1WOE to the shepherds who destroy and scatter the sheep of my pasture! says the LORD.
2Therefore thus speaks the LORD God of Israel against the shepherds who feed my people: You have scattered my flock, and have caused them to go astray, and have not visited them; behold, I will punish you according to your evil doings, says the LORD.
3And I will gather the remnant of my flock out of all the countries where I have driven them, and I will bring them again to their folds; and they shall be fruitful and increase.
4And I will set shepherds over them who shall feed them; and they shall fear no more, nor be scattered nor shall they go astray, says the LORD. 5Behold, the days are coming, says the LORD, when I will raise up for David a righteous Heir, and he shall reign over the kingdom with understanding, and shall execute justice and righteousness in the land. 6In his days Judah shall be saved and Israel shall dwell securely; and this is the name whereby he shall be called, THE LORD OUR RIGHTEOUSNESS. 7Therefore, the days are coming, says the LORD, when it shall never be said again, The LORD lives, who brought up the children of Israel out of the land of Egypt; 8But, The LORD lives, who brought up and led the house of Israel out of the north country and from all the countries where they had been scattered; and they shall dwell in their own land. 9My heart is broken within me because of the prophets; all my bones shake; I am like a drunken man and like a man who is overcome by wine, because of the presence of the LORD and because of the words of his holiness. 10For the land is full of adulterers and robbers; because of these men the land mourns and the pastures of the shepherds in the wilderness are dried up, and their yield has been poor, and they did not flourish. 11For both prophets and priests have become pagans; yea, even in my house have I found their wickedness, says the LORD. 12Therefore their ways shall be to them as slippery ways in the darkness; they shall be driven on, and fall in them; for I will bring evil upon them, even the year of their punishment, says the LORD. 13And I have seen falsehood in the prophets of Samaria; they prophesied by Baal and caused my people Israel to err. 14I have seen also in the prophets of Jerusalem folly; they commit adultery and walk in lies; they strengthen also the hands of their friends, so that no one turns from his evil way; they are all of them to me like Sodom, and its inhabitants like Gomorrah. 15Therefore thus says the LORD of hosts concerning the prophets: Behold. I will feed them with wormwood, and make them drink bitter water; for from the prophets of Jerusalem paganism has gone forth throughout all the land. 16Thus says the LORD of hosts: Do not hearken to the words of the false prophets who prophesy to you and mislead you; they tell a vision of the imagination of their own hearts, and not from the mouth of the LORD. 17They say still to those who provoke me, The LORD has said, You shall have peace; and they say to every one who walks after the imagination of his own heart, No evil shall come upon you. 18For who has stood in the counsel of the LORD and has seen him and heard his word? or who has given ear to his word and heard him? 19Behold, the punishment of the LORD is gone forth in fury, and the punishment will kindle; it shall fall upon the head of the wicked. 20The wrathful indignation of the LORD shall not turn back until he has executed his devices, and till he has performed the thoughts of his mind; in the latter days you shall discern it perfectly. 21I have not sent these prophets, yet they have gone forth; I have not spoken to them, yet they prophesied. 22But 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 ways and from the evil of their doings. 23I am the God who is near, says the LORD God, and not a God afar off. 24If any man should hide himself in secret places, I will see him, says the LORD; behold, heaven and earth are filled with me, says the LORD of hosts. 25I have heard what the prophets have said, who prophesy lies in my name, saying, I have dreamed a dream. 26How long shall there be in the mouth of the false prophets, prophecies of lies? prophecies of the deceit of their own heart? 27Who think to cause my people to forget my name by their dreams which they tell every man to his neighbor, as their fathers forgot my name and served Baal. 28The prophet who sees a dream, let him tell a dream; but he who has my words, let him speak my words faithfully. Why do you mix chaff with the wheat? says the LORD. 29Behold, my words issue like a fire, says the LORD, and like a hammer which breaks the rock in pieces. 30Therefore, behold, I am against the prophets, says the LORD, who steal my words, every one from his neighbor. 31Behold, I am against the prophets, says the LORD, who pervert their tongues, and say, Thus says the LORD. 32Behold, I am against the prophets who see false dreams, says the LORD, and tell them, and lead my people astray by their lies and their wantonness; yet I did not command them nor send them; so they do not profit this people at all. 33And when this people, or a prophet or a priest, shall ask you, and say to you, What is the word of the LORD? you shall say to them, This is the word of the LORD: I will utterly uproot you, says the LORD. 34And as for the prophet or the priest or the people who shall speak the word of the LORD, I will punish that man and his house. 35Thus shall you say every one to his neighbor, and every one to his brother: What has the LORD answered? and, What has the LORD spoken? 36And the words of the LORD you shall mention no more; for every man's word shall be to him his prophecy, for you pervert the words of the living God, the LORD of hosts, our God. 37Thus shall you say to that person: What has the LORD answered you? and, What has the LORD spoken? 38But if you speak the word of the LORD, therefore, thus says the LORD: Because you have said this word, The words of the LORD, and I have sent you, saying, You shall not say, The words of the LORD; 39Therefore, behold, I will surely remove you, and I will cast you away, both you and the city that I gave to you and your fathers; 40And I will bring an everlasting reproach upon you, and a perpetual shame which shall not be forgotten. Holy Bible From The Ancient Eastern Texts: Aramaic Of The Peshitta by George M. Lamsa (1933) |