The Complete Jewish Bible CJB
The Bible in Basic English BBE
1 "Oh no! The shepherds are destroying and scattering the sheep in my pasture!" says ADONAI.
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A curse is on the keepers who are causing the destruction and loss of the sheep of my field, says the Lord.
2 Therefore this is what ADONAI, the God of Isra'el, says against the shepherds who shepherd my people: "You have scattered my flock, driven them away and not taken care of them. So I will 'take care of' you because of your evil deeds," says ADONAI.
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So this is what the Lord, the God of Israel, has said against the keepers who have the care of my people: You have let my flock be broken up, driving them away and not caring for them; see, I will send on you the punishment for the evil of your doings, says the Lord.
3 "I myself will gather what remains of my flock from all the countries where I have driven them and bring them back to their homes, and they will be fruitful and increase their numbers.
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And I will get the rest of my flock together from all the countries where I have sent them, and will make them come back again to their resting-place; and they will have offspring and be increased.
4 I will appoint shepherds over them who will shepherd them; then they will no longer be afraid or disgraced; and none will be missing," says ADONAI
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And I will put over them keepers who will take care of them: never again will they be overcome with fear or be troubled, and there will not be the loss of one of them, says the Lord
5 "The days are coming," says ADONAI when I will raise a righteous Branch for David. He will reign as king and succeed, he will do what is just and right in the land.
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See, the days are coming, says the Lord, when I will give to David a true Branch, and he will be ruling as king, acting wisely, doing what is right, and judging uprightly in the land.
6 In his days Y'hudah will be saved, Isra'el will live in safety, and the name given to him will be ADONAI Tzidkenu [ADONAI our righteousness].
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In his days Judah will have salvation and Israel will be living without fear: and this is the name by which he will be named, The Lord is our righteousness.
7 "Therefore," says ADONAI, "the day will come when people no longer swear, 'As ADONAI lives, who brought the people of Isra'el out of the land of Egypt,'
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And so, truly, the days are coming when they will say no longer, By the living Lord, who took the children of Israel up out of the land of Egypt;
8 but, 'As ADONAI lives, who brought the descendants of the house of Isra'el up from the land to the north' and from all the countries where I drove them. Then they will live in their own land."
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But, By the living Lord, who took up the seed of Israel, and made them come out of the north country, and from all the countries where I had sent them; and they will be living in the land which is theirs.
9 Concerning the prophets: My heart within me is broken, all my bones are shaking; I am like a drunk, like a man overcome by wine, because of ADONAI, because of his holy words.
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About the prophets. My heart is broken in me, all my bones are shaking; I am like a man full of strong drink, like a man overcome by wine; because of the Lord, and because of his holy words.
10 For the land is full of adulterers; because of a curse the land is in mourning - the desert pastures have dried up. Their course is evil, their power misused.
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For the land is full of men who are untrue to their wives; because of the curse the land is full of grief; the green fields of the waste land have become dry; and they are quick to do evil, their strength is for what is not right.
11 "Both prophet and cohen are godless; In my own house I find their wickedness," says ADONAI.
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For the prophet as well as the priest is unclean; even in my house I have seen their evil-doing, says the Lord.
12 "Therefore their way will be slippery for them; they will be driven into darkness and fall there. For I will bring disaster upon them, their year of punishment," says ADONAI.
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For this cause their steps will be slipping on their way: they will be forced on into the dark and have a fall there: for I will send evil on them in the year of their punishment, says the Lord.
13 "I have seen inappropriate conduct in the prophets of Shomron - they prophesied by Ba'al and led my people Isra'el astray.
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And I have seen ways without sense in the prophets of Samaria; they became prophets of the Baal, causing my people Israel to go wrong.
14 But in the prophets of Yerushalayim I have seen a horrible thing - they commit adultery, live in lies, so encouraging evildoers that none returns from his sin. For me they have all become like S'dom, its inhabitants like 'Amora.
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And in the prophets of Jerusalem I have seen a shocking thing; they are untrue to their wives, walking in deceit, and they make strong the hands of evil-doers, so that a man may not be turned back from his evil-doing: they have all become like Sodom to me, and its people like Gomorrah
15 Therefore, this is what ADONAI-Tzva'ot says concerning the prophets: "I will feed them bitter wormwood and make them drink poisonous water, for ungodliness has spread through all the land from the prophets of Yerushalayim."
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So this is what the Lord of armies has said about the prophets: See, I will give them a bitter plant for their food, and bitter water for their drink: for from the prophets of Jerusalem unclean behaviour has gone out into all the land.
16 ADONAI-Tzva'ot says: "Don't listen to the words of the prophets who are prophesying to you. They are making you act foolishly, telling you visions from their own minds and not from the mouth of ADONAI.
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This is what the Lord of armies has said: Do not give ear to the words which the prophets say to you: they give you teaching of no value: it is from themselves that their vision comes, and not out of the mouth of the Lord.
17 They keep reassuring those who despise me, 'ADONAI says you will be safe and secure,' and saying to all living by their own stubborn hearts, 'Nothing bad will happen to you.'
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They keep on saying to those who have no respect for the word of the Lord, You will have peace; and to everyone who goes on his way in the pride of his heart, they say, No evil will come to you.
18 But which of them has been present at the council of ADONAI to see and hear his word? Who has paid attention to his word enough to hear it?"
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For which of them has knowledge of the secret of the Lord, and has seen him, and given ear to his word? which of them has taken note of his word and given attention to it?
