Atlas Biblica

    Jeremiah · 40 verses

    Jeremiah 23

    Every verse links to the people and places named in it, and to the passages readers connect it with.

    The chapter

    What happens here

    Atlas's own reading, written from this chapter and nothing else, and published only once a person has approved it. Each scene names the verses it covers; the names inside it link to the people and places they name.

    The LORD makes “the burden of the LORD” into a phrase that carries its own punishment: ask for it and the answer is, “What burden? I will forsake you,” but keep saying it and the burden becomes shame, exile, and a household in trouble.

    Shepherds, a Branch, and a New Exodusvv. 1–8

    The chapter opens with shepherds who have scattered the flock and failed to attend to it. The LORD will gather the remnant from every land, return them to pasture, and raise up shepherds under whom none will be missing. Then comes the Branch for David: a king who will administer justice, while Judah is saved and Israel dwells securely. The old formula about Egypt is to be replaced by one about the LORD bringing the house of Israel out from the north and all the lands of banishment—a new national saying with rather more geography in it.

    Prophets Who Have Not Been Sentvv. 9–22

    The prophet is physically undone by the holy words, with a broken heart, trembling bones, and the alarming resemblance of a man overcome by wine. The trouble is not confined to one corner: prophet and priest are ungodly, Samaria’s prophets lead Israel astray by Baal, and Jerusalem’s prophets strengthen evildoers until Jerusalem is compared with Sodom and its people with Gomorrah. These prophets promise peace to those who despise the LORD, though they have not stood in His council. Had they done so, they would have spoken His words and turned the people back from evil.

    Dreams, Fire, and the Forbidden Burdenvv. 23–40

    The LORD is not merely nearby, but fills the heavens and the earth, which makes secret hiding a poor arrangement. The false prophets trade dreams, borrow one another’s words, and wag their tongues while announcing, “The LORD declares it.” Against this, the true word is grain rather than straw, fire rather than chaff, and a hammer that smashes rock. Then the chapter springs its neatest trap: the people, prophet, or priest who asks for “the burden of the LORD” is to hear, “What burden? I will forsake you.” The phrase is forbidden, and anyone who insists on carrying it away is itself cast out, along with everlasting shame.

    The text

    Read it

    Berean Standard Bible, public domain. Names the Hebrew and Greek put in the verse link to the person, place or people they name; the address beside each verse is a link to that verse, which is what a reader copies and shares.

    1. Jer 23:1“Woe to the shepherds who destroy and scatter the sheep of My pasture!” declares the LORD.

    2. Jer 23:2Therefore this is what the LORD, the God of Israel, says about the shepherds who tend My people: “You have scattered My flock and driven them away, and have not attended to them. Behold, I will attend to you for the evil of your deeds, declares the LORD.

    3. Jer 23:3Then I Myself will gather the remnant of My flock from all the lands to which I have banished them, and I will return them to their pasture, where they will be fruitful and multiply.

    4. Jer 23:4I will raise up shepherds over them who will tend them, and they will no longer be afraid or dismayed, nor will any go missing, declares the LORD.

    5. Jer 23:5Behold, the days are coming, declares the LORD, when I will raise up for David a righteous Branch, and He will reign wisely as King and will administer justice and righteousness in the land.

    6. Jer 23:6In His days Judah will be saved, and Israel will dwell securely. And this is His name by which He will be called: The LORD Our Righteousness.

    7. Jer 23:7So behold, the days are coming, declares the LORD, when they will no longer say, ‘As surely as the LORD lives, who brought the Israelites up out of the land of Egypt.’

    8. Jer 23:8Instead they will say, ‘As surely as the LORD lives, who brought and led the descendants of the house of Israel up out of the land of the north and all the other lands to which He had banished them.’ Then they will dwell once more in their own land.”

    9. Jer 23:9As for the prophets: My heart is broken within me, and all my bones tremble. I have become like a drunkard, like a man overcome by wine, because of the LORD, because of His holy words.

