Ezekiel 13

English Standard Version

False Prophets Condemned

13 The word of the Lord came to me: ²^(A)“Son of man, prophesy against the prophets of Israel, who are prophesying, and say to those ^(B)who prophesy from their own hearts: ‘Hear the word of the Lord!’ ³Thus says the Lord God, Woe to the foolish prophets who follow their own spirit, and have seen nothing! ⁴Your prophets have been like jackals among ruins, O Israel. ⁵^(C)You have not gone up into the breaches, or built up a wall for the house of Israel, that it might stand in battle in the day of the Lord. ⁶^(D)They have seen false visions and lying divinations. They say, ‘Declares the Lord,’ ^(E)when the Lord has not sent them, and yet they expect him to fulfill their word. ⁷Have you not seen a false vision and uttered a lying divination, ^(F)whenever you have said, ‘Declares the Lord,’ although I have not spoken?”

⁸Therefore thus says the Lord God: “Because you have uttered falsehood and seen lying visions, therefore behold, ^(G)I am against you, declares the Lord God. ⁹My hand will be against the prophets who see false visions and who give lying divinations. They shall not be in the council of my people, ^(H)nor be enrolled in the register of the house of Israel, ^(I)nor shall they enter the land of Israel. ^(J)And you shall know that I am the Lord God. ¹⁰Precisely because they have misled my people, ^(K)saying, ‘Peace,’ when there is no peace, and because, when the people build a wall, ^(L)these prophets smear it with whitewash,^[a] ¹¹say to those who smear it with whitewash that it shall fall! ^(M)There will be a deluge of rain, and you, O great hailstones, will fall, and a stormy wind break out. ¹²And when the wall falls, will it not be said to you, ‘Where is the coating with which you smeared it?’ ¹³Therefore thus says the Lord God: ^(N)I will make a stormy wind break out in my wrath, ^(O)and there shall be a deluge of rain in my anger, and great hailstones in wrath to make a full end. ¹⁴And I will break down the wall that you have smeared with whitewash, and bring it down to the ground, so that its foundation will be laid bare. When it falls, you shall perish in the midst of it, ^(P)and you shall know that I am the Lord. ¹⁵Thus will I spend my wrath upon the wall and upon those who have smeared it with whitewash, and I will say to you, The wall is no more, nor those who smeared it, ¹⁶the prophets of Israel who prophesied concerning Jerusalem ^(Q)and saw visions of peace for her, when there was no peace, declares the Lord God.

¹⁷“And you, son of man, ^(R)set your face against ^(S)the daughters of your people, ^(T)who prophesy out of their own hearts. Prophesy against them ¹⁸and say, Thus says the Lord God: Woe to the women ^(U)who sew magic bands upon all wrists, and ^(V)make veils for the heads of persons of every stature, in ^(W)the hunt for souls! Will you hunt down souls belonging to my people and keep your own souls alive? ¹⁹You have profaned me among my people ^(X)for handfuls of barley ^(Y)and for pieces of bread, putting to death souls who should not die and keeping alive souls who should not live, by your lying to my people, who listen to lies.

²⁰“Therefore thus says the Lord God: Behold, ^(Z)I am against ^(AA)your magic bands with which you hunt the souls like birds, and I will tear them from your arms, and I will let the souls whom you hunt go free, the souls like birds. ²¹Your veils also I will tear off and ^(AB)deliver my people out of your hand, and they shall be no more in your hand as prey, ^(AC)and you shall know that I am the Lord. ²²^(AD)Because you have disheartened the righteous falsely, although I have not grieved him, and ^(AE)you have encouraged the wicked, that ^(AF)he should not turn from his evil way to save his life, ²³^(AG)therefore you shall no more see false visions nor practice divination. I will deliver my people out of your hand. And you shall know that I am the Lord.”

Footnotes

Ezekiel 13:10 Or plaster; also verses 11, 14, 15

Psalm 52-54

English Standard Version

The Steadfast Love of God Endures

To the choirmaster. A Maskil^[a] of David, when ^(A)Doeg, the Edomite, came and told Saul, “David has come to the house of Ahimelech.”

52 Why do you boast of evil, O mighty man?
    The steadfast love of God endures all the day.
²Your ^(B)tongue plots destruction,
    like ^(C)a sharp razor, you ^(D)worker of deceit.
³You love evil more than good,
    and ^(E)lying more than speaking what is right. Selah
⁴You love all words that devour,
    O deceitful tongue.

⁵But God will break you down forever;
    he will snatch and ^(F)tear you from your tent;
    he will uproot you from ^(G)the land of the living. Selah
⁶The righteous shall ^(H)see and fear,
    and shall ^(I)laugh at him, saying,
⁷“See the man who would not make
    God his refuge,
but ^(J)trusted in the abundance of his riches
    and sought refuge in his own destruction!”^[b]

⁸But I am like ^(K)a green olive tree
    in the house of God.
I trust in the steadfast love of God
    forever and ever.
⁹I will thank you forever,
    because you have done it.
I will wait for your name, ^(L)for it is good,
    in the presence of the ^(M)godly.

There Is None Who Does Good

To the choirmaster: according to ^(N)Mahalath. A Maskil^[c] of David.

53 ^(O)The fool says in his heart, “There is no God.”
They are corrupt, doing abominable iniquity;
there is none who does good.

²God looks down from heaven
on the children of man
to see if there are any who understand,^[d]
who seek after God.

³They have all fallen away;
together they have become corrupt;
there is none who does good,
not even one.

⁴Have those who work evil no knowledge,
who eat up my people as they eat bread,
and do not call upon God?

⁵There they are, in great terror,
^(P)where there is no terror!
For God ^(Q)scatters the bones of him who encamps against you;
you put them to shame, for God has rejected them.

⁶Oh, that salvation for Israel would come out of Zion!
When God restores the fortunes of his people,
let Jacob rejoice, let Israel be glad.

The Lord Upholds My Life

To the choirmaster: with ^(R)stringed instruments. A Maskil^[e] of David, ^(S)when the Ziphites went and told Saul, “Is not David hiding among us?”

54 O God, save me by your ^(T)name,
and vindicate me by your might.
²O God, ^(U)hear my prayer;
give ear to the words of my mouth.

³^(V)For ^(W)strangers^[f] have risen against me;
ruthless men ^(X)seek my life;
they do not set God before themselves. Selah

⁴Behold, ^(Y)God is my helper;
the Lord is the upholder of my life.
⁵He will return the evil to my enemies;
in your ^(Z)faithfulness ^(AA)put an end to them.

⁶With a freewill offering I will sacrifice to you;
I will give thanks to your name, O Lord, ^(AB)for it is good.
⁷For he has delivered me from every trouble,
and my eye has ^(AC)looked in triumph on my enemies.

Footnotes

Psalm 52:1 Probably a musical or liturgical term
Psalm 52:7 Or in his work of destruction
Psalm 53:1 Probably musical or liturgical terms
Psalm 53:2 Or who act wisely
Psalm 54:1 Probably a musical or liturgical term
Psalm 54:3 Some Hebrew manuscripts and Targum insolent men (compare Psalm 86:14)