August 18
Jeremiah 23 - 25 (New International Version)
Jeremiah 23
The Righteous Branch
1 "Woe to the shepherds who are destroying and scattering
the sheep of my pasture!" declares the LORD. 2 Therefore
this is what the LORD, the God of Israel, says to the shepherds who tend my
people: "Because you have scattered my flock and driven them away and have
not bestowed care on them, I will bestow punishment on you for the evil you
have done," declares the LORD. 3 "I myself will gather the
remnant of my flock out of all the countries where I have driven them and
will bring them back to their pasture, where they will be fruitful and
increase in number. 4 I will place shepherds over them who
will tend them, and they will no longer be afraid or terrified, nor will any
be missing," declares the LORD.
5 "The days are coming," declares the
LORD,
"when I will raise up to David a righteous Branch,
a King who will reign wisely
and do what is just and right in the land.
6 In his days Judah will be saved
and Israel will live in safety.
This is the name by which he will be called:
The LORD Our Righteousness.
7 "So then, the days are coming," declares the LORD, "when
people will no longer say, 'As surely as the LORD lives, who brought the
Israelites up out of Egypt,' 8 but they will say, 'As
surely as the LORD lives, who brought the descendants of Israel up out of
the land of the north and out of all the countries where he had banished
them.' Then they will live in their own land."
Lying Prophets
9 Concerning the prophets:
My heart is broken within me;
all my bones tremble.
I am like a drunken man,
like a man overcome by wine,
because of the LORD
and his holy words.
10 The land is full of adulterers;
because of the curse the land lies parched
and the pastures in the desert are withered.
The prophets follow an evil course
and use their power unjustly.
11 "Both prophet and priest are godless;
even in my temple I find their wickedness,"
declares the LORD.
12 "Therefore their path will become slippery;
they will be banished to darkness
and there they will fall.
I will bring disaster on them
in the year they are punished,"
declares the LORD.
13 "Among the prophets of Samaria
I saw this repulsive thing:
They prophesied by Baal
and led my people Israel astray.
14 And among the prophets of Jerusalem
I have seen something horrible:
They commit adultery and live a lie.
They strengthen the hands of evildoers,
so that no one turns from his wickedness.
They are all like Sodom to me;
the people of Jerusalem are like Gomorrah."
15 Therefore, this is what the LORD Almighty says
concerning the prophets:
"I will make them eat bitter food
and drink poisoned water,
because from the prophets of Jerusalem
ungodliness has spread throughout the land."
16 This is what the LORD Almighty says:
"Do not listen to what the prophets are prophesying to you;
they fill you with false hopes.
They speak visions from their own minds,
not from the mouth of the LORD.
17 They keep saying to those who despise me,
'The LORD says: You will have peace.'
And to all who follow the stubbornness of their hearts
they say, 'No harm will come to you.'
18 But which of them has stood in the council of the LORD
to see or to hear his word?
Who has listened and heard his word?
19 See, the storm of the LORD
will burst out in wrath,
a whirlwind swirling down
on the heads of the wicked.
20 The anger of the LORD will not turn back
until he fully accomplishes
the purposes of his heart.
In days to come
you will understand it clearly.
21 I did not send these prophets,
yet they have run with their message;
I did not speak to them,
yet they have prophesied.
22 But if they had stood in my council,
they would have proclaimed my words to my people
and would have turned them from their evil ways
and from their evil deeds.
23 "Am I only a God nearby,"
declares the LORD,
"and not a God far away?
24 Can anyone hide in secret places
so that I cannot see him?"
declares the LORD.
"Do not I fill heaven and earth?"
declares the LORD.
25 "I have heard what the prophets say who prophesy lies
in my name. They say, 'I had a dream! I had a dream!' 26
How long will this continue in the hearts of these lying prophets, who
prophesy the delusions of their own minds? 27 They think
the dreams they tell one another will make my people forget my name, just as
their fathers forgot my name through Baal worship. 28 Let
the prophet who has a dream tell his dream, but let the one who has my word
speak it faithfully. For what has straw to do with grain?" declares the
LORD. 29 "Is not my word like fire," declares the LORD,
"and like a hammer that breaks a rock in pieces?
