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<!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD XHTML 1.0 Transitional//EN" "http://www.w3.org/TR/xhtml1/DTD/xhtml1-transitional.dtd"><html xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml"><head><meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=utf-8" /><meta name="viewport" content="width=device-width, initial-scale=1" /><title>Jeremiah 23 NIV</title><link rel="stylesheet" href="/chapnew2.css" type="text/css" media="Screen" /><link rel="stylesheet" href="../spec.css" type="text/css" media="Screen" /><link rel="stylesheet" href="/print.css" type="text/css" media="Print" /></head><body><div id="fx"><table width="100%" border="0" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0" id="fx2"><tr><td><iframe width="100%" height="30" scrolling="no" src="../cmenus/jeremiah/23.htm" align="left" frameborder="0"></iframe></td></tr></table></div><div id="blnk"></div><div align="center"><table width="100%" border="0" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0" class="maintable"><tr><td><div id="fx5"><table width="100%" border="0" 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href="../jeremiah/22.htm" title="Jeremiah 22">◄</a> Jeremiah 23 <a href="../jeremiah/24.htm" title="Jeremiah 24">►</a></div></td></tr></table></div><div align="center" class="maintable2"><table border="0" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0" align="center"><tr><td><div id="leftbox"><div class="padleft"><div class="vheading"><table width="100%"><tr><td width="99%" valign="top">New International Version</td><td width="1%" valign="top"><a href="/p/niv/esv/jeremiah/23.shtml" style="color:#001320" title="Parallel Chapters"> Par ▾ </a></tr></table></div><div class="chap"><p class="sectionhead">The Righteous Branch</p><p class="reg"><span class="reftext"><a href="http://biblehub.com/jeremiah/23-1.htm"><b>1</b></a></span>“Woe to the shepherds who are destroying and scattering the sheep of my pasture!” declares the <span class="name">Lord</span>. <span class="reftext"><a href="http://biblehub.com/jeremiah/23-2.htm"><b>2</b></a></span>Therefore this is what the <span class="name">Lord</span>, the God of Israel, says to the shepherds who tend my people: “Because you have scattered my flock and driven them away and have not bestowed care on them, I will bestow punishment on you for the evil you have done,” declares the <span class="name">Lord</span>. <span class="reftext"><a href="http://biblehub.com/jeremiah/23-3.htm"><b>3</b></a></span>“I myself will gather the remnant of my flock out of all the countries where I have driven them and will bring them back to their pasture, where they will be fruitful and increase in number. <span class="reftext"><a href="http://biblehub.com/jeremiah/23-4.htm"><b>4</b></a></span>I will place shepherds over them who will tend them, and they will no longer be afraid or terrified, nor will any be missing,” declares the <span class="name">Lord</span>.</p> <div class="stanza"><p class="line1"><span class="reftext"><a href="http://biblehub.com/jeremiah/23-5.htm"><b>5</b></a></span>“The days are coming,” declares the <span class="name">Lord</span>,</p><p class="line2">“when I will raise up for David <span class="nivfootnote"><sup><a href="#footnotes" title="Or up from David's line">a</a></sup></span> a righteous Branch,</p><p class="line1">a King who will reign wisely</p><p class="line2">and do what is just and right in the land.</p> <p class="line1"><span class="reftext"><a href="http://biblehub.com/jeremiah/23-6.htm"><b>6</b></a></span>In his days Judah will be saved</p><p class="line2">and Israel will live in safety.</p><p class="line1">This is the name by which he will be called:</p><p class="line2">The <span class="name">Lord</span> Our Righteous Savior.