23:1 Woe to the shepherds that destroy and scatter the sheep of their pasture!

23:2 Therefore thus saith the Lord against them that tend my people; Ye have scattered my sheep, and driven them out, and ye have not visited them: behold, I [will] take vengeance upon you according to your evil practices.

23:3 And I will gather in the remnant of my people in every land, whither I have driven them out, and will set them in their pasture; and they shall increase and be multiplied.

23:4 And I will raise up shepherds to them, who shall feed them: and they shall fear no more, nor be alarmed, saith the Lord.

23:5 Behold, the days come, saith the Lord, when I will raise up to David a righteous branch, and a king shall reign and understand, and shall execute judgment and righteousness on the earth.

23:6 In his days both Juda shall be saved, and Israel shall dwell securely: and this is his name, which the Lord shall call him, Josedec among the prophets.

23:7 Therefore, behold, the days come, saith the Lord, when they shall no more say, The Lord lives, who brought up the house of Israel out of the land of Egypt;

23:8 but The Lord lives, who has gathered the whole seed of Israel from the north land, and from all the countries whither he [had] driven them out, and has restored them into their own land.

23:9 My heart is broken within me; all my bones are shaken: I am become as a broken-down ma, and as a man overcome with wine, because of the Lord, and because of the excellence of his glory.

23:10 For because of these things the land mourns; the pastures of the wilderness are dried up; and their course is become evil, and so [also] their strength.

23:11 For priest and prophet are defiled; and I have seen their iniquities in my house.

23:12 Therefore let their way be to them slippery and dark: and they shall be tripped up and fall in it: for I will bring evils upon them, in the year of their visitation.

23:13 And in the prophets of Samaria I have seen lawless deeds; they prophesied by Baal, and led my people Israel astray.

23:14 Also in the prophets of Jerusalem I have seen horrible things: as they committed adultery, and walked in lies, and strengthened the hands of many, that they should not return each from his evil way: they are all become to me as Sodom, and the inhabitants thereof as Gomorrha.

23:15 Therefore thus saith the Lord; Behold, I will feed them with pain, and give them bitter water to drink: for from the prophets of Jerusalem has defilement gone forth [into] all the land.

23:16 Thus saith the Lord Almighty, Hearken not to the words of the prophets: for they frame a vain vision for themselves; they speak from their own heart, and not from the mouth of the Lord.

23:17 They say to them that reject the word of the Lord, There shall be peace to you; and to all that walk after their own lusts, and to everyone that walks in the error of his heart, they have said, No evil shall come upon thee.

23:18 For who has stood in the counsel of the Lord, and seen his word? who has hearkened, and heard?

23:19 Behold, [there is] an earthquake from the Lord, and anger proceeds to a convulsion, it shall come violently upon the ungodly.

23:20 And the Lord's wrath shall return no more, until he have accomplished it, and until he have established it, according to the purpose of his heart: at the end of the days they shall understand it.

23:21 I sent not the prophets, yet they ran: neither spoke I to them, ye they prophesied.

23:22 But if they had stood in my counsel, and if they had hearkened to my words, then would they have turned my people from their evil practices.

23:23 I am a God nigh at hand, saith the Lord, and not a God afar off.

23:24 Shall any one hide himself in secret places, and I not see him? Do I not fill heaven and earth? saith the Lord.

23:25 I have heard what the prophets say, what they prophesy in my name, saying falsely, I have seen a night vision.

23:26 How long shall [these things] be in the heart of the prophets that prophesy lies, when they prophesy the purposes of their own heart?

23:27 who devise that [men] may forget my law by their dreams, which they have told every one to his neighbour, as their fathers forgot my name in [the worship of] Baal.

23:28 The prophet who has a dream, let him tell his dream; and [he] in whom is my word [spoken] to him, let him tell my word truly: what is the chaff to the corn? so are my words, saith the Lord.

23:29 Behold, are not my words as fire? saith the Lord; and as an axe cutting the rock?

23:30 Behold, I am therefore against the prophets, saith the Lord God, that steal my words every one from his neighbour.

23:31 Behold, I am against the prophets that put forth prophecies of mere words, and slumber their sleep.

23:32 Therefore, behold, I am against the prophets that prophesy false dreams, and have not told them [truly], and have caused my people to err by their lies, and by their errors; yet I sent them not, and commanded them not; therefore, they shall not profit this people at all.

23:33 And if this people, or the priest, or the prophet, should ask, What is the burden of the Lord? then thou shalt say to them, Ye are the burden, and I will dash you down, saith the Lord.

23:34 [As for] the prophet, and the priests, and the people, who shall say, The burden of the Lord, I will even take vengeance on that man, and on his house.

23:35 Thus shall ye say every one to his neighbour, and every one to his brother, What has the Lord answered? and, what has the Lord said?

23:36 And do ye name no more the burden of the Lord; for his own word shall be a man's burden.

23:37 But wherefore, [say ye], has the Lord our God spoken?

23:38 Therefore thus saith the Lord our God; Because ye have spoken this word, The burden of the Lord, and I sent to you, saying, ye shall not say, The burden of the Lord;

23:39 therefore, behold, I [will] seize, and dash down you and the city which I gave to you and your fathers.

23:40 And I will bring upon you an everlasting reproach, and everlasting disgrace, which shall not be forgotten.

