Jeremiah 23
The Return of the
Remnant |
1 |
Woe be unto the pastors that destroy and
scatter the sheep of my pasture! saith the LORD.
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2 |
Therefore thus saith the LORD God of Israel against the pastors that feed my
people; Ye have scattered my flock, and driven them away, and have
not visited them: behold, I will visit upon you the evil of your
doings, saith the LORD.
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3 |
And I will gather the remnant of my flock
out of all countries whither I have driven them, and will bring them
again to their folds; and they shall be fruitful and
increase.
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4 |
And I will set up shepherds over them
which shall feed them: and they shall fear no more, nor be dismayed,
neither shall they be lacking, saith the LORD.
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5 |
Behold, the days come, saith the LORD, that I will raise unto David a righteous Branch,
and a King shall reign and prosper, and shall execute judgment and
justice in the earth.
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6 |
In his days Judah shall be saved, and
Israel shall dwell safely: and this is his name whereby he
shall be called, THE LORD OUR RIGHTEOUSNESS. Jer. 33.14-16
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7 |
Therefore, behold, the days come, saith
the LORD, that they shall no more say, The
LORD liveth, which brought up the children of
Israel out of the land of Egypt;
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8 |
but, The LORD liveth, which brought up and which led the seed of the house of
Israel out of the north country, and from all countries whither I
had driven them; and they shall dwell in their own land.
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Denunciation of the
Lying Prophets |
9 |
Mine 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 hath overcome, because of the LORD, and because of the words of his
holiness.
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10 |
For the land is full of adulterers; for
because of swearing the land mourneth; the pleasant places of the
wilderness are dried up, and their course is evil, and their force is not right.
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11 |
For both prophet and priest are profane;
yea, in my house have I found their wickedness, saith the LORD.
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12 |
Wherefore their way shall be unto them as
slippery ways in the darkness: they shall be driven on, and
fall therein: for I will bring evil upon them, even the year
of their visitation, saith the LORD.
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13 |
And I have seen folly in the prophets of
Samaria; they prophesied in Ba'al, and caused my people Israel to
err.
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14 |
I have seen also in the prophets of
Jerusalem a horrible thing: they commit adultery, and walk in lies:
they strengthen also the hands of evildoers, that none doth return
from his wickedness: they are all of them unto me as Sodom, Gen.
18.20 and the inhabitants thereof as Gomorrah.
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15 |
Therefore thus saith 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 is profaneness gone forth into all
the land.
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16 |
Thus saith the LORD of hosts, Hearken not unto the words of the
prophets that prophesy unto you; they make you vain: they speak a
vision of their own heart, and not out of the mouth of the
LORD.
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17 |
They say still unto them that despise me,
The LORD hath said, Ye shall have peace; and
they say unto every one that walketh after the imagination of his
own heart, No evil shall come upon you.
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18 |
For who hath stood in the counsel of the
LORD, and hath perceived and heard his word?
who hath marked his word, and heard it?
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19 |
Behold, a whirlwind of the LORD is gone forth in fury, even a grievous whirlwind:
it shall fall grievously upon the head of the wicked.
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20 |
The anger of the LORD shall not return, until he have executed, and
till he have performed the thoughts of his heart: in the latter days
ye shall consider it perfectly.
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21 |
I have not sent these prophets, yet they
ran: I have not spoken to them, yet they prophesied.
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22 |
But if they had stood in my counsel, and
had caused my people to hear my words, then they should have turned
them from their evil way, and from the evil of their
doings.
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23 |
Am I a God at hand, saith the
LORD, and not a God afar off?
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24 |
Can any hide himself in secret places
that I shall not see him? saith the LORD. Do
not I fill heaven and earth? saith the LORD.
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25 |
I have heard what the prophets said, that
prophesy lies in my name, saying, I have dreamed, I have
dreamed.
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26 |
How long shall this be in the
heart of the prophets that prophesy lies? yea, they are prophets of the deceit of their own heart;
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27 |
which think to cause my people to forget
my name by their dreams, which they tell every man to his neighbor,
as their fathers have forgotten my name for Ba'al.
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28 |
The prophet that hath a dream, let him
tell a dream; and he that hath my word, let him speak my word
faithfully. What is the chaff to the wheat? saith the LORD.
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29 |
Is not my word like as a fire?
saith the LORD; and like a hammer that breaketh the rock in pieces?
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30 |
Therefore, behold, I am against
the prophets, saith the LORD, that steal my
words every one from his neighbor.
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31 |
Behold, I am against the prophets,
saith the LORD, that use their tongues, and
say, He saith.
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32 |
Behold, I am against them that
prophesy false dreams, saith the LORD, and do
tell them, and cause my people to err by their lies, and by their
lightness; yet I sent them not, nor commanded them: therefore they
shall not profit this people at all, saith the LORD.
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33 |
And when this people, or the prophet,
or a priest, shall ask thee, saying, What is the burden of
the LORD? thou shalt then say unto them, What
burden? I will even forsake you, saith the LORD.
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34 |
And as for the prophet, and the
priest, and the people, that shall say, The burden of the LORD, I will even punish that man and his
house.
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35 |
Thus shall ye say every one to his
neighbor, and every one to his brother, What hath the LORD answered? and, What hath the LORD spoken?
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36 |
And the burden of the LORD shall ye mention no more; for every man's word
shall be his burden: for ye have perverted the words of the living
God, of the LORD of hosts our God.
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37 |
Thus shalt thou say to the prophet, What
hath the LORD answered thee? and, What hath the
LORD spoken?
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38 |
But since ye say, The burden of the
LORD; therefore thus saith the LORD; Because ye say this word, The burden of the
LORD, and I have sent unto you, saying, Ye
shall not say, The burden of the LORD;
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39 |
therefore, behold, I, even I, will
utterly forget you, and I will forsake you, and the city that I gave
you and your fathers, and cast you out of my
presence:
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40 |
and I will bring an everlasting reproach
upon you, and a perpetual shame, which shall not be
forgotten.
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