Bible Strands
Jeremiah 23:2
Therefore this is what the LORD, the God of Israel, says about the shepherds who tend My people: “You have scattered My flock and driven them away, and have not attended to them. Behold, I will attend to you for the evil of your deeds, declares the LORD.
Berean Standard Bible
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Study note
Setting — Yahweh, the God of Israel, addresses the shepherds who tend His people immediately after pronouncing woe on those who destroy and scatter the flock. This declaration functions as a direct judicial response within the prophetic sequence targeting Israel's leadership.
The words — לָ֠/כֵן (la/khen) and כֹּֽה־ (koh-) combine to mean "therefore thus," marking a formal divine reply to the preceding indictment. אָמַ֨ר (a.Mar) translates literally as "he says," anchoring the prophecy in Yahweh's own speech.
The thread — Divine accountability for leaders appears in Jeremiah 21:12, where Yahweh commands daily justice, and Exodus 32:34, where God declares He will settle accounts on the day of punishment. The scattering and gathering of a flock frames the immediate context in Jeremiah 23:1 and Jeremiah 23:3.
Why it lands — The text states that God will personally attend to the shepherds for the evil of their deeds, explicitly linking their neglect to divine judgment. It requires readers to acknowledge that human failure in leadership triggers direct divine intervention without mitigation.
Drafted by a language model from the text, its original words and its cross-references, then checked against them. It can still be wrong: open the verse in the app to report it.
The Hebrew words
King James Version
Therefore thus saith the Lord God of Israel against the pastors that feed my people; Ye have scattered my flock, and driven them away, and have not visited them: behold, I will visit upon you the evil of your doings, saith the Lord.
Cross-references
- Jeremiah 21:12 O house of David, this is what the LORD says: ‘Administer justice every morning, and rescue the victim of robbery from the hand of his oppressor, or My wrath will go forth like fire and burn with no one to extinguish it because of their evil deeds.
- Micah 7:4 The best of them is like a brier; the most upright is sharper than a hedge of thorns. The day for your watchmen has come, the day of your visitation. Now is the time of their confusion.
- Exodus 32:34 Now go, lead the people to the place I described. Behold, My angel shall go before you. But on the day I settle accounts, I will punish them for their sin.”
- Jeremiah 23:34 As for the prophet or priest or anyone who claims, ‘This is the burden of the LORD,’ I will punish that man and his household.
- Jeremiah 5:9 Should I not punish them for these things?” declares the LORD. “Should I not avenge Myself on such a nation as this?
- Jeremiah 5:29 Should I not punish them for these things?” declares the LORD. “Should I not avenge Myself on such a nation as this?
- Jeremiah 8:12 Are they ashamed of the abomination they have committed? No, they have no shame at all; they do not even know how to blush. So they will fall among the fallen; when I punish them, they will collapse, says the LORD.
- Jeremiah 11:22 So this is what the LORD of Hosts says: “I will punish them. Their young men will die by the sword, their sons and daughters by famine.
- Jeremiah 13:21 What will you say when He sets over you close allies whom you yourself trained? Will not pangs of anguish grip you, as they do a woman in labor?
- Hosea 2:13 I will punish her for the days of the Baals when she burned incense to them, when she adorned herself with rings and jewelry, and went after her lovers. But Me she forgot,” declares the LORD.