Jeremiah 23:16–22, King James Version
Italic words were supplied in the English translation for clarity.
Jeremiah 23:16–22
Council-Tested Speech Contrasts with Self-Sent Visions
Self-sent visions of peace fail the council test
Hearken not unto the prophets that prophesy unto you; they make you vain; they speak a vision of their own heart, and not out of the mouth of the LORD. They say to those who despise the LORD, Ye shall have peace, and to those who walk in their own stubbornness, No evil shall come upon you.
The issue is unauthorized comfort that protects contempt. Severity alone is not truth either. A harsh speaker can also be self-sent. The test is whether the word comes from standing in the counsel of the LORD.
Who hath stood in my counsel, and made my people hear my words?
If they had stood in the council, they would have turned the people from their evil way. The LORD's word is like a whirlwind bursting on the head of the wicked; in the latter days ye shall consider it perfectly. Aftermath, not applause, will sort the speech.
No contemporary speaker inherits this council by volume, branding, or trauma language. Claims still need evidence, character, community testing, and correction. Peace-talk that refuses turning is the specific fraud in view.
How this should shape us
Do not buy a religious promise of safety that requires no turning from harm. Do not baptize cruelty as authenticity either. Ask who is being protected, and keep the speaker accountable to evidence and repair.
Teach it back
Explain Jeremiah 23:16–22 in your own words. Name its place in Jeremiah, one source-controlled observation, one uncertainty, one enduring truth, and one harmful use the passage does not authorize.
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Go deeper
The explanation above is meant to stand on its own. Open these notes only if you want language, history, disagreements, or source locations.
Where careful interpreters disagreeThe strongest options and their difficulties
Where do responsible readings differ?
Best judgment: Severity alone is not truth, and no contemporary speaker can bypass evidence, character, community testing, and correction.
How certain? strongResearch trail and exact locationsThe source record behind this section
Supports: Exact displayed KJV wording, verse order, paragraph metadata, supplied-word markup, and complete thought-unit coverage.
Jeremiah 23:16–22, pinned eng-kjv2006 USFM-derived repository corpus
Supports: Masoretic Hebrew wording and morphology checked at the exact unit without treating morphology as a critical apparatus or interpretation.
Open Scriptures MorphHB v2.2, commit 6a5db284c715c18b239422e57bb89684e6a19f00, wlc/Jer.xml, OSIS 23:16–22
Supports: Verse-level controls for Hebrew, syntax, older KJV language, dates, names, textual problems, and material translation alternatives.
Official NET Bible Jeremiah PDF, pp. 1258-1459, translator, study, and textual notes attached to Jeremiah 23:16–22
Supports: Reader-oriented historical, literary, theological, and pastoral synthesis with ancient-to-modern limits.
Enter the Bible Jeremiah course, Outline and passage studies: kings, prophets, nations, yokes, Hananiah, and exile letter; applied to Jeremiah 23:16–22
Supports: Current university-level literary-historical synthesis and explicit composition questions.
Yale Bible Study, Jeremiah and Ezekiel, Jeremiah Part 2 study guide, pp. 1-6: prophetic conflict, politics, exile, and restoration; applied to Jeremiah 23:16–22
Supports: Controls prophetic-conflict claims, especially Jeremiah 28, while keeping outcome, tradition, conduct, and interpretation in conversation.
Scolnic, 'Jeremiah and Hananiah: A Study of True and False Prophecy,' Jewish Bible Quarterly 50.2 (2022), pp. 113-118; applied to Jeremiah 23:16–22
Sources for This Section
These records identify the source, the claim it supports, and the exact location used. A source remains evidence to evaluate; it does not replace the biblical text.
Biblical text
King James (Authorized) Version — eng-kjv2006
eBible.org and CrossWire Bible Society
USFM archive eng-kjv2006_usfm.zip; source files dated 2026-08-19; downloaded 2026-08-24; archive SHA-256 aec1b3b26c622fd3d963d2bbac963016b9513246ffbfa20da00bb100372ea007; normalized corpus SHA-256 09aef51d90488aa7b9722b3fd9a93f4b25f6bf2064c5fd798fb39673c300ddf2.
Supports: Exact displayed KJV wording, verse order, paragraph metadata, supplied-word markup, and complete thought-unit coverage.
Exact location: Jeremiah 23:16–22, pinned eng-kjv2006 USFM-derived repository corpus
Open source ↗hebrew text and morphology
Open Scriptures Hebrew Bible: Jeremiah
Open Scriptures
Open Scriptures, release 2.2; fixed commit
Supports: Masoretic Hebrew wording and morphology checked at the exact unit without treating morphology as a critical apparatus or interpretation.
Exact location: Open Scriptures MorphHB v2.2, commit 6a5db284c715c18b239422e57bb89684e6a19f00, wlc/Jer.xml, OSIS 23:16–22
Open the fixed Hebrew Jeremiah file ↗translation and translator notes
NET Bible: Jeremiah with Translator, Textual, and Study Notes
Biblical Studies Press
Biblical Studies Press; official eBible PDF distribution, NET Bible Second Edition; official PDF accessed 2026
Supports: Verse-level controls for Hebrew, syntax, older KJV language, dates, names, textual problems, and material translation alternatives.
Exact location: Official NET Bible Jeremiah PDF, pp. 1258-1459, translator, study, and textual notes attached to Jeremiah 23:16–22
Open the official NET Jeremiah PDF ↗modern scholarly book course
Jeremiah: Summary, Outline, Background, Introductory Issues, Themes, and Bible in the World
Terence E. Fretheim and Michael Chan
Enter the Bible, Luther Seminary, current public course accessed 2026
Supports: Reader-oriented historical, literary, theological, and pastoral synthesis with ancient-to-modern limits.
Exact location: Enter the Bible Jeremiah course, Outline and passage studies: kings, prophets, nations, yokes, Hananiah, and exile letter; applied to Jeremiah 23:16–22
Open the Enter the Bible Jeremiah course ↗open university study guide series
Jeremiah and Ezekiel: Jeremiah Parts 1-3 Study Guides
Joel S. Baden and Jacqueline Vayntrub
Yale Bible Study, 2024
Supports: Current university-level literary-historical synthesis and explicit composition questions.
Exact location: Yale Bible Study, Jeremiah and Ezekiel, Jeremiah Part 2 study guide, pp. 1-6: prophetic conflict, politics, exile, and restoration; applied to Jeremiah 23:16–22
Open the Yale Jeremiah and Ezekiel course ↗peer reviewed open access article
Jeremiah and Hananiah: A Study of True and False Prophecy
Benjamin Scolnic
Jewish Bible Quarterly 50.2, 2022
Supports: Controls prophetic-conflict claims, especially Jeremiah 28, while keeping outcome, tradition, conduct, and interpretation in conversation.
Exact location: Scolnic, 'Jeremiah and Hananiah: A Study of True and False Prophecy,' Jewish Bible Quarterly 50.2 (2022), pp. 113-118; applied to Jeremiah 23:16–22
Open Scolnic on Jeremiah and Hananiah ↗