Jeremiah 10:21

NET Bible® (New English Translation)

For our leaders are stupid. They have not sought the LORD’s advice. So they do not act wisely, and the people they are responsible for have all been scattered.

Additional Resources

Referenced Verses

  • Jer 12:10 : 10 Many foreign rulers will ruin the land where I planted my people. They will trample all over my chosen land. They will turn my beautiful land into a desolate wilderness.
  • Ezek 34:2-9 : 2 “Son of man, prophesy against the shepherds of Israel; prophesy, and say to them– to the shepherds:‘This is what the Sovereign LORD says: Woe to the shepherds of Israel who have been feeding themselves! Should not shepherds feed the flock? 3 You eat the fat, you clothe yourselves with the wool, you slaughter the choice animals, but you do not feed the sheep! 4 You have not strengthened the weak, healed the sick, bandaged the injured, brought back the strays, or sought the lost, but with force and harshness you have ruled over them. 5 They were scattered because they had no shepherd, and they became food for every wild beast. 6 My sheep wandered over all the mountains and on every high hill. My sheep were scattered over the entire face of the earth with no one looking or searching for them. 7 “‘Therefore, you shepherds, listen to the LORD’s message: 8 As surely as I live, declares the Sovereign LORD, my sheep have become prey and have become food for all the wild beasts. There was no shepherd, and my shepherds did not search for my flock, but fed themselves and did not feed my sheep, 9 Therefore, you shepherds, listen to the LORD’s message: 10 This is what the Sovereign LORD says: Look, I am against the shepherds, and I will demand my sheep from their hand. I will no longer let them be shepherds; the shepherds will not feed themselves anymore. I will rescue my sheep from their mouth, so that they will no longer be food for them.
  • Ezek 34:12 : 12 As a shepherd seeks out his flock when he is among his scattered sheep, so I will seek out my flock. I will rescue them from all the places where they have been scattered on a cloudy, dark day.
  • Zech 10:3 : 3 I am enraged at the shepherds and will punish the lead-goats.For the LORD of Heaven’s Armies has brought blessing to his flock, the house of Judah, and will transform them into his majestic warhorse.
  • Zech 13:7 : 7 “Awake, sword, against my shepherd, against the man who is my associate,” says the LORD of Heaven’s Armies. Strike the shepherd that the flock may be scattered; I will turn my hand against the insignificant ones.
  • Jer 10:8 : 8 The people of those nations are both stupid and foolish. Instruction from a wooden idol is worthless!
  • Ezek 22:25-30 : 25 Her princes within her are like a roaring lion tearing its prey; they have devoured lives. They take away riches and valuable things; they have made many women widows within it. 26 Her priests abuse my law and have desecrated my holy things. They do not distinguish between the holy and the profane, or recognize any distinction between the unclean and the clean. They ignore my Sabbaths and I am profaned in their midst. 27 Her officials are like wolves in her midst rending their prey– shedding blood and destroying lives– so they can get dishonest profit. 28 Her prophets coat their messages with whitewash. They see false visions and announce lying omens for them, saying,‘This is what the Sovereign LORD says,’ when the LORD has not spoken. 29 The people of the land have practiced extortion and committed robbery. They have wronged the poor and needy; they have oppressed the resident foreigner and denied them justice. 30 “I looked for a man from among them who would repair the wall and stand in the gap before me on behalf of the land, so that I would not destroy it, but I found no one.
  • Jer 23:1-2 : 1 New Leaders over a Regathered Remnant The LORD says,“The leaders of my people are sure to be judged. They were supposed to watch over my people like shepherds watch over their sheep. But they are causing my people to be destroyed and scattered. 2 So the LORD God of Israel has this to say about the leaders who are ruling over his people:“You have caused my people to be dispersed and driven into exile. You have not taken care of them. So I will punish you for the evil that you have done. I, the LORD, affirm it!
  • Jer 23:9-9 : 9 Oracles Against the False Prophets Here is what the LORD says concerning the false prophets: My heart and my mind are deeply disturbed. I tremble all over. I am like a drunk person, like a person who has had too much wine, because of the way the LORD and his holy word are being mistreated. 10 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. 11 Moreover, the LORD says,“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.” The LORD affirms it! 13 The LORD says,“I saw the prophets of Samaria doing something that was disgusting. They prophesied in the name of the god Baal and led my people Israel astray. 14 But I see the prophets of Jerusalem doing something just as shocking. They are unfaithful to me and continually prophesy lies. So they give encouragement to people who are doing evil, with the result that they do not stop their evildoing. I consider all of them as bad as the people of Sodom, and the citizens of Jerusalem as bad as the people of Gomorrah. 