Jeremiah 23:18

Yet which of them has ever stood in the Lord’s inner circle ¹  so they ²  could see and hear what he has to say? ³  Which of them have ever paid attention or listened to what he has said?

But which of them has stood in the council of the LORD to see or to hear his word? Who has listened and heard his word?

"But who has stood in the council of the LORD, That he should see and hear His word? Who has given heed to His word and listened?

"But can you name even one of these prophets who knows the LORD well enough to hear what he is saying? Has even one of them cared enough to listen?

"Have any of these prophets bothered to meet with me, the true GOD? bothered to take in what [I] have to say? listened to and then [lived out] my Word?

For which of them has knowledge of the secret of the Lord, and has seen him, and given ear to his word? which of them has taken note of his word and given attention to it?

For who has stood in the council of the LORD so as to see and to hear his word? Who has given heed to his word so as to proclaim it?

For who has stood in the counsel of the LORD, And has perceived and heard His word? Who has marked His word and heard it ?

Yet which of them has ever stood in the Lord’s inner circle ¹  so they ²  could see and hear what he has to say? ³  Which of them have ever paid attention or listened to what he has said?

¹ tn Or “has been the Lord’s confidant.”

sn The Lord’s inner circle refers to the council of angels (Ps 89:7 [89:8 HT]; 1 Kgs 22:19-22; Job 1-2; Job 15:8) where God made known his counsel/plans (Amos 3:7). They and those they prophesied to will find out soon enough what the purposes of his heart are, and they are not “peace” (see v. 20). By their failure to announce the impending doom they were not turning the people away from their wicked course (vv. 21-22).

² tn The form here is a jussive with a vav of subordination introducing a purpose after a question (cf. GKC 322 §109.f).

³ tc Heb “his word.” In the second instance (“what he has said” at the end of the verse) the translation follows the suggestion of the Masoretes (Qere) and many Hebrew mss rather than the consonantal text (Kethib) of the Leningrad Codex.