| New King James Version | Christian Standard Bible |
| 1“Woe to the shepherds who destroy and scatter the sheep of My pasture!” says the LORD. | 1"Woe to the shepherds who destroy and scatter the sheep of my pasture!" This is the LORD's declaration. |
| 2Therefore thus says the LORD God of Israel against the shepherds who feed My people: “You have scattered My flock, driven them away, and not attended to them. Behold, I will attend to you for the evil of your doings,” says the LORD. | 2"Therefore, this is what the LORD, the God of Israel, says about the shepherds who tend my people: You have scattered my flock, banished them, and have not attended to them. I am about to attend to you because of your evil acts"--this is the LORD's declaration. |
| 3“But I will gather the remnant of My flock out of all countries where I have driven them, and bring them back to their folds; and they shall be fruitful and increase. | 3"I will gather the remnant of my flock from all the lands where I have banished them, and I will return them to their grazing land. They will become fruitful and numerous. |
| 4I will set up shepherds over them who will feed them; and they shall fear no more, nor be dismayed, nor shall they be lacking,” says the LORD. | 4I will raise up shepherds over them who will tend them. They will no longer be afraid or discouraged, nor will any be missing." This is the LORD's declaration. |
| 5“Behold, the days are coming,” says the LORD, “That I will raise to David a Branch of righteousness; A King shall reign and prosper, And execute judgment and righteousness in the earth. | 5"Look, the days are coming"--this is the LORD's declaration--"when I will raise up a Righteous Branch for David. He will reign wisely as king and administer justice and righteousness in the land. |
| 6In His days Judah will be saved, And Israel will dwell safely; Now this is His name by which He will be called: THE LORD OUR RIGHTEOUSNESS. | 6In his days Judah will be saved, and Israel will dwell securely. This is the name he will be called: The LORD Is Our Righteousness. |
| 7“Therefore, behold, the days are coming,” says the LORD, “that they shall no longer say, ‘As the LORD lives who brought up the children of Israel from the land of Egypt,’ | 7"Look, the days are coming"--the LORD's declaration--"when it will no longer be said, 'As the LORD lives who brought the Israelites from the land of Egypt,' |
| 8but, ‘As the LORD lives who brought up and led the descendants of the house of Israel from the north country and from all the countries where I had driven them.’ And they shall dwell in their own land.” | 8but, 'As the LORD lives, who brought and led the descendants of the house of Israel from the land of the north and from all the other countries where I had banished them.' They will dwell once more in their own land." |
| 9My 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 has overcome, Because of the LORD, And because of His holy words. | 9Concerning the prophets: My heart is broken within me, and all my bones tremble. I have become like a drunkard, like a man overcome by wine, because of the LORD, because of his holy words. |
| 10For the land is full of adulterers; For because of a curse the land mourns. The pleasant places of the wilderness are dried up. Their course of life is evil, And their might is not right. | 10For the land is full of adulterers; the land mourns because of the curse, and the grazing lands in the wilderness have dried up. Their way of life has become evil, and their power is not rightly used |
| 11“For both prophet and priest are profane; Yes, in My house I have found their wickedness,” says the LORD. | 11because both prophet and priest are ungodly, even in my house I have found their evil. This is the LORD's declaration. |
| 12“Therefore their way shall be to them Like slippery ways; In the darkness they shall be driven on And fall in them; For I will bring disaster on them, The year of their punishment,” says the LORD. | 12Therefore, their way will seem like slippery paths in the gloom. They will be driven away and fall down there, for I will bring disaster on them, the year of their punishment. This is the LORD's declaration. |
| 13“And I have seen folly in the prophets of Samaria: They prophesied by Baal And caused My people Israel to err. | 13Among the prophets of Samaria I saw something disgusting: They prophesied by Baal and led my people Israel astray. |
| 14Also I have seen a horrible thing in the prophets of Jerusalem: They commit adultery and walk in lies; They also strengthen the hands of evildoers, So that no one turns back from his wickedness. All of them are like Sodom to Me, And her inhabitants like Gomorrah. | 14Among the prophets of Jerusalem also I saw a horrible thing: They commit adultery and walk in lies. They strengthen the hands of evildoers, and none turns his back on evil. They are all like Sodom to me; Jerusalem's residents are like Gomorrah. |
| 15“Therefore thus says 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 Profaneness has gone out into all the land.’ ” | 15Therefore, this is what the LORD of Armies says concerning the prophets: I am about to feed them wormwood and give them poisoned water to drink, for from the prophets of Jerusalem ungodliness has spread throughout the land. |
| 16Thus says the LORD of hosts: “Do not listen to the words of the prophets who prophesy to you. They make you worthless; They speak a vision of their own heart, Not from the mouth of the LORD. | 16This is what the LORD of Armies says: "Do not listen to the words of the prophets who prophesy to you. They are deluding you. They speak visions from their own minds, not from the LORD's mouth. |
| 17They continually say to those who despise Me, ‘The LORD has said, “You shall have peace” ’; And to everyone who walks according to the dictates of his own heart, they say, ‘No evil shall come upon you.’ ” | 17They keep on saying to those who despise me, 'The LORD has spoken: You will have peace.' They have said to everyone who follows the stubbornness of his heart, 'No harm will come to you.'" |
| 18For who has stood in the counsel of the LORD, And has perceived and heard His word? Who has marked His word and heard it? | 18For who has stood in the council of the LORD to see and hear his word? Who has paid attention to his word and obeyed? |