15 So then I, the LORD of Heaven’s Armies, have something to say concerning the prophets of Jerusalem:‘I will make these prophets eat the bitter food of suffering and drink the poison water of judgment. For the prophets of Jerusalem are the reason that ungodliness has spread throughout the land.’” 16 The LORD of Heaven’s Armies says to the people of Jerusalem:“Do not listen to what those prophets are saying to you. They are filling you with false hopes. They are reporting visions of their own imaginations, not something the LORD has given them to say. 17 They continually say to those who reject what the LORD has said,‘Things will go well for you!’ They say to all those who follow the stubborn inclinations of their own hearts,‘Nothing bad will happen to you!’ 18 Yet which of them has ever stood in the LORD’s inner circle so they could see and hear what he has to say? Which of them have ever paid attention or listened to what he has said? 19 But just watch! The wrath of the LORD will come like a storm! Like a raging storm it will rage down on the heads of those who are wicked. 20 The anger of the LORD will not turn back until he has fully carried out his intended purposes. In days to come you people will come to understand this clearly. 21 I did not send those prophets. Yet they were in a hurry to give their message. I did not tell them anything. Yet they prophesied anyway. 22 But if they had stood in my inner circle, they would have proclaimed my message to my people. They would have caused my people to turn from their wicked ways and stop doing the evil things they are doing. 23 Do you people think that I am some local deity and not the transcendent God?” the LORD asks. 24 “Do you really think anyone can hide himself where I cannot see him?” the LORD asks.“Do you not know that I am everywhere?” the LORD asks. 25 The LORD says,“I have heard what those prophets who are prophesying lies in my name are saying. They are saying,‘I have had a dream! I have had a dream!’ 26 Those prophets are just prophesying lies. They are prophesying the delusions of their own minds. 27 How long will they go on plotting to make my people forget who I am through the dreams they tell one another? That is just as bad as what their ancestors did when they forgot who I am by worshiping the god Baal. 28 Let the prophet who has had a dream go ahead and tell his dream. Let the person who has received my message report that message faithfully. What is like straw cannot compare to what is like grain! I, the LORD, affirm it! 29 My message is like a fire that purges dross! It is like a hammer that breaks a rock in pieces! I, the LORD, so affirm it! 30 So I, the LORD, affirm that I am opposed to those prophets who steal messages from one another that they claim are from me. 31 I, the LORD, affirm that I am opposed to those prophets who are using their own tongues to declare,‘The LORD declares….’ 32 I, the LORD, affirm that I am opposed to those prophets who dream up lies and report them. They are misleading my people with their reckless lies. I did not send them. I did not commission them. They are not helping these people at all. I, the LORD, affirm it!”
  • Isa 56:10-12 : 10 All their watchmen are blind, they are unaware. All of them are like mute dogs, unable to bark. They pant, lie down, and love to snooze. 11 The dogs have big appetites; they are never full. They are shepherds who have no understanding; they all go their own way, each one looking for monetary gain. 12 Each one says,‘Come on, I’ll get some wine! Let’s guzzle some beer! Tomorrow will be just like today! We’ll have everything we want!’
  • Jer 2:8 : 8 Your priests did not ask,‘Where is the LORD?’ Those responsible for teaching my law did not really know me. Your rulers rebelled against me. Your prophets prophesied in the name of the god Baal. They all worshiped idols that could not help them.
  • Jer 5:31 : 31 The prophets prophesy lies. The priests exercise power by their own authority. And my people love to have it this way. But they will not be able to help you when the time of judgment comes!
  • Jer 8:9 : 9 Your wise men will be put to shame. They will be dumbfounded and be brought to judgment. Since they have rejected the LORD’s message, what wisdom do they really have?
  • Jer 49:32 : 32 Their camels will be taken as plunder. Their vast herds will be taken as spoil. I will scatter to the four winds those desert peoples who cut their hair short at the temples. I will bring disaster against them from every direction,” says the LORD.
  • Jer 50:17 : 17 “The people of Israel are like scattered sheep which lions have chased away. First the king of Assyria devoured them. Now last of all King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon has gnawed their bones.
  • Jer 10:14 : 14 All these idolaters will prove to be stupid and ignorant. Every goldsmith will be disgraced by the idol he made. For the image he forges is merely a sham. There is no breath in any of those idols.
  • John 10:12-13 : 12 The hired hand, who is not a shepherd and does not own sheep, sees the wolf coming and abandons the sheep and runs away. So the wolf attacks the sheep and scatters them. 13 Because he is a hired hand and is not concerned about the sheep, he runs away.

