jeremiah 23 and 24

Read Jeremiah 23 and 24 at Bible Gateway.

The Hebrew paragraph divisions:

Jer 23:1 {s} “Woe to the shepherds who destroy and scatter the sheep of My pasture!” says the Lord.
Jer 23:2-4 {s} I am against the false shepherds/ I will gather the remnant of My flock + give them true shepherds
Jer 23:5-6 {p} Branch of Righteousness in David’s house/ Judah + Israel saved/ YHVH is our Righteouesness
Jer 23:7-8 {p} As YHVH lives who brought His people from all the places where they have been scattered
Jer 23:9-14 {p} Mourning because of false prophets/ both priest and prophet profane + disaster to come upon them
Jer 23:15 {p} I will feed them with wormwood + gall, for from them profaneness has gone into all the land
Jer 23:16-18 {s} Do not listen to the false prophets, who say to those who despise Me, ‘Peace’
Jer 23:19-22 {s} YHVH against the wicked/ I have not sent these prophets, or they would have turned from evil
Jer 23:23-29 {s} Prophets prophesy from the deceit of their own heart, who make My people forget My name
Jer 23:30-40 {p} I am against false prophets + false dreamers/ I will forsake + cast you from My presence
Jer 24:1-2 {p} The vision of the two baskets of figs, one very good, and one very bad
Jer 24:3 {p} YHVH: What do you see Jeremiah? / Figs, very good, and very bad, which cannot be eaten
Jer 24:4-7 {s} The captives in Babylon are the good figs: they shall know Me + return to Me with a whole heart
Jer 24:8-10 {p} The residue remaining here are the bad figs: I will deliver them to trouble until they are consumed

Jer 23 chiastic structure:

1a) Jer 23:1-2, False shepherds who have scattered My flock/ I am against you, therefore judgment;

1) Jer 23:1 {s} “Woe to the shepherds who destroy and scatter the sheep of My pasture!” says YHVH;
2) Jer 23:2, I am against the false shepherds who have scattered My flock + not attended them, so I will attend to you;

1b) Jer 23:3-4 {p} I will gather + bring back the remnant of My flock + give them true shepherds who will feed them;

central axis) Jer 23:5-6 {p} “Behold, the days are coming,” says YHVH, “That I will raise to David a Branch of righteousness; a King shall reign and prosper, and execute judgment and righteousness in the earth. In His days Judah will be saved, and Israel will dwell safely; now this is His name by which He will be called: The LORD is our Righteousness;”

2b) Jer 23:7-8 {p} They shall say, As YHVH lives who brought up His scattered people to dwell in their own land;

2a) Jer 23:9-40 {p+p+sx3+p} False prophets who have deceived My flock/ I am against you, therefore judgment;

1) Jer 23:9-29 {p+p+sx3} Mourning because of profane priests + false prophets who cause My people to err;

1a) Jer 23:9-10, Mourning + brokenness because of the false prophets, for YHVH’s words are holy;
1b) Jer 23:11-15 {p+p} They have prophesied by Baal and caused My people to err;

1a) Jer 23:11, Both prophet + priest profane + wicked in My house, says YHVH;
1b) Jer 23:12, Therefore their way shall be darkness/ I will bring disaster + punishment on them;
central axis) Jer 23:13-14 {p} “And I have seen a folly in the prophets of Samaria: They prophesied by Baal and caused My people Israel to err. Also I have seen a horrible thing in the prophets of Jerusalem: They commit adultery and walk in lies; they also strengthen the hands of evildoers, so that no one turns back from his wickedness. All of them are like Sodom to Me, and her inhabitants like Gomorrah;”
2b) Jer 23:15a, Therefore I will feed them with wormwood + make them drink gall;
2a) Jer 23:15b {p} From the prophets of Jerusalem profaneness has gone out into all the land;

1c) Jer 23:16, Do not listen to the false prophets: they speak a vision of their own heart, not from My mouth;
1d) Jer 23:17, They say to those who despise Me + follow the dictates of their own heart: ‘Peace’;
1e) Jer 23:18 {s} Who has stood in the counsel of YHVH/ who has perceived + heard His word?
central axis) Jer 23:19-21, “Behold, a whirlwind of the Lord has gone forth in fury— a violent whirlwind! It will fall violently on the head of the wicked. The anger of the Lord will not turn back until He has executed and performed the thoughts of His heart. In the latter days you will understand it perfectly. ‘I have not sent these prophets, yet they ran. I have not spoken to them, yet they prophesied;’”
2e) Jer 23:22a, But if they had stood in My counsel, and had caused My people to hear My words;
2d) Jer 23:22b {s} Then they would have turned them from their evil way + evil of their doings;
2c) Jer 23:23-26, I have heard those who prophesy lies in My name: they prophesy the deceit of their own heart;
2b) Jer 23:27, They try to make My people forget My name, as their fathers forgot My name for Baal;
2a) Jer 23:28-29 {s} Let them prophesy My word faithfully, for it is a fire, a hammer that shatters a rock;

2) Jer 23:30-40 {p} I am against false prophets who caused My people to err/ I will cast you from My presence.

The wrath of YHVH is reserved for false shepherds and false prophets who have scattered His flock and caused His people to err — not for the individual sheep of His flock who believed them, because they had the reputation of being the anointed of YHVH. For the individual sheep, YHVH’s promise is, I will gather you again, and give you true shepherds who will teach you My ways in truth. You will be regathered in Messiah Yeshua. So keep praying for all YHVH has in front of us to pray for! He has good in store for them.