Jeremiah 23:33–40

The Burden of 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“As for the prophet, priest, or people who say, ‘The burden of the Lord,’ I will punish that man and his household. 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?’ ³⁶But no longer refer to ^wthe burden of the Lord, for each man’s word becomes his burden and you pervert the words of the living God, the Lord of Hosts, our God. ³⁷You must say to the prophet: What has the Lord answered you? and What has the Lord spoken? 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,’ ³⁹I will surely forget you ^xand throw away from My presence both you and the city that I gave you and your fathers. ⁴⁰I will bring on you everlasting shame and humiliation ^ythat will never be forgotten.”