Jeremiah 23 - Easy To Read Version

¹ “It will be very bad for the shepherds (leaders) of the people of Judah. Those shepherds are destroying the sheep. They are making the sheep run from my pasture in all directions.” This message is from the Lord.

² Those shepherds (leaders) are responsible for my people. And the Lord, the God of Israel, says these things to those shepherds: “You shepherds (leaders) have made my sheep run away in all directions. You have forced them to go away. And you have not taken care of them. But I will take care of you—I will punish you for the bad things you did.” This message is from the Lord:

³ “I sent my sheep (people) to other countries. But I will gather together my sheep that are left. And I will bring them back to their pasture (country). When my sheep are back in their pasture, they will have many children and grow in number.

⁴ I will place new shepherds (leaders) over my sheep. Those shepherds will take care of my sheep. And my sheep will not be scared or afraid. None of my sheep will be lost.” This message is from the Lord.

⁵ This message is from the Lord,\par “The time is coming,”\par “when I will raise up a good ‘sprout.’ {\cf2\super [181]} \par He will be a king\par who will rule in a wise way.\par He will do what is fair and right\par in the land.\par

⁶ In the time of that good ‘sprout,’\par the people of Judah will be saved.\par And Israel will live in safety.\par This will be his name:\par The Lord is our Goodness. {\cf2\super [182]} \par

⁷ “So the time is coming,” this message is from the Lord, “when people won’t say the old promise by the Lord any more. The old promise is: ‘As surely as the Lord lives, the Lord is the One who brought the people of Israel out of the land of Egypt.’

⁸ But people will say something new. They will say, ‘As surely as the Lord lives, the Lord is the One who brought the people of Israel out of the land of the north. He brought them out of all the countries where he had sent them.’ Then the people of Israel will live in their own land.”

⁹ A message to the prophets:\par I am very sad—my heart is broken.\par All my bones are shaking.\par I (Jeremiah) am like a man that is drunk.\par Why? Because of the Lord\par and his holy words.\par

¹⁰ The land of Judah is full of people that do the sin of adultery. {\cf2\super [183]} \par They are unfaithful in many ways.\par The Lord cursed the land,\par and it became very dry.\par The plants are dried and dying in the pastures.\par The fields have become like the desert.\par The prophets are evil.\par Those prophets use their influence\par and power in the wrong way.\par

¹¹ “The prophets and even the priests are evil.\par I have seen them doing evil things\par in my own temple.”\par This message is from the Lord.\par

¹² “\{I will stop giving my messages to them.\}\par It will be like they must walk in darkness.\par It will be like the road is slippery\par for those prophets and priests.\par And they will fall in that darkness.\par I will bring disaster on them.\par I will punish those prophets and priests.”\par This message is from the Lord.\par

¹³ “I saw the prophets of Samaria {\cf2\super [184]} \par doing wrong things.\par I saw those prophets prophesy {\cf2\super [185]} \par in the name of the false god Baal. {\cf2\super [186]} \par Those prophets led the people of Israel\par away from the Lord.\par

¹⁴ Now I have seen the prophets of Judah\par do those terrible things in Jerusalem.\par These prophets do the sin of adultery. {\cf2\super [187]} \par They listened to lies—and they obeyed\par those false teachings.\par They encourage wicked people\par to continue doing evil things.\par So the people did not stop sinning.\par They are like the people of Sodom {\cf2\super [188]} .\par Now Jerusalem is like Gomorrah {\cf2\super [189]} to me.”\par

¹⁵ So, this is what the Lord All-Powerful says\par about the prophets:\par “I will punish those prophets.\par The punishment will be\par like eating poisoned food and water.\par The prophets started a spiritual sickness.\par And that sickness spread through\par the whole country.\par So I will punish those prophets.\par That sickness came from the prophets\par in Jerusalem.”\par

¹⁶ The Lord All-Powerful says these things:\par “Don’t pay attention to the things\par that those prophets are saying to you.\par They are trying to fool you.\par Those prophets talk about visions. {\cf2\super [190]} \par But they did not get their visions from me.\par Their visions come from their own minds.\par

