Jeremiah 23

David’s Righteous Branch

1 “Woe to the shepherds who destroy and scatter the sheep of My pasture!” declares the LORD. ‡ Jer 10:21Zec 11:15-17Ezk 34:2-10Ezk 13:3Mat 9:36Jer 12:10Jer 22:22Isa 56:9-12 +17

2 Therefore this is what the LORD, the God of Israel, says about the shepherds who tend My people: “You have scattered My flock and driven them away, and have not attended to them. Behold, I will attend to you for the evil of your deeds, declares the LORD. ‡ Jer 21:12Mic 7:4Exo 32:34Jer 23:34Hos 2:13Jas 1:27Jer 11:22Jer 13:21 +5

3 Then I Myself will gather the remnant of My flock from all the lands to which I have banished them, and I will return them to their pasture, where they will be fruitful and multiply. ‡ Amo 9:14-15Jer 32:37Isa 43:5-6Jer 29:14Jer 30:3Zep 3:19-20Ezk 37:21-27Ezk 11:17 +114 I will raise up shepherds over them who will tend them, and they will no longer be afraid or dismayed, nor will any go missing, declares the LORD. ‡ Jer 3:14-151Pe 1:5Act 20:28-29Ezk 34:23-31Hos 3:3-5Isa 11:11Jer 30:10Jer 31:10 +13

5 Behold, the days are coming, ‡ Isa 4:2Luk 1:32-33Isa 52:13Isa 9:7Zec 6:12-13Zec 3:8Isa 11:1-5Isa 32:1-2 +27

declares the LORD,

when I will raise up for David ¹

a righteous Branch,

and He will reign wisely as King

and will administer justice and righteousness in the land.

6 In His days Judah will be saved, ‡ 1Co 1:30Php 3:9Jer 33:16Mat 1:21-23Dan 9:24Isa 54:17Isa 7:14Rom 11:26-27 +27

and Israel will dwell securely.

And this is His name by which He will be called:

The LORD Our Righteousness. ²

7 So behold, the days are coming, declares the LORD, when they will no longer say, ‘As surely as the LORD lives, who brought the Israelites up out of the land of Egypt.’ ‡ Jer 16:14-15Jer 23:3Isa 43:18-19Jer 31:31-34 8 Instead they will say, ‘As surely as the LORD lives, who brought and led the descendants of the house of Israel up out of the land of the north and all the other lands to which He had banished them.’ Then they will dwell once more in their own land.” ‡ Amo 9:14-15Isa 43:5-6Ezk 34:13Ezk 36:24Ezk 39:28Zep 3:20Ezk 37:25Isa 14:1 +3

Lying Prophets

9 As for the prophets: ‡ Hab 3:16Dan 8:27Isa 51:21Lam 3:15Psa 60:32Ki 22:19-20Ezk 9:4Ezk 9:6 +8

My heart is broken within me,

and all my bones tremble.

I have become like a drunkard,

like a man overcome by wine,

because of the LORD,

because of His holy words.

10 For the land is full of adulterers— ‡ Hos 4:2-3Psa 107:34Jer 5:7-8Jer 9:10Jer 9:2Mal 3:5Ezk 22:9-11Isa 24:6 +11

because of the curse, the land mourns

and the pastures of the wilderness have dried up—

their course is evil

and their power is misused.

11 “For both prophet and priest are ungodly; ‡ Jer 6:13Zep 3:4Mat 21:12-13Ezk 23:39Jer 32:342Ch 36:14Ezk 8:16Jer 11:15 +11

even in My house I have found their wickedness,”

declares the LORD.

12 “Therefore their path will become slick; ‡ Jer 13:16Jer 11:23Pro 4:19Psa 35:6Exo 32:34Isa 8:22Jer 48:44Jhn 12:35 +6

they will be driven away into the darkness and fall into it.

For I will bring disaster upon them

in the year of their punishment,”

declares the LORD.

