Jeremiah 23

“Woe to the shepherds who destroy and scatter the sheep of my pasture!” says the LORD.

Therefore the LORD, the God of Israel, says against the shepherds who feed my people: “You have scattered my flock, driven them away, and have not visited them. Behold, I will visit on you the evil of your doings,” says the LORD.

“I will gather the remnant of my flock out of all the countries where I have driven them, and will bring them again to their folds; and they will be fruitful and multiply.

I will set up shepherds over them who will feed them. They will no longer be afraid or dismayed, neither will any be lacking,” says the LORD.

“Behold, the days come,” says the LORD, “that I will raise to David a righteous Branch; and he will reign as king and deal wisely, and will execute justice and righteousness in the land.

In his days Judah will be saved, and Israel will dwell safely. This is his name by which he will be called: The LORD our righteousness.

“Therefore, behold, the days come,” says the LORD, “that they will no more say, ‘As the LORD lives, who brought up the children of Israel out of the land of Egypt;’

but, ‘As the LORD lives, who brought up and who led the offspring of the house of Israel out of the north country, and from all the countries where I had driven them.’ Then they will dwell in their own land.”

Concerning the prophets: My heart within me is broken. All my bones shake. I am like a drunken man, and like a man whom wine has overcome, because of the LORD, and because of his holy words.

“For the land is full of adulterers; for because of the curse the land mourns. The pastures of the wilderness have dried up. Their course is evil, and their might is not right;

for both prophet and priest are profane. Yes, in my house I have found their wickedness,” says the LORD.

Therefore their way will be to them as slippery places in the darkness. They will be driven on, and fall therein; for I will bring evil on them, even the year of their visitation,” says the LORD.

“I have seen folly in the prophets of Samaria. They prophesied by Baal, and caused my people Israel to err.

In the prophets of Jerusalem I have also seen a horrible thing: they commit adultery and walk in lies. They strengthen the hands of evildoers, so that no one returns from his wickedness. They have all become to me as Sodom, and its inhabitants as Gomorrah.”

Therefore the LORD of Armies says concerning the prophets: “Behold, I will feed them with wormwood, and make them drink poisoned water; for from the prophets of Jerusalem ungodliness has gone out into all the land.”

The LORD of Armies says, “Don’t listen to the words of the prophets who prophesy to you. They teach you vanity. They speak a vision of their own heart, and not out of the mouth of the LORD.

They say continually to those who despise me, ‘The LORD has said, “You will have peace;”’ and to everyone who walks in the stubbornness of his own heart they say, ‘No evil will come on you.’

For who has stood in the council of the LORD, that he should perceive and hear his word? Who has listened to my word, and heard it?

Behold, the LORD’s storm, his wrath, has gone out. Yes, a whirling storm! It will burst on the head of the wicked.

The LORD’s anger will not return until he has executed and performed the intents of his heart. In the latter days, you will understand it perfectly.

I didn’t send these prophets, yet they ran. I didn’t speak to them, yet they prophesied.

But if they had stood in my council, then they would have caused my people to hear my words, and would have turned them from their evil way, and from the evil of their doings.

“Am I a God at hand,” says the LORD, “and not a God afar off?

Can anyone hide himself in secret places so that I can’t see him?” says the LORD. “Don’t I fill heaven and earth?” says the LORD.

“I have heard what the prophets have said, who prophesy lies in my name, saying, ‘I had a dream! I had a dream!’

How long will this be in the heart of the prophets who prophesy lies, even the prophets of the deceit of their own heart?

They intend to cause my people to forget my name by their dreams which they each tell his neighbor, as their fathers forgot my name because of Baal.

The prophet who has a dream, let him tell a dream; and he who has my word, let him speak my word faithfully. What is the straw to the wheat?” says the LORD.

“Isn’t my word like fire?” says the LORD; “and like a hammer that breaks the rock in pieces?

“Therefore behold, I am against the prophets,” says the LORD, “who each steal my words from his neighbor.

Behold, I am against the prophets,” says the LORD, “who use their tongues, and say, ‘He says.’

Behold, I am against those who prophesy lying dreams,” says the LORD, “who tell them, and cause my people to err by their lies, and by their vain boasting; yet I didn’t send them or command them. They don’t profit this people at all,” says the LORD.

“When this people, or the prophet, or a priest, asks you, saying, ‘What is the message from the LORD?’ Then you shall tell them, ‘“What message? I will cast you off,” says the LORD.’

As for the prophet, the priest, and the people, who say, ‘The message from the LORD,’ I will even punish that man and his household.

You will say everyone to his neighbor, and everyone to his brother, ‘What has the LORD answered?’ and, ‘What has the LORD said?’

You will mention the message from the LORD no more, for every man’s own word has become his message; for you have perverted the words of the living God, of the LORD of Armies, our God.

You will say to the prophet, ‘What has the LORD answered you?’ and, ‘What has the LORD spoken?’

Although you say, ‘The message from the LORD,’ therefore the LORD says: ‘Because you say this word, “The message from the LORD,” and I have sent to you, telling you not to say, “The message from the LORD,”

therefore behold, I will utterly forget you, and I will cast you off with the city that I gave to you and to your fathers, away from my presence.

I will bring an everlasting reproach on you, and a perpetual shame, which will not be forgotten.’”

Chapter overviewAI-generated

Overview.
This chapter pronounces judgment on the false shepherds and prophets who have led God’s people astray, while promising future restoration through a righteous King from the line of David. It moves from divine condemnation of corrupt leadership to the hope of a new covenant under a messianic ruler, and then exposes the falsehood of prophets who speak visions of their own making rather than the word of the Lord. The chapter balances wrath against faithless leaders with the promise of God’s ultimate faithfulness to His people.

Flow.

The LORD denounces the shepherds (kings and leaders) who have scattered His flock and declares He will judge them, yet also restore His people to their land.
He promises to raise up a righteous Branch from David’s line, a King who will reign in justice and be called “The LORD our righteousness.”
The restoration of Israel will be so significant that it will eclipse the memory of the exodus from Egypt.
The focus shifts to the false prophets, whose lies and immorality have defiled the land and misled the people; God rejects them utterly because they speak without His commission.
The chapter closes with a warning against misuse of the phrase “the message from the LORD,” which has become a hollow formula that perverts God’s true word.

Connections.
Following chapter 22, which contains judgment on Judah’s kings and the house of David, chapter 23 intensifies the critique of leadership while introducing the hope of a future righteous King—a hope grounded in God’s covenant with David. The condemnation of false prophets in chapter 23 prepares the way for chapter 26, which records Jeremiah’s confrontation with temple prophets who oppose him, and sets up the contrast between true and false prophecy developed further in chapters 27–28. The promise of restoration and a new Davidic king also points forward to the later restoration oracles in chapters 30–33.

What it teaches.
God holds spiritual leaders accountable for the condition of His people; unfaithful shepherds who scatter the flock will face judgment (WCF 23.5; HC LD 42). Yet God remains committed to His covenant: He will regather His people and raise up a righteous Davidic King, foreshadowing the Messiah who will fulfill the promise of salvation and righteousness (WCF 7.4; HC LD 12). False prophets who speak dreams and lies, not from God’s mouth, lead people into apostasy and forfeit their place in God’s purpose (WCF 1.8; CD I.10). God’s word is powerful and distinct from human inventions—it is like fire and a hammer (WCF 1.4)—and to treat it lightly is to risk His severe discipline.

Apply.
True spiritual leadership is marked by faithfulness to God’s word, not popularity or presumption.

AI-generated. Not a substitute for Scripture, your pastor, or the confessions.