Jeremiah Chapter 23

At a Glance

  • Jeremiah 23 is a powerful denunciation of false prophets and a watershed promise of a righteous future king.
  • Historical & Literary Context.
  • Jeremiah 23 sits in the prophetic corpus where Yahweh denounces shepherds who mislead the people and promises a future Davidic king who will enact judgment and justice.
  • true shepherds: accountability for leaders who scatter vs.
  • - Covenant renewal through a righteous Davidic king: hope anchored in a future ruler who embodies justice.

Chapter Overview

Jeremiah 23 is a powerful denunciation of false prophets and a watershed promise of a righteous future king. The chapter opens with a lament over shepherds who scatter and neglect the sheep, leading to divine condemnation of the leaders who profane the house of the LORD. God promises to restore a remnant, set over them faithful shepherds, and bring true safety to Israel. The central promise is the emergence of a righteous Branch from David who will reign in justice and righteousness. This future king will embody the LORD’s name—The LORD OUR RIGHTEOUSNESS—and bring security, salvation, and true pasture for God’s people. The chapter shifts from indictment to hope, reframing the prophets’ and priests’ corruption in light of the promised messianic figure. It also captures the author’s deep sorrow: the internal spiritual corruption (“Mine heart within me is broken”) reveals a broken heart over the people’s sin and the prophets’ hypocrisy. The chapter culminates in a call to discernment: not every so-called word from the prophets is from the LORD; genuine discernment rests on alignment with the coming righteous King and with true justice and mercy.

Historical & Literary Context

Jeremiah 23 sits in the prophetic corpus where Yahweh denounces shepherds who mislead the people and promises a future Davidic king who will enact judgment and justice. This passage blends indictment with a forward-looking messianic anticipation. The genre fuses prophetic oracles with lament and hope, a hallmark of Jeremiah’s prophetic voice as he critiques both leadership and spiritual leadership in the exile/near-exilic period. The messianic expectation here foreshadows later biblical developments about the promised King who would “prosper and execute judgment and justice.” The chapter also critiques religious authority that exploits people, highlighting a longing for a renewed, righteous leadership rooted in God’s character. The lament underscores the emotional weight of prophetic ministry—the burden of warning a people while clinging to hope for restoration.

Key Themes

- False vs. true shepherds: accountability for leaders who scatter vs. faithful care from God.

- Covenant renewal through a righteous Davidic king: hope anchored in a future ruler who embodies justice.

- The LORD OUR RIGHTEOUSNESS: the person and character by which people will be saved.

- Lament and integrity: sincere grief over sin contrasts with hollow religious show.

- Discernment in spiritual leadership: distinguishing genuine from counterfeit prophecy.

Modern Application

Jeremiah 23 invites contemporary readers to scrutinize spiritual leadership and the authenticity of preaching and teaching. Churches and communities are urged to favor leaders who labor for justice, protect the vulnerable, and model integrity, rather than those who manipulate or profit from religious authority. The messianic expectation points to the ultimate source of righteousness, encouraging believers to trust in God’s redemptive plan even when overt corruption abounds. The lament connects to present-day grief over injustice and the need for fresh repentance: personal and communal. Practically, this chapter can inspire ethical leadership development, transparency, and a renewed focus on pastoral care that nourishes, rather than spurns, the flock. It also anchors hope in God’s future righteousness, encouraging perseverance in faith amid disappointment.

- Jeremiah 33 (hope of a righteous king)

- Ezekiel 34 (shepherds and true care)

- Isaiah 11 (righteous Branch)

- Psalm 89 (Davidic covenant and righteousness)

Recommended Personas

- Jeremiah (voice of critique and longing for faithful leadership)

- Jesus (the Good Shepherd who embodies true righteousness)

- David (Davidic kingly imagery and messianic hope)

- Paul (church leadership, discernment, and false teaching issues)

Chapter Text

1

Woe be unto the pastors that destroy and scatter the sheep of my pasture! saith the LORD.

2

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

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

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

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 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

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

And I will bring an everlasting reproach upon you, and a perpetual shame, which shall not be forgotten.

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