1. “How horrible it will be for the shepherds who are destroying and scattering the sheep in my care,” declares the Lord.
2. “This is what I, the Lord God of Israel, said to the shepherds who take care of my people: You have scattered my sheep and chased them away. You have not taken care of them, so now I will take care of you by punishing you for the evil you have done,” declares the Lord.
3. “Then I will gather the remaining part of my flock from all the countries where I chased them. I will bring them back to their pasture, and they will be fertile and increase in number.
4. I will put shepherds over them. Those shepherds will take care of them. My sheep will no longer be afraid or terrified, and not one of them will be missing,” declares the Lord.
5. “The days are coming,” declares the Lord,“when I will grow a righteous branch for David.He will be a king who will rule wisely.He will do what is fair and right in the land.
6. In his lifetime, Judah will be saved,and Israel will live in safety.This is the name that he will be given:The Lord is our righteousness.
7. “That is why the days are coming,” declares the Lord, “when people’s oaths will no longer be, ‘The Lord brought the people of Israel out of Egypt. As the Lord lives. . . .’
8. Instead, their oaths will be, ‘The Lord brought the descendants of the nation of Israel out of the land of the north and all the lands where he had scattered them. As the Lord lives. . . .’ At that time they will live in their own land.
9. “⌊Say this⌋ about the prophets:I am deeply disturbed.All my bones tremble.I am like a drunk,like a person who has had too much wine,because of the Lord and his holy words.
10. The land is filled with adulterers.The land mourns because of the curse.Pastures in the wilderness have dried up.The people are evil,and they use their strength to do the wrong things.
11. The prophets and priests are godless.Even in my temple I’ve found them doing evil,” declares the Lord.
12. “That is why their own way will becomelike slippery paths in the dark.They will be chased away, and they will fall down in the dark.I will bring disaster on them.It is time for them to be punished,” declares the Lord.
13. “⌊Say this⌋ about the prophets of Samaria:I saw something disgusting.The prophets of Samaria prophesied by Baaland led my people Israel astray.
14. “⌊Say this⌋ about the prophets of Jerusalem:I see something horrible.The prophets of Jerusalem commit adultery and live a lie.They support those who do evilso that no one turns back from his wickedness.They are all like Sodom to me,and those who live in Jerusalem are like Gomorrah.”
15. This is what the Lord of Armies says about the prophets:I will give them wormwood to eat and poison to drink.The prophets of Jerusalem have spread godlessnessthroughout the land.
16. This is what the Lord of Armies says:Don’t listen to what the prophets are saying to you.They fill you with false hope.They speak about visions that they dreamed up.These visions are not from the Lord.
17. They keep saying to those who despise me,“The Lord says, ‘Everything will go well for you.’”They tell all who live by their own stubborn ways,“Nothing bad will happen to you.”