1 ¶ Woe be unto the pastors that waste and scatter the sheep of my pasture! said the LORD.

Woe to the shepherds (the civil leaders) who destroy and scatter the sheep of My pasturing! says the Lord.

2 T herefore thus hath the LORD God of Israel said unto the pastors that feed my people: Ye have scattered my flock and driven them away and have not visited them; behold, I visit upon you the evil of your doings, said the LORD.

Therefore thus says the Lord, the God of Israel, concerning the shepherds who care for and feed My people: You have scattered My flock and driven them away and have not visited and attended to them; behold, I will visit and attend to you for the evil of your doings, says the Lord.

3 A nd I will gather the remnant of my sheep out of all the lands where I have driven them and will cause them to return to their folds; and they shall be fruitful and increase.

And I will gather the remnant of My flock out of all the countries to which I have driven them and will bring them again to their folds and pastures; and they will be fruitful and multiply.

4 A nd 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, said the LORD.

And I will set up shepherds over them who will feed them. And they will fear no more nor be dismayed, neither will any be missing or lost, says the Lord.

5 B ehold, 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 righteousness in the earth.

Behold, the days are coming, says the Lord, when I will raise up to David a righteous Branch (Sprout), and He will reign as King and do wisely and will execute justice and righteousness in the land.

6 I n his days Judah shall be saved, and Israel shall dwell safely: and this shall be his name by which they shall call him, THE LORD OUR RIGHTEOUSNESS.

In His days Judah shall be saved and Israel shall dwell safely: and this is His name by which He shall be called: The Lord Our Righteousness.

7 T herefore, behold, the days come, said the LORD, and they shall no longer say, The LORD lives, who brought up the sons of Israel out of the land of Egypt;

Therefore behold, the days are coming, says the Lord, when they shall no more say, As the Lord lives, Who brought up the children of Israel out of the land of Egypt,

8 b ut, The LORD lives, who caused the seed of the house of Israel to come up and out of the land of the north wind, and from all the lands where I had driven them, and they shall dwell in their own land.

But, As the Lord lives, Who brought up and led the offspring of the house of Israel from the north country and from all the countries to which I had driven them. And they shall dwell in their own land..

9 ¶ My heart is broken within me because of the prophets, all my bones shake; I was like a drunken man, and like a man whom wine has overcome, before the LORD, and before the words of his holiness.

Concerning the prophets: My heart is broken within me, all my bones shake; I am like a drunken man, a man whom wine has overcome, because of the Lord and because of His holy words.

10 F or the land is full of adulterers; for because of the oath the land is deserted; the booths of the wilderness are dried up, and their course was evil, and their force was not right.

For the land is full of adulterers (forsakers of God, Israel’s true Husband). Because of the curse the land mourns, the pastures of the wilderness are dried up. They rush into wickedness; and their course is evil, their might is not right.

11 F or both prophet and priest are feigned; even in my house I have found their wickedness, said the LORD.

For both prophet and priest are ungodly and profane; even in My house have I found their wickedness, says the Lord.

12 T herefore 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.

Therefore their way will be to them like slippery paths in the dark; they will be driven on and fall into them. For I will bring evil upon them in the year of their punishment, says the Lord.

13 A nd I have seen folly in the prophets of Samaria; they prophesied in Baal and caused my people Israel to err.

And I have seen folly in the prophets of Samaria: they prophesied by Baal and caused My people Israel to err and go astray.

14 I have also seen a horrible thing in the prophets of Jerusalem: they committed adultery and walked by lies; they strengthened also the hands of evildoers, that no none is converted from his malice; they are all of them unto me as Sodom and the inhabitants thereof as Gomorrah.

I have seen also in the prophets of Jerusalem a horrible thing: they commit adultery and walk in lies; they encourage and strengthen the hands of evildoers, so that none returns from his wickedness. They have all of them become to Me like Sodom, and her inhabitants like Gomorrah.

15 T herefore, thus hath the LORD of the hosts said against those prophets: Behold, I will cause them to eat wormwood and make them drink the waters of gall, for from the prophets of Jerusalem is hypocrisy gone forth upon all the land.

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 and ungodliness have gone forth into all the land.

16 T hus hath the LORD of the hosts said, 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.

Thus says the Lord of hosts: Do not listen to the words of the prophets who prophesy to you. They teach you vanity (emptiness, falsity, and futility) and fill you with vain hopes; they speak a vision of their own minds and not from the mouth of the Lord.

17 T hey say boldly unto those that stir me to anger, The LORD hath said, Ye shall have peace; and they say unto anyone that walks after the imagination of his own heart, No evil shall come upon you.

They are continually saying to those who despise Me and the word of the Lord, The Lord has said: You shall have peace; and they say to everyone who walks after the stubbornness of his own mind and heart, No evil shall come upon you.

18 F or who has stood in the secret of the LORD and has seen and heard his word? Who has payed attention to his word and heard it?

