Parallel Bible results for "jeremiah 23"

Jeremiah 23

New Century Version NCV

1 "How terrible it will be for the leaders of Judah, who are scattering and destroying my people," says the Lord.

2 They are responsible for the people, so the Lord, the God of Israel, says to them: "You have scattered my people and forced them away and not taken care of them. So I will punish you for the evil things you have done," says the Lord.

3 "I sent my people to other countries, but I will gather those who are left alive and bring them back to their own country. Then they will have many children and grow in number.

4 I will place new leaders over my people, who will take care of them. And my people will not be afraid or terrified again, and none of them will be lost," says the Lord

5 "The days are coming," says the Lord, "when I will raise up a good branch in David's family. He will be a king who will rule in a wise way; he will do what is fair and right in the land.

6 In his time Judah will be saved, and Israel will live in safety. This will be his name: The Lord Does What Is Right.

7 "So the days are coming," says the Lord, "when people will not say again: 'As surely as the Lord lives, who brought Israel out of Egypt . . .'

8 But people will say something new: 'As surely as the Lord lives, who brought the descendants of Israel from the land of the north and from all the countries where he had sent them away. . .' Then the people of Israel will live in their own land."

9 A message to the prophets: My heart is broken. All my bones shake. I'm like someone who is drunk, like someone who has been overcome with wine. and his holy words.

10 The land of Judah is full of people who are guilty of adultery. Because of this, the Lord cursed the land. It has become a very sad place, and the pastures have dried up. The people are evil and use their power in the wrong way.

11 "Both the prophets and the priests live as if there were no God. I have found them doing evil things even in my own Temple," says the Lord.

12 "So they will be in danger. They will be forced into darkness where they will be defeated. I will bring disaster on them in the year I punish them," says the Lord.

13 "I saw the prophets of Samaria do something wrong. and led my people Israel away.

14 And I have seen the prophets of Jerusalem do terrible things. They are guilty of adultery and live by lies. They encourage evil people to keep on doing evil, so the people don't stop sinning. All of those people are like the city of Sodom

15 So this is what the Lord All-Powerful says about the prophets: "I will make those prophets eat bitter food and drink poisoned water, because the prophets of Jerusalem spread wickedness through the whole country."

16 This is what the Lord All-Powerful says: "Don't pay attention to what those prophets are saying to you. They are trying to fool you. They talk about visions their own minds made up, not about visions from me.

17 They say to those who hate me: 'The Lord says: You will have peace.' They say to all those who are stubborn and do as they please: 'Nothing bad will happen to you.'

18 But none of these prophets has stood in the meeting of angels to see or hear the message of the Lord. None of them has paid close attention to his message.

19 Look, the punishment from the Lord will come like a storm. His anger will be like a hurricane. It will come swirling down on the heads of those wicked people

20 The Lord's anger will not stop until he finishes what he plans to do. When that day is over, you will understand this clearly.

21 I did not send those prophets, but they ran to tell their message. I did not speak to them, but they prophesied anyway

22 But if they had stood in the meeting of angels, they would have told my message to my people. They would have turned the people from their evil ways and from doing evil.

23 "I am a God who is near," says the Lord. "I am also a God who is far away."

24 "No one can hide where I cannot see him," says the Lord. "I fill all of heaven and earth," says the Lord.

25 "I have heard the prophets who prophesy lies in my name. They say, 'I have had a dream! I have had a dream!'

26 How long will this continue in the minds of these lying prophets? They prophesy from their own wishful thinking.

27 They are trying to make the people of Judah forget me by telling each other these dreams. In the same way, their ancestors forgot me and worshiped Baal.

28 Is straw the same thing as wheat?" says the Lord. "If a prophet wants to tell about his dreams, let him! But let the person who hears my message speak it truthfully!

29 Isn't my message like a fire?" says the Lord. "Isn't it like a hammer that smashes a rock?

30 "So I am against the false prophets," says the Lord. "They keep stealing words from each other and say they are from me.

31 I am against the false prophets," says the Lord. "They use their own words and pretend it is a message from me.

32 I am against the prophets who prophesy false dreams," says the Lord. "They mislead my people with their lies and false teachings! I did not send them or command them to do anything for me. They can't help the people of Judah at all," says the Lord.

33 "Suppose the people of Judah, a prophet, or a priest asks you: 'Jeremiah, what is the message from the Lord?' You will answer them and say, 'You are a heavy load to the Lord, and I will throw you down, says the Lord.'

34 A prophet or a priest or one of the people might say, 'This is a message from the Lord.' That person has lied, so I will punish him and his whole family.

