Day 294 of 730

¹"Woe to the shepherds who destroy and scatter the sheep of my pasture!" says the Lord.

²Therefore thus says the Lord, the God of Israel, against the shepherds who feed my people: "You have scattered my flock, and driven them away, and have not visited them; behold, I will visit on you the evil of your doings," says the Lord.

³"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 shall be fruitful and multiply.

⁴I will set up shepherds over them, who shall feed them; and they shall fear no more, nor be dismayed, neither shall any be lacking," says the Lord.

⁵"Behold, the days come," says the Lord, "that I will raise to David a righteous Branch, and he shall reign as king and deal wisely, and shall execute justice and righteousness in the land.

⁶In his days Judah shall be saved, and Israel shall dwell safely; and this is his name by which he shall be called: 'The Lord our righteousness.'

⁷Therefore behold, the days come," says the Lord, "that they shall no more say, 'As the Lord lives, who brought up the children of Israel out of the land of Egypt';

⁸but, 'As the Lord lives, who brought up and who led the seed of the house of Israel out of the north country, and from all the countries where I had driven them.' They shall dwell in their own land."'

⁹Concerning 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.

¹⁰For the land is full of adulterers; for because of swearing the land mourns; the pastures of the wilderness are dried up. "Their course is evil, and their might is not right;

¹¹for both prophet and priest are profane; yes, in my house have I found their wickedness," says the Lord.

¹²"Therefore their way shall be to them as slippery places in the darkness: they shall be driven on, and fall therein; for I will bring evil on them, even the year of their visitation," says the Lord.

¹³"I have seen folly in the prophets of Samaria; they prophesied by Baal, and caused my people Israel to err.

¹⁴In the prophets of Jerusalem also I have seen a horrible thing: they commit adultery, and walk in lies; and they strengthen the hands of evildoers, so that none does return from his wickedness: they are all of them become to me as Sodom, and its inhabitants as Gomorrah.

¹⁵Therefore thus says 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 ungodliness gone forth into all the land.'

¹⁶Thus says the Lord of hosts, 'Do not 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.

¹⁷They say continually to those who despise me, "The Lord has said, 'You shall have peace'"; and to everyone who walks in the stubbornness of his own heart they say, "No evil shall come on you."

¹⁸For who has stood in the council of the Lord, that he should perceive and hear his word? Who has marked my word, and heard it?

¹⁹Behold, the storm of the Lord, his wrath, has gone forth. Yes, a whirling storm. It shall burst on the head of the wicked.

²⁰The anger of the Lord shall not return, until he has executed, and until he have performed the intents of his heart: in the latter days you shall understand it perfectly.

²¹I sent not these prophets, yet they ran: I did not speak to them, yet they prophesied.

²²But if they had stood in my council, then had they caused my people to hear my words, and had turned them from their evil way, and from the evil of their doings.

²³Am I a God at hand,' says the Lord, 'and not a God afar off?

²⁴Can any hide himself in secret places so that I shall not see him?' says the Lord. 'Do I not fill heaven and earth?' says the Lord.

²⁵'I have heard what the prophets have said, who prophesy lies in my name, saying, "I have dreamed, I have dreamed."

²⁶How long shall this be in the heart of the prophets who prophesy lies, even the prophets of the deceit of their own heart,

²⁷who think to cause my people to forget my name by their dreams which they tell every man to his neighbor, as their fathers forgot my name for Baal.

²⁸The 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.

²⁹'Isn't my word like fire?' says the Lord; 'and like a hammer that breaks the rock in pieces?

³⁰Therefore behold, I am against the prophets,' says the Lord, 'who steal my words everyone from his neighbor.

³¹Behold, I am against the prophets,' says the Lord, 'who use their tongues, and say, "He says."

³²Behold, I am against those who prophesy lying dreams,' says the Lord, 'and do tell them, and cause my people to err by their lies, and by their vain boasting: yet I did not send them, nor commanded them; neither do they profit this people at all,' says the Lord.

³³'When this people, or the prophet, or a priest, shall ask you, saying, "What is the burden of the Lord?" Then you shall tell them, "What burden! I will cast you off," says the Lord.

³⁴As for the prophet, and the priest, and the people, who shall say, "The burden of the Lord," I will even punish that man and his house.

³⁵You shall say everyone to his neighbor, and everyone to his brother, "What has the Lord answered?" and, "What has the Lord spoken?"

³⁶You shall mention the burden of the Lord no more: for every man's own word shall be his burden; for you have perverted the words of the living God, of the Lord of hosts our God.

³⁷You shall say to the prophet, "What has the Lord answered you?" and, "What has the Lord spoken?"

³⁸But if you say, "The burden of the Lord"; therefore thus says the Lord: Because you say this word, "The burden of the Lord," and I have sent to you, saying, "You shall not say, 'The burden of the Lord'";

³⁹therefore, behold, I will utterly forget you, and I will cast you off, and the city that I gave to you and to your fathers, away from my presence:

⁴⁰and I will bring an everlasting reproach on you, and a perpetual shame, which shall not be forgotten.'"

¹The Lord showed me, and behold, two baskets of figs set before the Lord's temple, after that Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon had carried away captive Jeconiah the son of Jehoiakim, king of Judah, and the princes of Judah, with the craftsmen and smiths, from Jerusalem, and had brought them to Babylon.

