the prophets of Samaria; they prophesied 33in Baal, and caused my people 34Israel to err.
I have seen also in the prophets of Jerusalem an 35horrible thing: they commit adultery, and 36walk in lies: they 37strengthen also the hands of evildoers, that none doth return from his wickedness: they are all of them unto me as 38Sodom,j and the 39inhabitants thereof as 40Gomorrah.
Therefore thus saith the LORD of 41hosts concerning the prophets; Behold, I will feed them with 42wormwood,k and make them drink the waterl of gall: for from the prophets of Jerusalem is 43profaneness gone forth into all the land.
Thus saith the LORD of hosts, Hearken not unto the words of the prophets that prophesy unto you: they make you 44vain: they speak a vision 45of their own heart, and not out of the mouth of the LORD.
They saym46still unto them that 47despise me, The LORD hath said, Ye shall have 48peace; and they say unto every one that walketh after the imagination of his own heart, No evil shall come upon you.
For 49who hath stood in the counsel of the LORD, and hath 50perceived and heard his word? who hath marked his word, and heard it?
Behold, a whirlwindn of the LORD is gone forth in fury, even a 51grievous whirlwind: it shall 52fall grievously upon the head of the wicked.
The anger of the LORD shall not return, until he have executed, and till he have performed the thoughts of his heart: in the 53latter days ye shall consider it 54perfectly.
I have noto sent these prophets, yet they ran: I have not spoken to them, yet they prophesied.
But if they had stood in my 55counsel, and had caused my people to hear my words, then they should have turned them from their evil 56way, and from the evil of their doings.
57Am I a God at hand, saith the LORD, and not a God afar off?
Can any hide himself in secretp places that I shall not see him? saith the LORD. Do not I fill heaven and earth? saith the LORD.
I have heard what the prophets said, that prophesy lies in my name, saying, I have 58dreamed, I have dreamed.
59How long shall 60this be in the heart of the prophets that prophesy lies? yea, they are prophets of the deceit of their own heart;
Which 61think to cause my people to forgetq my name by their dreams which they tell every man to his neighbour, as their fathers have forgotten my name for Baal.
The prophet that hath a 62dream, let him tell a dream; and he that hath my word, let him speak my word 63faithfully. 64What is the chaff to the wheat? saith the LORD.
Is not my word like as a fire? saith the LORD; and like a hammer that 65breaketh the rock in pieces?
Therefore, behold, 66Iram against the prophets, saith the LORD, that steal my words every one from his 67neighbour.
Behold, I am against the prophets, saith the LORD, that use 68their tongues, and say, 69He saith.
Behold, I am against them that prophesy 70false dreams, saith the LORD, and do tell them, and cause my people to err by their lies, and by their lightness;s yet I sent them not, nor commanded them: therefore they shall not profit this people 71at all, saith the LORD.
¶And when this people, or the prophet, or a priest, shall 72ask thee, saying, What is the 73burden of the LORD? thou shalt then say unto them, What burden? I will even 74forsake you, saith the LORD.
And as for the prophet, and the priest, and the 75people, that shall say, 76The burden of the LORD, I will even 77punish that man and his house.
Thus shall ye 78say every one to his neighbour, and every one to his brother, What hath the LORD answered? and, What hath the LORD spoken?
And the burden of the LORD shall ye 79mention no more: for every 80man’s word shall be his burden; for ye have perverted the words of the living God, of the LORD of hosts our God.
Thus shalt thou say to the 81prophet, What hath the LORD answered thee? and, What hath the LORD spoken?
82But 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 unto you, saying, Ye shall not say, The burden of the LORD;
Therefore, behold, I, even I, will 83utterly forget you, and I will 84forsake you, and the city that I gave you and your fathers, and cast you out of my presence:
And I will 85bring an 86everlasting reproach upon you, and a perpetualt shame, which shall not be forgotten.