And when this people, or the prophet, or a priest, shall ask thee, saying, What is the burden of the LORD? thou shalt then say unto them, What burden? I will even forsake you, saith the LORD.
Parallel translations
- WEB “When this people, or the prophet, or a priest, shall ask you, saying, ‘What is the message from Yahweh?’ Then you shall tell them, ‘“What message? I will cast you off,” says Yahweh.’
- BSB “Now when this people or a prophet or priest asks you, ‘What is the burden of the LORD?’ you are to say to them, ‘What burden? I will forsake you, declares the LORD.’
- NKJV “So when these people or the prophet or the priest ask you, saying, ‘What is the oracle of the Lord?’ you shall then say to them, ‘What oracle?’ I will even forsake you,” says the Lord.
- NASB “Now when this people or the prophet or a priest asks you, saying, ‘What is the pronouncement of the Lord?’ then you shall say to them, ‘What pronouncement?’ The Lord declares, ‘I will abandon you.’
- NLT “Suppose one of the people or one of the prophets or priests asks you, ‘What prophecy has the Lord burdened you with now?’ You must reply, ‘You are the burden! The Lord says he will abandon you!’
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
When people mockingly ask for 'the burden of the LORD,' God answers that they themselves are the burden He will cast off. Their flippant demand for oracles meets a word of rejection.
Overview
The Hebrew word for 'burden' (massa) also means a prophetic oracle, and the people abuse it as a sneer. God turns the wordplay back on them: they are the heavy load He will discard. The passage rebukes treating God's word as a casual or cynical commodity rather than a holy summons.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 14
- Mal 1:1The burden of the word of the LORD to Israel by Malachi.
- Isa 13:1The burden of Babylon, which Isaiah the son of Amoz did see.
- Hos 9:12Though they bring up their children, yet will I bereave them, that there shall not be a man left: yea, woe also to them when I depart from them!
- Deut 32:19–20And when the LORD saw it, he abhorred them, because of the provoking of his sons, and of his daughters.
- Hab 1:1The burden which Habakkuk the prophet did see.
- Jer 12:7I have forsaken mine house, I have left mine heritage; I have given the dearly beloved of my soul into the hand of her enemies.
- Nah 1:1The burden of Nineveh. The book of the vision of Nahum the Elkoshite.
- Ps 78:59–60When God heard this, he was wroth, and greatly abhorred Israel:
- Jer 17:15Behold, they say unto me, Where is the word of the LORD? let it come now.
- Jer 20:7–8O LORD, thou hast deceived me, and I was deceived: thou art stronger than I, and hast prevailed: I am in derision daily, every one mocketh me.
- Deut 31:17–18Then my anger shall be kindled against them in that day, and I will forsake them, and I will hide my face from them, and they shall be devoured, and many evils and troubles shall befall them; so that they will say in that day, Are not these evils come upon us, because our God is not among us?
- 2 Chr 15:2And he went out to meet Asa, and said unto him, Hear ye me, Asa, and all Judah and Benjamin; The LORD is with you, while ye be with him; and if ye seek him, he will be found of you; but if ye forsake him, he will forsake you.
- Isa 14:28In the year that king Ahaz died was this burden.
- Jer 23:39–40Therefore, behold, I, even I, will utterly forget you, and I will forsake you, and the city that I gave you and your fathers, and cast you out of my presence:
Resources, by level
Commentaries & study tools
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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 23:33 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.