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] 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] 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] 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] 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] 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] 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]
For both prophet and priest are profane; yea, in my house have I found their wickedness, saith the LORD.
[12]
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] And I
have seen folly in the prophets of Samaria; they prophesied in Baal, and caused my people Israel to
err.
[14] 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] 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] 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] 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] 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] 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] 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] I have not sent these prophets, yet they ran: I have not spoken to them, yet they prophesied.
[22]
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] Am I a God at hand, saith
the LORD, and not a God afar off?
[24] 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] I have heard what the prophets
said, that prophesy lies in my name, saying, I have dreamed, I have dreamed.
[26] 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] 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] 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] Is not my word like as a fire? saith the LORD; and like a hammer that
breaketh the rock in pieces?
[30] Therefore, behold, I am against the prophets, saith the LORD, that steal
my words every one from his neighbour.
[31] Behold, I am against the prophets, saith the LORD, that
use their tongues, and say, He saith.
[32] 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] 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] 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] 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] 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] Thus shalt thou say to the prophet, What hath the
LORD answered thee? and, What hath the LORD spoken?
[38] But since ye say, The burden of the