</p></div> <p class="pcontinued"><span class="reftext"><a href="http://biblehub.com/jeremiah/23-7.htm"><b>7</b></a></span>“So then, the days are coming,” declares the <span class="name">Lord</span>, “when people will no longer say, ‘As surely as the <span class="name">Lord</span> lives, who brought the Israelites up out of Egypt,’ <span class="reftext"><a href="http://biblehub.com/jeremiah/23-8.htm"><b>8</b></a></span>but they will say, ‘As surely as the <span class="name">Lord</span> lives, who brought the descendants of Israel up out of the land of the north and out of all the countries where he had banished them.’ Then they will live in their own land.”</p> <p class="sectionhead">Lying Prophets</p><p class="reg"><span class="reftext"><a href="http://biblehub.com/jeremiah/23-9.htm"><b>9</b></a></span>Concerning the prophets:</p><div class="stanza"><p class="line1">My heart is broken within me;</p><p class="line2">all my bones tremble.</p><p class="line1">I am like a drunken man,</p><p class="line2">like a strong man overcome by wine,</p><p class="line1">because of the <span class="name">Lord</span></p><p class="line2">and his holy words.</p> <p class="line1"><span class="reftext"><a href="http://biblehub.com/jeremiah/23-10.htm"><b>10</b></a></span>The land is full of adulterers;</p><p class="line2">because of the curse <span class="nivfootnote"><sup><a href="#footnotes" title="Or because of these things">b</a></sup></span> the land lies parched</p><p class="line2">and the pastures in the wilderness are withered.</p><p class="line1">The prophets follow an evil course</p><p class="line2">and use their power unjustly.</p></div> <div class="stanza"><p class="line1"><span class="reftext"><a href="http://biblehub.com/jeremiah/23-11.htm"><b>11</b></a></span>“Both prophet and priest are godless;</p><p class="line2">even in my temple I find their wickedness,”</p><p class="attribution">declares the <span class="name">Lord</span>.</p> <p class="line1"><span class="reftext"><a href="http://biblehub.com/jeremiah/23-12.htm"><b>12</b></a></span>“Therefore their path will become slippery;</p><p class="line2">they will be banished to darkness</p><p class="line2">and there they will fall.</p><p class="line1">I will bring disaster on them</p><p class="line2">in the year they are punished,”</p><p class="attribution">declares the <span class="name">Lord</span>.</p></div> <div class="stanza"><p class="line1"><span class="reftext"><a href="http://biblehub.com/jeremiah/23-13.htm"><b>13</b></a></span>“Among the prophets of Samaria</p><p class="line2">I saw this repulsive thing:</p><p class="line1">They prophesied by Baal</p><p class="line2">and led my people Israel astray.</p> <p class="line1"><span class="reftext"><a href="http://biblehub.com/jeremiah/23-14.htm"><b>14</b></a></span>And among the prophets of Jerusalem</p><p class="line2">I have seen something horrible:</p><p class="line2">They commit adultery and live a lie.</p><p class="line1">They strengthen the hands of evildoers,</p><p class="line2">so that not one of them turns from their wickedness.</p><p class="line1">They are all like Sodom to me;</p><p class="line2">the people of Jerusalem are like Gomorrah.”</p></div> <p class="reg"><span class="reftext"><a href="http://biblehub.com/jeremiah/23-15.htm"><b>15</b></a></span>Therefore this is what the <span class="name">Lord</span> Almighty says concerning the prophets:</p><div class="stanza"><p class="line1">“I will make them eat bitter food</p><p class="line2">and drink poisoned water,</p><p class="line1">because from the prophets of Jerusalem</p><p class="line2">ungodliness has spread throughout the land.”</p></div> <p class="reg"><span class="reftext"><a href="http://biblehub.com/jeremiah/23-16.htm"><b>16</b></a></span>This is what the <span class="name">Lord</span> Almighty says:</p><div class="stanza"><p class="line1">“Do not listen to what the prophets are prophesying to you;</p><p class="line2">they fill you with false hopes.