Jeremiah 23:9-40

False Prophets Denounced

9 As for the prophets: My ¹heart is broken within me, All my bones tremble; I have become like a drunken man, Even like a man overcome with wine, Because * of the LORD And because * of His holy words.

10 For the land is full of ²adulterers; For the land ³mourns because * of the curse. The ⁴pastures of the wilderness have dried up. Their course also is evil And their might is not right.

11 "For ⁵both prophet and priest are polluted; Even in My house I have found their wickedness," declares the LORD.

12 "Therefore their way will be like ⁶slippery paths to them, They will be driven away into the ⁷gloom and fall down in it; For I will bring ⁸calamity upon them, The year of their punishment," declares the LORD.

13 "Moreover, among the prophets of Samaria I saw an ⁹offensive thing: They ¹⁰prophesied by Baal and ¹¹led My people Israel astray.

14 "Also among the prophets of Jerusalem I have seen a ¹²horrible thing: The committing of ¹³adultery and walking in falsehood; And they strengthen the hands of ¹⁴evildoers, So that no one has turned back from his wickedness. All of them have become to Me like ¹⁵Sodom, And her inhabitants like Gomorrah

15 "Therefore thus says the LORD of hosts concerning the prophets, 'Behold, I am going to ¹⁶feed them wormwood And make them drink poisonous water, For from the prophets of Jerusalem Pollution has gone forth into all the land.' "

16 Thus says the LORD of hosts, "¹⁷Do not listen to the words of the prophets who are prophesying to you. They are ¹⁸leading you into futility; They speak a ¹⁹vision of their own imagination, Not ²⁰from the mouth of the LORD.

17 "They keep saying to those who ²¹despise Me, 'The LORD has said, "²²You will have peace "'; And as for everyone who walks in the ²³stubbornness of his own heart, They say, '²⁴Calamity will not come upon you.'

18 "But ²⁵who has stood in the council of the LORD, That he should see and hear His word? Who has given ²⁶heed to His word and listened?

19 "Behold, the ²⁷storm of the LORD has gone forth in wrath, Even a whirling tempest; It will swirl down on the head of the wicked

20 "The ²⁸anger of the LORD will not turn back Until He has ²⁹performed and carried out the purposes of His heart; ³⁰In the last days you will clearly understand it.

21 "³¹I did not send these prophets, But they ran. I did not speak to them, But they prophesied

22 "But if they had ³²stood in My council, Then they would have ³³announced My words to My people, And would have turned them back from their evil way And from the evil of their deeds.

23 "Am I a God who is ³⁴near," declares the LORD, "And not a God far off *?

24 "Can a man ³⁵hide himself in hiding places So I do not see him?" declares the LORD. "³⁶Do I not fill the heavens and the earth?" declares the LORD.

25 "I have ³⁷heard what the prophets have said who ³⁸prophesy falsely in My name, saying, 'I had a ³⁹dream, I had a dream!'

26 "How long *? Is there anything in the hearts of the prophets who prophesy falsehood, even these prophets of the ⁴⁰deception of their own heart,

27 who intend to ⁴¹make My people forget My name by their dreams which they relate to one another, just as their fathers ⁴²forgot My name because of Baal?

28 "The prophet who has a dream may relate his dream, but let him who has ⁴³My word speak My word in truth. ⁴⁴What does straw have in common with grain?" declares the LORD.

29 "Is not My word like ⁴⁵fire?" declares the LORD, "and like a ⁴⁶hammer which shatters a rock?

30 "Therefore behold, ⁴⁷I am against the prophets," declares the LORD, "who steal My words from each other.

31 "Behold, I am against the prophets," declares the LORD, "who use their tongues and declare, 'The Lord declares.'

32 "Behold, I am against those who have prophesied ⁴⁸false dreams," declares the LORD, "and related them and led My people astray by their falsehoods and ⁴⁹reckless boasting; yet ⁵⁰I did not send them or command them, nor do they ⁵¹furnish this people the slightest benefit," declares the LORD.

33 "Now when this people or the prophet or a priest asks you saying, 'What is the ⁵²oracle of the LORD?' then you shall say to them, 'What oracle?' The LORD declares, 'I will ⁵³abandon you.'

34 "Then as for the prophet or the priest or the people who say, 'The ⁵⁴oracle of the LORD,' I will bring punishment upon that man and his household.

35 "Thus will each of you say to his neighbor and to his brother, '⁵⁵What has the LORD answered?' or, 'What has the LORD spoken?'

36 "For you will no longer remember the oracle of the LORD, because every man's own word will become the oracle, and you have ⁵⁶perverted the words of the ⁵⁷living God, the LORD of hosts, our God

37 "Thus you will say to that prophet, 'What has the LORD answered you?' and, 'What has the LORD spoken?'

38 "For if you say, 'The oracle of the LORD!' surely thus says the LORD, 'Because you said this word, "The oracle of the LORD!" I have also sent to you, saying, "You shall not say, 'The oracle of the LORD!' "

39 "Therefore behold, ⁵⁸I will surely forget you and cast you away from My presence, along with the city which I gave you and your fathers.

40 "I will put an everlasting ⁵⁹reproach on you and an everlasting humiliation which will not be forgotten."

