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The Prophets · Old Testament

Jeremiah 23

Jeremiah 23: the righteous Branch and the prophets who ran unsent

General context

Woe is pronounced on the pastors who destroy and scatter the sheep of the Lord's pasture; because they have not visited the flock, the Lord will visit them. He will gather the remnant of his flock from all countries and set shepherds over them who will feed them. The days come when he will raise to David a righteous Branch, a King who will execute judgment and justice; Judah will be saved, and his name will be THE LORD OUR RIGHTEOUSNESS. The new oath will name the Lord who brought Israel out of the north country. A first-person voice says his heart is broken because of the prophets and he is like a drunken man. Prophet and priest are profane, and the Lord has found their wickedness in his own house. The prophets of Samaria prophesied in Baal; the prophets of Jerusalem commit adultery, walk in lies and strengthen evildoers, and are to him as Sodom and Gomorrah. The people are not to listen to prophets who speak a vision of their own heart and promise peace. The Lord did not send these prophets, yet they ran; had they stood in his counsel they would have turned the people. He fills heaven and earth, and no one can hide from him. He has heard the prophets say, I have dreamed, and asks what the chaff is to the wheat; his word is a fire and a hammer that breaks the rock. He is against prophets who steal his words from one another and tell false dreams. When anyone asks, What is the burden of the Lord? the answer is, What burden? I will forsake you; the phrase is to be used no more, and those who keep saying it will be cast out and given a perpetual shame.

Cited passages: Jeremiah 23:1, Jeremiah 23:2, Jeremiah 23:3, Jeremiah 23:4, Jeremiah 23:5, Jeremiah 23:6, Jeremiah 23:7, Jeremiah 23:8, Jeremiah 23:9, Jeremiah 23:10, Jeremiah 23:11, Jeremiah 23:13, Jeremiah 23:14, Jeremiah 23:15, Jeremiah 23:16, Jeremiah 23:17, Jeremiah 23:19, Jeremiah 23:20, Jeremiah 23:21, Jeremiah 23:22, Jeremiah 23:23, Jeremiah 23:24, Jeremiah 23:25, Jeremiah 23:26, Jeremiah 23:28, Jeremiah 23:29, Jeremiah 23:30, Jeremiah 23:31, Jeremiah 23:32, Jeremiah 23:33, Jeremiah 23:36, Jeremiah 23:39, Jeremiah 23:40

Jeremiah 23 (KJV)

1Woe be unto the pastors that destroy and scatter the sheep of my pasture! saith the Lord.

2Therefore 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.

3And 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.

4And 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.

5Behold, 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.

6In 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.

7Therefore, 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;

8But, 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.

9Mine 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.

10For 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.

11For both prophet and priest are profane; yea, in my house have I found their wickedness, saith the Lord.

12Wherefore 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.

13And I have seen folly in the prophets of Samaria; they prophesied in Baal, and caused my people Israel to err.

14I 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.

15Therefore 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.

16Thus 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.

17They 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.

18For who hath stood in the counsel of the Lord, and hath perceived and heard his word? who hath marked his word, and heard it?

19Behold, a whirlwind of the Lord is gone forth in fury, even a grievous whirlwind: it shall fall grievously upon the head of the wicked.

20The 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.

21I have not sent these prophets, yet they ran: I have not spoken to them, yet they prophesied.

22But 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.

23Am I a God at hand, saith the Lord, and not a God afar off?

24Can 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.

25I have heard what the prophets said, that prophesy lies in my name, saying, I have dreamed, I have dreamed.

26How long shall this be in the heart of the prophets that prophesy lies? yea, they are prophets of the deceit of their own heart;

27Which 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.

28The 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.

29Is not my word like as a fire? saith the Lord; and like a hammer that breaketh the rock in pieces?

30Therefore, behold, I am against the prophets, saith the Lord, that steal my words every one from his neighbour.

31Behold, I am against the prophets, saith the Lord, that use their tongues, and say, He saith.

32Behold, 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.

33And 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.

34And 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.

35Thus 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?

36And 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.

37Thus shalt thou say to the prophet, What hath the Lord answered thee? and, What hath the Lord spoken?

