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10 For the land is full of people unfaithful to him.[a]
They live wicked lives and they misuse their power.[b]
So the land is dried up[c] because it is under his curse.[d]
The pastures in the wilderness are withered.

11 Moreover,[e] the Lord says,[f]

“Both the prophets and priests are godless.
I have even found them doing evil in my temple.
12 So the paths they follow will be dark and slippery.
They will stumble and fall headlong.
For I will bring disaster on them.
A day of reckoning is coming for them.”[g]
The Lord affirms it![h]

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Footnotes

  1. Jeremiah 23:10 tn Heb “adulterers.” But spiritual adultery is clearly meant, as also in 3:8-9; 9:2, and probably 5:7.
  2. Jeremiah 23:10 tn For the word translated “They live…lives,” see usage in Jer 8:6. For the idea of “misusing” their power (Heb “their power is not right,” i.e., used in the wrong way), see 2 Kgs 7:9 and 17:9. In the original text this line (really two lines in the Hebrew poetry) are at the end of the verse. However, this places the antecedent too far away and could lead to confusion. The lines have been rearranged to avoid such confusion.
  3. Jeremiah 23:10 tn For the use of this verb see 12:4 and the note there.
  4. Jeremiah 23:10 tc The translation follows the majority of Hebrew mss (מֵאָלָה, meʾalah) rather than the Greek and Syriac version and a few Hebrew mss, which read “because of these” (מֵאֵלֶּה [meʾelleh], referring to the people unfaithful to him).sn The curse is, of course, the covenant curse. See Deut 29:20-21 (29:19-20 HT), and for the specific curse see Deut 28:23-24. The curse is appropriate since their “adultery” lay in attributing their fertility to the god Baal (see Hos 2:9-13 (2:11-15 HT) and violating the covenant (see Hos 4:1-3).
  5. Jeremiah 23:11 tn The particle כִּי (ki) that begins this verse is parallel to the one at the beginning of the preceding verse. However, the connection is too distant to render it “for.” “Moreover” is intended to draw the parallel. The words “the Lord says” (Heb “Oracle of the Lord”) have been drawn up to the front to introduce the shift in speaker from Jeremiah, who describes his agitated state, to God, who describes the sins of the prophets and priests and his consequent judgment on them.
  6. Jeremiah 23:11 tn Heb “Oracle of the Lord.”
  7. Jeremiah 23:12 tn For the last two lines see 11:23 and the notes there.
  8. Jeremiah 23:12 tn Heb “Oracle of the Lord.”