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!’ ³ Thus says the Lord God, Woe to the foolish prophets who follow their own spirit, and have seen nothing! ⁴ Your 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. ⁷ Have you not seen a false vision and uttered a lying divination, ^(F)whenever you have said, ‘Declares the Lord,’ although I have not spoken?”

⁸ Therefore 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. ⁹ My 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. ¹⁰ Precisely 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] 11} say 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. ¹² And when the wall falls, will it not be said to you, ‘Where is the coating with which you smeared it?’ ¹³ Therefore 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. ¹⁴ And 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. ¹⁵ Thus 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, ¹⁶ the 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 ¹⁸ and 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? ¹⁹ You 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. ²¹ Your 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.”

Idolatrous Elders Condemned

14 Then certain of the ^(AH)elders of Israel came to me ^(AI)and sat before me. ² And the word of the Lord came to me: ^3 (AJ)“Son of man, these men have taken their idols into their hearts, and set ^(AK)the stumbling block of their iniquity before their faces. ^(AL)Should I indeed let myself be consulted by them? ⁴ Therefore speak to them and say to them, Thus says the Lord God: Any one of the house of Israel who takes his idols into his heart and sets the stumbling block of his iniquity before his face, and yet comes to the prophet, ^(AM)I the Lord will answer him as he comes with the multitude of his idols, ^5 (AN)that I may lay hold of the hearts of the house of Israel, ^(AO)who are all estranged from me through their idols.

⁶ “Therefore say to the house of Israel, Thus says the Lord God: ^(AP)Repent and turn away from your idols, and turn away your faces from all your abominations. ⁷ For any one of the house of Israel, or of the strangers who sojourn in Israel, ^(AQ)who separates himself from me, taking his idols into his heart and putting the stumbling block of his iniquity before his face, and yet comes to a prophet to consult me through him, ^(AR)I the Lord will answer him myself. ⁸ And ^(AS)I will set my face against that man; I ^(AT)will make him a sign and a byword ^(AU)and cut him off from the midst of my people, ^(AV)and you shall know that I am the Lord. ⁹ And if the prophet is deceived and speaks a word, ^(AW)I, the Lord, have deceived that prophet, and I will stretch out my hand against him and will destroy him from the midst of my people Israel. ¹⁰ And they shall bear their punishment^[b]—the punishment of the prophet and the punishment of the inquirer shall be alike— ¹¹ that the house of Israel may no more go astray from me, nor ^(AX)defile themselves anymore with all their transgressions, ^(AY)but that they may be my people and I may be their God, declares the Lord God.”

Jerusalem Will Not Be Spared

¹² And the word of the Lord came to me: ^13 (AZ)“Son of man, when a land sins against me ^(BA)by acting faithlessly, and I stretch out my hand against it and ^(BB)break its supply^[c] of bread and send famine upon it, and ^(BC)cut off from it man and beast, ^14 (BD)even if these three men, ^(BE)Noah, ^(BF)Daniel, and ^(BG)Job, were in it, ^(BH)they would deliver but their own lives by their righteousness, declares the Lord God.

^15 (BI)“If I cause wild beasts to pass through the land, and they ravage it, ^(BJ)and it be made desolate, so that no one may pass through because of the beasts, ¹⁶ even if these three men were in it, ^(BK)as I live, declares the Lord God, they would deliver neither sons nor daughters. They alone would be delivered, but ^(BL)the land would be desolate.

¹⁷ “Or ^(BM)if I bring a sword upon that land and say, Let a sword pass through the land, ^(BN)and I cut off from it man and beast, ^18 (BO)though these three men were in it, as I live, declares the Lord God, they would deliver neither sons nor daughters, but they alone would be delivered.

¹⁹ “Or ^(BP)if I send a pestilence into that land and pour out my wrath upon it with blood, to cut off from it man and beast, ²⁰ even if Noah, Daniel, and Job were in it, as I live, declares the Lord God, they would deliver neither son nor daughter. They would deliver but their own lives by their righteousness.

²¹ “For thus says the Lord God: How much more ^(BQ)when I send upon Jerusalem my four disastrous acts of judgment, ^(BR)sword, ^(BS)famine, ^(BT)wild beasts, and ^(BU)pestilence, to cut off from it man and beast! ²² But behold, ^(BV)some survivors will be left in it, sons and daughters who will be brought out; behold, when they come out to you, and ^(BW)you see their ways and their deeds, you will be consoled for the disaster that I have brought upon Jerusalem, for all that I have brought upon it. ²³ They will console you, when you see their ways and their deeds, and you shall know that I have not done without cause all that I have done in it, declares the Lord God.”

Greeting

1 Paul, ^(A)an apostle of Christ Jesus ^(B)by the will of God according to ^(C)the promise of the life that is in Christ Jesus,

² To Timothy, ^(D)my beloved child:

^(E)Grace, mercy, and peace from God the Father and Christ Jesus our Lord.

Guard the Deposit Entrusted to You

^3 (F)I thank God ^(G)whom I serve, as did my ancestors, ^(H)with a clear conscience, as I remember you ^(I)constantly in my prayers night and day. ^4 (J)As I remember your tears, ^(K)I long to see you, that I may be filled with joy. ⁵ I am reminded of ^(L)your sincere faith, a faith that dwelt first in your grandmother Lois and ^(M)your mother Eunice and now, I am sure, dwells in you as well. ⁶ For this reason I remind you ^(N)to fan into flame the gift of God, which is in you through the laying on of my hands, ⁷ for God gave us ^(O)a spirit not of fear but ^(P)of power and love and self-control.

⁸ Therefore ^(Q)do not be ashamed of ^(R)the testimony about our Lord, nor of ^(S)me his prisoner, but ^(T)share in suffering for the gospel by the power of God, ^9 (U)who saved us and ^(V)called us to^[a] a holy calling, ^(W)not because of our works but because of ^(X)his own purpose and grace, which he gave us in Christ Jesus ^(Y)before the ages began,^{[b] 10} and which now has ^(Z)been manifested through ^(AA)the appearing of our Savior Christ Jesus, ^(AB)who abolished death and ^(AC)brought life and ^(AD)immortality to light through the gospel, ^11 (AE)for which I was appointed a preacher and apostle and teacher, ^12 (AF)which is why I suffer as I do. But ^(AG)I am not ashamed, for ^(AH)I know whom I have believed, and I am convinced that he is able to guard until ^(AI)that day ^(AJ)what has been entrusted to me.^{[c] 13 (AK)}Follow ^(AL)the pattern of ^(AM)the sound^[d] words ^(AN)that you have heard from me, in ^(AO)the faith and love that are in Christ Jesus. ¹⁴ By the Holy Spirit ^(AP)who dwells within us, guard ^(AQ)the good deposit entrusted to you.

¹⁵ You are aware that ^(AR)all who are in Asia turned away from me, among whom are Phygelus and Hermogenes. ¹⁶ May the Lord grant mercy to ^(AS)the household of Onesiphorus, for he often ^(AT)refreshed me and was not ashamed of ^(AU)my chains, ¹⁷ but when he arrived in Rome ^(AV)he searched for me earnestly and found me— ¹⁸ may the Lord grant him to find mercy from the Lord on ^(AW)that day!—and you well know all the service he ^(AX)rendered at Ephesus.

Samekh