Similar Verses (AI)

These verses are found using AI-powered semantic similarity based on meaning and context. Results may occasionally include unexpected connections.

  • Ezek 34:2-10
    9 verses
    82%

    2“Son of man, prophesy against the shepherds of Israel; prophesy, and say to them– to the shepherds:‘This is what the Sovereign LORD says: Woe to the shepherds of Israel who have been feeding themselves! Should not shepherds feed the flock?

    3You eat the fat, you clothe yourselves with the wool, you slaughter the choice animals, but you do not feed the sheep!

    4You have not strengthened the weak, healed the sick, bandaged the injured, brought back the strays, or sought the lost, but with force and harshness you have ruled over them.

    5They were scattered because they had no shepherd, and they became food for every wild beast.

    6My sheep wandered over all the mountains and on every high hill. My sheep were scattered over the entire face of the earth with no one looking or searching for them.

    7“‘Therefore, you shepherds, listen to the LORD’s message:

    8As surely as I live, declares the Sovereign LORD, my sheep have become prey and have become food for all the wild beasts. There was no shepherd, and my shepherds did not search for my flock, but fed themselves and did not feed my sheep,

    9Therefore, you shepherds, listen to the LORD’s message:

    10This is what the Sovereign LORD says: Look, I am against the shepherds, and I will demand my sheep from their hand. I will no longer let them be shepherds; the shepherds will not feed themselves anymore. I will rescue my sheep from their mouth, so that they will no longer be food for them.

  • Jer 23:1-4
    4 verses
    82%

    1New Leaders over a Regathered Remnant The LORD says,“The leaders of my people are sure to be judged. They were supposed to watch over my people like shepherds watch over their sheep. But they are causing my people to be destroyed and scattered.

    2So the LORD God of Israel has this to say about the leaders who are ruling over his people:“You have caused my people to be dispersed and driven into exile. You have not taken care of them. So I will punish you for the evil that you have done. I, the LORD, affirm it!

    3Then I myself will regather those of my people who are still alive from all the countries where I have driven them. I will bring them back to their homeland. They will greatly increase in number.

    4I will install rulers over them who will care for them. Then they will no longer need to fear or be terrified. None of them will turn up missing. I, the LORD, promise it!

  • Jer 25:34-37
    4 verses
    81%

    34Wail and cry out in anguish, you rulers! Roll in the dust, you who shepherd flocks of people! The time for you to be slaughtered has come. You will lie scattered and fallen like broken pieces of fine pottery.

    35The leaders will not be able to run away and hide. The shepherds of the flocks will not be able to escape.

    36Listen to the cries of anguish of the leaders. Listen to the wails of the shepherds of the flocks. They are wailing because the LORD is about to destroy their lands.

    37Their peaceful dwelling places will be laid waste by the fierce anger of the LORD.

  • Zech 11:15-17
    3 verses
    79%

    15Again the LORD said to me,“Take up once more the equipment of a foolish shepherd.

    16Indeed, I am about to raise up a shepherd in the land who will not take heed to the sheep headed to slaughter, will not seek the scattered, and will not heal the injured. Moreover, he will not nourish the one that is healthy but instead will eat the meat of the fat sheep and tear off their hooves.

    17Woe to the worthless shepherd who abandons the flock! May a sword fall on his arm and his right eye! May his arm wither completely away, and his right eye become completely blind!”

  • Jer 12:10-11
    2 verses
    79%

    10Many foreign rulers will ruin the land where I planted my people. They will trample all over my chosen land. They will turn my beautiful land into a desolate wilderness.

    11They will lay it waste. It will lie parched and empty before me. The whole land will be laid waste. But no one living in it will pay any heed.

  • Zech 10:2-3
    2 verses
    79%

    2For the household gods have spoken wickedness, the soothsayers have seen a lie, and as for the dreamers, they have disclosed emptiness and give comfort in vain. Therefore the people set out like sheep and become scattered because they have no shepherd.

    3I am enraged at the shepherds and will punish the lead-goats.For the LORD of Heaven’s Armies has brought blessing to his flock, the house of Judah, and will transform them into his majestic warhorse.

  • Jer 50:6
    79%

    6“My people have been lost sheep. Their shepherds have allowed them to go astray. They have wandered around in the mountains. They have roamed from one mountain and hill to another. They have forgotten their resting place.

  • Jer 10:22
    76%

    22Listen! News is coming even now. The rumble of a great army is heard approaching from a land in the north. It is coming to turn the towns of Judah into rubble, places where only jackals live.