38But 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;

39Therefore, 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:

40And I will bring an everlasting reproach upon you, and a perpetual shame, which shall not be forgotten.

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Historical context

The pastors of verses 1 through 4 are not named, and the text calls them those "that feed my people." The Branch is promised "unto David" and described as a King who will reign; the text gives his name as THE LORD OUR RIGHTEOUSNESS and does not identify him further. Verses 7 and 8 repeat the new oath formula of 16:14 and 15. Verse 9, "Mine heart within me is broken because of the prophets," is in the first person and unlabelled; its phrase "because of the Lord, and because of the words of his holiness" sets the speaker apart from the Lord. The chapter distinguishes "the prophets of Samaria," who "prophesied in Baal," from "the prophets of Jerusalem," whose sin is adultery, lies and strengthening evildoers; no prophet on either side is named. The Lord's denial of their commission, "I have not sent these prophets, yet they ran," repeats the denial of 14:14. The false message is quoted twice, "Ye shall have peace" and "No evil shall come upon you." The dreamers' claim, "I have dreamed, I have dreamed," is quoted as the Lord heard it. The section on "the burden of the Lord" turns on the people's use of that phrase; the text says the Lord sent word that they should not say it, and the punishment is for saying it anyway. The chapter has no date and names no king, and the statement that wickedness was found "in my house" is the Lord's.

Cited passages: Jeremiah 23:2, Jeremiah 23:5, Jeremiah 23:6, Jeremiah 23:8, Jeremiah 23:9, Jeremiah 23:11, Jeremiah 23:13, Jeremiah 23:14, Jeremiah 23:17, Jeremiah 23:21, Jeremiah 23:25, Jeremiah 23:33, Jeremiah 23:34, Jeremiah 23:38

Literary context

The chapter moves from bad shepherds to a promised King and then spends most of its length on the prophets. The wordplay on visit in verse 2, they have not visited the flock, so the Lord will visit them, sets the pattern of judgment matching failure. The Branch oracle is short and stands out for its capitals and its promise of safety amid a chapter of threat. From verse 9 the tone changes to the prophet's shaking bones, and the accusation is built on comparisons: Samaria against Jerusalem, Sodom and Gomorrah, chaff against wheat, dream against word, fire and hammer against rock. Questions carry the argument: who has stood in the counsel of the Lord, am I a God at hand and not afar off, can any hide, what is the chaff to the wheat. The threefold "I am against the prophets" in verses 30 through 32 lists their methods, stealing words, using tongues, telling dreams. The closing section repeats "the burden of the Lord" until the phrase itself is forbidden, and turns it around: every man's word will be his own burden. The wormwood and water of gall of verse 15 repeat 9:15, now aimed at the prophets alone.

Cited passages: Jeremiah 23:1, Jeremiah 23:2, Jeremiah 23:5, Jeremiah 23:6, Jeremiah 23:9, Jeremiah 23:14, Jeremiah 23:15, Jeremiah 23:18, Jeremiah 23:23, Jeremiah 23:24, Jeremiah 23:28, Jeremiah 23:29, Jeremiah 23:30, Jeremiah 23:31, Jeremiah 23:32, Jeremiah 23:36

Key moments

  1. Woe to the pastors (Jeremiah 23:1). The shepherds who scatter the Lord's flock are condemned.
  2. A righteous Branch to David (Jeremiah 23:5). A King will reign and execute judgment and justice in the earth.
  3. THE LORD OUR RIGHTEOUSNESS (Jeremiah 23:6). The coming King's name is given, and in his days Judah is saved and Israel dwells safely.
  4. My heart is broken (Jeremiah 23:9). The prophet shakes like a drunken man because of the prophets.
  5. They ran, but I sent them not (Jeremiah 23:21). The Lord denies commissioning the prophets who prophesy.
  6. Fire and hammer (Jeremiah 23:29). The Lord's word is compared to fire and a hammer that breaks the rock.
  7. What burden? (Jeremiah 23:33). The phrase the burden of the Lord is forbidden and turned back on those who use it.

For reflection

The Lord says that if the prophets had stood in his counsel they would have turned the people from their evil way. What does the chapter suggest is the test of a message that claims to come from him, when the false one sounds like peace?

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