The big picture
God's warnings to Judah, the southern kingdom, turn from kings to leaders who have scattered his people. Through Jeremiah, his prophet, he promises a righteous ruler and a restored flock. Jerusalem, the capital, also holds prophets who claim divine backing for lies. Their assurances help people continue doing wrong. God exposes that speech and distinguishes it from the word he actually gives. Dreams, borrowed phrases, and religious titles cannot hide from the Lord who fills heaven and earth.
In this chapter
- God Will Replace the Scattering Shepherds Jeremiah 23:1-4
The Lord condemns leaders pictured as shepherds who destroy and scatter his flock.
- A Righteous King Will Bring Safety Jeremiah 23:5-8
God promises to raise a righteous king from David, the earlier ruler whose family holds the throne.
- Corrupt Prophets Make the Whole Land Worse Jeremiah 23:9-15
Jeremiah is shaken by God's holy words against the prophets.
- Peace Is Promised Without Hearing God Jeremiah 23:16-22
God warns the people not to listen to visions produced by the prophets' own hearts.
- Borrowed Dreams Cannot Replace the Divine Word Jeremiah 23:23-32
God asks whether anyone can hide from him, since his presence fills heaven and earth.
- Misused Sacred Language Brings Lasting Shame Jeremiah 23:33-40
God addresses the habit of calling a message his burden.
Central truth
God promises faithful rule for his scattered people and opposes prophets whose invented assurances turn them away from his true word.
Scripture beside the summary
Jeremiah · King James Version · 40Jeremiah 23:1-4
God Will Replace the Scattering Shepherds
The Lord condemns leaders pictured as shepherds who destroy and scatter his flock. They have driven people away and failed to care for them. God will attend to the evil those leaders have done. He will also gather the surviving people from the countries where he has driven them and bring them back to their folds. They will grow in number. New shepherds will feed them so they no longer live in fear or suffer loss. Their leaders' failure does not end God's claim on the flock or his intention to care for it.
In everyday life
A care-home coordinator finds residents dispersed among temporary rooms after managers neglected essential support. She tracks each person's location and arranges reliable staff before reopening shared accommodation. Returning people without changing their care would repeat the harm. God gathers an exiled nation and appoints its shepherds; her work concerns one care service.
Notice
Jeremiah 23:2 The leaders failed to visit the flock, so God will visit their wrongdoing. The repeated action turns neglected care into a reason for their own judgement.
Jeremiah 23:1-4
King James Version1Woe be unto the pastors that destroy and scatter the sheep of my pasture! saith the LORD.
2Therefore 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.
3And 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.
4And 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.
Jeremiah 23:5-8
A Righteous King Will Bring Safety
God promises to raise a righteous king from David, the earlier ruler whose family holds the throne. This new growth is pictured as a branch. He will rule wisely and carry out justice in the land. Judah will be saved, and Israel, God's people, will live securely. His announced name identifies the Lord as their righteousness. A return from exile will become the great act people recall when affirming God's life. They will speak of being brought home from northern and other lands, not chiefly of the older rescue from Egypt, their ancestors' place of slavery.
In everyday life
A housing association member reads a new manager's first repair schedule after years of neglect. It names damaged homes and dates for work, making fair treatment concrete rather than ceremonial. Residents begin to see what responsible leadership requires. God promises a king who brings national safety and righteousness, which a repair programme cannot provide.
Notice
Jeremiah 23:6 The king's name points to the Lord as the source of righteousness. The promise joins secure life under the ruler with what God supplies, rather than royal power alone.
Jeremiah 23:5-8
King James Version5Behold, 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.
6In 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.
7Therefore, 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;
8But, 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.
Jeremiah 23:9-15
Corrupt Prophets Make the Whole Land Worse
Jeremiah is shaken by God's holy words against the prophets. The land is full of adultery and wrongdoing, and its pastures dry up. Priests and prophets practise evil even in God's house. He will send them into darkness where they slip and fall. Prophets of Samaria, the northern capital, led people astray through Baal, a false god. Those in Jerusalem also commit adultery and lie, strengthening wrongdoers instead of turning them back. God compares them to Sodom and Gomorrah, cities remembered for grave evil. Bitter suffering will answer the corruption they spread.
In everyday life
A nursing tutor reads evidence that senior trainers taught new staff to conceal neglect. The failure reaches further than one person's misconduct because learners copied what respected teachers approved. She closes the training manual and begins recording each harmful instruction. Jeremiah judges prophets before God and announces bitter punishment, not a professional retraining process.
Notice
Jeremiah 23:14 The prophets strengthen the hands of evildoers. Their failure is active support that makes people less likely to turn, rather than merely silence about wrongdoing.
Jeremiah 23:9-15
King James Version9Mine 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.
10For 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.
11For both prophet and priest are profane; yea, in my house have I found their wickedness, saith the LORD.
12Wherefore 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.
13And I have seen folly in the prophets of Samaria; they prophesied in Baal, and caused my people Israel to err.
14I 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.
15Therefore 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.
