Chapter 23

Wo to shepherds destroying, And scattering the flock of My pasture, An affirmation of Yehovah.

Therefore, thus said Yehovah, God of Israel, Against the shepherds who feed My people, Ye have scattered My flock, and drive them away, And have not inspected them, Lo, I am charging on you the evil of your doings, An affirmation of Yehovah.

And I do gather the remnant of My flock Out of all the lands whither I drove them, And have brought them back unto their fold, And they have been fruitful, and multiplied.

And I have raised for them shepherds, And they have fed them, And they fear no more, nor are affrighted, Nor are they lacking -- an affirmation of Yehovah.

Lo, days are coming -- an affirmation of Yehovah, And I have raised to David a righteous shoot, And a king hath reigned and acted wisely, And done judgment and righteousness in the earth.

In his days is Judah saved, and Israel dwelleth confidently, And this his name that Yehovah proclaimeth him, `Our Righteousness.`

Therefore, lo, days are coming, An affirmation of Yehovah, And they do not say any more, Yehovah liveth who brought up The sons of Israel out of the land of Egypt,

But -- Yehovah liveth, who brought up, And who brought in, the seed of the house of Israel, From the land of the north, And from all the lands whither I drove them, And they have dwelt on their own ground!

In reference to the prophets: Broken hath been my heart in my midst, Fluttered have all my bones, I have been as a man -- a drunkard, And as a man -- wine hath passed over him, Because of Yehovah, and of His holy words.

For of adulterers hath the land been full, For because of these hath the land mourned, Dried up hath been the pleasant places of the wilderness, And their course is evil, and their might -- not right.

For both prophet and priest have been profane, Yea, in My house I found their wickedness, An affirmation of Yehovah.

Therefore is their way to them as slippery places, Into thick darkness they are driven, And they have fallen in it, For I bring in against them evil, The year of their inspection, An affirmation of Yehovah.

And in prophets of Samaria I have seen folly, They have prophesied by Baal, And cause my people -- Israel -- to err.

And in prophets of Jerusalem I have seen a horrible thing, Committing adultery, and walking falsely, Yea, they strengthened the hands of evil doers, So that they have not turned back Each from his wickedness, They have been to me -- all of them -- as Sodom, And its inhabitants as Gomorrah.

Therefore, thus said Yehovah of Hosts, concerning the prophets: Lo, I am causing them to eat wormwood, And have caused them to drink water of gall, For, from prophets of Jerusalem Hath profanity gone forth to all the land.

Thus said Yehovah of Hosts: Ye do not hearken unto the words Of the prophets who are prophesying to you, They are making you vain things, A vision of their own heart they speak, Not from the mouth of Yehovah.

Saying diligently to those despising The word of Yehovah: Peace is for you, And to every one walking in the stubbornness of his heart they have said: Evil doth not come in unto you.

For who hath stood in the counsel of Yehovah, And seeth and heareth His word? Who hath regarded My word, and hearkeneth?

Lo, a whirlwind of Yehovah -- Fury hath gone out, even a piercing whirlwind, On the head of the wicked it stayeth.

The anger of Yehovah doth not turn back Till His doing, and till His establishing, The thoughts of His heart, In the latter end of the days ye attend to it With understanding.

I have not sent the prophets, and they have run, I have not spoken unto them, and they have prophesied.

But -- if they stood in My counsel, Then they cause My people to hear My words, And they turn them back from their evil way, And from the evil of their doings.

A God near am I -- an affirmation of Yehovah, And not a God afar off?

Is any one hidden in secret places, And I see him not? an affirmation of Yehovah, Do not I fill the heavens and the earth? An affirmation of Yehovah.

I have heard that which the prophets said, Who prophesy in My name falsehood, saying, `I have dreamed, I have dreamed.`

Till when is it in the heart of the prophets? The prophets of falsehood, Yea, prophets of the deceit of their heart,

Who are devising to cause My people To forget My name by their dreams, That they recount each to his neighbour, As their fathers forgot my name for Baal.

The prophet with whom is a dream, Let him recount the dream, And he with whom is My word, Let him truly speak My word. What -- to the straw with the corn? An affirmation of Yehovah.

Is it not thus? My word is as a fire, An affirmation of Yehovah. And as a hammer -- it breaketh in pieces a rock.

Therefore, lo, I am against the prophets, An affirmation of Yehovah, Stealing My words each from his neighbour.

Lo, I am against the prophets, An affirmation of Yehovah, Who are making smooth their tongue, And they affirm -- an affirmation.

Lo, I am against the prophets of false dreams, An affirmation of Yehovah, And they recount them, and cause my people to err, By their falsehoods, and by their instability, And I -- I have not sent them, Nor have I commanded them, And they are not at all profitable to this people, An affirmation of Yehovah.

And when this people, or the prophet, Or a priest, doth ask thee, saying, What is the burden of Yehovah? Then thou hast said unto them: Ye are the burden, and I have left you, An affirmation of Yehovah.

And the prophet, and the priest, and the people, That saith, The burden of Yehovah, I have seen after that man, and after his house.

Thus do ye say each unto his neighbour, And each unto his brother: What hath Yehovah answered? And what hath Yehovah spoken?

And the burden of Yehovah ye do not mention any more, For the burden to each is -- His word, And ye have overturned the words of the living God, Yehovah of Hosts, our God.

Thus dost thou say unto the prophet What hath Yehovah answered thee? And what hath Yehovah spoken?

And if the burden of Yehovah ye say, Therefore thus said Yehovah: Because of your saying this word, The burden of Yehovah, And I do send unto you, saying, Ye do not say, The burden of Yehovah.

Therefore, lo, I -- I have taken you utterly away, And I have sent you out, And the city that I gave to you, And to your fathers, from before My face,

And I have put on you reproach age-during, And shame age-during that is not forgotten!