| New Living Translation | Berean Study Bible |
| 1“What sorrow awaits the leaders of my people—the shepherds of my sheep—for they have destroyed and scattered the very ones they were expected to care for,” says the LORD. | 1“Woe to the shepherds who destroy and scatter the sheep of My pasture!” declares the LORD. |
| 2Therefore, this is what the LORD, the God of Israel, says to these shepherds: “Instead of caring for my flock and leading them to safety, you have deserted them and driven them to destruction. Now I will pour out judgment on you for the evil you have done to them. | 2Therefore 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. |
| 3But I will gather together the remnant of my flock from the countries where I have driven them. I will bring them back to their own sheepfold, and they will be fruitful and increase in number. | 3Then 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. |
| 4Then I will appoint responsible shepherds who will care for them, and they will never be afraid again. Not a single one will be lost or missing. I, the LORD, have spoken! | 4I 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. |
| 5“For the time is coming,” says the LORD, “when I will raise up a righteous descendant from King David’s line. He will be a King who rules with wisdom. He will do what is just and right throughout the land. | 5Behold, the days are coming, declares the LORD, when I will raise up for David a righteous Branch, and He will reign wisely as King and will administer justice and righteousness in the land. |
| 6And this will be his name: ‘The LORD Is Our Righteousness.’ In that day Judah will be saved, and Israel will live in safety. | 6In His days Judah will be saved, and Israel will dwell securely. And this is His name by which He will be called: The LORD Our Righteousness. |
| 7“In that day,” says the LORD, “when people are taking an oath, they will no longer say, ‘As surely as the LORD lives, who rescued the people of Israel from the land of Egypt.’ | 7So 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.’ |
| 8Instead, they will say, ‘As surely as the LORD lives, who brought the people of Israel back to their own land from the land of the north and from all the countries to which he had exiled them.’ Then they will live in their own land.” Judgment on False Prophets | 8Instead 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.” |
| 9My 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. | 9As for the prophets: 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. |
| 10For 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. | 10For the land is full of adulterers—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“Even the priests and prophets are ungodly, wicked men. I have seen their despicable acts right here in my own Temple,” says the LORD. | 11“For both prophet and priest are ungodly; even in My house I have found their wickedness,” declares 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! | 12“Therefore their path will become slick; 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“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. | 13“Among the prophets of Samaria I saw an offensive thing: They prophesied by Baal and led My people Israel astray. |
| 14But 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.” | 14And among 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 his back on wickedness. They are all like Sodom to Me; the people of Jerusalem are like Gomorrah.” |
| 15Therefore, 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.” | 15Therefore this is what the LORD of Hosts says concerning the prophets: “I will feed them wormwood and give them poisoned water to drink, for from the prophets of Jerusalem ungodliness has spread throughout the land.” |
| 16This 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! | 16This is what the LORD of Hosts says: “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. |
| 17They 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!’ | 17They keep saying to those who despise Me, ‘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“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? | 18But which of them has stood in the council of the LORD to see and hear His word? Who has given heed to His word and obeyed it? |
| 19Look! The LORD’s anger bursts out like a storm, a whirlwind that swirls down on the heads of the wicked. | 19Behold, the storm of the LORD has gone out with fury, a whirlwind swirling down upon the heads of the wicked. |
| 20The 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. | 20The anger of the LORD will not turn back until He has fully accomplished the purposes of His heart. In the days to come you will understand this 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. | 21I did not send these prophets, yet they have run with their message; I did not speak to them, yet they have prophesied. |
| 22If 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. | 22But if they had stood in My council, they would have proclaimed My words to My people and turned them back from their evil ways and deeds.” |
| 23Am I a God who is only close at hand?” says the LORD. “No, I am far away at the same time. | 23“Am I only a God nearby,” declares the LORD, “and not a God far away?” |
| 24Can anyone hide from me in a secret place? Am I not everywhere in all the heavens and earth?” says the LORD. | 24“Can a man hide in secret places where I cannot see him?” declares the LORD. “Do I not fill the heavens and the earth?” declares 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. | 25“I have heard the sayings of the prophets who prophesy lies in My name: ‘I had a dream! I had a dream!’ |
| 26How long will this go on? If they are prophets, they are prophets of deceit, inventing everything they say. | 26How long will this continue in the hearts of these prophets who prophesy falsehood, these prophets of the delusion of their own minds? |
| 27By 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. | 27They 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. |
| 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! | 28Let 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. |
| 29Does not my word burn like fire?” says the LORD. “Is it not like a mighty hammer that smashes a rock to pieces? | 29“Is not My word like fire,” declares the LORD, “and like a hammer that smashes a rock?” |
| 30“Therefore,” says the LORD, “I am against these prophets who steal messages from each other and claim they are from me. | 30“Therefore behold,” declares the LORD, “I am against the prophets who steal from one another words they attribute to Me.” |
| 31I am against these smooth-tongued prophets who say, ‘This prophecy is from the LORD!’ | 31“Yes,” declares the LORD, “I am against the prophets who wag their own tongues and proclaim, ‘The LORD declares it.’ ” |
| 32I 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! False Prophecies and False Prophets | 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. |
| 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!’ | 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.’ |
| 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. | 34As for the prophet or priest or anyone who claims, ‘This is the burden of the LORD,’ I will punish that man and his household. |
| 35You should keep asking each other, ‘What is the LORD’s answer?’ or ‘What is the LORD saying?’ | 35This 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?’ |
| 36But 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. | 36But 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. |
| 37“This is what you should say to the prophets: ‘What is the LORD’s answer?’ or ‘What is the LORD saying?’ | 37Thus you are to say to the prophet: ‘What has the LORD answered you?’ and ‘What has the LORD spoken?’ |
| 38But 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, | 38But 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, |
| 39I will forget you completely. I will expel you from my presence, along with this city that I gave to you and your ancestors. | 39therefore 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. |
| 40And I will make you an object of ridicule, and your name will be infamous throughout the ages.’” | 40And I will bring upon you everlasting shame and perpetual humiliation that will never be forgotten.” |
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