²² “Because with ^(A)lies you have made the heart of the righteous sad, whom I have not made sad; and you have ^(B)strengthened the hands of the wicked, so that he does not turn from his wicked way to save his life.

¹⁶ that is, the prophets of Israel who prophesy concerning Jerusalem, and who ^(A)see visions of peace for her when there is no peace,’ ” says the Lord God.

⁴ and the Lord said to him, “Go through the midst of the city, through the midst of Jerusalem, and put ^(A)a mark on the foreheads of the men ^(B)who sigh and cry over all the abominations that are done within it.”

^13 (A)Then I said, “Ah, Lord God! Behold, the prophets say to them, ‘You shall not see the sword, nor shall you have famine, but I will give you ^[a]assured ^(B)peace in this place.’ ”

¹⁴ And the Lord said to me, ^(C)“The prophets prophesy lies in My name. ^(D)I have not sent them, commanded them, nor spoken to them; they prophesy to you a false vision, ^[b]divination, a worthless thing, and the ^(E)deceit of their heart. ¹⁵ Therefore thus says the Lord concerning the prophets who prophesy in My name, whom I did not send, ^(F)and who say, ‘Sword and famine shall not be in this land’—‘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 because of the famine and the sword; ^(G)they will have no one to bury them—them nor their wives, their sons nor their daughters—for I will pour their wickedness on them.’

¹⁷ “Therefore you shall say this word to them:

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

Deceptions of False Teachers

¹⁸ For when they speak great swelling words of emptiness, they allure through the lusts of the flesh, through lewdness, the ones who ^[a]have actually escaped from those who live in error. ¹⁹ While they promise them liberty, they themselves are slaves of ^[b]corruption; ^(A)for by whom a person is overcome, by him also he is brought into ^[c]bondage.

¹⁴ Again, ^(A)when I say to the wicked, ‘You shall surely die,’ if he turns from his sin and does ^[a]what is lawful and ^[b]right, ¹⁵ if the wicked ^(B)restores the pledge, ^(C)gives back what he has stolen, and walks in ^(D)the statutes of life without committing iniquity, he shall surely live; he shall not die. ^16 (E)None of his sins which he has committed shall be remembered against him; he has done what is lawful and right; he shall surely live.