1 “ It is bad for the shepherds who are destroying and dividing the sheep of My field!” says the Lord.

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

2 T he Lord God of Israel says this about the shepherds who are caring for My people, “You have made My flock go everywhere and have driven them away, and have not cared for them. See, I am about to punish you for your sinful things you have done,” 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 “ Then I Myself will gather those who are left of My flock out of all the countries where I have driven them, and will bring them back to their field. And they will have many children.

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 have shepherds over them who will care for them. And they will not be afraid any longer, or filled with fear, and none of them will be missing,” 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 “ See, the days are coming,” says the Lord, “when I will raise up for David a right and good Branch. He will rule as king and be wise and do what is right and fair and good in the land.

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 be safe. And this is the name He will be called by: ‘The Lord Who makes us right and good.’

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 S o see, the days are coming,” says the Lord, “when they will no longer say, ‘As the Lord lives, Who brought the sons of Israel up 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 they will say, ‘As the Lord lives, Who brought up and led the children of the people of Israel back from the north country and from all the countries where He had driven them.’ Then they will live in their own land.” False Preachers and Empty Words

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 A s for the men who speak for God, my heart is broken within me. All my bones shake. I have become like a drunk man, like a man who has had too much wine, 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 people who are not faithful. Because of the bad things that have come upon it, the land is filled with sorrow, and the fields of the desert have dried up. Their way is sinful, and they use their power in a wrong way.

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 the men of God and the religious leaders are sinful. I have found their sin even in My house,” 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 “ So their way will be a danger to them. They will be driven away into the darkness and fall down in it. For I will bring much trouble upon them in 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 “ In Samaria I have seen a very bad thing among the men of Samaria who tell what is going to happen in the future. They speak for the false god Baal, and have led My people into sin.

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 n Jerusalem I have seen a very sinful thing among the men of Jerusalem who tell what is going to happen in the future. They do sex sins and tell lies, and give help to those who do sinful things, so that no one turns from his sin. All of them have become like Sodom to Me. The people of Jerusalem have become 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 S o the Lord of All says about the men who tell what is going to happen in the future, “See, I will make them eat bitter food and drink water with poison. For from these men of Jerusalem sin 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 he Lord of All says, “Do not listen to the words of those who are telling you what will happen in the future. They are filling you with empty hopes. They tell of dreams from their own thoughts, 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 keep saying to those who hate Me, ‘The Lord has said, “You will have peace.”’ To every one who walks in the strong-will of his own heart, they say, ‘Trouble will not come to 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 B ut who among them has listened to the Lord, that he should see and hear His Word? Who has given thought to His Word and listened?

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 S ee, the strong wind storm of the Lord has gone out in anger. It will come down upon the head of the sinful.

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 done all that He has planned in His heart. In the last days you will understand.

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 these men who say they speak for God, yet they ran to tell their news. I did not speak to them, yet they spoke in My name.

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

22 B ut if they had listened to Me, then they would have made My words known to My people. And they would have turned them back from their sinful way and from the sinful things they did.”

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 Who is near,” says the Lord, “and not a God Who is far away?

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

24 C an a man hide himself in secret places so that I cannot 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 men say who speak false words in My name. They say, ‘I had a dream, I had a dream!’

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 there be lies in the hearts of those who speak false words in My name, who speak the lies 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 T hey plan to make My people forget My name by their dreams which they tell one another, just as their fathers forgot My name because of 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 one who has a dream may tell about his dream, but let him who has My Word speak My Word in truth. How can straw be compared with grain?” 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 fire,” says the Lord, “and like iron that breaks a rock in pieces?

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

30 S o I am against those who tell what is going to happen in the future,” says the Lord, “who steal My words from each other.

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

31 S ee, I am against these men,” says the Lord, “who use their tongues and say, ‘This is what the Lord says.’

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

32 I am against those who have told false dreams,” says the Lord, “and have led My people the wrong way by their lies and foolish words of pride. I did not send them or tell them what to say, so they do not help these 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 “ When these people, or the one who speaks in My name, or a religious leader asks you, ‘What heavy load has the Lord placed on us?’ then you say to them, ‘You are the heavy load. And I will throw you off, 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 A s for the man who speaks in My name, or the religious leader, or anyone of the people, who say, ‘The heavy load of the Lord,’ I will punish that man and those of 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 E ach of you say to his neighbor and to his brother, ‘What has the Lord answered?’ or, ‘What has the Lord said?’

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 B ut you must not say, ‘The heavy load of the Lord,’ any more. For every man’s own word will be the weight upon himself. And you have made sinful the words of the living God, the Lord of All, 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 his is what you should say to the man who speaks in My name: ‘What answer has the Lord given you?’ and, ‘What has the Lord said?’

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

38 B ut if you say, ‘The heavy load of the Lord,’ then the Lord says, ‘You have said, “The heavy load of the Lord,” when I told you not to say it.’

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 S o I will pick you up and throw you away from Me, together with the city which I gave to 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 I will put you to shame forever. You will always be ashamed, and it will not be forgotten.”

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