</p><p class="line1">They speak visions from their own minds,</p><p class="line2">not from the mouth of the <span class="name">Lord</span>.</p> <p class="line1"><span class="reftext"><a href="http://biblehub.com/jeremiah/23-17.htm"><b>17</b></a></span>They keep saying to those who despise me,</p><p class="line2">‘The <span class="name">Lord</span> says: You will have peace.’</p><p class="line1">And to all who follow the stubbornness of their hearts</p><p class="line2">they say, ‘No harm will come to you.’</p> <p class="line1"><span class="reftext"><a href="http://biblehub.com/jeremiah/23-18.htm"><b>18</b></a></span>But which of them has stood in the council of the <span class="name">Lord</span></p><p class="line2">to see or to hear his word?</p><p class="line2">Who has listened and heard his word?</p> <p class="line1"><span class="reftext"><a href="http://biblehub.com/jeremiah/23-19.htm"><b>19</b></a></span>See, the storm of the <span class="name">Lord</span></p><p class="line2">will burst out in wrath,</p><p class="line1">a whirlwind swirling down</p><p class="line2">on the heads of the wicked.</p> <p class="line1"><span class="reftext"><a href="http://biblehub.com/jeremiah/23-20.htm"><b>20</b></a></span>The anger of the <span class="name">Lord</span> will not turn back</p><p class="line2">until he fully accomplishes</p><p class="line2">the purposes of his heart.</p><p class="line1">In days to come</p><p class="line2">you will understand it clearly.</p> <p class="line1"><span class="reftext"><a href="http://biblehub.com/jeremiah/23-21.htm"><b>21</b></a></span>I did not send these prophets,</p><p class="line2">yet they have run with their message;</p><p class="line1">I did not speak to them,</p><p class="line2">yet they have prophesied.</p> <p class="line1"><span class="reftext"><a href="http://biblehub.com/jeremiah/23-22.htm"><b>22</b></a></span>But if they had stood in my council,</p><p class="line2">they would have proclaimed my words to my people</p><p class="line1">and would have turned them from their evil ways</p><p class="line2">and from their evil deeds.</p></div> <div class="stanza"><p class="line1"><span class="reftext"><a href="http://biblehub.com/jeremiah/23-23.htm"><b>23</b></a></span>“Am I only a God nearby,”</p><p class="attribution">declares the <span class="name">Lord</span>,</p><p class="line2">“and not a God far away?</p> <p class="line1"><span class="reftext"><a href="http://biblehub.com/jeremiah/23-24.htm"><b>24</b></a></span>Who can hide in secret places</p><p class="line2">so that I cannot see them?”</p><p class="attribution">declares the <span class="name">Lord</span>.</p><p class="line2">“Do not I fill heaven and earth?”</p><p class="attribution">declares the <span class="name">Lord</span>.</p></div> <p class="reg"><span class="reftext"><a href="http://biblehub.com/jeremiah/23-25.htm"><b>25</b></a></span>“I have heard what the prophets say who prophesy lies in my name. They say, ‘I had a dream! I had a dream!’ <span class="reftext"><a href="http://biblehub.com/jeremiah/23-26.htm"><b>26</b></a></span>How long will this continue in the hearts of these lying prophets, who prophesy the delusions of their own minds? <span class="reftext"><a href="http://biblehub.com/jeremiah/23-27.htm"><b>27</b></a></span>They think the dreams they tell one another will make my people forget my name, just as their ancestors forgot my name through Baal worship. <span class="reftext"><a href="http://biblehub.com/jeremiah/23-28.htm"><b>28</b></a></span>Let the prophet who has a dream recount the dream, but let the one who has my word speak it faithfully. For what has straw to do with grain?” declares the <span class="name">Lord</span>. <span class="reftext"><a href="http://biblehub.com/jeremiah/23-29.htm"><b>29</b></a></span>“Is not my word like fire,” declares the <span class="name">Lord</span>, “and like a hammer that breaks a rock in pieces?