13 “Among the prophets of Samaria ‡ Isa 9:16Jer 2:81Ki 18:18-21Hos 9:7-82Ch 33:91Ki 18:25-281Ki 18:40

I saw an offensive thing:

They prophesied by Baal

and led My people Israel astray.

14 And among the prophets of Jerusalem ‡ Isa 1:9-10Jer 29:23Ezk 22:25Deu 32:32Ezk 13:22-23Gen 18:20Jer 14:14Jer 23:32 +24

I have seen a horrible thing:

They commit adultery

and walk in lies.

They strengthen the hands of evildoers,

so that no one turns his back on wickedness.

They are all like Sodom to Me;

the people of Jerusalem are like Gomorrah.”

15 Therefore this is what the LORD of Hosts says concerning the prophets: ‡ Jer 8:14Jer 9:15Lam 3:15Lam 3:5Psa 69:21Lam 3:19Mat 27:34Rev 8:11

“I will feed them wormwood

and give them poisoned water to drink,

for from the prophets of Jerusalem

ungodliness has spread throughout the land.”

16 This is what the LORD of Hosts says: ‡ Jer 14:14Ezk 13:62Co 11:13-15Ezk 13:3Gal 1:8-9Jer 27:9-10Mat 7:151Jn 4:1 +13

“Do not listen to the words of the prophets who prophesy to you.

They are filling you with false hopes.

They speak visions from their own minds,

not from the mouth of the LORD.

17 They keep saying to those who despise Me, ‡ Mic 3:11Jer 13:10Amo 9:10Deu 29:19Jer 5:12Jer 8:11Jer 9:14Mic 3:5 +21

‘The LORD says that you will have peace,’

and to everyone who walks in the stubbornness of his own heart,

‘No harm will come to you.’

18 But which of them has stood in the council of the LORD ‡ Jer 23:221Co 2:16Amo 3:7Isa 40:13-14Jhn 15:15Psa 25:141Ki 22:242Ch 18:23 +1

to see and hear His word?

Who has given heed to His word

and obeyed it?

19 Behold, the storm of the LORD ‡ Jer 30:23Jer 25:32Amo 1:14Isa 21:1Pro 10:25Nam 1:3-6Isa 40:24Isa 5:25-28 +5

has gone out with fury,

a whirlwind swirling down

upon the heads of the wicked.

20 The anger of the LORD will not turn back ‡ Jer 30:24Isa 55:11Gen 49:1Isa 14:24Pro 21:30Zec 1:61Ki 8:472Ki 23:26 +4

until He has fully accomplished the purposes of His heart.

In the days to come

you will understand this clearly.

21 I did not send these prophets, ‡ Jer 14:14Jer 27:15Jer 23:32Jer 28:15Jer 29:31Jer 29:9Act 13:4Isa 6:8 +2

yet they have run with their message;

I did not speak to them,

yet they have prophesied.

22 But if they had stood in My council, ‡ Jer 23:18Jer 25:5Zec 1:4Act 20:27Ezk 13:22Jer 35:151Th 5:6Act 26:18-20 +5

they would have proclaimed My words to My people

and turned them back

from their evil ways and deeds.”

23 “Am I only a God nearby,” declares the LORD, “and not a God far away?” ‡ Psa 139:1-101Ki 20:231Ki 20:28Ezk 20:32-35Jon 1:3-4Psa 113:5

24 “Can a man hide in secret places where I cannot see him?” declares the LORD. ‡ Pro 15:3Psa 139:7Psa 90:8Isa 29:15Amo 9:2-31Ki 8:27Isa 57:15Psa 139:11-16 +13

“Do I not fill the heavens and the earth?” declares the LORD.

