Lectionary Calendar
Thursday, August 21st, 2025
the Week of Proper 15 / Ordinary 20
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Easy-to-Read Version

Jeremiah 23:10

The land of Judah is full of people who commit adultery. They are unfaithful in many ways. So God cursed the land, and it became very dry. The plants are dried and dying in the pastures. The fields have become like the desert. The prophets are evil. They use their influence and power in the wrong way.

Bible Study Resources

Concordances:

- Nave's Topical Bible - Adultery;   Blasphemy;   Scofield Reference Index - Israel;   Thompson Chain Reference - Leaders;   Ministers;   Religious;   The Topic Concordance - Evil;   Prophecy and Prophets;   Sending and Those Sent;   Torrey's Topical Textbook - Oaths;   Swearing, Profane;  

Dictionaries:

- Bridgeway Bible Dictionary - Adultery;   Baker Evangelical Dictionary of Biblical Theology - False Prophet;   Easton Bible Dictionary - Wilderness;   Fausset Bible Dictionary - Ezekiel;   Holman Bible Dictionary - Jeremiah;  

Encyclopedias:

- International Standard Bible Encyclopedia - Adultery;   Course;   Games;   Jeremiah (2);   Micaiah;   The Jewish Encyclopedia - Chastity;   Marriage;   Wilderness;  

Parallel Translations

Christian Standard Bible®
For the land is full of adulterers;the land mourns because of the curse,and the grazing lands in the wilderness have dried up.Their way of life has become evil,and their power is not rightly used
Hebrew Names Version
For the land is full of adulterers; for because of swearing the land mourns; the pastures of the wilderness are dried up. Their course is evil, and their might is not right;
King James Version
For the land is full of adulterers; for because of swearing the land mourneth; the pleasant places of the wilderness are dried up, and their course is evil, and their force is not right.
English Standard Version
For the land is full of adulterers; because of the curse the land mourns, and the pastures of the wilderness are dried up. Their course is evil, and their might is not right.
New American Standard Bible
For the land is full of adulterers; For the land mourns because of the curse. The pastures of the wilderness have dried up. Their course is evil And their might is not right.
New Century Version
The land of Judah is full of people who are guilty of adultery. Because of this, the Lord cursed the land. It has become a very sad place, and the pastures have dried up. The people are evil and use their power in the wrong way.
Amplified Bible
For the land is full of adulterers (unfaithful to God); The land mourns because of the curse [of God upon it]. The pastures of the wilderness have dried up. The course of action [of the false prophets] is evil and they rush into wickedness; And their power is not right.
World English Bible
For the land is full of adulterers; for because of swearing the land mourns; the pastures of the wilderness are dried up. Their course is evil, and their might is not right;
Geneva Bible (1587)
For the lande is full of adulterers, and because of othes the lande mourneth, the pleasant places of the wildernesse are dried vp, and their course is euill, and their force is not right.
Legacy Standard Bible
For the land is full of adulterers;For the land mourns because of the curse.The pastures of the wilderness have dried up.Their course also is evil,And their might is not right.
Berean Standard Bible
For the land is full of adulterers-because of the curse the land mourns, and the pastures of the wilderness have dried up-their course is evil and their power is misused.
Contemporary English Version
Those unfaithful prophets misuse their power all over the country. So God turned the pasturelands into scorching deserts.
Complete Jewish Bible
For the land is full of adulterers; because of a curse the land is in mourning — the desert pastures have dried up. Their course is evil, their power misused.
Darby Translation
For the land is full of adulterers; for because of execration the land mourneth. The pastures of the wilderness are dried up; for their course is evil, and their force is not right.
George Lamsa Translation
For the land is full of adulterers and robbers; because of these men the land mourns and the pastures of the shepherds in the wilderness are dried up, and their yield has been poor, and they did not flourish.
Good News Translation
The land is full of people unfaithful to the Lord ; they live wicked lives and misuse their power. Because of the Lord 's curse the land mourns and the pastures are dry.
Lexham English Bible
For the land is full of adulterers; for the land mourns because of a curse. The pastures of the desert are dry, and their evil has been their way of running, and their power is not right.
Literal Translation
For the land is full of adulterers. For the land mourns because of a curse. The pastures of the wilderness are dried up. And their course is evil, and their might is not right.
Miles Coverdale Bible (1535)
Because the londe is full of aduoterers, where thorow it is destroyed and mourneth, and ye pleasaunt pastures of the deserte are dryed vp. Yee the waye that men take, is wicked, & their gouernaunce is nothinge like the holy worde of the LORDE.
American Standard Version
For the land is full of adulterers; for because of swearing the land mourneth; the pastures of the wilderness are dried up. And their course is evil, and their might is not right;
Bible in Basic English
For the land is full of men who are untrue to their wives; because of the curse the land is full of grief; the green fields of the waste land have become dry; and they are quick to do evil, their strength is for what is not right.
JPS Old Testament (1917)
For the land is full of adulterers; for because of swearing the land mourneth, the pastures of the wilderness are dried up; and their course is evil, and their force is not right.
King James Version (1611)
For the land is full of adulterers, for because of swearing the land mourneth: the pleasant places of the wildernes are dried vp, and their course is euil, and their force is not right.
Bishop's Bible (1568)
Because the lande is full of adulterers, and thorowe swearing it mourneth, and the pleasaunt pastures of the desert are dryed vp: yea the way that men take is wicked, and their power is nothing right.
Brenton's Septuagint (LXX)
For because of these things the land mourns; the pastures of the wilderness are dried up; and their course is become evil, and so also their strength.
English Revised Version
For the land is full of adulterers; for because of swearing the land mourneth; the pastures of the wilderness are dried up; and their course is evil, and their force is not right.
Wycliffe Bible (1395)
for the lond is fillid with auowteris. For the erthe mourenede of the face of cursyng; the feeldis of desert ben maad drie, the cours of hem is maad yuel, and her strengthe is vnlijk.
Update Bible Version
For the land is full of adulterers; for because of swearing the land mourns; the pastures of the wilderness are dried up. And their course is evil, and their might is not right;
Webster's Bible Translation
For the land is full of adulterers; for because of swearing the land mourneth; the pleasant places of the wilderness are dried up, and their course is evil, and their force [is] not right.
New English Translation
For the land is full of people unfaithful to him. They live wicked lives and they misuse their power. So the land is dried up because it is under his curse. The pastures in the wilderness are withered.
New King James Version
For the land is full of adulterers; For because of a curse the land mourns. The pleasant places of the wilderness are dried up. Their course of life is evil, And their might is not right.
New Living Translation
For the land is full of adultery, and it lies under a curse. The land itself is in mourning— its wilderness pastures are dried up. For they all do evil and abuse what power they have.
New Life Bible
For the land is full of people who are not faithful. Because of the bad things that have come upon it, the land is filled with sorrow, and the fields of the desert have dried up. Their way is sinful, and they use their power in a wrong way.
New Revised Standard
For the land is full of adulterers; because of the curse the land mourns, and the pastures of the wilderness are dried up. Their course has been evil, and their might is not right.
J.B. Rotherham Emphasized Bible
For with adulterers, is the land filled, Yea because of cursing, cloth the land mourn, Dried up are the oases of the desert, - And, their oppression hath become wicked, And, their might is not right.
Douay-Rheims Bible
Because the land is full of adulterers, because the land hath mourned by reason of cursing, the fields of the desert are dried up: and their course is become evil, and their strength unlike.
Revised Standard Version
For the land is full of adulterers; because of the curse the land mourns, and the pastures of the wilderness are dried up. Their course is evil, and their might is not right.
Young's Literal Translation
For of adulterers hath the land been full, For because of these hath the land mourned, Dried up hath been the pleasant places of the wilderness, And their course is evil, and their might -- not right.
THE MESSAGE
Now for what God says regarding the lying prophets: "Can you believe it? A country teeming with adulterers! faithless, promiscuous idolater-adulterers! They're a curse on the land. The land's a wasteland. Their unfaithfulness is turning the country into a cesspool, Prophets and priests devoted to desecration. They have nothing to do with me as their God. My very own Temple, mind you— mud-spattered with their crimes." God 's Decree. "But they won't get by with it. They'll find themselves on a slippery slope, Careening into the darkness, somersaulting into the pitch-black dark. I'll make them pay for their crimes. It will be the Year of Doom." God 's Decree.
New American Standard Bible (1995)
For the land is full of adulterers; For the land mourns because of the curse. The pastures of the wilderness have dried up. Their course also is evil And their might is not right.

