God will punish the evil leaders

23 Yahweh declares, “Terrible things will happen to the leaders of my people, who were supposed to guide and care for my people like shepherds guide and care for their sheep. Terrible things will happen to the leaders of my people because they have scattered and harmed my people instead of caring for them. 2 So this is what I, Yahweh, the God whom the Israelite people worship, say to those leaders: ‘Instead of taking care of my people as a shepherd does for his sheep, you have scattered them and driven them away, and you have not paid attention to them. Know that I will make sure to punish you for the evil things that you have done.’ ” This is what Yahweh declares. 3 “Then I myself will gather the rest of my people from all the countries where I have driven them. I will bring them back to their own land, where they will have many children and increase in number. 4 I will appoint other leaders for my people who will take care of them. My people will never again be afraid or dismayed, and none of them will go missing.” This is what Yahweh declares.

5 Yahweh also declares,

“Listen! A time is coming when I will appoint from David’s family line a righteous descendant.

He will rule as king and will act wisely.

He will do what is just and right throughout the land.

6 At the time he begins to reign, Yahweh will rescue the people of Judah,

and the people of Israel will live securely.

People will call him by this name:

‘Yahweh makes us right with him.’ ”

7 “So listen! A time is coming,” Yahweh declares, “when people who are making a solemn promise will no longer say, ‘I promise, as surely as Yahweh lives, the one who brought the Israelite people up from the land of Egypt.’ 8 Instead, they will say, ‘I promise, as surely as Yahweh lives, the one who brought us Israelite people back to our own land when he led us from the land to the northeast and from all the other countries where he had exiled us.’ Then they will live in their own land again.”

9 This is what I, Jeremiah, say about the prophets:

My mind is greatly distressed.

My entire body is shaking.

I am so overcome by strong feelings that I am less capable of doing things,

like a man who has had too much wine.

I feel this way because of Yahweh,

and because of his holy words.

10 The land is full of people who commit adultery.

Because Yahweh has placed a curse on the land, the land dries up

and the pastures in the wilderness have dried up.

The people do evil things,

and those who have powerful positions use them to do things that are not right.

11 Yahweh declares, “Even the prophets and the priests have turned away from me.

I have found them doing evil things even in my temple.

12 So I will make the events of their life be as though they were walking on slippery paths in the dark.

I will ensure that they experience hardships so that it will be as though I am pushing them down and they are falling,

when I cause disastrous things to happen to them

at the time when I punish them.” This is what I Yahweh declare.

13 “I saw that the prophets in Samaria were doing something that was wrong:

They were prophesying, saying that Baal gave them the messages they were proclaiming

and they were deceiving my people, the Israelites.

14 And now I have seen the prophets in Jerusalem doing something horrible:

They commit adultery

and habitually tell lies.

They have encouraged people who do evil

so that no one stops doing evil things.

All of them have become as wicked as the people of Sodom,

and the people of Jerusalem have become as wicked as the people of Gomorrah.”

15 So this is what Yahweh, the commander of the heavenly armies, says about those prophets:

“Know that I will cause them to suffer so that it will be as if they will eat bitter things

and drink poisoned water,

because on account of the lies being prophesied by the prophets of Jerusalem,

wicked things are done throughout the whole land.”

16 This is what Yahweh, the commander of the heavenly armies, says:

“Do not pay any attention to what those prophets say to you,

because they are only deceiving you.

They tell you about things that they imagined in their own minds.

Yahweh did not give them those messages.

17 They keep saying to people who despise me,

‘Yahweh says that things will go well for you.’

They tell everyone who stubbornly does whatever he wants to do,

‘Nothing bad will happen to you.’

18 But none of these prophets has ever been in a council meeting where Yahweh gave his private counsel

or seen and heard what Yahweh said.

None of them has paid attention to what Yahweh said and truly listened.

19 Look! Yahweh has sent out a furious storm.

It whirls down

on the heads of wicked people.

20 Yahweh will not stop being angry

until he has completely accomplished everything that he has planned.

In the future,

you will clearly understand this.

21 “I did not send these prophets,

yet they rushed to tell people their messages.

I did not speak to them,

yet they kept on prophesying.

22 If they had sought my counsel,

then they would have proclaimed my words to my people,

and they would have caused my people to stop doing evil things.”

23 Yahweh also declares, “I am not a God who is only nearby. I am also a God who is far away.

24 No one can hide in a secret place where I cannot see him.” Yahweh declares, “I am present everywhere, in heaven and on the earth.” This is what Yahweh declares.

25 “I have heard what those prophets have said, the ones who claim to speak for me but prophesy lies. They say, ‘I had a dream that God gave me! I had a dream that God gave me!!’ 26 These prophets will not stop prophesying false things that come from their own deceitful minds. 27 They plan to make my people forget about me by telling their dreams to one another, just as their ancestors forgot about me when they started to worship Baal.

28 Allow any prophet who has a dream to tell his dream. However, those who have messages that truly come from me must speak my messages faithfully. As straw and grain are certainly very different, so messages from false prophets are certainly very different from messages from true prophets.” It is I, Yahweh, who declare this. 29 “My message has great power. It is as though my messages burn like a fire; they strike people’s inner beings like someone strikes a rock with a hammer and smashes it into pieces.” I Yahweh declare this.

30 “So, I oppose all those prophets who steal messages from each other and then claim those messages came from me,” I Yahweh declare this. 31 “I oppose those prophets who steal messages from each other and then use their tongues to say, ‘Yahweh declares this,’ ” This is what I Yahweh declare. 32 “I am against the ones who prophesy lying dreams. Those people tell their lying dreams to my people and their lies and careless behavior cause my people to stop obeying me. I did not command them to speak those things or send them to my people and as a result they certainly do not help my people.” This is what I, Yahweh declare.

33 Yahweh said to me, Jeremiah, “When any of these people or a prophet or a priest asks you, ‘What message has Yahweh given you?’ you must reply to them, ‘What burden? Yahweh declares that he will forsake you!’ 34 And if any prophet or priest or Israelite person says, ‘I have a message from Yahweh,’ I will punish that person and his family. 35 What you should ask each other is, ‘What is Yahweh’s answer?’ or ‘What has Yahweh said?’ 36 But stop saying ‘I have a message from Yahweh,’ because when each person claims his own words are a message from Yahweh, he distorts the message of the living God, Yahweh, the commander of the heavenly armies, our God. 37 This is what you should ask each prophet: ‘What has Yahweh answered you?’ or ‘What has Yahweh said?’ 38 But if he says, ‘I have a message from Yahweh,’ then I Yahweh say this: ‘Because you have kept saying, “I have a message from Yahweh,” even though I told you, “You must not say, ‘I have a message from Yahweh.’ ” 39 So I Yahweh, will certainly forget about you and forsake you and this city that I gave to you and to your ancestors. I will expel you from my presence. 40 I will cause people to make fun of you forever. People will never forget that I caused you to be ashamed.’ ” ’ ”