Jeremiah 22; Jeremiah 23

1 The LORD said to me, "Jeremiah, go down to the palace of the king of Judah. Announce my message there. Tell him,

2 'King of Judah, listen to the LORD's message. You are sitting on David's throne. You and your officials and your people come through these gates.

3 The LORD says, "Do what is fair and right. Save those who have been robbed. Set them free from the people who have treated them badly. Do not do anything wrong to outsiders or widows in this place. Do not harm children whose fathers have died. Do not kill those who are not guilty of doing anything wrong.

4 " ' "Be careful to obey those commands. Then kings who sit on David's throne will come through the gates of this palace. They will come riding in chariots and on horses. Their officials and their people will come along with them.

5 " ' "But suppose you do not obey those commands," announces the Lord. "Then I promise you that this palace will be destroyed. I make that promise by taking an oath in my own name." ' "

6 The LORD speaks about the palace of the king of Judah. He says, "You are like the land of Gilead to me. You are like the highest mountain in Lebanon. But I will make you like a desert. You will become like towns that no one lives in.

7 I will send destroyers against you. All of them will come with their weapons. They will cut up your fine cedar beams. They will throw them into the fire.

8 "People from many nations will pass by this city. They will ask one another, 'Why has the LORD done such a thing to this great city?'

9 "And the answer will be, 'Because its people have turned away from the covenant the LORD their God made with them. They have worshiped other gods. And they have served them.' "

10 Don't sob over dead King Josiah. Don't be sad because he's gone. Instead, sob bitterly over King Jehoahaz. He was forced to leave his country. He will never return. He'll never see his own land again.

11 Jehoahaz became king of Judah after his father Josiah. But he has gone away from this place. That's because the LORD says about him, "He will never return.

12 He will die in Egypt. That is where he was taken as a prisoner. He will not see this land again."

13 The LORD says, "How terrible it will be for King Jehoiakim! He builds his palace by mistreating his people. He builds its upstairs rooms with money that was gained by sinning. He makes his own people work for nothing. He does not pay them for what they do.

14 He says, 'I will build myself a great palace. It will have large rooms upstairs.' So he makes big windows in it. He covers its walls with cedar boards. He decorates it with red paint.

15 "Jehoiakim, does having more and more cedar boards make you a king? Your father Josiah had enough to eat and drink. He did what was right and fair. So everything went well with him.

16 He stood up for those who were poor or needy. So everything went well with him. That is what it means to know me," announces the Lord.

17 "Jehoiakim, the only thing on your mind is to get rich by cheating others. You would even kill people who are not guilty of doing anything wrong. You would mistreat them. You would take everything they own."

18 So the LORD speaks about King Jehoiakim, the son of Josiah. He says, "His people will not sob over him. They will not say, 'My poor brother! My poor sister!' They will not sob over him. They will not say, 'My poor master! How sad that his glory is gone!'

19 In fact, he will be buried like a donkey. His body will be dragged away and thrown outside the gates of Jerusalem."

20 The LORD says, "People of Jerusalem, go up to Lebanon. Cry out for help. Let your voice be heard in the land of Bashan. Cry out from the mountains of Abarim. All those who were going to help you are crushed.

21 When you felt secure, I warned you. But you said, 'I won't listen!' You have acted like that ever since you were young. You have not obeyed me.

22 The wind will drive all of your shepherds away. All those who were going to help you will be carried off as prisoners. Then you will be dishonored and put to shame. That will happen because you have been so sinful.

23 Some of you live in Jerusalem in the Palace of the Forest of Lebanon. You are comfortable in your cedar buildings. But you will groan when pain comes on you. It will be like the pain of a woman having a baby.

24 "King Jehoiachin, you are the son of Jehoiakim," announces the Lord. "Suppose you were a ring on my right hand. And suppose the ring even had my royal seal on it. Then I would still pull you off my finger. And that is just as sure as I am alive.

25 "I will hand you over to those who are trying to kill you. I will turn you over to people you are afraid of. I will give you to Nebuchadnezzar, the king of Babylonia. I will hand you over to his armies.

26 "I will throw you out into another country. I will throw your mother out. Neither of you was born in that country. But both of you will die there.

27 You will never come back to the land you long to return to."

28 This man Jehoiachin is like a broken pot. Everyone hates him. No one wants him. Why will he and his children be thrown out of this land? Why will they be sent to a land they didn't have anything to do with before?

29 Land, land, land, listen to the LORD's message!

30 The LORD says, "Let the record say that this man did not have any children. Let it report that he did not have any success in life. None of his children will have success either. None of them will sit on David's throne. None of them will ever rule over Judah.

1 "How terrible it will be for the shepherds who lead my people down the wrong path!" announces the Lord. "They are destroying and scattering the sheep that belong to my flock."

2 So the Lord, the God of Israel, speaks to the shepherds who take care of my people. He tells them, "You have scattered my sheep. You have driven them away. You have not taken good care of them. So I will punish you for the evil things you have done," announces the Lord.

3 "I myself will gather together those who are left alive in my flock. I will gather them out of all of the countries where I have driven them. And I will bring them back to their own land. There my sheep will have many lambs. Their numbers will increase.

