Ezekiel 13
New Revised Standard Version Updated Edition
False Prophets Condemned
13 The word of the Lord came to me: 2 Mortal, prophesy against the prophets of Israel who are prophesying; say to those who prophesy out of their own imaginations: “Hear the word of the Lord!”(A) 3 Thus says the Lord God: Alas for the senseless prophets who follow their own spirit and have seen nothing!(B) 4 Your prophets have been like jackals among ruins, O Israel. 5 You have not gone up into the breaches or repaired a wall for the house of Israel, so that it might stand in battle on the day of the Lord.(C) 6 They have envisioned falsehood and lying divination; they say, “Says the Lord,” when the Lord has not sent them, and yet they wait for the fulfillment of their word!(D) 7 Have you not seen a false vision or uttered a lying divination when you have said, “Says the Lord,” even though I did not speak?
8 Therefore thus says the Lord God: Because you have uttered falsehood and envisioned lies, I am against you, says the Lord God. 9 My hand will be against the prophets who see false visions and utter lying divinations; they shall not be in the council of my people nor be enrolled in the register of the house of Israel, nor shall they enter the land of Israel, and you shall know that I am the Lord God.(E) 10 Because, in truth, because they have misled my people, saying, “Peace,” when there is no peace, and because, when the people build a flimsy wall, these prophets[a] smear whitewash on it.(F) 11 Say to those who smear whitewash on it that it shall fall. There will be a deluge of rain,[b] great hailstones will fall, and a stormy wind will break out.(G) 12 When the wall falls, will it not be said to you, “Where is the whitewash you smeared on it?” 13 Therefore thus says the Lord God: In my wrath I will make a stormy wind break out, and in my anger there shall be a deluge of rain and hailstones in wrath to destroy it. 14 I will break down the wall that you have smeared with whitewash and bring it to the ground, so that its foundation will be laid bare; when the city falls, you shall perish within it, and you shall know that I am the Lord.(H) 15 Thus I will 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— 16 the prophets of Israel who prophesied concerning Jerusalem and saw visions of peace for it when there was no peace, says the Lord God.”(I)
17 As for you, mortal, set your face against the daughters of your people who prophesy out of their own imaginations; prophesy against them(J) 18 and say: Thus says the Lord God: Woe to the women who sew bands on all wrists and make veils for the heads of persons of every height, in the hunt for lives! Will you hunt down lives among my people and maintain your own lives?(K) 19 You have profaned me among my people for handfuls of barley and for pieces of bread, putting to death those who should not die and keeping alive those who should not live, by your lies to my people, who listen to lies.(L)
20 Therefore thus says the Lord God: I am against your bands with which you hunt lives;[c] I will tear them from your arms and let the lives go free, the lives that you hunt down like birds. 21 I will tear off your veils and save my people from your hands; they shall no longer be prey in your hands, and you shall know that I am the Lord. 22 Because you have disheartened the righteous falsely, although I have not disheartened them, and you have encouraged the wicked not to turn from their wicked way and save their lives,(M) 23 therefore you shall no longer see false visions or practice divination; I will save my people from your hand. Then you will know that I am the Lord.(N)
Ezekiel 13
Common English Bible
Against the prophets
13 The Lord’s word came to me: 2 Human one, prophesy to Israel’s prophets who prophesy from their own imaginations. Say, Hear the Lord’s word! 3 The Lord God proclaims: Doom to the foolish prophets who follow their own whims but see nothing. 4 Israel, your prophets have been like jackals among ruins. 5 You haven’t gone up into the breach or reinforced the wall of the house of Israel, so that it might withstand the battle on the day of the Lord. 6 They saw worthless visions and performed deceptive divinations. Even though the Lord didn’t send them, they said, “This is what the Lord says” and expected their word to stand. 7 Didn’t you see worthless visions? And didn’t you report deceptive divinations and say, “This is what the Lord says,” even though I didn’t speak?
8 Therefore, the Lord God proclaims: Because you spoke worthless things and had false visions, I’m against you. This is what the Lord God says! 9 I’ll wield my power against the prophets, those seers of nothingness and diviners of lies. They won’t be included in my people’s council, or recorded in the house of Israel’s official records, or enter Israel’s fertile land. Then you will know that I am the Lord.
10 Without a doubt, they led my people astray, saying “Peace” when there was no peace, and “He is building a wall” when they were the ones who laid on the plaster. 11 Say to those who laid on the plaster that it will fall. When the flooding rains appear and I send hailstones, it will collapse, and the storm winds will break it apart. 12 The wall will certainly fall. Won’t it be said about you, “Where is your plaster now?”
13 Therefore, the Lord God proclaims: In my fury I will make a storm wind break out, and in my anger there will be flooding rains and hailstones in consuming wrath. 14 I will tear down the wall on which you laid plaster. I will raze it to the ground and expose its foundation. When it falls, you will be destroyed with it, and you will know that I am the Lord. 15 I will exhaust my fury on the wall and on those who laid plaster on it. Then I will say to you, “Where is the wall?”[a] and “Where are those who plastered it, 16 those prophets of Israel who prophesied to Jerusalem and envisioned peace when there was no peace?” This is what the Lord God says!
17 You, human one, face the daughters of your people, those women who prophesy from their imaginations. Prophesy against them 18 and say, The Lord God proclaims: Doom to the women who sew bands on every wrist and make veils for heads of all sizes to entrap human lives. Will you ensnare my people’s lives but preserve your own? 19 When you degrade me to my people for handfuls of barley and bread crumbs, you mislead my gullible people, and you bring about the death of those who shouldn’t die and keep alive those who shouldn’t live.
20 Therefore, the Lord God proclaims: I’m against the bands that you use to trap human lives.[b] I will tear them from your arms, and I will set free the lives that you’ve trapped like birds. 21 I will tear off your veils and snatch my people out of your clutches. They will be prey in your clutches no longer. Then you will know that I am the Lord. 22 You hurt the righteous with slander—I didn’t wound them!—and you strengthened the hands of the wicked so that they survived without changing their evil ways! 23 Therefore, you will no longer see empty visions or perform divinations. I will rescue my people from your clutches, and you will know that I am the Lord.
Footnotes
- Ezekiel 13:15 Syr, cf 13:12; MT There is no wall.
- Ezekiel 13:20 LXX; MT adds like birds.
New Revised Standard Version, Updated Edition. Copyright © 2021 National Council of Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.
Copyright © 2011 by Common English Bible