23:16 The Lord who rules over all 1 says to the people of Jerusalem: 2
“Do not listen to what
those prophets are saying to you.
They are filling you with false hopes.
They are reporting visions of their own imaginations,
not something the Lord has given them to say. 3
23:17 They continually say 4 to those who reject what the Lord has said, 5
‘Things will go well for you!’ 6
They say to all those who follow the stubborn inclinations of their own hearts,
‘Nothing bad will happen to you!’
23:18 Yet which of them has ever stood in the Lord’s inner circle 7
so they 8 could see and hear what he has to say? 9
Which of them have ever paid attention or listened to what he has said?
23:19 But just watch! 10 The wrath of the Lord
will come like a storm! 11
Like a raging storm it will rage down 12
on the heads of those who are wicked.
23:20 The anger of the Lord will not turn back
until he has fully carried out his intended purposes. 13
In days to come 14
you people will come to understand this clearly. 15
23:21 I did not send those prophets.
Yet they were in a hurry to give their message. 16
I did not tell them anything.
Yet they prophesied anyway.
23:22 But if they had stood in my inner circle, 17
they would have proclaimed my message to my people.
They would have caused my people to turn from their wicked ways
and stop doing the evil things they are doing.