    10. Jer 23:10For the land is full of adulterers—because of the curse, the land mourns and the pastures of the wilderness have dried up—their course is evil and their power is misused.

    11. Jer 23:11“For both prophet and priest are ungodly; even in My house I have found their wickedness,” declares the LORD.

    12. Jer 23:12“Therefore their path will become slick; they will be driven away into the darkness and fall into it. For I will bring disaster upon them in the year of their punishment,” declares the LORD.

    13. Jer 23:13“Among the prophets of Samaria I saw an offensive thing: They prophesied by Baal and led My people Israel astray.

    14. Jer 23:14And among the prophets of Jerusalem I have seen a horrible thing: They commit adultery and walk in lies. They strengthen the hands of evildoers, so that no one turns his back on wickedness. They are all like Sodom to Me; the people of Jerusalem are like Gomorrah.”

    15. Jer 23:15Therefore this is what the LORD of Hosts says concerning the prophets: “I will feed them wormwood and give them poisoned water to drink, for from the prophets of Jerusalem ungodliness has spread throughout the land.”

    16. Jer 23:16This is what the LORD of Hosts says: “Do not listen to the words of the prophets who prophesy to you. They are filling you with false hopes. They speak visions from their own minds, not from the mouth of the LORD.

    17. Jer 23:17They keep saying to those who despise Me, ‘The LORD says that you will have peace,’ and to everyone who walks in the stubbornness of his own heart, ‘No harm will come to you.’

    18. Jer 23:18But which of them has stood in the council of the LORD to see and hear His word? Who has given heed to His word and obeyed it?

    19. Jer 23:19Behold, the storm of the LORD has gone out with fury, a whirlwind swirling down upon the heads of the wicked.

    20. Jer 23:20The anger of the LORD will not turn back until He has fully accomplished the purposes of His heart. In the days to come you will understand this clearly.

    21. Jer 23:21I did not send these prophets, yet they have run with their message; I did not speak to them, yet they have prophesied.

    22. Jer 23:22But if they had stood in My council, they would have proclaimed My words to My people and turned them back from their evil ways and deeds.”

    23. Jer 23:23“Am I only a God nearby,” declares the LORD, “and not a God far away?”

    24. Jer 23:24“Can a man hide in secret places where I cannot see him?” declares the LORD. “Do I not fill the heavens and the earth?” declares the LORD.

    25. Jer 23:25“I have heard the sayings of the prophets who prophesy lies in My name: ‘I had a dream! I had a dream!’

    26. Jer 23:26How long will this continue in the hearts of these prophets who prophesy falsehood, these prophets of the delusion of their own minds?

    27. Jer 23:27They suppose the dreams that they tell one another will make My people forget My name, just as their fathers forgot My name through the worship of Baal.

    28. Jer 23:28Let the prophet who has a dream retell it, but let him who has My word speak it truthfully. For what is straw compared to grain?” declares the LORD.

    29. Jer 23:29“Is not My word like fire,” declares the LORD, “and like a hammer that smashes a rock?”

    30. Jer 23:30“Therefore behold,” declares the LORD, “I am against the prophets who steal from one another words they attribute to Me.”

    31. Jer 23:31“Yes,” declares the LORD, “I am against the prophets who wag their own tongues and proclaim, ‘The LORD declares it.’”

    32. Jer 23:32“Indeed,” declares the LORD, “I am against those who prophesy false dreams and retell them to lead My people astray with their reckless lies. It was not I who sent them or commanded them, and they are of no benefit at all to these people,” declares the LORD.

    33. Jer 23:33“Now when this people or a prophet or priest asks you, ‘What is the burden of the LORD?’ you are to say to them, ‘What burden? I will forsake you, declares the LORD.’

    34. Jer 23:34As for the prophet or priest or anyone who claims, ‘This is the burden of the LORD,’ I will punish that man and his household.

    35. Jer 23:35This is what each man is to say to his friend and to his brother: ‘What has the LORD answered?’ or ‘What has the LORD spoken?’

