1Woe unto the shepherds that destroy and scatter the sheep of my pasture ! saith Jehovah . 2Therefore thus saith Jehovah , the God of Israel , against the shepherds 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 Jehovah . 3And I will gather the remnant of my flock out of all the countries whither I have driven them , and will bring them again to their folds ; and they shall be fruitful and multiply . 4And I will set up shepherds over them , who shall feed them ; and they shall fear no more , nor be dismayed , neither shall any be lacking , saith Jehovah .
The Righteous Branch
5Behold , the days come , saith Jehovah , that I will raise unto David a righteous Branch , and he shall reign as king and deal wisely , and shall execute justice and righteousness in the land. 6In his days Judah shall be saved , and Israel shall dwell safely; and this is his name whereby he shall be called : Jehovah our righteousness . 7Therefore , behold , the days come , saith Jehovah , that they shall no more say , As Jehovah liveth , who brought up the children of Israel out of the land of Egypt ; 8but , As Jehovah liveth , who brought up and who led the seed of the house of Israel out of the north country, and from all the countries whither I had driven them . And they shall dwell in their own land.
The Prophets of Deceit
9Concerning the prophets . My heart within me is broken , all my bones shake ; I am like a drunken man , and like a man whom wine hath overcome , because of Jehovah , and because of his holy words . 10For the land is full of adulterers ; for because of swearing the land mourneth; the pastures of the wilderness are dried up . And their course is evil , and their might is not right ; 11for both prophet and priest are profane ; yea , in my house have I found their wickedness , saith Jehovah . 12Wherefore their way shall be unto them as slippery places 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 Jehovah . 13And I have seen folly in the prophets of Samaria ; they prophesied by Baal , and caused my people Israel to err . 14In the prophets of Jerusalem also I have seen a horrible thing : they commit adultery , and walk in lies ; and they strengthen the hands of evil-doers, so that none doth return from his wickedness : they are all of them become unto me as Sodom , and the inhabitants thereof as Gomorrah . 15Therefore thus saith Jehovah 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 ungodliness gone forth into all the land.
The Coming Judgment and Restoration
16Thus saith Jehovah of hosts , Hearken not unto the words of the prophets that prophesy unto you : they teach you vanity; they speak a vision of their own heart , and not out of the mouth of Jehovah . 17They say continually unto them that despise me , Jehovah hath said , Ye shall have peace ; and unto every one that walketh in the stubbornness of his own heart they say , No evil shall come upon you . 18For who hath stood in the council of Jehovah , that he should perceive and hear his word ? who hath marked my word , and heard it ? 19Behold , the tempest of Jehovah , even his wrath , is gone forth , yea, a whirling tempest : it shall burst upon the head of the wicked . 20The anger of Jehovah shall not return , until he have executed , and till he have performed the intents of his heart : in the latter days ye shall understand it perfectly.
The Importance of True Prophecy
21I sent not these prophets , yet they ran : I spake not unto them , yet they prophesied . 22But if they had stood in my council , then had they caused my people to hear my words , and had turned them from their evil way , and from the evil of their doings . 23Am I a God at hand , saith Jehovah , and not a God afar off ? 24Can any hide himself in secret places so that I shall not see him ? saith Jehovah . Do not I fill heaven and earth ? saith Jehovah . 25I have heard what the prophets have said , that prophesy lies in my name , saying, I have dreamed , I have dreamed . 26How long shall this be in the heart of the prophets that prophesy lies , even the prophets of the deceit of their own heart ? 27that think to cause my people to forget my name by their dreams which they tell every man to his neighbor , as their fathers forgat my name for Baal . 28The 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 straw to the wheat ? saith Jehovah . 29Is not my word like fire? saith Jehovah ; and like a hammer that breaketh the rock in pieces ? 30Therefore , behold , I am against the prophets , saith Jehovah , that steal my words every one from his neighbor . 31Behold , I am against the prophets , saith Jehovah , that use their tongues , and say , He saith . 32Behold , I am against them that prophesy lying dreams , saith Jehovah , and do tell them , and cause my people to err by their lies , and by their vain boasting : yet I sent them not , nor commanded them ; neither do they profit this people at all , saith Jehovah . 33And when this people , or the prophet , or a priest , shall ask thee , saying, What is the burden of Jehovah ? then shalt thou say unto them , What burden ! I will cast you off , saith Jehovah . 34And as for the prophet , and the priest , and the people , that shall say, The burden of Jehovah , I will even punish that man and his house . 35Thus shall ye say every one to his neighbor , and every one to his brother , What hath Jehovah answered ? and , What hath Jehovah spoken ? 36And the burden of Jehovah shall ye mention no more : for every man ’s own word shall be his burden ; for ye have perverted the words of the living God , of Jehovah of hosts our God . 37Thus shalt thou say to the prophet , What hath Jehovah answered thee ? and , What hath Jehovah spoken ? 38But if ye say , The burden of Jehovah ; therefore thus saith Jehovah : Because ye say this word , The burden of Jehovah , and I have sent unto you , saying , Ye shall not say , The burden of Jehovah ; 39therefore , behold , I will utterly forget you , and I will cast you off , and the city that I gave unto you and to your fathers, away from my presence : 40and I will bring an everlasting reproach upon you , and a perpetual shame , which shall not be forgotten .