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Jeremiah 23:9-40 Meaning and Commentary

INTRODUCTION TO JEREMIAH 23

This chapter contains threatenings to the Jewish governors, and to their priests and prophets, on account of their manifold sins; intermixed with gracious promises to the Lord's people, and particularly with a famous promise of the Messiah. The pastors or governors of Israel are charged with scattering and driving away the Lord's flock, for which they are threatened, Jer 23:1,2; and a promise is made of the gathering of the remnant of them, and of setting up other shepherds over them, under whom they should increase, and be comfortable, Jer 23:3,4; particularly the Messiah is promised; as David's righteous Branch; as a prosperous and righteous King; as the author of righteousness to his people, under whom they should have salvation and safety, Jer 23:5,6; so that in comparison of this salvation, the deliverance out of Egypt should not be spoken of, Jer 23:7,8; and then follows a sad complaint of the priests and prophets; of their profaneness, their adultery, swearing, lying, hypocrisy, and deception of the people; for all which they are severely threatened, Jer 23:9-15; wherefore the people are exhorted not to hearken to them, promising them peace and safety; whereas, by attending to the word of God, it might easily be seen that a storm of wrath was gone forth, and was ready to break, and would fall upon the head of the wicked, to the executing of the thoughts and purposes of God's heart, Jer 23:16-20; and the Lord declares he had not sent these prophets, as might be known from their not turning the people from their evil ways, Jer 23:21,22; whose conduct and behaviour could not be hid from the sight of the Lord, nor their prophecies from his ears, which were no other than dreams, and the deceits of their own hearts; and there was as great a difference between them and the word of the Lord, as between chaff and wheat; seeing his word in his hand is of great virtue and efficacy, whereas there was none in theirs, Jer 23:23-29; wherefore the Lord declares himself to be against these prophets, for stealing his word from their neighbour; for making use of his name, when they were not sent by him; and for causing the people to err by their lies, Jer 23:30-32; and both people, priest, and prophet, are severely threatened for jeering and scoffing at the word of the Lord, calling it the burden of the Lord; which phrase they are forbid to use in a sneering way; and should they persist in it, they are told that God would forsake and forget them, and cast them out, and everlastingly punish them, Jer 23:39,40.

Taken from John Gill's Exposition of the Bible

Cross References 59

1. Jeremiah 8:18; Habakkuk 3:16
2. Jeremiah 9:2; Hosea 4:2, 3; Malachi 3:5
3. Jeremiah 12:4
4. Psalms 107:34; Jeremiah 9:10
5. Jeremiah 6:13; Zephaniah 3:4
6. Psalms 35:6; Proverbs 4:19; Jeremiah 13:16
7. Isaiah 8:22; John 12:35
8. Jeremiah 11:23
9. Hosea 9:7, 8
10. 1 Kings 18:18-21; Jeremiah 2:8; Jeremiah 23:32
11. Isaiah 9:16
12. Jeremiah 5:30
13. Jeremiah 29:23
14. Jeremiah 23:22; Ezekiel 13:22, 23
15. Genesis 18:20; Deuteronomy 32:32; Isaiah 1:9, 10; Jeremiah 20:16; Jeremiah 49:18; Matthew 11:24
16. Deuteronomy 29:18; Jeremiah 8:14; Jeremiah 9:15
17. Jer 27:9, 10, 14-17; 1 John 4:1
18. Matthew 7:15; 2 Corinthians 11:13-15; Galatians 1:8, 9
19. Jeremiah 14:14; Ezekiel 13:3, 6
20. Jeremiah 9:12, 20
21. Micah 2:11
22. Jeremiah 8:11; Ezekiel 13:10
23. Jeremiah 13:10; Jeremiah 18:12
24. Jeremiah 5:12; Amos 9:10; Micah 3:11
25. Job 15:8, 9; Jeremiah 23:22; 1 Corinthians 2:16
26. Job 33:31
27. Jeremiah 25:32; Jeremiah 30:23; Amos 1:14
28. 2 Kings 23:26, 27; Jeremiah 30:24
29. Isaiah 55:11; Zechariah 1:6
30. Genesis 49:1
31. Jeremiah 14:14; Jeremiah 23:32; Jeremiah 27:15
32. Jeremiah 9:12; Jeremiah 23:18
33. Jeremiah 35:15; Zechariah 1:4
34. Psalms 139:1-10
35. Job 22:13, 14; Job 34:21, 22; Psalms 139:7-12; Isaiah 29:15; Jeremiah 49:10; Hebrews 4:13
36. 1 Kings 8:27; 2 Chronicles 2:6; Isaiah 66:1
37. Jeremiah 8:6; 1 Corinthians 4:5
38. Jeremiah 14:14
39. Numbers 12:6; Jeremiah 23:28, 32; Jeremiah 29:8; Joel 2:28
40. 1 Timothy 4:1, 2
41. Deuteronomy 13:1-3; Jeremiah 29:8
42. Judges 3:7; Judges 8:33, 34
43. Jeremiah 9:12, 20
44. 1 Corinthians 3:12, 13
45. Jeremiah 5:14; Jeremiah 20:9
46. 2 Corinthians 10:4, 5
47. Deuteronomy 18:20; Psalms 34:16; Jeremiah 14:14, 15; Ezekiel 13:8
48. Deuteronomy 13:1, 2; Jeremiah 23:25
49. Zephaniah 3:4
50. Jeremiah 23:21; Lamentations 3:37
51. Jeremiah 7:8; Lamentations 2:14
52. Isaiah 13:1; Nahum 1:1; Habakkuk 1:1; Zechariah 9:1; Malachi 1:1
53. Jeremiah 12:7; Jeremiah 23:39
54. Lamentations 2:14; Zechariah 13:3
55. Jeremiah 33:3; Jeremiah 42:4
56. Galatians 1:7, 8; 2 Peter 3:16
57. 2 Kings 19:4; Jeremiah 10:10
58. Jeremiah 7:14, 15; Jeremiah 23:33; Ezekiel 8:18
59. Jeremiah 20:11; Jeremiah 42:18; Ezekiel 5:14, 15

Footnotes 4

[a]. Lit "heart"
[b]. Another reading is "My"
[c]. Or "burden," and so throughout the ch
[d]. Or "burden," and so throughout the ch