Jeremiah 23:9-38

Other Translations of Jeremiah 23:9-38

King James Version

Denunciation of the Lying Prophets

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. ¹⁰ For the land is full of adulterers; for because of swearing swearing: or, cursing the land mourneth; the pleasant places of the wilderness are dried up, and their course is evil, and their force is not right. ¹¹ For both prophet and priest are profane; yea, in my house have I found their wickedness, saith the Lord. 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. ¹³ And I have seen folly folly: or, an absurd thing: Heb. unsavoury in the prophets of Samaria; they prophesied in Baal, and caused my people Israel to err. 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. 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 profaneness: or, hypocrisy gone forth into all the land. 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. 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 imagination: or, stubbornness of his own heart, No evil shall come upon you. ¹⁸ For who hath stood in the counsel counsel: or, secret of the Lord, and hath perceived and heard his word? who hath marked his word, and heard it? 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. 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. ²¹ I have not sent these prophets, yet they ran: I have not spoken to them, yet they prophesied. 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 Am I a God at hand, saith the Lord, and not a God afar off? 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. ²⁵ I have heard what the prophets said, that prophesy lies in my name, saying, I have dreamed, I have dreamed. 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; 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. ²⁸ The prophet that hath a dream, that hath a dream: Heb. with whom is, etc 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. ²⁹ Is not my word like as a fire? saith the Lord; and like a hammer that breaketh the rock in pieces? ³⁰ Therefore, behold, I am against the prophets, saith the Lord, that steal my words every one from his neighbour. ³¹ Behold, I am against the prophets, saith the Lord, that use their tongues, and say, He saith. 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.

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. ³⁴ And as for the prophet, and the priest, and the people, that shall say, The burden of the Lord, I will even punish punish: Heb. visit upon that man and his house. 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? 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. ³⁷ Thus shalt thou say to the prophet, What hath the Lord answered thee? and, What hath the Lord spoken? 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;

English Standard Version

Denunciation of the Lying Prophets

⁹ Concerning the prophets: My heart is broken within me; all my bones shake; I am like a drunken man, like a man overcome by wine, because of the Lord and because of his holy words. ¹⁰ For the land is full of adulterers; because of the curse the land mourns, and the pastures of the wilderness are dried up. Their course is evil, and their might is not right. ¹¹ "Both prophet and priest are ungodly; even in my house I have found their evil, declares the Lord. ¹² Therefore their way shall be to them like slippery paths in the darkness, into which they shall be driven and fall, for I will bring disaster upon them in the year of their punishment, declares the Lord. ¹³ In the prophets of Samaria I saw an unsavory thing: they prophesied by Baal and led my people Israel astray. ¹⁴ But in the prophets of Jerusalem I have seen a horrible thing: they commit adultery and walk in lies; they strengthen the hands of evildoers, so that no one turns from his evil; all of them have become like Sodom to me, and its inhabitants like Gomorrah." ¹⁵ Therefore thus says the Lord of hosts concerning the prophets: "Behold, I will feed them with bitter food and give them poisoned water to drink, for from the prophets of Jerusalem ungodliness has gone out into all the land." ¹⁶ Thus says the Lord of hosts: "Do not listen to the words of the prophets who prophesy to you, filling you with vain hopes. They speak visions of their own minds, not from the mouth of the Lord. ¹⁷ They say continually to those who despise the word of the Lord, 'It shall be well with you'; and to everyone who stubbornly follows his own heart, they say, 'No disaster shall come upon you.'" ¹⁸ For who among them has stood in the council of the Lord to see and to hear his word, or who has paid attention to his word and listened? ¹⁹ Behold, the storm of the Lord! Wrath has gone forth, a whirling tempest; it will burst upon the head of the wicked. ²⁰ The anger of the Lord will not turn back until he has executed and accomplished the intents of his heart. In the latter days you will understand it clearly. ²¹ "I did not send the prophets, yet they ran; I did not speak to them, yet they prophesied. ²² But if they had stood in my council, then they would have proclaimed my words to my people, and they would have turned them from their evil way, and from the evil of their deeds. ²³ "Am I a God at hand, declares the Lord, and not a God far away? ²⁴ Can a man hide himself in secret places so that I cannot see him? declares the Lord. Do I not fill heaven and earth? declares the Lord. ²⁵ I have heard what the prophets have said who prophesy lies in my name, saying, 'I have dreamed, I have dreamed!' ²⁶ How long shall there be lies in the heart of the prophets who prophesy lies, and who prophesy the deceit of their own heart, ²⁷ who think to make my people forget my name by their dreams that they tell one another, even as their fathers forgot my name for Baal? ²⁸ Let the prophet who has a dream tell the dream, but let him who has my word speak my word faithfully. What has straw in common with wheat? declares the Lord. ²⁹ Is not my word like fire, declares the Lord, and like a hammer that breaks the rock in pieces? ³⁰ Therefore, behold, I am against the prophets, declares the Lord, who steal my words from one another. ³¹ Behold, I am against the prophets, declares the Lord, who use their tongues and declare, 'declares the Lord.' ³² Behold, I am against those who prophesy lying dreams, declares the Lord, and who tell them and lead my people astray by their lies and their recklessness, when I did not send them or charge them. So they do not profit this people at all, declares the Lord.

