^22 (A)Because you have disheartened the righteous falsely, although I have not grieved him, and ^(B)you have encouraged the wicked, that ^(C)he should not turn from his evil way to save his life,

¹⁶ the prophets of Israel who prophesied concerning Jerusalem ^(A)and saw visions of peace for her, when there was no peace, declares the Lord God.

⁴ And the Lord said to him, “Pass through the city, through Jerusalem, and ^(A)put a mark on the foreheads of the men who ^(B)sigh and groan over all the abominations that are committed in it.”

¹⁷ They say continually to those who despise the word of the Lord, ^(A)‘It shall be well with you’; and to everyone who ^(B)stubbornly follows his own heart, they say, ^(C)‘No disaster shall come upon you.’”

Lying Prophets

¹³ Then I said: “Ah, Lord God, behold, the prophets ^(A)say to them, ‘You shall not see the sword, nor shall you have famine, but I will give you assured peace in this place.’” ¹⁴ And the Lord said to me: “The ^(B)prophets are prophesying lies in my name. ^(C)I did not send them, nor did I command them or speak to them. They are prophesying to you a lying vision, ^(D)worthless divination, and ^(E)the deceit of their own minds. ¹⁵ Therefore thus says the Lord concerning the prophets who prophesy in my name although ^(F)I did not send them, and who say, ^(G)‘Sword and famine shall not come upon this land’: ^(H)By sword and famine those prophets shall be consumed. ¹⁶ And the people to whom they prophesy shall be cast out in the streets of Jerusalem, victims of famine and sword, ^(I)with none to bury them—them, their wives, their sons, and their daughters. For I will pour out their evil upon them.

^4 (A)But the serpent said to the woman, “You will not surely die. ⁵ For God knows that when you eat of it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil.”

¹⁸ For, ^(A)speaking loud boasts of folly, they entice by sensual passions of the flesh those who are barely ^(B)escaping from those who live in error. ¹⁹ They promise them ^(C)freedom, ^(D)but they themselves are slaves^[a] of corruption. For whatever overcomes a person, to that he is enslaved.

¹⁴ Again, ^(A)though I say to the wicked, ^(B)‘You shall surely die,’ yet ^(C)if he turns from his sin and does what is just and right, ¹⁵ if the wicked ^(D)restores the pledge, ^(E)gives back what he has taken by robbery, and walks ^(F)in the statutes of life, not doing injustice, he shall surely live; he shall not die. ^16 (G)None of the sins that he has committed shall be remembered against him. He has done what is just and right; he shall surely live.