Contextual Overview

9 A message to the prophets: I am very sad—my heart is broken. All my bones are shaking. Because of the Lord and his holy words, I am like a man who is drunk. 10 The land of Judah is full of people who commit adultery. They are unfaithful in many ways. So God cursed the land, and it became very dry. The plants are dried and dying in the pastures. The fields have become like the desert. The prophets are evil. They use their influence and power in the wrong way. 11 This message is from the Lord : "The prophets and even the priests are evil. I have seen them doing evil things in my own Temple. 12 I will stop giving my messages to them. They will walk in darkness. The road will be slippery for those prophets and priests, and they will fall in that darkness. I will bring disaster on them; I will punish them." This message is from the Lord . 13 "I saw the prophets of Samaria doing wrong things. I saw them prophesy in the name of the false god Baal. They led the people of Israel away from me. 14 I have even seen the prophets of Jerusalem doing sinful things. They are committing adultery and living a life of lies. They support their fellow prophets and never stop doing evil. They have become like Sodom; they are all like Gomorrah." 15 So this is what the Lord All-Powerful says about those Jerusalem prophets: "I will make them suffer. Their food will be bitter, their water like poison. I will punish them because they started a spiritual sickness that spread through the whole country." 16 This is what the Lord All-Powerful says: "Don't pay attention to what those prophets are saying to you. They are trying to fool you. They talk about visions, but they did not get their visions from me. Their visions come from their own minds. 17 Some of the people hate the real messages from the Lord , so the prophets give them a different message. They say, ‘You will have peace.' Some of the people are very stubborn. They do only what they want to do. So the prophets say, ‘Nothing bad will happen to you!' 18 But none of these prophets has stood in the heavenly council. None of them has seen or heard the message from the Lord . None of them has paid close attention to his message.