4 "I will place shepherds over them who will take good care of them. My sheep will not be afraid or terrified anymore. And none of them will be missing," announces the Lord

5 "A new day is coming," announces the Lord. "At that time I will raise up from David's royal line a true and rightful Branch. He will be a King who will rule wisely. He will do what is fair and right in the land.

6 In his days Judah will be saved. Israel will live in safety. And the Branch will be called The LORD Who Makes Us Right With Himself.

7 "Other days are also coming," announces the Lord. "At that time people will no longer say, 'The LORD brought the people of Israel up out of Egypt. And that's just as sure as he is alive.'

8 "Instead, they will say, 'The LORD brought the people of Israel up out of the land of the north. He gathered them out of all of the countries where he had forced them to go. And that's just as sure as he is alive.' Then they will live in their own land."

9 Here is my message about the prophets. My heart is broken inside me. All of my bones tremble with fear. I am like a man who is drunk. I am like someone who has had too much wine. That's what the LORD's holy words have done to me.

10 The land is full of people who aren't faithful to the Lord. Now the land is under his curse. And that's why it is thirsty for water. That's why the grasslands in the desert are dry. The prophets are leading sinful lives. They don't use their power in the right way.

11 "Prophets and priests alike are ungodly," announces the Lord. "Even in my temple I find them sinning.

12 So their path will become slippery. They will be thrown out into darkness. There they will fall. I will bring trouble on them when the time to punish them comes," announces the Lord.

13 "Among the prophets of Samaria I saw something I can't stand. They were prophesying in the name of Baal. They were leading my people Israel down the wrong path.

14 I have also seen something horrible among Jerusalem's prophets. They are not faithful to me. They are not living by the truth. They strengthen the hands of those who do evil. So the people do not turn from their sinful ways. All of them are like the people of Sodom to me. They are just like the people of Gomorrah.

15 So the LORD who rules over all speaks about the prophets. He says, "I will make them eat bitter food. I will make them drink poisoned water. The prophets of Jerusalem have spread their ungodly ways all through the land."

16 The LORD who rules over all says to the people of Judah, "Do not listen to what the prophets are saying to you. They fill you with false hopes. They talk about visions that come from their own minds. What they say does not come from my mouth.

17 They keep speaking to those who hate me. They say, 'The LORD says you will have peace.' They speak to all those who do what their stubborn hearts want them to do. They tell them, 'No harm will come to you.'

18 But which of them has ever stood in my courts? Have they been there to see a vision or hear my message? Who has listened and heard my message there?

19 A storm will burst out because of my burning anger. A windstorm will sweep down on the heads of sinful people

20 My anger will not turn back. I will accomplish everything I plan to do. In days to come you will understand it clearly.

21 I did not send those prophets. But they have run to tell you their message anyway. I did not speak to them. But they have still prophesied

22 Suppose they had stood in my courts. Then they would have announced my message to my people. They would have turned my people from their evil ways. They would have turned them away from their sins.

23 "Am I only a God who is nearby?" announces the Lord. "Am I not a God who is also far away?

24 Can anyone hide in secret places so that I can't see him?" announces the Lord. "Don't I fill heaven and earth?" announces the Lord.

25 "I have heard what the prophets are saying. They prophesy lies in my name. They say, 'I had a dream! The LORD has given me a dream!'

26 How long will that continue in the hearts of those prophets who tell lies? They try to get others to believe their own mistaken ideas.

27 They tell one another their dreams. They think that will make my people forget my name. In the same way, their people of long ago forgot my name when they worshiped Baal.

28 "Let the prophet who has a dream tell his dream. But let the one who has my message speak it faithfully. Your prophets have given you straw to eat instead of grain," announces the Lord.

29 "My message is like fire," announces the Lord. "It is like a hammer that breaks a rock in pieces.

30 "So I am against those prophets," announces the Lord. "I am against those who steal messages from one another. They claim that the messages come from me.

31 "Yes," announces the Lord. "I am against the prophets who wag their own tongues but still say, 'Here is what the LORD says.'

32 I am against prophets who talk about dreams that did not come from me," announces the Lord. "They tell foolish lies. Their lies lead my people down the wrong path. "But I did not send those prophets. I did not appoint them. They do not help my people in the least," announces the Lord.

33 "Jeremiah, those people might ask you a question. Or a prophet or priest might do it. They might ask, 'What message have you received from the Lord?' "Then tell them, 'You ask, "What message?" Here it is. "I will desert you," announces the Lord.'

34 "A prophet or priest might make a claim. Or someone else might do it. He might claim, 'I have received a message from the Lord.' Then I will punish him and his family.

35 "Here is what each of you people keeps on saying to your friend or relative. You ask, 'What is the LORD's answer?' Or you ask, 'What has the LORD spoken?'

36 But you must not talk about 'a message from the Lord' again. That is because your message becomes your own message. And so you twist my words. I am the living God. I am the LORD who rules over all. And I am your God

37 "Here is what you keep saying to a prophet. You ask, 'What is the LORD's answer to you?' Or you ask, 'What has the LORD spoken?'

38 You claim, 'I have received a message from the Lord.' But I really say, 'You used the words, "I have received a message from the Lord." But I told you that you must not claim, "I have received a message from the Lord."

39 "So you can be sure I will forget you. I will throw you out of my sight. I will also destroy the city I gave you and your people.

40 I will bring shame on you that will last forever. It will never be forgotten."