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Chapter 23
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1
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Woe be unto the pastors that destroy and scatter the
sheep of my pasture! saith the LORD. |
2
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Therefore thus saith the LORD God of Israel against
the pastors that feed my people; Ye have scattered my
flock, and driven them away, and have not visited them:
behold, I will visit upon you the evil of your doings,
saith the LORD. |
3
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And I will gather the remnant of my flock out of all
countries whither I have driven them, and will bring
them again to their folds; and they shall be fruitful
and increase. |
4
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And I will set up shepherds over them which shall feed
them: and they shall fear no more, nor be dismayed, neither
shall they be lacking, saith the LORD. |
5
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Behold, the days come, saith the LORD, that I will
raise unto David a righteous Branch, and a King shall
reign and prosper, and shall execute judgment and justice
in the earth. |
6
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In his days Judah shall be saved, and Israel shall
dwell safely: and this is his name whereby he shall be
called, THE LORD OUR RIGHTEOUSNESS. |
7
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Therefore, behold, the days come, saith the LORD, that
they shall no more say, The LORD liveth, which brought
up the children of Israel out of the land of Egypt; |
8
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But, The LORD liveth, which brought up and which led
the seed of the house of Israel out of the north country,
and from all countries whither I had driven them; and
they shall dwell in their own land. |
9
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Mine heart within me is broken because of the prophets;
all my bones shake; I am like a drunken man, and like
a man whom wine hath overcome, because of the LORD, and
because of the words of his holiness. |
10
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For the land is full of adulterers; for because of
swearing the land mourneth; the pleasant places of the
wilderness are dried up, and their course is evil, and
their force is not right. |
11
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For both prophet and priest are profane; yea, in my
house have I found their wickedness, saith the LORD. |
12
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Wherefore their way shall be unto them as slippery
ways in the darkness: they shall be driven on, and fall
therein: for I will bring evil upon them, even the year
of their visitation, saith the LORD. |
13
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And I have seen folly in the prophets of Samaria; they
prophesied in Baal, and caused my people Israel to err. |
14
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I have seen also in the prophets of Jerusalem an horrible
thing: they commit adultery, and walk in lies: they strengthen
also the hands of evildoers, that none doth return from
his wickedness; they are all of them unto me as Sodom,
and the inhabitants thereof as Gomorrah. |
15
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Therefore thus saith the LORD of hosts concerning the
prophets; Behold, I will feed them with wormwood, and
make them drink the water of gall: for from the prophets
of Jerusalem is profaneness gone forth into all the land. |
16
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Thus saith the LORD of hosts, Hearken not unto the
words of the prophets that prophesy unto you: they make
you vain: they speak a vision of their own heart, and
not out of the mouth of the LORD. |
17
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They say still unto them that despise me, The LORD
hath said, Ye shall have peace; and they say unto every
one that walketh after the imagination of his own heart,
No evil shall come upon you. |
18
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For who hath stood in the counsel of the LORD, and
hath perceived and heard his word? who hath marked his
word, and heard it? |
19
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Behold, a whirlwind of the LORD is gone forth in fury,
even a grievous whirlwind: it shall fall grievously upon
the head of the wicked. |
20
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The anger of the LORD shall not return, until he have
executed, and till he have performed the thoughts of
his heart: in the latter days ye shall consider it perfectly. |
21
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I have not sent these prophets, yet they ran: I have
not spoken to them, yet they prophesied. |
22
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But if they had stood in my counsel, and had caused
my people to hear my words, then they should have turned
them from their evil way, and from the evil of their
doings. |
23
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Am I a God at hand, saith the LORD, and not a God afar
off? |
24
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Can any hide himself in secret places that I shall
not see him? saith the LORD. Do not I fill heaven and
earth? saith the LORD. |
25
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I have heard what the prophets said, that prophesy
lies in my name, saying, I have dreamed, I have dreamed. |
26
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How long shall this be in the heart of the prophets
that prophesy lies? yea, they are prophets of the deceit
of their own heart; |
27
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Which think to cause my people to forget my name by
their dreams which they tell every man to his neighbour,
as their fathers have forgotten my name for Baal. |
28
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The prophet that hath a dream, let him tell a dream;
and he that hath my word, let him speak my word faithfully.
What is the chaff to the wheat? saith the LORD. |
29
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Is not my word like as a fire? saith the LORD; and
like a hammer that breaketh the rock in pieces? |
30
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Therefore, behold, I am against the prophets, saith
the LORD, that steal my words every one from his neighbour. |
31
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Behold, I am against the prophets, saith the LORD,
that use their tongues, and say, He saith. |
32
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Behold, I am against them that prophesy false dreams,
saith the LORD, and do tell them, and cause my people
to err by their lies, and by their lightness; yet I sent
them not, nor commanded them: therefore they shall not
profit this people at all, saith the LORD. |
33
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And when this people, or the prophet, or a priest,
shall ask thee, saying, What is the burden of the LORD?
thou shalt then say unto them, What burden? I will even
forsake you, saith the LORD. |
34
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And as for the prophet, and the priest, and the people,
that shall say, The burden of the LORD, I will even punish
that man and his house. |
35
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Thus shall ye say every one to his neighbour, and every
one to his brother, What hath the LORD answered? and,
What hath the LORD spoken? |
36
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And the burden of the LORD shall ye mention no more:
for every man's word shall be his burden; for ye have
perverted the words of the living God, of the LORD of
hosts our God. |
37
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Thus shalt thou say to the prophet, What hath the LORD
answered thee? and, What hath the LORD spoken? |
38
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But since ye say, The burden of the LORD; therefore
thus saith the LORD; Because ye say this word, The burden
of the LORD, and I have sent unto you, saying, Ye shall
not say, The burden of the LORD; |
39
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Therefore, behold, I, even I, will utterly forget you,
and I will forsake you, and the city that I gave you
and your fathers, and cast you out of my presence: |
40
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And I will bring an everlasting reproach upon you,
and a perpetual shame, which shall not be forgotten. |