    36. Jer 23:36But refer no more to the burden of the LORD, for each man’s word becomes the burden, so that you pervert the words of the living God, the LORD of Hosts, our God.

    37. Jer 23:37Thus you are to say to the prophet: ‘What has the LORD answered you?’ and ‘What has the LORD spoken?’

    38. Jer 23:38But if you claim, ‘This is the burden of the LORD,’ then this is what the LORD says: Because you have said, ‘This is the burden of the LORD,’ and I specifically told you not to make this claim,

    39. Jer 23:39therefore I will surely forget you and will cast you out of My presence, both you and the city that I gave to you and your fathers.

    40. Jer 23:40And I will bring upon you everlasting shame and perpetual humiliation that will never be forgotten.”

    01 — Also here

    Who else the chapter reaches

    Names written in the English are linked in the text above. These are the ones that are not: an entity the Hebrew or Greek names under a spelling the translation does not use, or one reached only by an assertion about a verse of this chapter.

    Named in the Hebrew or Greek somewhere in this chapter, under a form the English renders differently — the registry's Ludim against the translation's Ludites — so there is no word in the sentence to hang the link on.

    02 — Read alongside

    Where this is echoed

    Readers' own connections, from OpenBible's crowd-voted cross-references — agreement about relevance, and not scholarly confidence. 582 passages were voted onto 39 verses of this chapter; the 16 shown lead on votes, and each is listed at the verse it was voted onto most strongly.

    • 3Amos 9:14–15I will restore My people Israel from captivity; they will rebuild and inhabit the ruined cities. They will plant vineyards and drink their wine; they will make gardens and eat their fruit.
    • 3Jeremiah 32:37I will surely gather My people from all the lands to which I have banished them in My furious anger and great wrath, and I will return them to this place and make them dwell in safety.
    • 3Isaiah 43:5–6Do not be afraid, for I am with you; I will bring your offspring from the east and gather you from the west.
    • 3Jeremiah 29:14I will be found by you, declares the LORD, and I will restore you from captivity and gather you from all the nations and places to which I have banished you, declares the LORD. I will restore you to the place from which I sent you into exile.”
    • 29Hebrews 4:12For the word of God is living and active. Sharper than any double-edged sword, it pierces even to dividing soul and spirit, joints and marrow. It judges the thoughts and intentions of the heart.
    • 3Jeremiah 30:3For behold, the days are coming, declares the LORD, when I will restore from captivity My people Israel and Judah, declares the LORD. I will restore them to the land that I gave to their fathers, and they will possess it.’”
    • 29Jeremiah 5:14Therefore this is what the LORD God of Hosts says: “Because you have spoken this word, I will make My words a fire in your mouth and this people the wood it consumes.
    • 3Zephaniah 3:19–20Behold, at that time, I will deal with all who afflict you. I will save the lame and gather the scattered; and I will appoint praise and fame for the disgraced throughout the earth.
    • 1Jeremiah 10:21For the shepherds have become senseless; they do not seek the LORD. Therefore they have not prospered, and all their flock is scattered.
    • 29Luke 24:32They asked each other, “Were not our hearts burning within us as He spoke with us on the road and opened the Scriptures to us?”
    • 24Proverbs 15:3The eyes of the LORD are in every place, observing the evil and the good.
    • 3Ezekiel 11:17Therefore declare that this is what the Lord GOD says: ‘I will gather you from the peoples and assemble you from the countries to which you have been scattered, and I will give back to you the land of Israel.’
    • 29Jeremiah 20:9If I say, “I will not mention Him or speak any more in His name,” His message becomes a fire burning in my heart, shut up in my bones, and I become weary of holding it in, and I cannot prevail.
    • 3Ezekiel 34:11–31For this is what the Lord GOD says: ‘Behold, I Myself will search for My flock and seek them out.
    • 1Zechariah 11:15–17And the LORD said to me: “Take up once more the equipment of a foolish shepherd.
    • 292 Corinthians 10:4–5The weapons of our warfare are not the weapons of the flesh. Instead, they have divine power to demolish strongholds.

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