1 “ Woe to the shepherds who are destroying and scattering the sheep of My pasture!” declares the Lord.

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

2 T herefore thus says the Lord God of Israel concerning the shepherds who are tending My people: “You have scattered My flock and driven them away, and have not attended to them; behold, I am about to attend to you for the evil of your deeds,” declares the Lord.

Therefore 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.

3 “ Then I Myself will gather the remnant of My flock out of all the countries where I have driven them and bring them back to their pasture, and they will be fruitful and multiply.

And 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.

4 I will also raise up shepherds over them and they will tend them; and they will not be afraid any longer, nor be terrified, nor will any be missing,” declares the Lord.

And 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.

5 “ Behold, the days are coming,” declares the Lord, “When I will raise up for David a righteous Branch; And He will reign as king and act wisely And do justice and righteousness in the land.

Behold, 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.

6 “ In 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.’

In 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.

7 “ Therefore behold, the days are coming,” declares the Lord, “when they will no longer say, ‘As the Lord lives, who brought up the sons of Israel from the land of Egypt,’

Therefore, 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;

8 b ut, ‘As the Lord lives, who brought up and led back the descendants of the household of Israel from the north land and from all the countries where I had driven them.’ Then they will live on their own soil.” False Prophets Denounced

but, 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.

9 A s for the prophets: My heart is broken within me, All my bones tremble; I have become like a drunken man, Even like a man overcome with wine, Because of the Lord And because of His holy words.

¶ 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.

10 F or the land is full of adulterers; For the land mourns because of the curse. The pastures of the wilderness have dried up. Their course also is evil And their might is not right.

For 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.

11 “ For both prophet and priest are polluted; Even in My house I have found their wickedness,” declares the Lord.

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

12 “ Therefore their way will be like slippery paths to them, They will be driven away into the gloom and fall down in it; For I will bring calamity upon them, The year of their punishment,” declares the Lord.

Therefore 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 “ Moreover, among the prophets of Samaria I saw an offensive thing: They prophesied by Baal and led My people Israel astray.

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

14 “ Also among the prophets of Jerusalem I have seen a horrible thing: The committing of adultery and walking in falsehood; And they strengthen the hands of evildoers, So that no one has turned back from his wickedness. All of them have become to Me like Sodom, And her inhabitants like Gomorrah.

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.

15 “ Therefore thus says the Lord of hosts concerning the prophets, ‘Behold, I am going to feed them wormwood And make them drink poisonous water, For from the prophets of Jerusalem Pollution has gone forth into all the land.’”

Therefore, 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.

16 T hus says the Lord of hosts, “ Do not listen to the words of the prophets who are prophesying to you. They are leading you into futility; They speak a vision of their own imagination, Not from the mouth of the Lord.

Thus 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.

17 “ They keep saying to those who despise Me, ‘The Lord has said, “ You will have peace”’; And as for everyone who walks in the stubbornness of his own heart, They say, ‘ Calamity will not come upon you.’

They 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.

18 “ But who has stood in the council of the Lord, That he should see and hear His word? Who has given heed to His word and listened?

For 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?

19 “ Behold, the storm of the Lord has gone forth in wrath, Even a whirling tempest; It will swirl down on the head of the wicked.

Behold, 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.

20 “ The anger of the Lord will not turn back Until He has performed and carried out the purposes of His heart; In the last days you will clearly understand it.

The 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.

21 “ I did not send these prophets, But they ran. I did not speak to them, But they prophesied.

I did not send those 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 announced My words to My people, And would have turned them back from their evil way And from the evil of their deeds.

But 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.

23 “ Am I a God who is near,” declares the Lord, “And not a God far off?

Am I a God of the near only, said the LORD, and not a God of the far?

24 “ Can a man hide himself in hiding places So I do not see him?” declares the Lord. “ Do I not fill the heavens and the earth?” declares the Lord.

Can 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.

25 “ I have heard what the prophets have said who prophesy falsely in My name, saying, ‘I had a dream, I had a dream!’

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

26 H ow long? Is there anything in the hearts of the prophets who prophesy falsehood, even these prophets of the deception of their own heart,

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

27 w ho intend to make My people forget My name by their dreams which they relate to one another, just as their fathers forgot My name because of Baal?

Do 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?

28 T he prophet who has a dream may relate his dream, but let him who has My word speak My word in truth. What does straw have in common with grain?” declares the Lord.

The 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.

29 “ Is not My word like fire?” declares the Lord, “and like a hammer which shatters a rock?

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

30 T herefore behold, I am against the prophets,” declares the Lord, “who steal My words from each other.

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

31 B ehold, I am against the prophets,” declares the Lord, “who use their tongues and declare, ‘ The Lord declares.’

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

32 B ehold, I am against those who have prophesied false dreams,” declares the Lord, “and related them and led My people astray by their falsehoods and reckless boasting; yet I did not send them or command them, nor do they furnish this people the slightest benefit,” declares the Lord.

Behold, 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.

33 “ Now when this people or the prophet or a priest asks you saying, ‘What is the oracle of the Lord ?’ then you shall say to them, ‘What oracle?’ The Lord declares, ‘I will abandon you.’

¶ 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.

34 T hen as for the prophet or the priest or the people who say, ‘The oracle of the Lord,’ I will bring punishment upon that man and his household.

And 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.

35 T hus will each of you say to his neighbor and to his brother, ‘ What has the Lord answered?’ or, ‘What has the Lord spoken?’

Thus 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?

36 F or you will no longer remember the oracle of the Lord, because every man’s own word will become the oracle, and you have perverted the words of the living God, the Lord of hosts, our God.

And 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.

37 T hus you will say to that prophet, ‘What has the Lord answered you?’ and, ‘What has the Lord spoken?’

Thus shalt thou say to the prophet, What has the LORD answered thee? and, What has the LORD spoken?

38 F or if you say, ‘The oracle of the Lord!’ surely thus says the Lord, ‘Because you said this word, “The oracle of the Lord!” I have also sent to you, saying, “You shall not say, ‘The oracle of the Lord!’”’

But 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;

39 T herefore behold, I will surely forget you and cast you away from My presence, along with the city which I gave you and your fathers.

therefore, 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:

40 I will put an everlasting reproach on you and an everlasting humiliation which will not be forgotten.”

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