For who among them has stood in the council of the Lord, that he should perceive and hear His word? Who has marked His word and has heard it?

19 B ehold, that the whirlwind of the LORD shall go forth with fury, and the whirlwind which is ready shall fall grievously upon the head of the wicked.

Behold, the tempest of the Lord has gone forth in wrath, a whirling tempest; it shall whirl and burst upon the heads of the wicked.

20 T he anger of the LORD shall not return until he has executed and until he has performed the thoughts of his heart: in the last of the days ye shall understand it with understanding.

The anger of the Lord shall not turn back until He has executed and accomplished the thoughts and intents of His mind and heart. In the latter days you shall consider and understand it perfectly.

21 I did not send those prophets, yet they ran; I did not speak to them, yet they prophesied.

I did not send these prophets, yet they ran; I did not speak to them, yet they prophesied.

22 B ut if they had stood in my secret, they would also have caused my people to hear my words, and they would have caused them to return from their evil way and from the evil of their doings.

But if they had stood in My council, then they would have 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 A m I a God of the near only, said the LORD, and not a God of the far?

Am I a God at hand, says the Lord, and not a God afar off?

24 C an any hide himself in hiding places that I shall not see him? said the LORD. Do I not fill heaven and earth? said the LORD.

Can anyone hide himself in secret places so that I cannot see him? says the Lord. Do not I fill heaven and earth? says the Lord.

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

I have heard what the prophets have said who prophesy lies in My name, saying, I have dreamed, I have dreamed.

26 H ow long shall this be in the heart of the prophets that prophesy lies and that prophesy the deceit of their own heart?

How long yet shall it be in the minds of the prophets who prophesy falsehood, even the prophets of the deceit of their own hearts,

27 D o they not think to cause my people to forget my name by their dreams which each one tells his neighbour, so much that their fathers have forgotten my name for Baal?

Who think that they can cause My people to forget My name by their dreams which every man tells to his neighbor, just as their fathers forgot My name because of Baal?

28 T he prophet with whom the dream came, let him tell the dream; and he with whom my word came, let him speak my true word. What is the chaff to the wheat? said the LORD.

The prophet who has a dream, let him tell his dream; but he who has My word, let him speak My word faithfully. What has straw in common with wheat ? says the Lord.

29 I s not my word like as a fire? saith the LORD; and like a hammer that breaks the rock in pieces?

Is not My word like fire ? says the Lord, and like a hammer that breaks in pieces the rock ?

30 T herefore, behold, I am against the prophets, saith the LORD, that steal my words each one from his neighbour.

Therefore behold, I am against the prophets, says the Lord, who steal My words from one another.

31 B ehold, I am against the prophets, saith the LORD, that sweeten their tongues and say, He said.

Behold, I am against the prophets, says the Lord, who use their tongues and say, Thus says the Lord.

32 B ehold, I am against those that prophesy false dreams, saith the LORD, and did tell them, and caused my people to err by their lies, and by their flattery; yet I did not send them, nor command them; and they did not profit this people at all, said the LORD.

Behold, I am against those who prophesy lying dreams, says the Lord, and tell them and cause My people to err and go astray by their lies and by their vain boasting and recklessness—when I did not send them or command them; nor do they profit these people at all, says the Lord.

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

And when these people, or a prophet or a priest, ask you, What is the burden of the Lord ? then you shall say to them, What burden! And I will disburden Myself of you and I will cast you off, says the Lord.

34 A nd as for the prophet and the priest and the people, that shall say, The burden of the LORD, I will visit upon that man and upon his house.

And as for the prophet, the priest, or the people, whoever says, The burden of the Lord, I will even visit in wrath and punish that man and his house.

35 T hus shall ye say each one to his neighbour and each one to his brother, What has the LORD answered? and, What has the LORD spoken?

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 A nd never again shall it come to your memory to say, The burden of the LORD; for every man’s word shall be his burden; for ye have perverted the words of the living God, of the LORD of the hosts, our God.

But the burden of the Lord you must mention no more, for every man’s burden is his own response and word; for you pervert the words of the living God, the Lord of hosts, our God!

37 T hus shalt thou say to the prophet, What has the LORD answered thee? and, What has the LORD spoken?

Thus shall you say to the prophet: What has the Lord answered you? Or, What has the Lord spoken?

38 B ut if ye say, The burden of the LORD; therefore thus hath the LORD said: 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;

But if you say, The burden of the Lord, therefore thus says the Lord: Because you said these words, The burden of the Lord, when I sent to you, saying, You shall not say, The burden of the Lord,

39 t herefore, behold, I, even I, will utterly forget you, and I will uproot you from my presence and the city that I gave you and your fathers:

Therefore behold, I, even I, will assuredly take you up and cast you away from My presence, you and the city which I gave to you and to your fathers.

40 a nd I will place an everlasting reproach upon you, and eternal shame, which shall never be forgotten.

And I will bring an everlasting reproach upon you and a perpetual shame which will not be forgotten.