Jeremiah 23

NEW JERUSALEM	CATHOLIC PUBLIC DOMAIN
1 'Disaster for the shepherds who lose and scatter the sheep of my pasture, Yahweh declares.	1 “Woe to the shepherds who scatter and tear apart the sheep of my pasture, says the Lord.
2 This, therefore, is what Yahweh, God of Israel, says about the shepherds who shepherd my people,"You have scattered my flock, you have driven them away and have not taken care of them. Right, I shal takecare of you for your misdeeds, Yahweh declares!	2 Because of this, thus says the Lord, the God of Israel, to the shepherds who pasture my people: You have scattered my flock, and you have driven them away, and you have not visited them. Behold, I will visit upon you because of your evil pursuits, says the Lord.
3 But the remnant of my flock I myself shal gather from all the countries where I have driven them, andbring them back to their folds; they will be fruitful and increase in numbers.	3 And I will gather together the remnant of my flock from the entire earth, from the places to which I had cast them out. And I will return them to their own fields. And they will increase and be multiplied.
4 For them I shall raise up shepherds to shepherd them and pasture them. No fear, no terror for themany more; not one shal be lost, Yahweh declares!	4 And I will raise up shepherds over them, and they will pasture them. They will no longer dread, and they will no longer fear. And no one among their number will be seeking more, says the Lord.
5 Look, the days are coming, Yahweh declares, when I shal raise an upright Branch for David; he willreign as king and be wise, doing what is just and upright in the country.	5 Behold, the days are approaching, says the Lord, when I will raise up to David a righteous branch. And a king will reign, and he will be wise. And he will exercise judgment and justice upon the earth.
6 In his days Judah wil triumph and Israel live in safety. And this is the name he wil be called, 'Yahweh-is-our-Saving-Justice.' "	6 In those days, Judah will be saved, and Israel will live in confidence. And this is the name that they will call him: ‘The Lord, our Just One.’
7 'So, look, the days are coming, Yahweh declares, when people wil no longer say, "As Yahweh liveswho brought the Israelites out of Egypt,"	7 Because of this, behold, the days are approaching, says the Lord, when they will no longer say, ‘As the Lord lives, who led the sons of Israel away from the land of Egypt,’
8 but, "As Yahweh lives who led back and brought home the offspring of the House of Israel from theland of the north and all the countries to which he had driven them, to live on their own soil." '	8 but instead, ‘As the Lord lives, who led away and brought back the offspring of the house of Israel from the land of the north and from the entire earth,’ from the places to which I had cast them out. And they will live in their own land.”
9 On the prophets. My heart is broken within me, I tremble in al my bones; I am like a drunken man, likea man overcome with wine, because of Yahweh and his holy words:	9 To the prophets: “My heart is crushed within me. All my bones are trembling. I have become like an inebriated man, and like a man maddened by wine, before the face of the Lord, and before the face of his holy words.
10 'For the country is ful of adulterers; yes, because of a curse, the country is in mourning and thepasturage in the desert has dried up; they are prompt to do wrong, make no effort to do right.	10 For the earth is full of adulterers! And the earth has mourned before the face of evil talk. The plains of the desert have dried up, and their course has become hazardous, and their firmness has become uneven.”
11 Yes, even prophet and priest are godless, I have detected their wickedness in my own House,Yahweh declares.	11 “For both the prophet and the priest have become polluted, and I have found their wickedness within my own house, says the Lord.
12 Because of this, their way wil prove treacherous going for them; in the darkness where they aredriven, there they wil fall. For I shal bring disaster on them, when the year for punishing them comes, Yahwehdeclares.	12 For this reason, their way will be like a slippery path in the dark. For they will be impelled forward, and they will fall in it. For I will bring evils over them, in the year of their visitation, says the Lord.
13 'In the prophets of Samaria I have seen insanity: they prophesied in the name of Baal and led mypeople Israel astray.	13 And I have seen the foolishness of the prophets of Samaria. They have prophesied in Baal, and they have deceived my people Israel.
14 But in the prophets of Jerusalem I have seen something horrible: adultery, persistent lying, suchabetting of the wicked that no one renounces his wickedness. To me they are al like Sodom and its inhabitantsare like Gomorrah.	14 And in the prophets of Jerusalem, I have seen the likeness of adulterers and the path of falsehood. And they have strengthened the hands of the wicked, so that each one would not convert from his malice. They have all become to me like Sodom, and its inhabitants have become like Gomorrah.”
15 So this is what Yahweh Sabaoth says about the prophets, "Now I shal give them wormwood to eatand make them drink poisoned water, since from the prophets of Jerusalem godlessness has spread throughoutthe land."	15 Because of this, thus says the Lord of hosts to the prophets: “Behold, I will feed them absinthe, and I will give them gall to drink. For from the prophets of Jerusalem corruption has gone forth over the entire earth.”
16 'Yahweh Sabaoth says this, "Do not listen to what those prophets prophesy to you; they are deludingyou, they retail visions of their own, and not what comes from Yahweh's mouth.	16 Thus says the Lord of hosts: “Do not choose to listen to the words of the prophets who prophesy to you and deceive you. They speak a vision from their own heart, and not from the mouth of the Lord.
17 To those who despise me, they keep saying: Yahweh has spoken: you wil have peace! and to al whofol ow their own stubborn inclinations: No disaster wil touch you."	17 To those who blaspheme me, they say: ‘The Lord has said: You shall have peace.’ And to every one who walks in the depravity of his own heart, they have said: ‘No evil will overwhelm you.’ ”
18 But who has been present in Yahweh's council and seen, and heard his word? Who has paidattention to his word and listened to it?	18 For who has been present in the counsel of the Lord, and who has seen and heard his word? Who has considered his word and heard it?
