23 “Woe to the shepherds who are destroying and scattering the sheep of my pasture!” declares Ahv'ah {Heb. Yahvah}.
2 Therefore this is what Ahv'ah {Heb. Yahvah} the Al {pre. Ahl} of Isra'Al says against the shepherds who are shepherding my people: “You have scattered my sheep; you kept dispersing them, and you have not turned your attention to them.”
“So I will turn my attention to you because of your evil deeds,” declares Ahv'ah {Heb. Yahvah}.
3 “Then I will gather together the remnant of my sheep from all the lands to which I have dispersed them, and I will bring them back to their pasture, and they will be fruitful and become many. 4 And I will raise up over them shepherds who will really shepherd them. They will no longer be afraid or be terrified, and none will be missing,” declares Ahv'ah {Heb. Yahvah}.
5 “Look! The days are coming,” declares Ahv'ah {Heb. Yahvah}, “when I will raise up to David a righteous sprout. And a king will reign and show insight and uphold justice and righteousness in the land. 6 In his days Judah will be saved, and Isra'Al will reside in security. And this is the name by which he will be called: Ahv'ah {Heb. Yahvah} Is Our Righteousness.”
7 “However, the days are coming,” declares Ahv'ah {Heb. Yahvah}, “when they will no longer say, ‘As surely as Ahv'ah {Heb. Yahvah} is alive, who brought the people of Isra'Al out of the land of Egypt!’ 8 but rather, ‘As surely as Ahv'ah {Heb. Yahvah} is alive, who brought out and brought back the descendants of the house of Isra'Al from the land of the north and from all the lands to which I had dispersed them,’ and they will dwell in their own land.”
9 Concerning the prophets:
My heart is broken within me.
All my bones are shaking.
I am like a man who is drunk
And like a man overcome by wine,
Because of Ahv'ah {Heb. Yahvah} and because of his holy words.
10 For the land is full of adulterers;
Because of the curse the land has gone into mourning
And the pastures of the wilderness have dried up.
Their course is evil, and they abuse their power.
11 “Both the prophet and the priest are polluted.
Even in my own house I have found their wickedness,” declares Ahv'ah {Heb. Yahvah}.
12 “So their path will become slippery and dark;
They will be pushed and will fall.
For I will bring calamity on them
In the year of reckoning,” declares Ahv'ah {Heb. Yahvah}.
13 “And in the prophets of Sa·marʹi·a I have seen what is repulsive.
Their prophecies are incited by Baʹal,
And they lead my people Isra'Al astray.
14 And in the prophets of Yerushalom I have seen horrible things.
They commit adultery and walk in falsehood;
And they do not turn away from their wickedness.
To me they are all like Sodʹom,
And her inhabitants are like Go·morʹrah.”
15 Therefore this is what Ahv'ah {Heb. Yahvah} of armies says against the prophets:
“Here I am making them eat wormwood
And giving them poisoned water to drink.
For from the prophets of Yerushalom apostasy has spread throughout the land.”
16 This is what Ahv'ah {Heb. Yahvah} of armies says:
“Do not listen to the words of the prophets who are prophesying to you.
The vision they speak is from their own heart,
Not from the mouth of Ahv'ah {Heb. Yahvah}.
17 They are saying again and again to those who disrespect me,
‘Ahv'ah {Heb. Yahvah} has said: “You will enjoy peace.”’
And to everyone who follows his own stubborn heart they say,
‘No calamity will come upon you.’
18 For who has stood in the inner circle of Ahv'ah {Heb. Yahvah}
To see and hear his word?
Who has paid attention to his word in order to hear it?
19 Look! The windstorm of Ahv'ah {Heb. Yahvah} will burst out in fury;
Like a whirling tempest it will whirl down on the head of the wicked.
20 The anger of Ahv'ah {Heb. Yahvah} will not turn back
Until he has carried out and accomplished the intentions of his heart.
In the final part of the days you will clearly understand this.
21 I did not send the prophets, yet they ran.
I did not speak to them, yet they prophesied.
22 But if they had stood in my inner circle,
They would have made my people hear my words
And would have caused them to turn back from their bad way and their evil deeds.”
23 “Am I only a Al {pre. Ahl} nearby,” declares Ahv'ah {Heb. Yahvah}, “and not a Al {pre. Ahl} also from far away?”
24 “Can any man hide in a concealed place where I cannot see him?” declares Ahv'ah {Heb. Yahvah}.
“Do I not fill the heavens and the earth?” declares Ahv'ah {Heb. Yahvah}.
25 “I have heard the prophets who are prophesying lies in my name say, ‘I had a dream! I had a dream!’ 26 How long will this continue in the heart of the prophets, to prophesy lies? They are prophets of the deceit of their own heart. 27 They intend to make my people forget my name by the dreams they relate to one another, just as their fathers forgot my name because of Baʹal. 28 Let the prophet who has a dream relate the dream, but the one who has my word should speak my word truthfully.”
“What does the straw have in common with the grain?” declares Ahv'ah {Heb. Yahvah}.
29 “Is not my word just like a fire,” declares Ahv'ah {Heb. Yahvah}, “and like a forge hammer that smashes the crag?”
30 “So here I am against the prophets,” declares Ahv'ah {Heb. Yahvah}, “who steal my words from one another.”
31 “Here I am against the prophets,” declares Ahv'ah {Heb. Yahvah}, “those who use their tongue to say, ‘He declares!’”
32 “Here I am against the prophets of lying dreams,” declares Ahv'ah {Heb. Yahvah}, “who relate them and lead my people astray because of their lies and their boasting.”
“But I did not send them or command them. So they will not benefit this people at all,” declares Ahv'ah {Heb. Yahvah}.
33 “And when this people or a prophet or a priest asks you, ‘What is the burden of Ahv'ah {Heb. Yahvah}?’ you should reply to them, ‘“You people are the burden! And I will cast you off,” declares Ahv'ah {Heb. Yahvah}.’ 34 As for the prophet or the priest or the people who say, ‘This is the burden of Ahv'ah {Heb. Yahvah}!’ I will turn my attention on that man and on his household. 35 This is what each of you is saying to his fellow and to his brother, ‘What has Ahv'ah {Heb. Yahvah} answered? And what has Ahv'ah {Heb. Yahvah} spoken?’ 36 But the burden of Ahv'ah {Heb. Yahvah} you should mention no more, for the burden is each one’s own word, and you have changed the words of the living Al {pre. Ahl}, Ahv'ah {Heb. Yahvah} of armies, our Al {pre. Ahl}.
37 “This is what you will say to the prophet, ‘What answer has Ahv'ah {Heb. Yahvah} given you? And what has Ahv'ah {Heb. Yahvah} spoken? 38 And if you keep saying, “The burden of Ahv'ah {Heb. Yahvah}!” this is what Ahv'ah {Heb. Yahvah} says: “Because of your saying, ‘This word is the burden of Ahv'ah {Heb. Yahvah},’ after I told you, ‘You must not say: “The burden of Ahv'ah {Heb. Yahvah}!”’ 39 look! I will lift you up and throw you away from my presence, both you and the city that I gave to you and your forefathers. 40 And I will bring on you everlasting disgrace and everlasting humiliation, which will not be forgotten.”’”