  • Joel 1:18
    76%

    18Listen to the cattle groan! The herds of livestock wander around in confusion because they have no pasture. Even the flocks of sheep are suffering.

  • Zech 11:3-5
    3 verses
    76%

    3Listen to the howling of shepherds, because their magnificence has been destroyed. Listen to the roaring of young lions, because the thickets of the Jordan have been devastated.

    4The LORD my God says this:“Shepherd the flock set aside for slaughter.

    5Those who buy them slaughter them and are not held guilty; those who sell them say,‘Blessed be the LORD, for I am rich.’ Their own shepherds have no compassion for them.

  • Hos 5:6
    76%

    6The Futility of Sacrificial Ritual without Moral Obedience Although they bring their flocks and herds to seek the favor of the LORD, They will not find him– he has withdrawn himself from them!

  • Jer 10:20
    75%

    20But our tents have been destroyed. The ropes that held them in place have been ripped apart. Our children are gone and are not coming back. There is no survivor to put our tents back up, no one left to hang their tent curtains in place.

  • Isa 56:9-11
    3 verses
    75%

    9The Lord Denounces Israel’s Paganism All you wild animals in the fields, come and devour, all you wild animals in the forest!

    10All their watchmen are blind, they are unaware. All of them are like mute dogs, unable to bark. They pant, lie down, and love to snooze.

    11The dogs have big appetites; they are never full. They are shepherds who have no understanding; they all go their own way, each one looking for monetary gain.

  • Jer 9:10
    75%

    10The Coming Destruction Calls For Mourning I said,“I will weep and mourn for the grasslands on the mountains, I will sing a mournful song for the pastures in the wilderness because they are so scorched no one travels through them. The sound of livestock is no longer heard there. Even the birds in the sky and the wild animals in the fields have fled and are gone.”

  • Jer 22:22
    74%

    22My judgment will carry off all your leaders like a storm wind! Your allies will go into captivity. Then you will certainly be disgraced and put to shame because of all the wickedness you have done.

  • Jer 2:8
    74%

    8Your priests did not ask,‘Where is the LORD?’ Those responsible for teaching my law did not really know me. Your rulers rebelled against me. Your prophets prophesied in the name of the god Baal. They all worshiped idols that could not help them.

  • Isa 27:10
    74%

    10For the fortified city is left alone; it is a deserted settlement and abandoned like the wilderness. Calves graze there; they lie down there and eat its branches bare.

  • Jer 31:10
    74%

    10Listen to the LORD’s message, O nations. Proclaim it in the faraway lands along the sea. Say,“The one who scattered Israel will regather them. He will watch over his people like a shepherd watches over his flock.”

  • Nah 3:18
    74%

    18Concluding Dirge Your shepherds are sleeping, O king of Assyria! Your officers are slumbering! Your people are scattered like sheep on the mountains and there is no one to regather them!

  • John 10:12
    74%

    12The hired hand, who is not a shepherd and does not own sheep, sees the wolf coming and abandons the sheep and runs away. So the wolf attacks the sheep and scatters them.

  • Jer 5:6
    73%

    6So like a lion from the thicket their enemies will kill them. Like a wolf from the rift valley they will destroy them. Like a leopard they will lie in wait outside their cities and totally destroy anyone who ventures out. For they have rebelled so much and done so many unfaithful things.

  • Ezek 34:21
    73%

    21Because you push with your side and your shoulder, and thrust your horns at all the weak sheep until you scatter them abroad,

  • Jer 13:20
    73%

    20Then I said,“Look up, Jerusalem, and see the enemy that is coming from the north. Where now is the flock of people that were entrusted to your care? Where now are the‘sheep’ that you take such pride in?

  • Zeph 3:3
    73%

    3Her princes are as fierce as roaring lions; her rulers are as hungry as wolves in the desert, who completely devour their prey by morning.

  • Ezek 34:19
    72%

    19As for my sheep, they must eat what you trampled with your feet, and drink what you have muddied with your feet!

  • Jer 2:30
    72%

    30“It did no good for me to punish your people. They did not respond to such correction. You slaughtered your prophets like a voracious lion.”

  • Jer 50:45
    72%

    45So listen to what I, the LORD, have planned against Babylon, what I intend to do to the people who inhabit the land of Babylonia. Their little ones will be dragged off. I will completely destroy their land because of what they have done.

  • Mic 3:11
    72%

    11Her leaders take bribes when they decide legal cases, her priests proclaim rulings for profit, and her prophets read omens for pay. Yet they claim to trust the LORD and say,“The LORD is among us. Disaster will not overtake us!”