Jeremiah 23:16-22
Peace Is Promised Without Hearing God
God warns the people not to listen to visions produced by the prophets' own hearts. They promise peace to those who despise him and safety to those following stubborn desires. Have these speakers stood in his counsel and heard his word? A storm of wrath is coming upon the wicked and will complete his purpose. The prophets ran without being sent and spoke without hearing from him. Had they truly heard and conveyed his words, their hearers would have been turned from evil conduct rather than reassured within it.
In everyday life
A structural engineer hears an unqualified visitor assure tenants that a cracked stairwell is safe. The speaker has read no survey and checked none of the damage. His confidence encourages people to ignore the closed door. Jeremiah tests claims to speak for God by their source and effect, not by engineering credentials.
Notice
Jeremiah 23:22 A true hearing of God's counsel would turn people from evil. The effect expected from the word directly contradicts the comfort these prophets give to persistent wrongdoing.
Jeremiah 23:16-22
King James Version16Thus 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.
17They 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.
18For who hath stood in the counsel of the LORD, and hath perceived and heard his word? who hath marked his word, and heard it?
19Behold, a whirlwind of the LORD is gone forth in fury, even a grievous whirlwind: it shall fall grievously upon the head of the wicked.
20The 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.
21I have not sent these prophets, yet they ran: I have not spoken to them, yet they prophesied.
22But 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.
Jeremiah 23:23-32
Borrowed Dreams Cannot Replace the Divine Word
God asks whether anyone can hide from him, since his presence fills heaven and earth. He hears prophets tell dreams that make people forget his name. A dream should be identified as a dream; his word must be spoken faithfully. They differ like useless husks and nourishing grain. His word also acts like fire and a hammer breaking rock. He opposes speakers who steal phrases, attach his authority to their own speech, or lead others astray through false dreams. They were not sent, and their confident performance gives the people no real help.
In everyday life
A radio producer hears a presenter repeat a rumour as an official warning, borrowing phrases from a genuine bulletin. Listeners cannot tell where the verified message ends and invention begins. She requires the source of each claim before broadcast. God knows every hidden speaker and gives a word that acts with power, unlike a producer checking reports.
Notice
Jeremiah 23:28 Dream and divine word are compared to husks and wheat. Sharing the language of prophecy does not make two messages equally nourishing or equally authorised.
Jeremiah 23:23-32
King James Version23Am I a God at hand, saith the LORD, and not a God afar off?
24Can 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.
25I have heard what the prophets said, that prophesy lies in my name, saying, I have dreamed, I have dreamed.
26How long shall this be in the heart of the prophets that prophesy lies? yea, they are prophets of the deceit of their own heart;
27Which 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.
28The 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.
29Is not my word like as a fire? saith the LORD; and like a hammer that breaketh the rock in pieces?
30Therefore, behold, I am against the prophets, saith the LORD, that steal my words every one from his neighbour.
31Behold, I am against the prophets, saith the LORD, that use their tongues, and say, He saith.
32Behold, 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.
Jeremiah 23:33-40
Misused Sacred Language Brings Lasting Shame
God addresses the habit of calling a message his burden. People, priests, and prophets have twisted his words while repeating that solemn label. Jeremiah must answer that God will abandon them. They are instead to ask what the Lord has answered or spoken. Continuing to use the forbidden expression will bring punishment on the speaker and household. Their own distorted speech becomes the load they bear. God will cast them and the city from his presence, leaving lasting disgrace. The charge is misuse of his word, not a lack of religious vocabulary.
In everyday life
A legal clerk returns a letter that falsely labels a private demand as a court order. The sender keeps the solemn heading even after being told to remove it. That heading now makes the misuse more deliberate. God forbids language that distorts his own word and threatens abandonment; the clerk enforces a document's lawful status.
Notice
Jeremiah 23:36 The speaker's own word becomes the burden. A label used to claim divine authority turns into an accusation against those who have distorted what God actually said.
Jeremiah 23:33-40
King James Version33And 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.
34And 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.
35Thus 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?
36And 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.
37Thus shalt thou say to the prophet, What hath the LORD answered thee? and, What hath the LORD spoken?
38But 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;
39Therefore, 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:
40And I will bring an everlasting reproach upon you, and a perpetual shame, which shall not be forgotten.
Details worth noticing
The opening image
Jeremiah 23:1 begins with “Woe be unto the pastors that destroy and scatter the sheep of my pasture! saith the LORD.”
Where the chapter turns
Jeremiah 23:20 forms a natural hinge: “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…”
The final note
Jeremiah 23:40 leaves the reader with “And I will bring an everlasting reproach upon you, and a perpetual shame, which shall not be forgotten.”
A word trail through the chapter
The words LORD, prophets, burden, people, word, evil help reveal the chapter’s repeated concerns.
KJV words made clear
- Branch
- A new shoot, used here for a future ruler from the royal line.
- wormwood
- A bitter plant used as an image of suffering under judgement.
- chaff
- The light husks separated from useful grain at harvest.
- burden
- A weight to carry, also used for a solemn prophetic message.
Music and video connected to the passage
Related media appears when its Scripture reference overlaps this study. Music and video can illuminate a theme while the biblical text remains the foundation.
