Then Elijah said to the people, ‘I am the only remaining prophet of the Lord, but Baal’s prophets are 450 men.
Jeremiah 2:8 - Christian Standard Bible Anglicised The priests stopped asking, ‘Where is the Lord? ’ The experts in the law no longer knew me, and the rulers rebelled against me. The prophets prophesied by Baal and followed useless idols. Tuilleadh leaganachaKing James Version (Oxford) 1769 The priests said not, Where is the LORD? and they that handle the law knew me not: the pastors also transgressed against me, and the prophets prophesied by Baal, and walked after things that do not profit. Amplified Bible - Classic Edition [Even] the priests did not say, Where is the Lord? And those who handle the law [given by God to Moses] knew Me not. The rulers and secular shepherds also transgressed against Me, and the prophets prophesied by [the authority and in the name of] Baal and followed after things that do not profit. American Standard Version (1901) The priests said not, Where is Jehovah? and they that handle the law knew me not: the rulers also transgressed against me, and the prophets prophesied by Baal, and walked after things that do not profit. Common English Bible The priests didn’t ask, “Where’s the LORD?” Those responsible for the Instruction didn’t know me; the leaders rebelled against me; the prophets spoke in the name of Baal, going after what has no value. Catholic Public Domain Version The priests have not sad: 'Where is the Lord?' And those who held the law did not know me. And the pastors betrayed me. And the prophets prophesied in Baal and followed idols. Douay-Rheims version of The Bible - 1752 version The priests did not say: Where is the Lord? And they that held the law knew me not, and the pastors transgressed against me, and the prophets prophesied in Baal and followed idols. |
Then Elijah said to the people, ‘I am the only remaining prophet of the Lord, but Baal’s prophets are 450 men.
All afternoon they kept on raving until the offering of the evening sacrifice, but there was no sound; no one answered, no one paid attention.
Then Elijah ordered them, ‘Seize the prophets of Baal! Do not let even one of them escape.’ So they seized them, and Elijah brought them down to the Wadi Kishon and slaughtered them there.
But no one asks, ‘Where is God my Maker, who provides us with songs in the night,
Even these stagger because of wine and stumble under the influence of beer: Priest and prophet stagger because of beer. They are confused by wine. They stumble because of beer. They are muddled in their visions. They stumble in their judgements.
For the Lord has poured out on you an overwhelming urge to sleep; he has shut your eyes (the prophets) and covered your heads (the seers).
everyone will be ashamed because of a people who can’t help. They are of no benefit, they are no help; they are good for nothing but shame and disgrace.
For the shepherds are stupid: They don’t seek the Lord. Therefore they have not prospered, and their whole flock is scattered.
Many shepherds have destroyed my vineyard; they have trampled my plot of land. They have turned my desirable plot into a desolate wasteland.
Lord, my strength and my stronghold, my refuge in a time of distress, the nations will come to you from the ends of the earth, and they will say, ‘Our ancestors inherited only lies, worthless idols of no benefit at all.’
Then certain ones said, ‘Come, let’s make plans against Jeremiah, for instruction will never be lost from the priest, or counsel from the wise, or a word from the prophet. Come, let’s denounce him and pay no attention to all his words.’
Has a nation ever exchanged its gods? (But they were not gods! ) Yet my people have exchanged their Glory for useless idols.
They stopped asking, ‘Where is the Lord who brought us from the land of Egypt, who led us through the wilderness, through a land of deserts and ravines, through a land of drought and darkness, a land no one travelled through and where no one lived? ’
‘For my people are fools; they do not know me. They are foolish children, without understanding. They are skilled in doing what is evil, but they do not know how to do what is good.’
The prophets prophesy falsely, and the priests rule by their own authority. My people love it like this. But what will you do at the end of it?
Instead, they followed the stubbornness of their hearts and followed the Baals as their ancestors taught them.’
Her priests do violence to my instruction and profane my holy things. They make no distinction between the holy and the common, and they do not explain the difference between the clean and the unclean. They close their eyes to my Sabbaths, and I am profaned among them.
‘Son of man, prophesy against the shepherds of Israel. Prophesy, and say to them, “This is what the Lord God says to the shepherds: Woe to the shepherds of Israel, who have been feeding themselves! Shouldn’t the shepherds feed their flock?
My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge. Because you have rejected knowledge, I will reject you from serving as my priest. Since you have forgotten the law of your God, I will also forget your sons.
What use is a carved idol after its craftsman carves it? It is only a cast image, a teacher of lies. For the one who crafts its shape trusts in it and makes worthless idols that cannot speak.
For what will it benefit someone if he gains the whole world yet loses his life? Or what will anyone give in exchange for his life?
‘Woe to you experts in the law! You have taken away the key to knowledge. You didn’t go in yourselves, and you hindered those who were trying to go in.’
They will do these things because they haven’t known the Father or me.
You do not know him, but I know him. If I were to say I don’t know him, I would be a liar like you. But I do know him, and I keep his word.
Instead, we have renounced secret and shameful things, not acting deceitfully or distorting the word of God, but commending ourselves before God to everyone’s conscience by an open display of the truth.
They will teach your ordinances to Jacob and your instruction to Israel; they will set incense before you and whole burnt offerings on your altar.
Don’t turn away to follow worthless things that can’t profit or rescue you; they are worthless.