Ezekiel 13

The Voice

Eternal One: ² Son of man, preach against the false prophets of Israel—the ones making up predictions and visions out of their own imaginations. Tell them to listen to the real word of the Eternal One! ³ The Eternal Lord says woe to those foolish prophets whose message is based on their own spirits and have not had a vision! ⁴ Your prophets, Israel, are like jackals foraging through the ruins. ⁵ You have put forth no effort to repair the broken-down defenses or to reinforce the wall around the city so that it will stand strong in battle on the day the Eternal sends His judgment. ⁶ Their warnings and predictions are all false. They utter only lies. They speak in the name of the Lord, claiming, “the Eternal declares,” but I have not sent them. The funny thing is, they actually expect their predictions to come true. ⁷ Did you not perceive a false vision and speak an untrue divination when you proclaimed, “The Eternal declares,” although I hadn’t said anything at all?

⁸ So I say because you have spoken falsely and have seen empty visions, I am against you who prophesy out of your own imaginations. ⁹ I will set My hand against those who see false visions and lying divinations. These self-proclaimed soothsayers will not be a part of the council of My people or be listed among the people of Israel. They will be forbidden from entering the sacred land of Israel. Then you will know I am the Eternal Lord. ¹⁰ It is because these false prophets have lied to My people and led them off course, saying, “Everything is peaceful and fine,” when nothing is peaceful or fine. When the people build a weak and wobbly wall, the false prophets are right behind them, coating it with plaster. ¹¹ Tell these plasterers that your wall is going to fall. Torrential rains will pour down upon your lies, hail will pound your flimsy creation, and mighty winds will knock down your fabricated dreams. ¹² And guess what? When your nicely plastered wall collapses, the people will ask you, “Where is your plaster? Didn’t it strengthen the wall?” ¹³ So I say that in My fury I will release a mighty wind to knock it down. In My anger I will produce hailstorms and torrential rains to destroy it. ¹⁴ I will demolish the wall you covered with plaster and level it to the ground so that nothing is left but its foundation. When your wall falls, you will be destroyed. Then you will know I am the Eternal. ¹⁵ This is how My wrath will be satisfied against the wall and those who covered it with plaster. Then I will say to you that there is nothing left of the wall or those who plastered it— ¹⁶ those fraudulent seers of Israel who prophesied concerning Jerusalem, claiming everything was peaceful and fine when everything was not peaceful or fine.

¹⁷ Now, son of man, you must also preach against the women of your people who prophesy out of their own imaginations. Preach against these false prophetesses, ¹⁸ and tell them the Eternal Lord says, “Woe to the women who sew magic charms on wrists and make veils of various sizes for heads in order to hunt down souls with their magic. Do you actually think you can entrap the souls of My people for your own purposes without endangering your own lives? ¹⁹ You have profaned Me among My people, trading precious souls for a few scraps of barley and bread. Your lies have caused many to die who should not have and many to live who should not have, all because they listened to your lies.”

²⁰ I, the Eternal Lord, have this to say regarding your enchantments: I oppose your magic charms you use to hunt precious souls like birds! I will strip them from your wrists and set the people free. ²¹ I will tear off your veils and rescue My people from your power; they will no longer fall prey to your hunt. Then you will know I am the Eternal One. ²² Because you have discouraged the innocent and unsuspecting with your lies and deceptions when I left them in peace, and because you have encouraged the wicked instead of showing them the error of their ways so they could live, ²³ you will no longer conjure up lying visions or practice divination. For I will save My people from your seductive powers. Then you will know I am the Eternal One.