THE LORD AND HIS SHEEP

23 “Woe to the shepherds who destroy and scatter the sheep of my pasture!”j This is the Lord’s declaration. 2 “Therefore, this is what the Lord, the God of Israel, says about the shepherds who tend my people: You have scattered my flock,k banished them, and have not attended to them.l I am about to attend to you because of your evil acts”—this is the Lord’s declaration. 3 “I will gather the remnant of my flock from all the lands where I have banished them,m and I will return them to their grazing land. They will become fruitful and numerous.n 4 I will raise up shepherds over them who will tend them.o They will no longer be afraid or discouraged, nor will any be missing.”p This is the Lord’s declaration.

THE RIGHTEOUS BRANCH OF DAVID

5 “Look, the days are coming”q—this is the Lord’s declaration—

“when I will raise up a Righteous Branch for David.r

He will reign wisely as king

and administer justice and righteousness in the land.s

6 In his days Judah will be saved,

and Israel will dwell securely.t

This is the name he will be called:

The Lord Is Our Righteousness.c,u

7 “Look, the days are coming”v—the Lord’s declaration—“when it will no longer be said, ‘As the Lord livesw who brought the Israelites from the land of Egypt,’ 8 but, ‘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 ID had banished them.’ They will dwell once more in their own land.”x

FALSE PROPHETS CONDEMNED

9 Concerning the prophets:

My heart is broken within me,y

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.

10 For the land is full of adulterers;z

the land mournsaa because of the curse,ab

and the grazing lands in the wilderness have dried up.

Their way of lifeE has become evil,

and their power is not rightly used

11 because both prophet and priest are ungodly,ac

even in my housead I have found their evil.

This is the Lord’s declaration.

12 Therefore, their way will seem

like slippery paths in the gloom.ae

They will be driven away and fall down there,

for I will bring disaster on them,

the year of their punishment.af

This is the Lord’s declaration.

13 Among the prophets of Samaria

I saw something disgusting:

They prophesied by Baal

and led my people Israel astray.a

14 Among the prophets of Jerusalem also

I saw a horrible thing:b

They commit adultery and walk in lies.

They strengthen the hands of evildoers,

and none turns his back on evil.

They are all like Sodomc to me;

Jerusalem’s residents are like Gomorrah.

15 Therefore, this is what the Lord of Armies says concerning the prophets:

I am about to feed them wormwoodd

and give them poisoned water to drink,e

for from the prophets of Jerusalem

ungodlinessA has spread throughout the land.

16 This 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,f not from the Lord’s mouth.g