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“Therefore,” says the Lord, “I am against these prophets who steal messages from each other and claim they are from me.
Jeremiah 23:30 · New Living Translation
Parallel translations
  • WEB “Therefore behold, I am against the prophets,” says Yahweh, “who each steal my words from his neighbor.
  • KJV Therefore, behold, I am against the prophets, saith the LORD, that steal my words every one from his neighbour.
  • BSB “Therefore behold,” declares the LORD, “I am against the prophets who steal from one another words they attribute to Me.”
  • NKJV “Therefore behold, I am against the prophets,” says the Lord, “who steal My words every one from his neighbor.
  • NASB Therefore behold, I am against the prophets,” declares the Lord, “who steal My words from each other.

Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

Scripture quotations taken from the (NASB®) New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995, 2020 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. All rights reserved. lockman.org

Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.

Quick answer

God declares Himself against the prophets who steal His words from one another. Borrowing and counterfeiting genuine revelation provokes His opposition.

Overview

The LORD sets Himself against prophets who plagiarize divine-sounding phrases from each other rather than receiving a true word from Him. Imitation of God's speech without His commission is treated as theft. To have God 'against' someone is the gravest peril, showing how seriously He guards the integrity of His revelation.

Cross-references & the web

Cross-references · 12

  • Deut 18:20But the prophet who speaks a word presumptuously in my name, which I have not commanded him to speak, or who speaks in the name of other gods, that same prophet shall die.”
  • Ezek 13:8“‘Therefore thus says the Lord Yahweh: “Because you have spoken falsehood and seen lies, therefore, behold, I am against you,” says the Lord Yahweh.
  • Jer 14:14–15Then Yahweh said to me, “The prophets prophesy lies in my name. I didn’t send them, neither have I commanded them, neither did I speak to them. They prophesy to you a lying vision, divination, and a thing of nothing, and the deceit of their own heart.
  • Ezek 13:20“Therefore thus says the Lord Yahweh: ‘Behold, I am against your pillows, with which you hunt the souls to make them fly, and I will tear them from your arms. I will let the souls go, even the souls whom you hunt to make them fly.
  • Ps 34:16Yahweh’s face is against those who do evil, to cut off their memory from the earth.
  • Ezek 15:7I will set my face against them. They will go out from the fire, but the fire will devour them; and you will know that I am Yahweh, when I set my face against them.
  • 1 Pet 3:12For the eyes of the Lord are on the righteous, and his ears open to their prayer; but the face of the Lord is against those who do evil.”
  • Deut 29:20Yahweh will not pardon him, but then Yahweh’s anger and his jealousy will smoke against that man, and all the curse that is written in this book will fall on him, and Yahweh will blot out his name from under the sky.
  • Jer 44:29“‘This shall be the sign to you,’ says Yahweh, ‘that I will punish you in this place, that you may know that my words shall surely stand against you for evil.’
  • Lev 20:3I also will set my face against that person, and will cut him off from among his people because he has given of his offspring to Molech, to defile my sanctuary, and to profane my holy name.
  • Lev 26:17I will set my face against you, and you will be struck before your enemies. Those who hate you will rule over you; and you will flee when no one pursues you.
  • Jer 44:11“Therefore Yahweh of Armies, the God of Israel, says: ‘Behold, I will set my face against you for evil, even to cut off all Judah.

Themes, concepts, people & topics

Topics (2)

Resources, by level

Commentaries & study tools

  • VideoBibleProject — Jeremiah videosBibleProject · Lay · Free · evangelical

    Free animated overview and word-study videos for this book.

  • VideoWatch teaching on Jeremiah 23:30YouTube · Lay · Free

    Sermons and teaching on this passage from across YouTube.

  • CommentaryEnduring Word — verse-by-verseDavid Guzik · Lay · Free · evangelical

    Clear, readable, conservative exposition — the best free place to start on any passage.

  • CommentaryClassic commentaries for this verseBibleHub (20+ works) · Pastoral · Free

    Matthew Henry, Barnes, Gill, the Pulpit Commentary, Ellicott, Cambridge, and more — stacked on one page for this exact verse.

  • CommentaryMatthew Henry on JeremiahMatthew Henry · Pastoral · Free · evangelical

    The beloved Puritan exposition of this whole book — warm, devotional, and verse by verse (free, CCEL).

  • ReferenceInterlinear, lexicon & Strong'sBlue Letter Bible · Seminary · Free

    Hebrew/Greek interlinear, word definitions, and cross-references for this verse.

Christ at the center

Against the failure of false shepherds Jeremiah promises the Righteous Branch, 'The LORD our righteousness,' and the new covenant written on the heart and sealed in the blood of Christ.

How Jeremiah 23:30 points to him is part of the one story that runs through all Scripture — meet Jesus at the heart of the web, or follow a trail that traces him from Genesis to Revelation.

Original language

Each word below is tagged with its Strong’s number — tap one to see the underlying Hebrew word, its meaning, and every verse that uses it.