“This is what you should say to the prophets: ‘What is the Lord’s answer?’ or ‘What is the Lord saying?’
Parallel translations
- WEB You shall say to the prophet, ‘What has Yahweh answered you?’ and, ‘What has Yahweh spoken?’
- KJV Thus shalt thou say to the prophet, What hath the LORD answered thee? and, What hath the LORD spoken?
- BSB Thus you are to say to the prophet: ‘What has the LORD answered you?’ and ‘What has the LORD spoken?’
- NKJV Thus you shall say to the prophet, ‘What has the Lord answered you?’ and, ‘What has the Lord spoken?’
- NASB This is what you will say to that prophet: ‘What has the Lord answered you?’ and, ‘What has the Lord spoken?’
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
The proper, reverent question to a prophet is simply, 'What has the LORD answered you?' God again models humble inquiry over presumptuous claims.
Overview
Repeating the corrective of verse 35, the LORD reinforces the right way to seek a prophetic word: by asking what God has actually said. The emphasis on genuine inquiry contrasts sharply with the false prophets' fabricated messages. God's people are to receive His word, not manufacture it.
Cross-references & the web
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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 23:37 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.