35 This is what you will say to each other: 'What did the Lord answer?' or 'What did the Lord say?'

36 But you will never again say, 'The message of the Lord,' because the only message you speak is your own words. You have changed the words of our God, the living God, the Lord All-Powerful

37 This is how you should speak to the prophets: 'What answer did the Lord give you?' or 'What did the Lord say?'

38 But don't say, 'The message from the Lord.' If you use these words, this is what the Lord says: Because you called it a 'message from the Lord,' though I told you not to use those words

39 I will pick you up and throw you away from me, along with Jerusalem, which I gave to your ancestors and to you.

40 And I will make a disgrace of you forever; your shame will never be forgotten."

Good News Translation GNT

1 How terrible will be the Lord's judgment on those rulers who destroy and scatter his people!

2 This is what the Lord, the God of Israel, says about the rulers who were supposed to take care of his people: "You have not taken care of my people; you have scattered them and driven them away. Now I am going to punish you for the evil you have done.

3 I will gather the rest of my people from the countries where I have scattered them, and I will bring them back to their homeland. They will have many children and increase in number.

4 I will appoint rulers to take care of them. My people will no longer be afraid or terrified, and I will not punish them again. I, the Lord, have spoken.

5 The Lord says, "The time is coming when I will choose as king a righteous descendant of David. That king will rule wisely and do what is right and just throughout the land.

6 When he is king, the people of Judah will be safe, and the people of Israel will live in peace. He will be called "The Lord Our Salvation.'

7 "The time is coming," says the Lord, "when people will no longer swear by me as the living God who brought the people of Israel out of the land of Egypt.

8 Instead, they will swear by me as the living God who brought the people of Israel out of a northern land and out of all the other countries where I had scattered them. Then they will live in their own land."

9 My heart is crushed, and I am trembling. Because of the Lord, because of his holy words, I am like a man who is drunk, someone who has had too much wine.

10 The land is full of people unfaithful to the Lord; they live wicked lives and misuse their power. Because of the Lord's curse the land mourns and the pastures are dry.

11 The Lord says, "The prophets and the priests are godless; I have caught them doing evil in the Temple itself.

12 The paths they follow will be slippery and dark; I will make them stumble and fall. I am going to bring disaster on them; the time of their punishment is coming. I, the Lord, have spoken.

13 I have seen the sin of Samaria's prophets: they have spoken in the name of Baal and have led my people astray.

14 But I have seen the prophets in Jerusalem do even worse: they commit adultery and tell lies; they help people to do wrong, so that no one stops doing what is evil. To me they are all as bad as the people of Sodom and Gomorrah

15 "So then, this is what I, the Lord Almighty, say about the prophets of Jerusalem: I will give them bitter plants to eat and poison to drink, because they have spread ungodliness throughout the land."

16 The Lord Almighty said to the people of Jerusalem, "Do not listen to what the prophets say; they are filling you with false hopes. They tell you what they have imagined and not what I have said.

17 To the people who refuse to listen to what I have said, they keep saying that all will go well with them. And they tell everyone who is stubborn that disaster will never touch them."

18 I said, "None of these prophets has ever known the Lord's secret thoughts. None of them has ever heard or understood his message, or ever listened or paid attention to what he said.

19 His anger is a storm, a furious wind that will rage over the heads of the wicked

20 and it will not end until he has done everything he intends to do. In days to come his people will understand this clearly."

21 The Lord said, "I did not send these prophets, but even so they went. I did not give them any message, but still they spoke in my name

22 If they had known my secret thoughts, then they could have proclaimed my message to my people and could have made them give up the evil lives they live and the wicked things they do.

23 "I am a God who is everywhere and not in one place only.

24 No one can hide where I cannot see them. Do you not know that I am everywhere in heaven and on earth?

25 I know what those prophets have said who speak lies in my name and claim that I have given them my messages in their dreams.

26 How much longer will those prophets mislead my people with the lies they have invented?

27 They think that the dreams they tell will make my people forget me, just as their ancestors forgot me and turned to Baal.

28 The prophet who has had a dream should say it is only a dream, but the prophet who has heard my message should proclaim that message faithfully. What good is straw compared with wheat?

29 My message is like a fire and like a hammer that breaks rocks in pieces.

30 I am against those prophets who take each other's words and proclaim them as my message.

31 I am also against those prophets who speak their own words and claim they came from me.

32 Listen to what I, the Lord, say! I am against the prophets who tell their dreams that are full of lies. They tell these dreams and lead my people astray with their lies and their boasting. I did not send them or order them to go, and they are of no help at all to the people. I, the Lord, have spoken."

33 The Lord said to me, "Jeremiah, when one of my people or a prophet or a priest asks you, "What is the Lord's message?' you are to say, "You are a burden to the Lord, and he is going to get rid of you.'

34 If any of my people or a prophet or a priest even uses the words "the Lord's burden,' I will punish them and their families.

35 Instead, each one of them should ask their friends and their relatives, "What answer has the Lord given? What has the Lord said?'

36 So they must no longer use the words "the Lord's burden,' because if any of them do, I will make my message a real burden to them. The people have perverted the words of their God, the living God, the Lord Almighty

37 Jeremiah, ask the prophets, "What answer did the Lord give you? What did the Lord say?'

38 And if they disobey my command and use the words "the Lord's burden,' then tell them tha

39 I will certainly pick them up and throw them far away from me, both them and the city that I gave to them and their ancestors.

40 I will bring on them everlasting shame and disgrace that will never be forgotten."