</p> <p class="reg"><span class="reftext"><a href="http://biblehub.com/jeremiah/23-30.htm"><b>30</b></a></span>“Therefore,” declares the <span class="name">Lord</span>, “I am against the prophets who steal from one another words supposedly from me. <span class="reftext"><a href="http://biblehub.com/jeremiah/23-31.htm"><b>31</b></a></span>Yes,” declares the <span class="name">Lord</span>, “I am against the prophets who wag their own tongues and yet declare, ‘The <span class="name">Lord</span> declares.’ <span class="reftext"><a href="http://biblehub.com/jeremiah/23-32.htm"><b>32</b></a></span>Indeed, I am against those who prophesy false dreams,” declares the <span class="name">Lord</span>. “They tell them and lead my people astray with their reckless lies, yet I did not send or appoint them. They do not benefit these people in the least,” declares the <span class="name">Lord</span>.</p> <p class="sectionhead">False Prophecy</p><p class="reg"><span class="reftext"><a href="http://biblehub.com/jeremiah/23-33.htm"><b>33</b></a></span>“When these people, or a prophet or a priest, ask you, ‘What is the message from the <span class="name">Lord</span>?’ say to them, ‘What message? I will forsake you, declares the <span class="name">Lord</span>.’ <span class="reftext"><a href="http://biblehub.com/jeremiah/23-34.htm"><b>34</b></a></span>If a prophet or a priest or anyone else claims, ‘This is a message from the <span class="name">Lord</span>,’ I will punish them and their household. <span class="reftext"><a href="http://biblehub.com/jeremiah/23-35.htm"><b>35</b></a></span>This is what each of you keeps saying to your friends and other Israelites: ‘What is the <span class="name">Lord</span>’s answer?’ or ‘What has the <span class="name">Lord</span> spoken?’ <span class="reftext"><a href="http://biblehub.com/jeremiah/23-36.htm"><b>36</b></a></span>But you must not mention ‘a message from the <span class="name">Lord</span>’ again, because each one’s word becomes their own message. So you distort the words of the living God, the <span class="name">Lord</span> Almighty, our God. <span class="reftext"><a href="http://biblehub.com/jeremiah/23-37.htm"><b>37</b></a></span>This is what you keep saying to a prophet: ‘What is the <span class="name">Lord</span>’s answer to you?’ or ‘What has the <span class="name">Lord</span> spoken?’ <span class="reftext"><a href="http://biblehub.com/jeremiah/23-38.htm"><b>38</b></a></span>Although you claim, ‘This is a message from the <span class="name">Lord</span>,’ this is what the <span class="name">Lord</span> says: You used the words, ‘This is a message from the <span class="name">Lord</span>,’ even though I told you that you must not claim, ‘This is a message from the <span class="name">Lord</span>.’ <span class="reftext"><a href="http://biblehub.com/jeremiah/23-39.htm"><b>39</b></a></span>Therefore, I will surely forget you and cast you out of my presence along with the city I gave to you and your ancestors. <span class="reftext"><a href="http://biblehub.com/jeremiah/23-40.htm"><b>40</b></a></span>I will bring on you everlasting disgrace—everlasting shame that will not be forgotten.”</p><hr size="1" color="DDEEFF"><span class="mainfootnotes"><A name="footnotes"></a><span class="mainfootnoteshdg">Footnotes:</span><br><span class="nivfootnotesbot">a</span> <span class="fnverse">5</span> <span class="footnotebot">Or <i>up from David’s line</i></span><br><span class="nivfootnotesbot">b</span> <span class="fnverse">10</span> <span class="footnotebot">Or <i>because of these things</i></span><br><hr size="1" color="DDEEFF"></div></div><div id="botbox"><div class="padbot"><div align="center"><p class="ntext"><a href="http://niv.scripturetext.com/version.htm">New International Version</a> (NIV)</p><p class="ntext2">Holy Bible, New International Version&reg, NIV® Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by <a href="http://biblica.com">Biblica, Inc.</a>® Used by permission. 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