30 "Therefore," declares the LORD, "I am against the
prophets who steal from one another words supposedly from me. 31
Yes," declares the LORD, "I am against the prophets who wag their own
tongues and yet declare, 'The LORD declares.' 32 Indeed, I
am against those who prophesy false dreams," declares the LORD. "They tell
them and lead my people astray with their reckless lies, yet I did not send
or appoint them. They do not benefit these people in the least," declares
the LORD.
False Oracles and False Prophets
33 "When these people, or a prophet or a priest, ask you,
'What is the oracle of the LORD ?' say to them, 'What oracle? I will forsake
you, declares the LORD.' 34 If a prophet or a priest or
anyone else claims, 'This is the oracle of the LORD,' I will punish that man
and his household. 35 This is what each of you keeps on
saying to his friend or relative: 'What is the LORD's answer?' or 'What has
the LORD spoken?' 36 But you must not mention 'the oracle
of the LORD ' again, because every man's own word becomes his oracle and so
you distort the words of the living God, the LORD Almighty, our God.
37 This is what you keep saying to a prophet: 'What is the
LORD's answer to you?' or 'What has the LORD spoken?' 38
Although you claim, 'This is the oracle of the LORD,' this is what the LORD
says: You used the words, 'This is the oracle of the LORD,' even though I
told you that you must not claim, 'This is the oracle of the LORD.'
39 Therefore, I will surely forget you and cast you out of my
presence along with the city I gave to you and your fathers. 40
I will bring upon you everlasting disgrace—everlasting shame that will not
be forgotten."
Jeremiah 24
Two Baskets of Figs
1 After Jehoiachin son of Jehoiakim king of Judah and the
officials, the craftsmen and the artisans of Judah were carried into exile
from Jerusalem to Babylon by Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon, the LORD showed
me two baskets of figs placed in front of the temple of the LORD. 2
One basket had very good figs, like those that ripen early; the other basket
had very poor figs, so bad they could not be eaten.
3 Then the LORD asked me, "What do you
see, Jeremiah?"
"Figs," I answered. "The good ones are very good, but the poor ones are so
bad they cannot be eaten."
4 Then the word of the LORD came to me: 5
"This is what the LORD, the God of Israel, says: 'Like these good figs, I
regard as good the exiles from Judah, whom I sent away from this place to
the land of the Babylonians. 6 My eyes will watch over
them for their good, and I will bring them back to this land. I will build
them up and not tear them down; I will plant them and not uproot them.
7 I will give them a heart to know me, that I am the LORD.
They will be my people, and I will be their God, for they will return to me
with all their heart.
8 " 'But like the poor figs, which are so bad they cannot
be eaten,' says the LORD, 'so will I deal with Zedekiah king of Judah, his
officials and the survivors from Jerusalem, whether they remain in this land
or live in Egypt. 9 I will make them abhorrent and an
offense to all the kingdoms of the earth, a reproach and a byword, an object
of ridicule and cursing, wherever I banish them. 10 I will
send the sword, famine and plague against them until they are destroyed from
the land I gave to them and their fathers.' "
Jeremiah 25
Seventy Years of Captivity
1 The word came to Jeremiah concerning all the people of
Judah in the fourth year of Jehoiakim son of Josiah king of Judah, which was
the first year of Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon. 2 So
Jeremiah the prophet said to all the people of Judah and to all those living
in Jerusalem: 3 For twenty-three years—from the thirteenth
year of Josiah son of Amon king of Judah until this very day—the word of the
LORD has come to me and I have spoken to you again and again, but you have
not listened.
4 And though the LORD has sent all his
servants the prophets to you again and again, you have not listened or paid
any attention. 5 They said, "Turn now, each of you, from
your evil ways and your evil practices, and you can stay in the land the
LORD gave to you and your fathers for ever and ever. 6 Do
not follow other gods to serve and worship them; do not provoke me to anger
with what your hands have made. Then I will not harm you."