| 19Behold, a whirlwind of the LORD has gone forth in fury— A violent whirlwind! It will fall violently on the head of the wicked. | 19Look, a storm from the LORD! Wrath has gone out, a whirling storm. It will whirl about the heads of the wicked. |
| 20The anger of the LORD will not turn back Until He has executed and performed the thoughts of His heart. In the latter days you will understand it perfectly. | 20The LORD's anger will not turn away until he has completely fulfilled the purposes of his heart. In time to come you will understand it clearly. |
| 21“I have not sent these prophets, yet they ran. I have not spoken to them, yet they prophesied. | 21I did not send out these prophets, yet they ran. I did not speak to them, yet they prophesied. |
| 22But if they had stood in My counsel, And had caused My people to hear My words, Then they would have turned them from their evil way And from the evil of their doings. | 22If they had really stood in my council, they would have enabled my people to hear my words and would have turned them from their evil ways and their evil deeds. |
| 23“Am I a God near at hand,” says the LORD, “And not a God afar off? | 23"Am I a God who is only near"--this is the LORD's declaration--"and not a God who is far away? |
| 24Can anyone hide himself in secret places, So I shall not see him?” says the LORD; “Do I not fill heaven and earth?” says the LORD. | 24Can a person hide in secret places where I cannot see him?"--the LORD's declaration. "Do I not fill the heavens and the earth?"--the LORD's declaration. |
| 25“I have heard what the prophets have said who prophesy lies in My name, saying, ‘I have dreamed, I have dreamed!’ | 25"I have heard what the prophets who prophesy a lie in my name have said: 'I had a dream! I had a dream!' |
| 26How long will this be in the heart of the prophets who prophesy lies? Indeed they are prophets of the deceit of their own heart, | 26How long will this continue in the minds of the prophets prophesying lies, prophets of the deceit of their own minds? |
| 27who try to make My people forget My name by their dreams which everyone tells his neighbor, as their fathers forgot My name for Baal. | 27Through their dreams that they tell one another, they plan to cause my people to forget my name as their fathers forgot my name through Baal worship. |
| 28“The prophet who has a dream, let him tell a dream; And he who has My word, let him speak My word faithfully. What is the chaff to the wheat?” says the LORD. | 28The prophet who has only a dream should recount the dream, but the one who has my word should speak my word truthfully, for what is straw compared to grain?"--this is the LORD's declaration. |
| 29“Is not My word like a fire?” says the LORD, “And like a hammer that breaks the rock in pieces? | 29"Is not my word like fire"--this is the LORD's declaration--"and like a hammer that pulverizes rock? |
| 30“Therefore behold, I am against the prophets,” says the LORD, “who steal My words every one from his neighbor. | 30Therefore, take note! I am against the prophets"--the LORD's declaration--"who steal my words from each other. |
| 31Behold, I am against the prophets,” says the LORD, “who use their tongues and say, ‘He says.’ | 31I am against the prophets"--the LORD's declaration--"who use their own tongues to make a declaration. |
| 32Behold, I am against those who prophesy false dreams,” says the LORD, “and tell them, and cause My people to err by their lies and by their recklessness. Yet I did not send them or command them; therefore they shall not profit this people at all,” says the LORD. | 32I am against those who prophesy false dreams"--the LORD's declaration--"telling them and leading my people astray with their reckless lies. It was not I who sent or commanded them, and they are of no benefit at all to these people"--this is the LORD's declaration. |
| 33“So when these people or the prophet or the priest ask you, saying, ‘What is the oracle of the LORD?’ you shall then say to them, ‘What oracle?’ I will even forsake you,” says the LORD. | 33"Now when these people or a prophet or a priest asks you, 'What is the burden of the LORD?' you will respond to them, 'What is the burden? I will throw you away! This is the LORD's declaration.' |
| 34“And as for the prophet and the priest and the people who say, ‘The oracle of the LORD!’ I will even punish that man and his house. | 34As for the prophet, priest, or people who say, 'The burden of the LORD,' I will punish that man and his household. |
| 35Thus every one of you shall say to his neighbor, and every one to his brother, ‘What has the LORD answered?’ and, ‘What has the LORD spoken?’ | 35This is what each man is to say to his friend and to his brother: 'What has the LORD answered?' or 'What has the LORD spoken?' |
| 36And the oracle of the LORD you shall mention no more. For every man’s word will be his oracle, for you have perverted the words of the living God, the LORD of hosts, our God. | 36But no longer refer to the burden of the LORD, for each man's word becomes his burden and you pervert the words of the living God, the LORD of Armies, our God. |
| 37Thus you shall say to the prophet, ‘What has the LORD answered you?’ and, ‘What has the LORD spoken?’ | 37Say to the prophet, 'What has the LORD answered you?' or 'What has the LORD spoken?' |
| 38But since you say, ‘The oracle of the LORD!’ therefore thus says the LORD: ‘Because you say this word, “The oracle of the LORD!” and I have sent to you, saying, “Do not say, ‘The oracle of the LORD!’ ” | 38But if you say, 'The burden of the LORD,' then this is what the LORD says: Because you have said, 'The burden of the LORD,' and I specifically told you not to say, 'The burden of the LORD,' |
| 39therefore behold, I, even I, will utterly forget you and forsake you, and the city that I gave you and your fathers, and will cast you out of My presence. | 39I will surely forget you. I will throw you away from my presence--both you and the city that I gave you and your fathers. |
| 40And I will bring an everlasting reproach upon you, and a perpetual shame, which shall not be forgotten.’ ” | 40I will bring on you everlasting disgrace and humiliation that will never be forgotten." |
| The Holy Bible, New King James Version, Copyright © 1982 Thomas Nelson. All rights reserved. | The Christian Standard Bible. Copyright © 2017 by Holman Bible Publishers. Used by permission. |
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