³³ "When one of this people, or a prophet or a priest asks you, 'What is the burden of the Lord?' you shall say to them, 'You are the burden,Septuagint, Vulgate; Hebrew What burden? and I will cast you off, declares the Lord.' ³⁴ And as for the prophet, priest, or one of the people who says, 'The burden of the Lord,' I will punish that man and his household. ³⁵ Thus shall you say, every one to his neighbor and every one to his brother, 'What has the Lord answered?' or 'What has the Lord spoken?' ³⁶ But 'the burden of the Lord' you shall mention no more, for the burden is every man's own word, and you pervert the words of the living God, the Lord of hosts, our God ³⁷ Thus you shall say to the prophet, 'What has the Lord answered you?' or 'What has the Lord spoken?' ³⁸ But if you say, 'The burden of the Lord,' thus says the Lord, 'Because you have said these words, "The burden of the Lord," when I sent to you, saying, "You shall not say, 'The burden of the Lord,'

The Message

Denunciation of the Lying Prophets

⁹ My head is reeling, my limbs are limp, I'm staggering like a drunk, seeing double from too much wine - And all because of God, because of his holy words. ¹⁰ Now for what God says regarding the lying prophets: "Can you believe it? A country teeming with adulterers! faithless, promiscuous idolater-adulterers! They're a curse on the land. The land's a wasteland. Their unfaithfulness is turning the country into a cesspool, ¹¹ Prophets and priests devoted to desecration. They have nothing to do with me as their God. My very own Temple, mind you - mud-spattered with their crimes." God's Decree. ¹² "But they won't get by with it. They'll find themselves on a slippery slope, Careening into the darkness, somersaulting into the pitch-black dark. I'll make them pay for their crimes. It will be the Year of Doom." God's Decree. ¹³ "Over in Samaria I saw prophets acting like silly fools - shocking! They preached using that no-god Baal for a text, messing with the minds of my people. ¹⁴ And the Jerusalem prophets are even worse - horrible! - sex-driven, living a lie, Subsidizing a culture of wickedness, and never giving it a second thought. They're as bad as those wretches in old Sodom, the degenerates of old Gomorrah. ¹⁵ So here's the Message to the prophets from God-of-the-Angel-Armies: "I'll cook them a supper of maggoty meat with after-dinner drinks of strychnine. The Jerusalem prophets are behind all this. They're the cause of the godlessness polluting this country." ¹⁶ A Message from God-of-the-Angel-Armies: "Don't listen to the sermons of the prophets. It's all hot air. Lies, lies, and more lies. They make it all up. Not a word they speak comes from me. ¹⁷ They preach their 'Everything Will Turn Out Fine' sermon to congregations with no taste for God, Their 'Nothing Bad Will Ever Happen to You' sermon to people who are set in their own ways. ¹⁸ Have any of these prophets bothered to meet with me, the true God? bothered to take in what I have to say? listened to and then lived out my Word? ¹⁹ Look out! God's hurricane will be let loose - my hurricane blast, Spinning the heads of the wicked like tops ²⁰ God's raging anger won't let up Until I've made a clean sweep, completing the job I began. When the job's done, you'll see that it's been well done. Quit the "God Told Me This" Kind of Talk ²¹ "I never sent these prophets, but they ran anyway. I never spoke to them, but they preached away ²² If they'd have bothered to sit down and meet with me, they'd have preached my Message to my people. They'd have gotten them back on the right track, gotten them out of their evil ruts. ²³ "Am I not a God near at hand" - God's Decree - "and not a God far off? ²⁴ Can anyone hide out in a corner where I can't see him?" God's Decree. "Am I not present everywhere, whether seen or unseen?" ²⁵ "I know what they're saying, all these prophets who preach lies using me as their text, saying 'I had this dream! I had this dream!' ²⁶ How long do I have to put up with this? Do these prophets give two cents about me as they preach their lies and spew out their grandiose delusions? ²⁷ They swap dreams with one another, feed on each other's delusive dreams, trying to distract my people from me just as their ancestors were distracted by the no-god Baal. ²⁸ "You prophets who do nothing but dream - go ahead and tell your silly dreams. But you prophets who have a message from me - tell it truly and faithfully. What does straw have in common with wheat? Nothing else is like God's Decree. ²⁹ Isn't my Message like fire?" God's Decree. "Isn't it like a sledgehammer busting a rock? ³⁰ "I've had it with the 'prophets' who get all their sermons secondhand from each other. ³¹ Yes, I've had it with them. They make up stuff and then pretend it's a real sermon. ³² "Oh yes, I've had it with the prophets who preach the lies they dream up, spreading them all over the country, ruining the lives of my people with their cheap and reckless lies. "I never sent these prophets, never authorized a single one of them. They do nothing for this people - nothing!" God's Decree.

