¶ Woe¹ be unto the pastors² that destroy and scatter the sheep of my pasture! saith the LORD.

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 have³ not visited them: behold, I⁴ will visit upon you the evil of your doings, saith the LORD.

⁵And 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.

And I⁶ will set up shepherds over them which shall feed them: and they shall fear no more, nor be dismayed, neither⁷ shall they be lacking, saith the LORD.

Behold, the days⁸ come, saith the LORD, that I⁹ will raise unto David a righteous Branch¹⁰, and a King shall reign¹¹ and prosper, and shall¹² execute judgment and justice in the earth.

In his days Judah¹³ shall be saved, and Israel shall dwell¹⁴ safely: and this¹⁵ is his name whereby he shall be called, THE LORD OUR RIGHTEOUSNESS¹⁶.

¹⁷Therefore, 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;

¹⁸But, 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.

¶ Mine heart¹⁹ within me is broken because²⁰ of the prophets; all my bones shake; I am like a drunken²¹ man, and like a man whom wine hath overcome, because of the LORD, and because of the words of his holiness.

¶ For the land is full²² of adulterers; for because²³ of swearing²⁴ the land mourneth; the pleasant²⁵ places of the wilderness are dried up, and their course²⁶ is evil, and their force is not right.

For both²⁷ prophet and priest are profane; yea, in²⁸ my house have I found their wickedness, saith the LORD.

Wherefore their way shall be unto them as²⁹ slippery ways in the³⁰ darkness: they shall be driven on, and fall therein: for I will bring evil upon them, even the year³¹ of their visitation, saith the LORD.

And I have seen folly³² in the prophets of Samaria; they prophesied³³ in Baal, and³⁴ caused my people Israel to err.

I have seen also in the³⁵ prophets of Jerusalem an horrible thing³⁶: they commit³⁷ adultery, and walk³⁸ in lies: they strengthen³⁹ also the hands of evildoers, that none doth return from his wickedness: they are all of them unto me as Sodom⁴⁰, and the inhabitants thereof as Gomorrah.

Therefore thus saith the LORD of hosts concerning the prophets; Behold, I will⁴¹ feed them with wormwood, and make them drink the water of gall: for from the prophets of Jerusalem is profaneness⁴² gone forth into all the land.

Thus saith the LORD of hosts, Hearken⁴³ not unto the words of the prophets that prophesy unto you: they make⁴⁴ you vain: they speak a vision⁴⁵ of their own heart, and not out of the mouth of the LORD.

They say still unto them that despise⁴⁶ me, The LORD hath said, Ye⁴⁷ shall have peace; and they say unto every one that walketh after the imagination⁴⁸ of his own heart, No⁴⁹ evil shall come upon you.

For who⁵⁰ hath stood in the counsel⁵¹ of the LORD, and hath perceived and heard his word? who hath marked his word, and heard it?

⁵²Behold, a whirlwind of the LORD is gone forth in fury, even a grievous whirlwind: it shall fall grievously upon the head of the wicked.

¶ The anger of the LORD shall not return, until⁵³ he have executed, and till he have performed the thoughts of his heart: in the⁵⁴ latter days ye shall consider it perfectly.

⁵⁵I have not sent these prophets, yet they ran: I have not spoken to them, yet they prophesied.

But if⁵⁶ they had stood in my counsel, and had caused my people to hear my words, then⁵⁷ they should have turned them from their evil way, and from the evil of their doings.

⁵⁸Am I a God at hand, saith the LORD, and not a God afar off?

Can any hide⁵⁹ himself in secret places that I shall not see him? saith the LORD. Do⁶⁰ not I fill heaven and earth? saith the LORD.

I have heard⁶¹ what the prophets said, that prophesy lies in my name, saying, I have dreamed⁶², I have dreamed.

How⁶³ long shall this be in the heart of the prophets that prophesy lies? yea, they are prophets of⁶⁴ the deceit of their own heart;

Which think⁶⁵ to cause my people to forget my name by their dreams which they tell every man to his neighbour, as⁶⁶ their fathers have forgotten my name for Baal.

The prophet that hath⁶⁷ a dream, let him tell a dream; and he that hath my word, let him speak my word faithfully. What⁶⁸ is the chaff to the wheat? saith the LORD.

Is not my word like as⁶⁹ a fire? saith the LORD; and like a hammer that breaketh the rock in pieces?

¶⁷⁰Therefore, behold, I am against the prophets, saith the LORD, that steal my words every one from his neighbour.

Behold, I am against the prophets, saith the LORD, that use⁷¹ their tongues, and say, He⁷² saith.

Behold, I am against them that prophesy false dreams, saith the LORD, and do tell them, and cause my people to err⁷³ by their lies, and by⁷⁴ their lightness; yet I sent them not, nor commanded them: therefore⁷⁵ they shall not profit this people at all, saith the LORD.

¶ And when this people, or the prophet, or a priest, shall ask thee, saying, What⁷⁶ is the burden of the LORD? thou shalt then say unto them, What burden? I⁷⁷ will even forsake you, saith the LORD.

And as for the prophet, and the priest, and the people, that shall say, The burden of the LORD, I will even punish⁷⁸ that man and his house.

⁷⁹Thus 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?

And the burden of the LORD shall ye mention no more: for every⁸⁰ man's word shall be his burden; for ye⁸¹ have perverted the words of the⁸² living God, of the LORD of hosts our God.

Thus shalt thou say to the prophet, What hath⁸³ the LORD answered thee? and, What hath the LORD spoken?

But since ye say⁸⁴, 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;

Therefore, behold, I, even I,⁸⁵ will utterly forget you, and I⁸⁶ will forsake you, and the city that I gave you and your fathers, and cast⁸⁷ you out of my presence:

¶⁸⁸And I will bring an everlasting reproach upon you, and a perpetual shame, which shall not be forgotten.