I, the Lord, affirm ¹  that I am opposed to those prophets who are using their own tongues to declare, ‘The Lord declares….’ ² 

biblegateway Jer 23:31

"Behold, I am against the prophets," declares the LORD, "who use their tongues and declare, ‘ The Lord declares.’

I am against the prophets"--the LORD's declaration--"who use their own tongues to deliver an oracle.

"I’m against the prophets who speak their own thoughts and say that they speak for me.

biblegateway Jer 23:31

Yes," declares the LORD, "I am against the prophets who wag their own tongues and yet declare, ‘The LORD declares.’

Behold, I am against the prophets, declares the LORD, who use their tongues and declare, 'declares the LORD.'

bibleoremus Jer 23:31

See, I am against the prophets, says the LORD, who use their own tongues and say, "Says the LORD."

I am against those prophets, says the LORD, who concoct words of their own and then say, “This is his word.”

biblegateway Jer 23:31

"Behold, I am against the prophets," says the LORD, "who use their tongues and say, ‘He says.’

Behold, I [am] against the prophets, saith the LORD, that use their tongues, and say, He saith.

biblegateway Jer 23:31

I, the Lord, affirm ¹  that I am opposed to those prophets who are using their own tongues to declare, ‘The Lord declares….’ ² 

¹ tn Heb “Oracle of the Lord.”

² tn The word “The Lord” is not actually in the text but is implicit in the idiom. It is generally supplied in all the English versions.

² sn Jer 23:30-33 are filled with biting sarcasm. The verses all begin with “Behold I am against the prophets who…” and go on to describe their reprehensible behavior. They “steal” one another’s messages which the Lord sarcastically calls “my words” (The passage shows that they are not; compare Marc Anthony’s use of “noble” to describe the ignoble men who killed Caesar). Here the use of the idiom translated “to use their own tongue” is really the idiom that refers to taking something in preparation for action, i.e., “they take their tongue” and “declare.” The verb “declare” is only used here and is derived from the idiom “oracle of “ which is almost universally used in the idiom “oracle of the Lord” which occurs 176 times in Jeremiah. I.e., it is their tongue that is “declaring not his mouth (v. 16). Moreover in the report of what they “declare” the Lord has left out the qualifying “of the Lord” to suggest the delusive nature of their message, i.e. they mislead people into believing that their message is from the Lord. Elsewhere in the discussion of the issue of false prophecy the Lord will use the full formula (Ezek 13:6-7). How ironic that their “Oracle of…” is punctuated by the triple “Oracle of the Lord” (vv. 30, 31, 32; translated here “I, the Lord, affirm that…).