19 Look, Yahweh's hurricane, his wrath, bursts out, a fearsome hurricane, to burst on the heads of thewicked;	19 Behold, the whirlwind of the Lord’s indignation will go forth, and a tempest will break out; it will overwhelm the head of the impious.
20 Yahweh's anger wil not withdraw until he has performed, has carried out, what he has in mind. In thefinal days, you wil understand this clearly,	20 The fury of the Lord will not return until it succeeds, and until it completes the plan of his heart. In the last days, you will understand this counsel.
21 'I did not send these prophets, yet they ran! I did not speak to them, yet they prophesied!	21 “I did not send these prophets, yet they hurry forward. I was not speaking to them, yet they were prophesying.
22 Had they been present in my council, they could have proclaimed my words to my people and turnedthem from their evil way and from the wickedness of their deeds!	22 If they had stood in my counsel, and if I had made my words known to my people, certainly I would have turned them away from their evil ways and from their most wicked plans.
23 'Am I a God when near, Yahweh demands, and not a God when far away?	23 Do you not realize that I am a God close by, says the Lord, and not a God far away?
24 Can anyone hide somewhere secret without my seeing him? Yahweh demands. Do I not fil heavenand earth? Yahweh demands.	24 If a man is hidden in concealed places, do I not see him, says the Lord? Do I not fill up heaven and earth, says the Lord?
25 'I have heard what the prophets say who make their lying prophecies in my name. "I have had adream," they say, "I have had a dream!"	25 I have heard what the prophets have said, prophesying falsehoods in my name, and also saying: ‘I have dreamed! I have dreamed!’
26 How long are there to be those among the prophets who prophesy lies and are in fact prophets oftheir own delusions?	26 How long will this be in the heart of the prophets who predict what is false, and who prophesy deceptions from their own heart?
27 They are doing their best, by means of the dreams that they keep tel ing each other, to make mypeople forget my name, just as their ancestors forgot my name in favour of Baal.	27 They want to cause my people to forget my name, by means of their dreams, which each of them describes to his neighbor, just as their fathers forgot my name for the sake of Baal.
28 Let the prophet who has had a dream tel it for a dream! And let him who receives a word from me,deliver my word accurately! 'What have straw and wheat in common? Yahweh demands.	28 The prophet who has had a dream, let him describe the dream. And he who receives my word, let him speak my word in truth. For what has the chaff to do with the wheat, says the Lord?
29 Is my word not like fire, Yahweh demands, is it not like a hammer shattering a rock?	29 Are not my words like a fire, says the Lord, and like a hammer crushing rock?
30 'So, then, I have a quarrel with the prophets, Yahweh declares, that steal my words from one another.	30 Therefore, behold: I am against the prophets, says the Lord, who steal my words, each one from his neighbor.
31 I have a quarrel with the prophets, Yahweh declares, who wag their tongues to utter prophecies.	31 Behold, I am against the prophets, says the Lord, who take up their tongues and say: ‘The Lord says it.’
32 I have a quarrel with the prophets who make prophecies out of lying dreams, Yahweh declares, whorecount them, and lead my people astray by their lies and their bragging. I certainly never sent them orcommissioned them, and they serve no good purpose for this people, Yahweh declares.	32 Behold, I am against the prophets, who dream what is false, says the Lord; who explain and so seduce my people with their falsehoods and with their miracles, though I did not send them, nor did I command them. They have offer nothing beneficial to this people, says the Lord.
33 'And when this people, or a prophet, or a priest, asks you, "What is Yahweh's burden?" you mustanswer, "You are the burden, and I shal get rid of you, Yahweh declares!"	33 Therefore, if this people, or a prophet, or a priest questions you, saying, ‘What is the burden of the Lord?’ you shall say to them, ‘You are the burden. And certainly I will cast you away, says the Lord.’
34 'As for the prophet, the priest, or anyone else, who says, "Yahweh's burden", I shall punish that man,and his household too.	34 And as for the prophet, and the priest, and the people who say, ‘The burden of the Lord!’ I will visit upon that man and upon his house.
35 This is what you must say to one another, among yourselves, "What answer has Yahweh given?" or"What has Yahweh said?"	35 And then you will speak in this way, each one to his neighbor and to his brother: ‘What has the Lord answered? And what has the Lord said?’
36 But stop using the expression "Yahweh's burden", for what each man says will be his ownresponsibility. And you twist the words of the living God, of Yahweh Sabaoth, our God.	36 And the burden of the Lord will be no longer be called to mind. For each one’s own word will be a burden. For you have perverted the words of the living God, of the Lord of hosts, our God.
37 This is the way to speak to a prophet, "What answer has Yahweh given?" or "What has Yahwehsaid?"	37 And then you will speak in this way to the prophet: ‘What has the Lord answered you? And what has the Lord spoken?’
38 But if you say, "Yahweh's burden", then Yahweh says this, "Since you use the expression 'Yahweh'sburden', when I have warned you to stop saying, 'Yahweh's burden',	38 But if you say, ‘The burden of the Lord!’ then because of this, thus says the Lord: Since you have spoken this word, ‘The burden of the Lord!’ though I sent to you telling you not to say: ‘The burden of the Lord,’
39 believe me, I shal pick you up and fling you from my presence, you and the city I gave to you and toyour ancestors.	39 because of this, behold, I will take you away, like a burden, and I will forsake you, as well as the city that I gave to you and to your fathers, before my face.
40 I shal bring down everlasting shame on you, everlasting and unforgettable disgrace." '	40 And I will give you over to an everlasting reproach and an eternal disgrace, which shall never be wiped away into oblivion.”