Geneva Study Bible Woe be unto the pastors that destroy and scatter the sheep of my pasture! saith the LORD. Woe be to {a} the shepherds that destroy and scatter the {b} sheep of my pasture! saith the LORD.
(a) Meaning the prince's governors and false prophets as in Eze 34:2. (b) For which I have special care, and have prepared good pastures for them. 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. Therefore thus saith the LORD God of Israel against the shepherds that {c} 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.
(c) Whose charge is to feed the flock but they eat the fruit of it, Eze 34:3. 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. And I will gather the {d} remnant of my flock from all countries where I have driven them, and will bring them again to their folds; and they shall be fruitful and increase.
(d) Thus the prophets always used to mix the promises with the threatenings lest the godly should be too much beaten down and therefore he shows how God will gather his Church after this dispersion. 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. 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.
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. Behold, the days come, saith the LORD, that I will raise to David a righteous {e} Branch, and a King shall reign and prosper, and shall execute judgment and justice upon the earth.
(e) This prophecy is of the restitution of the Church in the time of Jesus Christ, who is the true branch, read Isa 11:1,45:8, Jer 35:15, Da 9:24. 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. 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.
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; Therefore, behold, the days come, saith the LORD, that they shall no more say, The {f} LORD liveth, who brought the children of Israel out of the land of Egypt;
(f) Read Jer 16:14. 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. 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.
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. My heart within me is broken because of the {g} 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.
(g) Meaning, the false prophets who deceive the people: in which appears his great love toward his nation, read Jer 14:13. 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. 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 {h} course is evil, and their force is not right.
(h) They run headlong to wickedness and seek vain help. For both prophet and priest are profane; yea, in my house have I found their wickedness, saith the LORD. For both prophet and priest are profane; even, in my {i} house have I found their wickedness, saith the LORD.
(i) My temple is full of their idolatry and superstitions. 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. 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.
And I have seen folly in the prophets of Samaria; they prophesied in Baal, and caused my people Israel to err. And I have seen folly in the prophets of Samaria; they prophesied in Baal, and caused my people Israel to err.
I have seen also in the prophets of Jerusalem an 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, and the inhabitants thereof as Gomorrah. I have seen also in the prophets of Jerusalem {k} an 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 {l} to me as Sodom, and the inhabitants of it as Gomorrah.
(k) They who should have profited by my rods against Samaria, are become worse than they. (l) Though to the world they seem holy fathers, yet I detest them as I did these abominable cities. 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. Therefore thus saith the LORD of hosts concerning the prophets; Behold, I will feed them with {m} wormwood, and make them drink the water of gall: for from the prophets of Jerusalem is profaneness gone forth into all the land.
(m) Read Jer 8:14. 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. Thus saith the LORD of hosts, Hearken not to the words of the prophets that prophesy to you: they make you vain: they speak a vision of their own {n} heart, and not from the mouth of the LORD.
(n) Which they have invented of their own brain. 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. They say still to them that despise me, The LORD hath said, Ye {o} shall have peace; and they say to every one that walketh after the imagination of his own heart, No evil shall come upon you.
(o) Read Jer 6:14,8:11. 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? For {p} who hath stood in the counsel of the LORD, and hath perceived and heard his word? who hath marked his word, and heard it?
(p) Thus they derided Jeremiah as though the word of God was not revealed to him, so also spoke Zedekiah to Micaiah, 1Ki 22:24. 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. 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.
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. The anger of the LORD shall not return, until he shall have executed, and till he shall have performed the thoughts of his heart: in the latter days ye {q} shall consider it perfectly.
(q) Both that God has sent me, and that my words will be true. I have not sent these prophets, yet they ran: I have not spoken to them, yet they prophesied. I have not sent these prophets, yet they ran: I have not spoken to them, yet they prophesied.
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. But if they had stood in my counsel, and {r} 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.
(r) He shows the difference between the true prophets and the false, between the hireling and the true minister. Am I a God at hand, saith the LORD, and not a God afar off? Am I a God at hand, saith the LORD, and not a God {s} afar off?
(s) Do I not see your falsehood, however you cloak it, and wherever you commit it? 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. 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.
I have heard what the prophets said, that prophesy lies in my name, saying, I have dreamed, I have dreamed. I have heard what the prophets said, that prophesy lies in my name, saying, I {t} have dreamed, I have dreamed.
(t) I have a prophecy revealed to me as in Nu 12:6. 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; 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;
Which think to cause my people to forget my name by their dreams which they tell every man to his neighbour, as their fathers have forgotten my name for Baal. Who think to cause {u} my people to forget my name by their dreams which they tell every man to his neighbour, as their fathers have forgotten my name for Baal.
(u) He shows that Satan raises up false prophets to bring the people from God. 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. The prophet that hath a dream, let him {x} tell a dream; and he that hath my word, let him speak my word faithfully. {y} What is the chaff to the wheat? saith the LORD.
(x) Let the false prophet declare that it is his own fantasy, and not slander my word as though it were a cloak to cover his lies. (y) Meaning, that it is not enough for God's ministers to abstain from lies and to speak the word of God but that there is judgment in alleging it, and that it may appear to be applied to the same purpose that it was spoken, Eze 3:27, 1Co 2:13,4:2, 2Ti 2:25. Is not my word like as a fire? saith the LORD; and like a hammer that breaketh the rock in pieces? Is not my word like as a fire? saith the LORD; and like a hammer that breaketh the rock in pieces?
Therefore, behold, I am against the prophets, saith the LORD, that steal my words every one from his neighbour. Therefore, behold, I am against the prophets, saith the LORD, that {z} steal my words every one from his neighbour.
(z) Who set forth in my Name that which I have not commanded. Behold, I am against the prophets, saith the LORD, that use their tongues, and say, He saith. Behold, I am against the prophets, saith the LORD, that use their tongues, and say, {a} He saith.
(a) That is, the Lord. 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. 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.
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. And when this people, or the prophet, or a priest, shall ask thee, saying, What is the {b} burden of the LORD? thou shalt then say to them, What burden? I will even forsake you, saith the LORD.
(b) The prophets called their threatenings God's burden, which the sinners were not able to sustain, therefore the wicked in deriding the word, would ask of the prophets, what was the burden as though they would say, You seek nothing else, but to lay burdens on our shoulders and thus they rejected the word of God as a grievous burden. 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. And as for the prophet, and the priest, and the people, that shall say, The {c} burden of the LORD, I will even punish that man and his house.
(c) Because this word was brought to contempt and derision, he will teach them another manner of speech, and will cause this word burden to cease and teach them to ask with reverence, What says the Lord? Thus shall ye say every one to his neighbour, and every one to his brother, What hath the LORD answered? and, What hath the LORD spoken? Thus shall ye say every one to his neighbour, and every one to his brother, What hath the LORD answered? and, What hath the LORD spoken?
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. And the burden of the LORD shall ye mention no more: for every man's {d} word shall be his burden; for ye have perverted the words of the living God, of the LORD of hosts our God.
(d) The thing which they mock and contemn will come on them. Thus shalt thou say to the prophet, What hath the LORD answered thee? and, What hath the LORD spoken? Thus shalt thou say to the prophet, What hath the LORD answered thee? and, What hath the LORD spoken?
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; 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;
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: 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:
And I will bring an everlasting reproach upon you, and a perpetual shame, which shall not be forgotten. And I will bring an everlasting reproach upon you, and a perpetual shame, which shall not be forgotten. The Geneva Bible Translation Notes [1599] Bible Hub |
    |