²One basket had very good figs, like the figs that are first-ripe; and the other basket had very bad figs, which could not be eaten, they were so bad.

³Then the Lord said to me, "What do you see, Jeremiah?" I said, "Figs; the good figs, very good; and the bad, very bad, that can't be eaten, they are so bad."

⁴The word of the Lord came to me, saying,

⁵"Thus says the Lord, the God of Israel: 'Like these good figs, so will I regard the captives of Judah, whom I have sent out of this place into the land of the Chaldeans, for good.

⁶For I will set my eyes on them for good, and I will bring them again to this land: and I will build them, and not pull them down; and I will plant them, and not pluck them up.

⁷I will give them a heart to know me, that I am the Lord: and they shall be my people, and I will be their God; for they shall return to me with their whole heart.'

⁸As the bad figs, which can't be eaten, they are so bad, surely thus says the Lord, 'So will I give up Zedekiah the king of Judah, and his princes, and the residue of Jerusalem, who remain in this land, and those who dwell in the land of Egypt,

⁹I will even give them up to be tossed back and forth among all the kingdoms of the earth for evil; to be a reproach and a proverb, a taunt and a curse, in all places where I shall drive them.

¹⁰I will send the sword, the famine, and the pestilence, among them, until they be consumed from off the land that I gave to them and to their fathers.'"

¹Blessed be the Lord, my rock, who teaches my hands to war, and my fingers to battle:

²my loving kindness, my fortress, my high tower, my deliverer, my shield, and he in whom I take refuge; who subdues my people under me.

³Lord, what is man, that you care for him? Or the son of man, that you think of him?

⁴Man is like a breath. His days are like a shadow that passes away.

⁵Part your heavens, Lord, and come down. Touch the mountains, and they will smoke.

⁶Throw out lightning, and scatter them. Send out your arrows, and rout them.

⁷Stretch out your hand from above, rescue me, and deliver me out of great waters, out of the hands of foreigners;

⁸whose mouths speak deceit, Whose right hand is a right hand of falsehood.

⁹I will sing a new song to you, God. On a ten-stringed lyre, I will sing praises to you.

¹⁰You are he who gives salvation to kings, who rescues David, his servant, from the deadly sword.

¹¹Rescue me, and deliver me out of the hands of foreigners, whose mouths speak deceit, whose right hand is a right hand of falsehood.

¹²Then our sons will be like well-nurtured plants, our daughters like pillars carved to adorn a palace.

¹³Our barns are full, filled with all kinds of provision. Our sheep bring forth thousands and ten thousands in our fields.

¹⁴Our oxen will pull heavy loads. There is no breaking in, and no going away, and no outcry in our streets.

¹⁵Happy are the people who are in such a situation. Happy are the people whose God is the Lord.

¹A gentle answer turns away wrath, but a harsh word stirs up anger.

²The tongue of the wise commends knowledge, but the mouth of fools gush out folly.

³The Lord's eyes are everywhere, keeping watch on the evil and the good.

⁴A gentle tongue is a tree of life, but deceit in it crushes the spirit.

⁵A fool despises his father's correction, but he who heeds reproof shows prudence.

⁶In the house of the righteous is much treasure, but the income of the wicked brings trouble.

⁷The lips of the wise spread knowledge; not so with the heart of fools.

⁸The sacrifice made by the wicked is an abomination to the Lord, but the prayer of the upright is his delight.

⁹The way of the wicked is an abomination to the Lord, but he loves him who follows after righteousness.

¹⁰There is stern discipline for one who forsakes the way: whoever hates reproof shall die.

¹¹Sheol and Abaddon are before the Lord- how much more then the hearts of the children of men!

¹²A scoffer doesn't love to be reproved; he will not go to the wise.

¹³A glad heart makes a cheerful face; but an aching heart breaks the spirit.

¹⁴The heart of one who has understanding seeks knowledge, but the mouths of fools feed on folly.

¹⁵All the days of the afflicted are wretched, but one who has a cheerful heart enjoys a continual feast.

¹⁶Better is little, with the fear of the Lord, than great treasure with trouble.

¹⁷Better is a dinner of herbs, where love is, than a fattened calf with hatred.

¹⁸A wrathful man stirs up contention, but one who is slow to anger appeases strife.

¹⁹The way of the sluggard is like a thorn patch, but the path of the upright is a highway.

²⁰A wise son makes a father glad, but a foolish man despises his mother.

²¹Folly is joy to one who is void of wisdom, but a man of understanding keeps his way straight.

²²Where there is no counsel, plans fail; but in a multitude of counselors they are established.

²³Joy comes to a man with the reply of his mouth. How good is a word at the right time!

²⁴The path of life leads upward for the wise, to keep him from going downward to Sheol.

²⁵The Lord will uproot the house of the proud, but he will keep the widow's borders intact.

²⁶The Lord detests the thoughts of the wicked, but the thoughts of the pure are pleasing.

²⁷He who is greedy for gain troubles his own house, but he who hates bribes will live.

²⁸The heart of the righteous weighs answers, but the mouth of the wicked gushes out evil.

²⁹The Lord is far from the wicked, but he hears the prayer of the righteous.

³⁰The light of the eyes rejoices the heart. Good news gives health to the bones.

³¹The ear that listens to reproof lives, and will be at home among the wise.

³²He who refuses correction despises his own soul, but he who listens to reproof gets understanding.

³³The fear of the Lord teaches wisdom. Before honor is humility.