Bible Verse Review
  from Treasury of Scripure Knowledge

full: Jeremiah 5:7, Jeremiah 5:8, Jeremiah 7:9, Jeremiah 9:2, Ezekiel 22:9-11, Hosea 4:2, Hosea 4:3, Malachi 3:5, 1 Corinthians 6:9, 1 Corinthians 6:10, Galatians 5:19-21, Hebrews 13:4, James 4:4

because: Zechariah 5:3, Zechariah 5:4, 1 Timothy 1:10

swearing: Heb. cursing

the land: Jeremiah 12:3, Jeremiah 12:4, Jeremiah 14:2, Lamentations 1:2-4, Joel 1:10

the pleasant: Jeremiah 9:10, Psalms 107:34, Isaiah 24:6

course: or, violence

Reciprocal: Isaiah 5:18 - draw Jeremiah 4:28 - the earth Jeremiah 12:11 - it mourneth Acts 21:35 - for Ephesians 2:2 - walked according

Cross-References

Genesis 23:1
Sarah lived to be 127 years old.
Genesis 23:3
Then he left his dead wife and went to talk to the Hittites. He said,
Genesis 23:4
"I am only a foreigner staying in your country. I have no place to bury my wife. Please give me some land so that I can bury her."
Genesis 24:10
The servant took ten of Abraham's camels and left that place. The servant carried with him many different kinds of beautiful gifts. He went to Mesopotamia, to Nahor's city.
Genesis 34:20
Hamor and Shechem went to the meeting place of their city. They spoke to the men of the city and said,
Genesis 34:24
All the men who heard this in the meeting place agreed with Hamor and Shechem. And every man was circumcised at that time.
Job 29:7
"Those were the days when I went to the city gate and sat in the public meeting of the elders.
Isaiah 28:6
Then he will give wisdom to the judges who rule his people. He will give strength to the people who are in battles at the city gates.
Matthew 9:1
Jesus got into a boat and went back across the lake to his own town.

Gill's Notes on the Bible

For the land is full of adulterers,.... Of such as were guilty of corporeal adultery, and of spiritual adultery, which is idolatry. Now, though in this, and in the following verses, the prophet describes the men of his generation, both ecclesiastics and laics; yet also so as to have regard to the Jews in the times of Christ, to which this prophecy has respect; between whom there was a great resemblance; adulteries were so frequent in Christ's time, that the Jews left off the use of the bitter waters n; and our Lord sometimes calls the generation in which he lived an adulterous one, Matthew 12:39;

for because of swearing the land mourneth; because of false swearing and cursing; because of the oaths and imprecations of men; or because of the curse of God, for the sins of men, the land was desert or desolate, as the Targum; it became barren and unfruitful, the land of Judea; just as the earth was cursed for the sin of man originally; though it seems rather to signify perjury or false swearing, which, and adultery, were the reigning vices of the age; see Matthew 5:33;

the pleasant places of the wilderness are dried up; or the pastures of the wilderness, where cattle used to feed, were dried up for want of rain, and so were unfruitful, and produced no grass for the beasts of the field:

and yet their course is evil; the course of their ministry or prophesying was bad; and the course of their lives and conversations was one continued series of iniquity; the race they ran, both prophet and people, was a wicked one; they ran and made haste to commit sin; though a professing people, their conversation was according to "the course of this world", Ephesians 2:2; and not according to the rule of God's word:

and their force [is] not right; or, "is not so" o; as it ought to be, or employed in the manner it should: the power and authority of the prophets over the people was not used, as it might have been, for the preserving of the people from sin; nor their courage and valour shown for truth, as it ought to have been; and they used their power to hurt and oppress, and not to relieve and help: so the Pharisees in Christ's time laid heavy burdens on others, but would not move them themselves; and, through a pretence of devotion, devoured widows' houses,

Matthew 23:4. So some render the words here, "and their violence is not right" p; their rapine and oppression were very unjust; so that, besides adultery and swearing, they are charged with violence in particular, and with a wicked course of life in general.

n Misn. Sota, c. 9. sect. 9. o לא כן "non sic", Montanus; "dissimilis", V. L. p גבורתם "violentia eorum". So the margin of our Bible.

Barnes' Notes on the Bible

Because of swearing - Rather, because of the curse denounced against sin Jeremiah 11:3. The mourning probably refers to the drought Jeremiah 12:4.

The pleasant places - “Pastures.”

Their course - Their mode of life.

Their force is not right - “Their heroism,” that on which they pride themselves as mighty men, “is not right,” is wrong (see Jeremiah 8:6 note).

Clarke's Notes on the Bible

Verse Jeremiah 23:10. The land is full of adulterers — Of idolaters. Of persons who break their faith to ME, as an impure wife does to her husband.

The pleasant places of the wilderness are dried up — He speaks here, most probably, in reference to dearth. Profane oaths, false swearing, evil courses, violence, c., had provoked God to send this among other judgments see Jeremiah 23:19.


 
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