³³ "And anyone, including prophets and priests, who asks, 'What's God got to say about all this, what's troubling him?' tell him, 'You, you're the trouble, and I'm getting rid of you.'" God's Decree. ³⁴ "And if anyone, including prophets and priests, goes around saying glibly 'God's Message! God's Message!' I'll punish him and his family. ³⁵ "Instead of claiming to know what God says, ask questions of one another, such as 'How do we understand God in this?' ³⁶ But don't go around pretending to know it all, saying 'God told me this . . . God told me that....'I don't want to hear it anymore. Only the person I authorize speaks for me. Otherwise, my Message gets twisted, the Message of the living God-of-the-Angel-Armies ³⁷ "You can ask the prophets, 'How did God answer you? What did he tell you?' ³⁸ But don't pretend that you know all the answers yourselves and talk like you know it all. I'm telling you: Quit the 'God told me this . . . God told me that...' kind of talk

New King James Version

Denunciation of the Lying Prophets

⁹ My 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 has overcome, Because of the Lord, And because of His holy words. ¹⁰ For the land is full of adulterers; For because of a curse the land mourns. The pleasant places of the wilderness are dried up. Their course of life 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 the Lord. ¹² "Therefore their way shall be to them Like slippery ways; In the darkness they shall be driven on And fall in them; For I will bring disaster on them, The year of their punishment," says the Lord. ¹³ "And I have seen folly in the prophets of Samaria: They prophesied by Baal And caused My people Israel to err. ¹⁴ Also I have seen a horrible thing in the prophets of Jerusalem: They commit adultery and walk in lies; They also strengthen the hands of evildoers, So that no one turns back from his wickedness. All of them are like Sodom to Me, And her inhabitants like Gomorrah ¹⁵ "Therefore thus says 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 Profaneness has gone out into all the land.' " ¹⁶ Thus says the Lord of hosts: "Do not listen to the words of the prophets who prophesy to you. They make you worthless; They speak a vision of their own heart, Not from the mouth of the Lord. ¹⁷ They continually say to those who despise Me, 'The Lord has said, "You shall have peace" '; And to everyone who walks according to the dictates of his own heart, they say, 'No evil shall come upon you.' " ¹⁸ For who has stood in the counsel of the Lord, And has perceived and heard His word? Who has marked His word and heard it? ¹⁹ Behold, a whirlwind of the Lord has gone forth in fury-- A violent whirlwind! It will fall violently on the head of the wicked ²⁰ The anger of the Lord will not turn back Until He has executed and performed the thoughts of His heart. In the latter days you will understand it perfectly. ²¹ "I have not sent these prophets, yet they ran. I have not spoken to them, yet they prophesied ²² But if they had stood in My counsel, And had caused My people to hear My words, Then they would have turned them from their evil way And from the evil of their doings. ²³ "Am I a God near at hand," says the Lord, "And not a God afar off? ²⁴ Can anyone hide himself in secret places, So I shall not see him?" says the Lord; "Do I not fill heaven and earth?" says the Lord. ²⁵ "I have heard what the prophets have said who prophesy lies in My name, saying, 'I have dreamed, I have dreamed!' ²⁶ How long will this be in the heart of the prophets who prophesy lies? Indeed they are prophets of the deceit of their own heart, ²⁷ who try to make My people forget My name by their dreams which everyone tells his neighbor, as their fathers forgot My name for 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 chaff to the wheat?" says the Lord. ²⁹ "Is not My word like a fire?" says the Lord, "And like a hammer that breaks the rock in pieces? ³⁰ "Therefore behold, I am against the prophets," says the Lord, "who steal My words every one from his neighbor. ³¹ Behold, I am against the prophets," says the Lord, "who use their tongues and say, 'He says.' ³² Behold, I am against those who prophesy false dreams," says the Lord, "and tell them, and cause My people to err by their lies and by their recklessness. Yet I did not send them or command them; therefore they shall not profit this people at all," says the Lord.

