23:1 Woe be unto the shepherds that destroy and scatter the sheep of My pasture! saith YHWH (יהוה).
23:2 Therefore thus saith YHWH (יהוה) Elohim (אלהים) of Yisrael against the roiim(shepherds) that feed My people; Ye have scattered My flock, and driven them away, and have not visited them: hinneh, I will visit upon you the evil of your doings, saith YHWH (יהוה).
23:3 And 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.
23:4 And 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 YHWH (יהוה).
23:5 Hinneh, the days come, saith YHWH (יהוה),
that I will raise unto David a Tzemach (branch) Tzaddik (righteous), and a King shall reign and prosper, and shall execute judgment and justice in the earth.
23:6 In his days Yehudah shall be saved, and Yisrael shall dwell safely: and this [is] His Name whereby he shall be called, YHWH (יהוה) Tzidkeinu.
23:7 Therefore, hinneh, the days come, saith YHWH (יהוה), that they shall no more say, YHWH (יהוה) liveth, which brought up the Benai Yisrael out of ha eretz Mitzrayim;
23:8 But, YHWH (יהוה) liveth, which brought up and which led the seed of ha bayit Yisrael out of the north country, and from all countries whither I had driven them; and they shall dwell in their own land.
23:9 Mine heart within Me is broken because of ha Neviim; all my bones shake; I am like a drunken man, and like a man whom wine hath overcome, because of YHWH (יהוה), and because of the Divrei His set apartness.
23:10 For 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.
23:11 For both navi and kohen are profane; yea, in My house have I found their wickedness, saith YHWH (יהוה).
23:12 Wherefore 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 YHWH (יהוה).
23:13 And I have seen folly in ha Neviim of Shomron; they prophesied in Baal, and caused My people Yisrael to err.
23:14 I have seen also in ha Neviim of Yerushalayim 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 Sedom, and the inhabitants thereof as Amorah.
23:15 Therefore thus saith YHWH (יהוה) Tza'vot concerning ha Neviim; hinneh, I will feed them with laanah (wormwood), and make them drink the mei-rosh (water of gall; poisoned water): for from ha Neviim of Yerushalayim is profaneness gone forth into all the land.
23:16 Thus saith YHWH (יהוה) Tza'vot:
Hearken not unto the Divrei ha Neviim that prophesy unto you: they make you vain: they speak a vision of their own heart, [and] not out of the mouth of YHWH (יהוה).
23:17 They say still unto them that despise Me, YHWH (יהוה) hath said, Ye shall have shalom; and they say unto every one that walketh after the imagination of his own heart, No evil shall come upon you.
23:18 For who hath stood in the counsel of YHWH (יהוה), and that he should see and hear His Word? who hath given ear to His Word and heard ?
23:19 Hinneh, a whirlwind of YHWH (יהוה) is gone forth in fury, even a grievous whirlwind: it shall fall grievously upon the head of the wicked.
23:20 The anger of YHWH (יהוה) 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.
23:21 I have not sent these Neviim, yet they ran: I have not spoken to them, yet they prophesied.
23:22 But if they had stood in my counsel, and had caused My people to hear my Devarim, then they should have turned them from their evil way, and from the evil of their doings.
23:23 [Am] I a Elohim (אלהים) at hand, saith YHWH (יהוה), and not a Elohim (אלהים) afar off?
23:24 Can any hide himself in secret places that I shall not see him? saith YHWH (יהוה). Do not I fill heaven and earth? saith YHWH (יהוה).
23:25 I have heard what ha Neviim said, that prophesy lies in My Name, saying, I have dreamed, I have dreamed.
23:26 How long shall [this] be in the heart of ha Neviim that prophesy lies? yea, [they are] Neviim of the deceit of their own heart;
23:27 Which think to cause My people to forget My Name by their dreams which they tell every man to his neighbour, as their avot have forgotten My Name for Baal.
23:28 ha Navi 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 YHWH (יהוה).
23:29 [Is] not My word like as a fire? saith YHWH (יהוה); and like a hammer [that] breaketh the rock in pieces?
23:30 Therefore, hinneh, I [am] against ha Neviim, saith YHWH (יהוה), that steal my Devarim every one from his neighbour.
23:31 Hinneh, I [am] against ha Neviim, saith YHWH (יהוה), that use their tongues, and say, He saith.
23:32 Hinneh, I [am] against them that prophesy false dreams, saith YHWH (יהוה), 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 YHWH (יהוה).
23:33 And when this people, or ha Navi, or a kohen, shall ask thee, saying,
What [is] the massa (Oracle - משׂא, prophetic utterances; burden) YHWH (יהוה)?
Thou shalt then say unto them:
What massa?
I will even forsake you, saith YHWH (יהוה).
23:34 And [as for] ha Navi, and the kohen, and the people, that shall say, The massa YHWH (יהוה), I will even punish that man and his house.
23:35 Thus shall ye say every one to his neighbour, and every one to his brother, What hath YHWH (יהוה) answered? and, What hath YHWH (יהוה) spoken?
23:36 And the massa YHWH (יהוה) shall ye mention no more: for every man's word shall be His massa;
For ye have perverted the Divrei the living Elohim (אלהים), of YHWH (יהוה) Tza'vot Eloheinu.
23:37 Thus shalt thou say to ha Navi,
What hath YHWH (יהוה) answered thee? and, What hath YHWH (יהוה) spoken?
23:38 But since ye say, The massa YHWH (יהוה); therefore thus saith YHWH (יהוה); Because ye say this word, The massa YHWH (יהוה), and I have sent unto you, saying, Ye shall not say, The massa YHWH (יהוה);
23:39 Therefore, hinneh, I, even I, will utterly forget you, and I will forsake you, and the city that I gave you and your avot, [and cast you] out of My presence:
23:40 And I will bring an everlasting reproach upon you, and a perpetual shame, which shall not be forgotten.