¹⁷ Some of the people hate\par the real messages from the Lord.\par So those prophets give a different message\par to those people.\par They say,\par ‘You will have peace.’\par Some of the people are very stubborn.\par They do only the things they want to do.\par So those prophets say,\par ‘Nothing bad will happen to you!’\par

¹⁸ But none of those prophets\par has stood in the heavenly council. {\cf2\super [191]} \par None of them has seen or heard\par the message of the Lord.\par None of them has paid close attention\par to the Lord’s message.\par

¹⁹ Now the punishment from the Lord\par will come like a storm.\par The Lord’s anger will be like a tornado.\par It will come crashing down\par on the heads of those wicked people.\par

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

²¹ I did not send those prophets.\par But they ran \{to tell their messages\}.\par I did not speak to them.\par But they preached in my name.\par

²² If they had stood in my heavenly council,\par then they would have told my messages\par to the people of Judah.\par They would have stopped the people\par from doing bad things.\par They would have stopped them\par from doing evil.”\par

²³ “I am God, and I am always near!”\par This message is from the Lord.\par “I am not far away!\par

²⁴ A person might try to hide from me\par in some hiding place.\par But it is easy for me to see him.\par Why? Because I am everywhere\par in heaven and earth!”\par The Lord said these things.\par

²⁵ “There are prophets that preach lies in my name. They say, ‘I have had a dream! I have had a dream!’ I heard them say those things.

²⁶ How long will this continue? Those prophets think up lies. And then they teach those lies to the people.

²⁷ These prophets are trying to make the people of Judah forget my name. They are doing this by telling each other these false dreams. They are trying to make my people forget me in the same way that their ancestors {\cf2\super [192]} forgot me. Their ancestors forgot me and worshiped the false god Baal. {\cf2\super [193]}

²⁸ Straw is not the same thing as wheat! In the same way, those prophets’ dreams are not messages from me. If a person wants to tell about his dreams, then let him. But let the man that hears my message speak my message truthfully.

²⁹ My message is like a fire.” This message is from the Lord. “It is like a hammer that smashes a rock.

³⁰ “So I am against the false prophets.” This message is from the Lord. “These prophets keep stealing my words from one another.

³¹ I am against the false prophets.” This message is from the Lord. “They use their own words and pretend that it is a message from me.

³² I am against the false prophets that preach fake dreams.” This message is from the Lord. “They mislead my people with their lies and false teachings. I did not send those prophets to teach the people. I never commanded them to do anything for me. They can’t help the people of Judah at all.” This message is from the Lord.

³³ “The people of Judah, or a prophet, or a priest may ask you, ‘Jeremiah, what is the announcement of the Lord?’ You will answer them and say, ‘You are a heavy load {\cf2\super [194]} to the Lord. And I will throw down this heavy load.’ This message is from the Lord.

³⁴ “A prophet, or a priest, or maybe one of the people might say, ‘This is an announcement from the Lord …’ \{That person lied,\} so I will punish that person and his whole family.

³⁵ This is what you will say to one another: ‘What did the Lord answer?’ or ‘What did the Lord say?’

³⁶ But you will never again use the expression, ‘The announcement (heavy load) of the Lord.’ This is because the Lord’s message should not be a heavy load for anyone. But you changed the words of our God. He is the living God, the Lord All-Powerful!

³⁷ “If you want to learn about God’s message, then ask a prophet, ‘What answer did the Lord give you?’ or ‘What did the Lord say?’

³⁸ But don’t say, ‘What was the announcement (heavy load) from the Lord?’ If you use these words, then the Lord will say these things to you: ‘You should not have called my message an ‘announcement (heavy load) from the Lord.’ I told you not to use those words.

³⁹ But you called my message a heavy load, so I will pick you up like a heavy load and throw you away from me. I gave the city of Jerusalem to your ancestors. {\cf2\super [195]} But I will throw you and that city away from me.

⁴⁰ And I will make you a disgrace forever. You will never forget your embarrassment.’”