rsv Jeremiah:23:9-32 SEEK
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Concerning the prophets :
My heart is broken within me ,
all my bones shake ;
I am like a drunken man ,
like a man overcome by wine ,
because of the LORD and because of his holy words .
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For the land is full of adulterers ;
because of the curse the land mourns ,
and the pastures of the wilderness are dried up .
Their course is evil ,
and their might is not right .
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Both prophet and priest are ungodly ;
even in my house I have found their wickedness ,
says the LORD .
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Therefore their way shall be to them like slippery paths in the darkness ,
into which they shall be driven and fall ;
for I will bring evil upon them in the year of their punishment ,
says the LORD .
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In the prophets of Sama '
ria I saw an unsavory thing :
they prophesied by Ba '
al and led my people Israel astray .
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But in the prophets of Jerusalem I have seen a horrible thing :
they commit adultery and walk in lies ;
they strengthen the hands of evildoers ,
so that no one turns from his wickedness ;
all of them have become like Sodom to me ,
and its inhabitants like Gomor '
rah ."
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Therefore thus says the LORD of hosts concerning the prophets : "
Behold ,
I will feed them with wormwood ,
and give them poisoned water to drink ;
for from the prophets of Jerusalem ungodliness has gone forth into all the land ."
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Thus says the LORD of hosts : "
Do not listen to the words of the prophets who prophesy to you ,
filling you with vain hopes ;
they speak visions of their own minds ,
not from the mouth of the LORD .
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They say continually to those who despise the word of the LORD , `
It shall be well with you ';
and to every one who stubbornly follows his own heart ,
they say , `
No evil shall come upon you .'"
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For who among them has stood in the council of the LORD to perceive and to hear his word ,
or who has given heed to his word and listened ?
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Behold ,
the storm of the LORD !
Wrath has gone forth ,
a whirling tempest ;
it will burst upon the head of the wicked .
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The anger of the LORD will not turn back until he has executed and accomplished the intents of his mind .
In the latter days you will understand it clearly .
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I did not send the prophets ,
yet they ran ;
I did not speak to them ,
yet they prophesied .
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But if they had stood in my council ,
then they would have proclaimed my words to my people ,
and they would have turned them from their evil way ,
and from the evil of their doings .
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Am I a God at hand ,
says the LORD ,
and not a God afar off ?
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Can a man hide himself in secret places so that I cannot see him ?
says the LORD .
Do I not fill heaven and earth ?
says the LORD .
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I have heard what the prophets have said who prophesy lies in my name ,
saying , `
I have dreamed ,
I have dreamed !'
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How long shall there be lies in the heart of the prophets who prophesy lies ,
and who prophesy the deceit of their own heart ,
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who think to make my people forget my name by their dreams which they tell one another ,
even as their fathers forgot my name for Ba '
al ?
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Let the prophet who has a dream tell the dream ,
but let him who has my word speak my word faithfully .
What has straw in common with wheat ?
says the LORD .
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Is not my word like fire ,
says the LORD ,
and like a hammer which breaks the rock in pieces ?
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Therefore ,
behold ,
I am against the prophets ,
says the LORD ,
who steal my words from one another .
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Behold ,
I am against the prophets ,
says the LORD ,
who use their tongues and say , `
Says the LORD .'
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Behold ,
I am against those who prophesy lying dreams ,
says the LORD ,
and who tell them and lead my people astray by their lies and their recklessness ,
when I did not send them or charge them ;
so they do not profit this people at all ,
says the LORD .