25 “I have heard the sayings of the prophets who prophesy lies in My name: ‘I had a dream! I had a dream!’ ‡ Jer 23:32Jer 23:28Jer 29:8Jol 2:281Co 4:5Jer 8:6Num 12:6Gen 37:5 +1126 How long will this continue in the hearts of these prophets who prophesy falsehood, these prophets of the delusion of their own minds? ‡ 1Ti 4:1-2Jer 14:142Pe 2:13-162Th 2:9-112Ti 4:3Act 13:10Hos 8:5Isa 30:10 +427 They suppose the dreams that they tell one another will make My people forget My name, just as their fathers forgot My name through the worship of Baal. ‡ Jdg 8:33-34Jdg 3:72Ki 21:3Act 13:8Deu 13:1-5Jdg 10:6Jer 29:82Ti 2:17-18 +1

28 Let the prophet who has a dream retell it, but let him who has My word speak it truthfully. For what is straw compared to grain?” declares the LORD. ‡ 1Ti 1:122Co 2:17Luk 12:42Mat 24:45Pro 14:51Co 3:12-131Co 4:2 29 “Is not My word like fire,” declares the LORD, “and like a hammer that smashes a rock?” ‡ Heb 4:12Jer 5:14Luk 24:32Jer 20:92Co 10:4-5Jhn 6:63Rev 11:5Act 2:3 +2

30 “Therefore behold,” declares the LORD, “I am against the prophets who steal from one another words they attribute to Me.” ‡ Deu 18:20Ezk 13:8Jer 14:14-15Ezk 13:20Psa 34:161Pe 3:12Ezk 15:7Deu 29:20 +4

31 “Yes,” declares the LORD, “I am against the prophets who wag their own tongues and proclaim, ‘The LORD declares it.’” ‡ Jer 23:172Ch 18:10-122Ch 18:5Isa 30:102Ch 18:19-21Mic 2:11

32 “Indeed,” declares the LORD, “I am against those who prophesy false dreams and retell them to lead My people astray with their reckless lies. It was not I who sent them or commanded them, and they are of no benefit at all to these people,” declares the LORD. ‡ Ezk 13:7-18Lam 2:14Zep 3:4Jer 29:31Jer 7:8Mat 15:14Zec 13:2-3Deu 18:20 +10

False Prophecies

33 “Now when this people or a prophet or priest asks you, ‘What is the burden of the LORD?’ you are to say to them, ‘What burden? I will forsake you, declares the LORD.’ ‡ Mal 1:1Deu 32:19-20Hab 1:1Hos 9:12Isa 13:1Jer 12:7Nam 1:12Ch 15:2 +6

34 As for the prophet or priest or anyone who claims, ‘This is the burden of the LORD,’ I will punish that man and his household. ‡ Zec 13:3Lam 2:14

35 This is what each man is to say to his friend and to his brother: ‘What has the LORD answered?’ or ‘What has the LORD spoken?’ ‡ Heb 8:11Jer 31:34Jer 33:3Jer 42:4 36 But refer no more to the burden of the LORD, for each man’s word becomes the burden, so that you pervert the words of the living God, the LORD of Hosts, our God. ‡ 2Pe 3:16Isa 3:8Jer 10:102Ki 19:4Psa 120:3Psa 64:81Sa 17:261Sa 17:36 +14

37 Thus you are to say to the prophet: ‘What has the LORD answered you?’ and ‘What has the LORD spoken?’

38 But if you claim, ‘This is the burden of the LORD,’ then this is what the LORD says: Because you have said, ‘This is the burden of the LORD,’ and I specifically told you not to make this claim, ‡ 2Ch 11:13-14 39 therefore I will surely forget you and will cast you out of My presence, both you and the city that I gave to you and your fathers. ‡ Jer 23:33Ezk 8:182Th 1:9Deu 32:39Ezk 34:11Ezk 34:20Ezk 5:8Ezk 6:3 +1740 And I will bring upon you everlasting shame and perpetual humiliation that will never be forgotten.” ‡ Jer 20:11Ezk 5:14-15Jer 42:18Dan 12:2Dan 9:16Deu 28:37Hos 4:7Jer 24:9 +1