Jeremiah

To the Shepherds

“Woe to the shepherds who mislead and scatter the sheep of my pasture!”

This is the message of the Lord, God of Israel, to the shepherds in charge of my people: “You have scattered my sheep and driven them away instead of caring for them. Now I will deal with you because of your evil deeds.

I will gather the remnant of my sheep from every land to which I have driven them and bring them back to the grasslands. They will be fruitful and increase in number.

I will appoint shepherds who will take care of them. No longer will they fear or be terrified. No one will be lost.”

The Lord further says: “The day is coming when I will raise up a king who is David’s righteous successor. He will rule wisely and govern with justice and righteousness.

That will be a grand era when Judah will enjoy peace, and Israel will live safely. He will be called the Lord-our-justice!”

“The days are coming,” says the Lord: “when people shall no longer swear by the Lord as the living God who freed the people of Israel from the land of Egypt.

Rather, they will swear by the Lord as the living God who restored the descendants of Israel from the northern empire and from all the lands where he had driven them, to live again in their own land!”

To the Prophets

About the prophets: My heart is breaking inside me, and all my bones tremble. I feel like a drunken man, like a man overcome by wine because of the Lord and his holy words.

The land is filled with adulterers. Because of this, I cursed the country; it is in mourning, and the desert grasslands have withered. They follow an evil path and readily act unjustly.

Even the prophet and the priest are corrupt; I have discovered their wickedness in my house—word of the Lord.

That is why their path will become slippery in the dark, causing them to stumble and fall when I bring evil upon them in the year of their punishment.

I am well aware of how foolish the prophets of Samaria were; they prophesied in the name of Baal and led my people Israel astray.

But among the prophets of Jerusalem, I have also seen horrors, For they are adulterers and liars! They encourage the evildoers so that none of them turns away from wickedness. For me all of them are like Sodom; and his inhabitants like Gomorrah.

That is why the Lord, the God of Hosts, speaks against the prophets: “I will give them bitter food to eat and poisoned water to drink, because evil has spread throughout the land from the prophets of Jerusalem.

Thus, the Lord warns: “Do not listen to what the prophets say. They give you false hope and tell you their illusions, not what comes from the mouth of the Lord.

They dare say To those who despise me: ‘The Lord has spoken, be at peace’; and those who follow their stubborn hearts say: ‘No misfortune will come upon you!’

Who then has been present in the council of the Lord? Who has heard And understood his word? Who has paid attention to his word and can pass it on?

The storm of the Lord’s wrath breaks forth, and a whirling hurricane bursts upon the heads of the wicked!

The Lord’s anger will not stop until he fully completes his plans. The time will come when you will understand what it is.

I did not send these prophets, yet they rushed out. I did not speak, yet they prophesied!

Were they present in my council? Then let them speak my word to my people and make them turn away from their evil ways and wicked deeds.

Am I a God only when I am near —says the Lord— and not when I am far away?

If someone hides in secret places, do I not see him? Do I not fill the heavens and the earth?

I have heard the lies the prophets have proclaimed in my name. All said: ‘I had a dream! I had a dream!’

How long will there be prophets of lies who proclaim their own illusions?

They wish to make people forget my name by their dreams that they tell one another, just as their ancestors forgot my name when they followed Baal.

The prophet with a dream predicts a dream, but the one who receives my word proclaims it as truth. What do straw and wheat have in common?

Isn’t my word like fire, like the hammer that shatters a rock?

That is why I oppose the prophets who steal words that are supposedly mine from each other.

I am against the prophets who only need to move their tongues to utter oracles.

I am against those whose prophecies are based on lying dreams, who lead my people astray with their trickery and pretensions. I did not commission or charge them to transmit my orders, so they are of no benefit to my people —the word of the Lord.

And when these people, or a prophet or a priest, jestingly ask you, ‘What is the ‘Burden’ of the Lord? ‘You will answer, ‘You are the burden—and I am going to get rid of you.’ This is the Lord’s word.

And the prophets, priests, or common people who say, ‘Burden’ of the Lord, will be punished, and their household as well.

This is what you should say to one another, “What is the Lord’s answer?” or “What has the Lord said?”

But there must be no mention of “Burden” of the Lord for it shall be burdensome for the one who says it.

And if you want to know,

this is what the Lord says:

Since you use this expression despite my prohibition, I will cast you off and thrust you out of my sight, you, and the city I gave to you and your ancestors.

I will bring upon you everlasting shame and dishonor that will be yours forever.