³³ "So when these people or the prophet or the priest ask you, saying, 'What is the oracle of the Lord?' you shall then say to them, 'What oracle?' I will even forsake you," says the Lord. ³⁴ And as for the prophet and the priest and the people who say, 'The oracle of the Lord!' I will even punish that man and his house. ³⁵ Thus every one of you shall say to his neighbor, and every one to his brother, 'What has the Lord answered?' and, 'What has the Lord spoken?' ³⁶ And the oracle of the Lord you shall mention no more. For every man's word will be his oracle, for you have perverted the words of the living God, the Lord of hosts, our God ³⁷ Thus you shall say to the prophet, 'What has the Lord answered you?' and, 'What has the Lord spoken?' ³⁸ But since you say, 'The oracle of the Lord!' therefore thus says the Lord: 'Because you say this word, "The oracle of the Lord!" and I have sent to you, saying, "Do not say, 'The oracle of the Lord!'

New Living Translation

Denunciation of the Lying Prophets

⁹ My heart is broken because of the false prophets, and my bones tremble. I stagger like a drunkard, like someone overcome by wine, because of the holy words the Lord has spoken against them. ¹⁰ For the land is full of adultery, and it lies under a curse. The land itself is in mourning- its wilderness pastures are dried up. For they all do evil and abuse what power they have. ¹¹ "Even the priests and prophets are ungodly, wicked men. I have seen their despicable acts right here in my own Temple," says the Lord . ¹² "Therefore, the paths they take will become slippery. They will be chased through the dark, and there they will fall. For I will bring disaster upon them at the time fixed for their punishment. I, the Lord, have spoken! ¹³ "I saw that the prophets of Samaria were terribly evil, for they prophesied in the name of Baal and led my people of Israel into sin. ¹⁴ But now I see that the prophets of Jerusalem are even worse! They commit adultery and love dishonesty. They encourage those who are doing evil so that no one turns away from their sins. These prophets are as wicked as the people of Sodom and Gomorrah once were." ¹⁵ Therefore, this is what the Lord of Heaven's Armies says concerning the prophets: "I will feed them with bitterness and give them poison to drink. For it is because of Jerusalem's prophets that wickedness has filled this land." ¹⁶ This is what the Lord of Heaven's Armies says to his people: "Do not listen to these prophets when they prophesy to you, filling you with futile hopes. They are making up everything they say. They do not speak for the Lord ! ¹⁷ They keep saying to those who despise my word, 'Don't worry! The Lord says you will have peace!' And to those who stubbornly follow their own desires, they say, 'No harm will come your way!' ¹⁸ "Have any of these prophets been in the Lord 's presence to hear what he is really saying? Has even one of them cared enough to listen? ¹⁹ Look! The Lord 's anger bursts out like a storm, a whirlwind that swirls down on the heads of the wicked. ²⁰ The anger of the Lord will not diminish until it has finished all he has planned. In the days to come you will understand all this very clearly. ²¹ "I have not sent these prophets, yet they run around claiming to speak for me. I have given them no message, yet they go on prophesying. ²² If they had stood before me and listened to me, they would have spoken my words, and they would have turned my people from their evil ways and deeds. ²³ Am I a God who is only close at hand?" says the Lord . "No, I am far away at the same time. ²⁴ Can anyone hide from me in a secret place? Am I not everywhere in all the heavens and earth?" says the Lord . ²⁵ "I have heard these prophets say, 'Listen to the dream I had from God last night.' And then they proceed to tell lies in my name. ²⁶ How long will this go on? If they are prophets, they are prophets of deceit, inventing everything they say. ²⁷ By telling these false dreams, they are trying to get my people to forget me, just as their ancestors did by worshiping the idols of Baal. ²⁸ "Let these false prophets tell their dreams, but let my true messengers faithfully proclaim my every word. There is a difference between straw and grain! ²⁹ Does not my word burn like fire?" says the Lord . "Is it not like a mighty hammer that smashes a rock to pieces? ³⁰ "Therefore," says the Lord, "I am against these prophets who steal messages from each other and claim they are from me. ³¹ I am against these smooth-tongued prophets who say, 'This prophecy is from the Lord !' ³² I am against these false prophets. Their imaginary dreams are flagrant lies that lead my people into sin. I did not send or appoint them, and they have no message at all for my people. I, the Lord, have spoken!

³³ "Suppose one of the people or one of the prophets or priests asks you, 'What prophecy has the Lord burdened you with now?' You must reply, 'You are the burden! The Lord says he will abandon you!' ³⁴ "If any prophet, priest, or anyone else says, 'I have a prophecy from the Lord,' I will punish that person along with his entire family. ³⁵ You should keep asking each other, 'What is the Lord 's answer?' or 'What is the Lord saying?' ³⁶ But stop using this phrase, 'prophecy from the Lord .' For people are using it to give authority to their own ideas, turning upside down the words of our God, the living God, the Lord of Heaven's Armies. ³⁷ "This is what you should say to the prophets: 'What is the Lord 's answer?' or 'What is the Lord saying?' ³⁸ But suppose they respond, 'This is a prophecy from the Lord !' Then you should say, 'This is what the Lord says: Because you have used this phrase, "prophecy from the Lord," even though I warned you not to use it,