1 “ Woe to the shepherds who destroy and scatter the sheep of My pasture!” says 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 says the Lord God of Israel against the shepherds who feed My people: “You have scattered My flock, driven them away, and not attended to them. Behold, I will attend to you for the evil of your doings,” says 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 “ But I will gather the remnant of My flock out of all countries where I have driven them, and bring them back 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 I will set up shepherds over them who will feed them; and they shall fear no more, nor be dismayed, nor shall they be lacking,” says 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 “ Behold, the days are coming,” says the Lord, “That I will raise to David a Branch of righteousness; A King shall reign and prosper, And 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 will be saved, And Israel will dwell safely; Now 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 is His name by which He shall be called: The Lord Our Righteousness.

7 “ Therefore, behold, the days are coming,” says the Lord, “that they shall no longer say, ‘As the Lord lives who brought up the children of Israel from 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, ‘As the Lord lives who brought up and led the descendants of the house of Israel from the north country and from all the countries where I had driven them.’ And they shall dwell in their own land.” False Prophets and Empty Oracles

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 M y 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.

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 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.

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

For both prophet and priest are ungodly and profane; even in My house have I 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.

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 “ And I have seen folly in the prophets of Samaria: They prophesied by 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 A lso 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.

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 “ 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.’”

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 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.

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 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.’”

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 counsel of the Lord, And has perceived and heard His word? Who has marked 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, a whirlwind of the Lord has gone forth in fury— A violent whirlwind! It will fall violently on 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 will not turn back Until He has executed and performed the thoughts of His heart. In the latter days you will understand it perfectly.

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 have not sent these prophets, yet they ran. I have not spoken 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 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.

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 “ Am I a God near at hand,” says the Lord, “And not a God afar off?

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

24 C an 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.

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 the prophets have said who 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 will this be in the heart of the prophets who prophesy lies? Indeed they are prophets of 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 w ho try to make My people forget My name by their dreams which everyone tells his neighbor, as their fathers forgot 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 “ 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.

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 “ Is not My word like a fire?” says 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 “ Therefore behold, I am against the prophets,” says the Lord, “who steal My words every one from his neighbor.

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,” says the Lord, “who use their tongues and say, ‘He says.’

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 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.

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 “ 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.

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 “ 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.

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 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?’

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 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.

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 you shall say to the prophet, ‘What has the Lord answered you?’ 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 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!’”

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 forsake you, and the city that I gave you and your fathers, and will cast you out of My presence.

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 bring an everlasting reproach upon you, and a perpetual shame, which shall not be forgotten.’”

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