19 Look! The storm of ADONAI, bursting out in fury, a whirling storm, whirling down upon the heads of the wicked
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See, the storm-wind of the Lord, even the heat of his wrath, has gone out, a rolling storm, bursting on the heads of the evil-doers
20 ADONAI's anger will not abate till he fully accomplishes the purpose in his heart. In the acharit-hayamim, you will understand everything.
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The wrath of the Lord will not be turned back till he has done, till he has put into effect, the purposes of his heart: in days to come you will have full knowledge of this.
21 "I did not send these prophets; yet they ran. I did not speak to them; yet they prophesied
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I did not send these prophets, but they went running: I said nothing to them, but they gave out the prophet's word
22 If they have been present at my council, they should let my people hear my words and turn them from their evil way and the evil of their actions.
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But if they had been in my secret, then they would have made my people give ear to my words, turning them from their evil way, and from the evil of their doings.
23 Am I God only when near," asks ADONAI, "and not when far away?
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Am I only a God who is near, says the Lord, and not a God at a distance?
24 Can anyone hide in a place so secret that I won't see him?" asks ADONAI. ADONAI says, "Do I not fill heaven and earth?
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In what secret place may a man take cover without my seeing him? says the Lord. Is there any place in heaven or earth where I am not? says the Lord.
25 "I have heard what these prophets prophesying lies in my name are saying: 'I've had a dream! I've had a dream!'
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My ears have been open to what the prophets have said, who say false words in my name, saying, I have had a dream, I have had a dream, I have had a dream,
26 How long will this go on? Is [my word] in the hearts of prophets who are prophesying lies, who are prophesying the deceit of their own minds?
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Is (my word) in the hearts of the prophets who give out false words, even the prophets of the deceit of their hearts?
27 With their dreams that they keep telling each other, they hope to cause my people to forget my name; just as their ancestors forgot my name when they worshipped Ba'al.
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Whose purpose is to take away the memory of my name from my people by their dreams, of which every man is talking to his neighbour, as their fathers gave up the memory of my name for the Baal.
28 "If a prophet has a dream, let him tell it as a dream. But someone who has my word should speak my word faithfully. What do chaff and wheat have in common?" asks ADONAI.
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If a prophet has a dream, let him give out his dream; and he who has my word, let him give out my word in good faith. What has the dry stem to do with the grain? says the Lord.
29 "Isn't my word like fire," asks ADONAI, "like a hammer shattering rocks?
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Is not my word like fire? says the Lord; and like a hammer, smashing the rock to bits?
30 So, I am against the prophets," says ADONAI, "who steal my words from each other.
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For this cause I am against the prophets, says the Lord, who take my words, every one from his neighbour.
31 Yes, I am against the prophets," says ADONAI, "who speak their own words, then add, 'He says.'
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See, I am against the prophets, says the Lord, who let their tongues say, He has said.
32 "I am against those who concoct prophecies out of fake dreams," says ADONAI. "They tell them, and by their lies and arrogance they lead my people astray. I didn't send them, I didn't commission them, and they don't do this people any good at all," says ADONAI.
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See, I am against the prophets of false dreams, says the Lord, who give them out and make my people go out of the way by their deceit and their uncontrolled words: but I did not send them or give them orders; and they will be of no profit to this people, says the Lord.
33 "When [someone from] this people, a prophet or a cohen asks you, 'What is the burden of ADONAI?' you are to answer them, 'What burden? I am throwing you off,' says ADONAI.
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And if this people, or the prophet, or a priest, questioning you, says, What word of weight is there from the Lord? then you are to say to them, You are the word, for I will not be troubled with you any more, says the Lord.
34 As for a prophet, cohen or [someone else from] this people who speaks about 'the burden of ADONAI,' I will punish him and his household."
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And as for the prophet and the priest and the people who say, A word of weight from the Lord! I will send punishment on that man and on his house.
35 So, when you speak with your neighbor or brother, ask, "What answer has ADONAI given?" or "What has ADONAI said?"
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But this is what you are to say, every man to his neighbour and every man to his brother, What answer has the Lord given? and, What has the Lord said?
36 Don't use the expression, "burden of ADONAI" any more; for every person's own word will be his burden. Must you twist the words of the living God, of ADONAI-Tzva'ot, our God
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And you will no longer put people in mind of the word of weight of the Lord: for every man's word will be a weight on himself; for the words of the living God, of the Lord of armies, our God, have been twisted by you
37 So, when speaking to a prophet, ask, "What answer has ADONAI given you?" or "What did ADONAI say?"
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This is what you are to say to the prophet, What answer has the Lord given to you? and, What has the Lord said?
38 But if you talk about "the burden of ADONAI," then here is what ADONAI says: "Because you use this expression, 'the burden of ADONAI,' after I have already sent you the order not to say, 'the burden of ADONAI,
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But if you say, The word of weight of the Lord; this is what the Lord has said: Because you say, The weight of the Lord, and I have sent to you, saying, You are not to say, The weight of the Lord
39 I will lift you up, burden that you are, and throw you off, away from my presence - you and the city I gave you and your ancestors.
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For this reason, truly, I will put you completely out of my memory, and I will put you, and the town which I gave to you and to your fathers, away from before my face:
40 Then I will subject you to everlasting disgrace - eternal, unforgettable shame."
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And I will give you a name without honour for ever, and unending shame which will never go from the memory of men.
Complete Jewish Bible Copyright 1998 by David H. Stern. Published by Jewish New Testament Publications, Inc. All rights reserved. Used by permission.
The Bible in Basic English is in the public domain.