7 "But you did not listen to me," declares the LORD, "and
you have provoked me with what your hands have made, and you have brought
harm to yourselves."
8 Therefore the LORD Almighty says this: "Because you have
not listened to my words, 9 I will summon all the peoples
of the north and my servant Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon," declares the
LORD, "and I will bring them against this land and its inhabitants and
against all the surrounding nations. I will completely destroy them and make
them an object of horror and scorn, and an everlasting ruin. 10
I will banish from them the sounds of joy and gladness, the voices of bride
and bridegroom, the sound of millstones and the light of the lamp.
11 This whole country will become a desolate wasteland, and these
nations will serve the king of Babylon seventy years.
12 "But when the seventy years are fulfilled, I will
punish the king of Babylon and his nation, the land of the Babylonians, for
their guilt," declares the LORD, "and will make it desolate forever.
13 I will bring upon that land all the things I have spoken
against it, all that are written in this book and prophesied by Jeremiah
against all the nations. 14 They themselves will be
enslaved by many nations and great kings; I will repay them according to
their deeds and the work of their hands."
The Cup of God's Wrath
15 This is what the LORD, the God of Israel, said to me:
"Take from my hand this cup filled with the wine of my wrath and make all
the nations to whom I send you drink it. 16 When they
drink it, they will stagger and go mad because of the sword I will send
among them."
17 So I took the cup from the LORD's
hand and made all the nations to whom he sent me drink it: 18
Jerusalem and the towns of Judah, its kings and officials, to make them a
ruin and an object of horror and scorn and cursing, as they are today;
19 Pharaoh king of Egypt, his attendants, his officials and
all his people, 20 and all the foreign people there; all
the kings of Uz; all the kings of the Philistines (those of Ashkelon, Gaza,
Ekron, and the people left at Ashdod 21 Edom, Moab and
Ammon; 22 all the kings of Tyre and Sidon; the kings of
the coastlands across the sea; 23 Dedan, Tema, Buz and all
who are in distant places ; 24 all the kings of Arabia and
all the kings of the foreign people who live in the desert; 25
all the kings of Zimri, Elam and Media; 26 and all the
kings of the north, near and far, one after the other—all the kingdoms on
the face of the earth. And after all of them, the king of Sheshach will
drink it too.
27 "Then tell them, 'This is what the LORD Almighty, the
God of Israel, says: Drink, get drunk and vomit, and fall to rise no more
because of the sword I will send among you.' 28 But if
they refuse to take the cup from your hand and drink, tell them, 'This is
what the LORD Almighty says: You must drink it! 29 See, I
am beginning to bring disaster on the city that bears my Name, and will you
indeed go unpunished? You will not go unpunished, for I am calling down a
sword upon all who live on the earth, declares the LORD Almighty.'
30 "Now prophesy all these words against them and say to
them:
" 'The LORD will roar from on high;
he will thunder from his holy dwelling
and roar mightily against his land.
He will shout like those who tread the grapes,
shout against all who live on the earth.
31 The tumult will resound to the ends of the earth,
for the LORD will bring charges against the nations;
he will bring judgment on all mankind
and put the wicked to the sword,' "
declares the LORD.
32 This is what the LORD Almighty says:
"Look! Disaster is spreading
from nation to nation;
a mighty storm is rising
from the ends of the earth."
33 At that time those slain by the LORD will be
everywhere—from one end of the earth to the other. They will not be mourned
or gathered up or buried, but will be like refuse lying on the ground.
34 Weep and wail, you shepherds;
roll in the dust, you leaders of the flock.
For your time to be slaughtered has come;
you will fall and be shattered like fine pottery.
35 The shepherds will have nowhere to flee,
the leaders of the flock no place to escape.
36 Hear the cry of the shepherds,
the wailing of the leaders of the flock,
for the LORD is destroying their pasture.
37 The peaceful meadows will be laid waste
because of the fierce anger of the LORD.
38 Like a lion he will leave his lair,
and their land will become desolate
because of the sword of the oppressor
and because of the LORD's fierce anger.