23:1 Woe be unto the pastors that destroy and scatter the sheep of my pasture! saith the LORD.

23:2 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 visited them: behold, I will visit upon you the evil of your doings, saith the LORD.

23:3 And I will gather the remnant of my flock out of all countries whither I have driven them, and will bring them again to their folds; and they shall be fruitful and increase.

23:4 And I will set up shepherds over them which shall feed them: and they shall fear no more, nor be dismayed, neither shall they be lacking, saith the LORD.

23:5 Behold, the days come, saith the LORD, that I will raise unto David a righteous Branch, and a King shall reign and prosper, and shall execute judgment and justice in the earth.

23:6 In his days Judah shall be saved, and Israel shall dwell safely: and this is his name whereby he shall be called, THE LORD OUR RIGHTEOUSNESS.

23:7 Therefore, behold, the days come, saith the LORD, that they shall no more say, The LORD liveth, which brought up the children of Israel out of the land of Egypt;

23:8 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 I had driven them; and they shall dwell in their own land.

23:9 Mine heart within me is broken because of the prophets; all my bones shake; I am like a drunken man, and like a man whom wine hath overcome, because of the LORD, and because of the words of his holiness.

23:10 For the land is full of adulterers; for because of swearing the land mourneth; the pleasant places of the wilderness are dried up, and their course is evil, and their force is not right.

23:11 For both prophet and priest are profane; yea, in my house have I found their wickedness, saith the LORD.

23:12 Wherefore their way shall be unto them as slippery ways in the darkness: they shall be driven on, and fall therein: for I will bring evil upon them, even the year of their visitation, saith the LORD.

23:13 And I have seen folly in the prophets of Samaria; they prophesied in Baal, and caused my people Israel to err.

23:14 I have seen also in the prophets of Jerusalem an horrible thing: they commit adultery, and walk in lies: they strengthen also the hands of evildoers, that none doth return from his wickedness; they are all of them unto me as Sodom, and the inhabitants thereof as Gomorrah.

23:15 Therefore thus saith the LORD of hosts concerning the prophets; Behold, I will feed them with wormwood, and make them drink the water of gall: for from the prophets of Jerusalem is profaneness gone forth into all the land.

23:16 Thus saith the LORD of hosts, Hearken not unto the words of the prophets that prophesy unto you: they make you vain: they speak a vision of their own heart, and not out of the mouth of the LORD.

23:17 They say still unto them that despise me, The LORD hath said, Ye shall have peace; and they say unto every one that walketh after the imagination of his own heart, No evil shall come upon you.

23:18 For who hath stood in the counsel of the LORD, and hath perceived and heard his word? who hath marked his word, and heard it?

23:19 Behold, a whirlwind of the LORD is gone forth in fury, even a grievous whirlwind: it shall fall grievously upon the head of the wicked.

23:20 The anger of the LORD shall not return, until he have executed, and till he have performed the thoughts of his heart: in the latter days ye shall consider it perfectly.

23:21 I have not sent these prophets, yet they ran: I have not spoken to them, yet they prophesied.

23:22 But if they had stood in my counsel, and had caused my people to hear my words, then they should have turned them from their evil way, and from the evil of their doings.

23:23 Am I a God at hand, saith the LORD, and not a God afar off?

23:24 Can any hide himself in secret places that I shall not see him? saith the LORD. Do not I fill heaven and earth? saith the LORD.

23:25 I have heard what the prophets said, that prophesy lies in my name, saying, I have dreamed, I have dreamed.

23:26 How long shall this be in the heart of the prophets that prophesy lies? yea, they are prophets of the deceit of their own heart;

23:27 Which think to cause my people to forget my name by their dreams which they tell every man to his neighbour, as their fathers have forgotten my name for Baal.

23:28 The prophet that hath a dream, let him tell a dream; and he that hath my word, let him speak my word faithfully. What is the chaff to the wheat? saith the LORD.

23:29 Is not my word like as a fire? saith the LORD; and like a hammer that breaketh the rock in pieces?

23:30 Therefore, behold, I am against the prophets, saith the LORD, that steal my words every one from his neighbour.

23:31 Behold, I am against the prophets, saith the LORD, that use their tongues, and say, He saith.

23:32 Behold, I am against them that prophesy false dreams, saith the LORD, and do tell them, and cause my people to err by their lies, and by their lightness; yet I sent them not, nor commanded them: therefore they shall not profit this people at all, saith the LORD.

23:33 And when this people, or the prophet, or a priest, shall ask thee, saying, What is the burden of the LORD? thou shalt then say unto them, What burden? I will even forsake you, saith the LORD.

23:34 And as for the prophet, and the priest, and the people, that shall say, The burden of the LORD, I will even punish that man and his house.

23:35 Thus shall ye say every one to his neighbour, and every one to his brother, What hath the LORD answered? and, What hath the LORD spoken?

23:36 And the burden of the LORD shall ye mention no more: for every man's word shall be his burden; for ye have perverted the words of the living God, of the LORD of hosts our God.

23:37 Thus shalt thou say to the prophet, What hath the LORD answered thee? and, What hath the LORD spoken?

23:38 But 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;

23:39 Therefore, behold, I, even I, will utterly forget you, and I will forsake you, and the city that I gave you and your fathers, and cast you out of my presence:

23:40 And I will bring an everlasting reproach upon you, and a perpetual shame, which shall not be forgotten.