Israel’s False Prophets Condemned

13 The word of the Lord came to me: ² “Son of man, prophesy against the prophets of Israel who^(A) are prophesying. Say to those who prophesy out of their own imagination,^(B) ‘Hear the word of the Lord! ³ This is what the Lord God says: Woe to the foolish prophets who follow their own spirit and have seen nothing. ⁴ Your prophets, Israel, are like jackals among ruins. ⁵ You did not go up to the gaps^(C) or restore the wall around the house of Israel so that it might stand in battle on the day of the Lord. ⁶ They saw false visions and their divinations were a lie.^(D) They claimed, “This is the Lord’s declaration,” when the Lord did not send them,^(E) yet they wait for the fulfillment of their message. ⁷ Didn’t you see a false vision and speak a lying divination when you proclaimed, “This is the Lord’s declaration,” even though I had not spoken?

⁸ “‘Therefore, this is what the Lord God says: You have spoken falsely and had lying visions; that’s why you discover that I am against you. This is the declaration of the Lord God. ⁹ My hand will be against the prophets who see false visions and speak lying divinations.^(F) They will not be present in the council of my people or be recorded in the register of the house of Israel, and they will not enter the land of Israel. Then you will know that I am the Lord God.

¹⁰ “‘Since they have led my people astray by saying, “Peace,”^(G) when there is no peace, and since when a flimsy wall is being built, they plaster it with whitewash,^{(H) 11} therefore, tell those plastering it with whitewash that it will fall. Torrential rain will come,^(I) and I will send hailstones plunging^[a] down, and a whirlwind will be released. ¹² When the wall has fallen, will you not be asked, “Where’s the whitewash you plastered on it?”

¹³ “‘So this is what the Lord God says: I will release a whirlwind in my wrath. Torrential rain will come in my anger, and hailstones will fall in destructive fury. ¹⁴ I will demolish the wall you plastered with whitewash and knock it to the ground so that its foundation is exposed.^(J) The city will fall, and you will be destroyed within it. Then you will know that I am the Lord. ¹⁵ After I exhaust my wrath against the wall and against those who plaster it with whitewash, I will say to you, “The wall is no more and neither are those who plastered it— ¹⁶ those prophets of Israel who prophesied to Jerusalem and saw a vision of peace for her when there was no peace.”^(K) This is the declaration of the Lord God.’

¹⁷ “Now you, son of man, face^[b] the women among your people who prophesy^(L) out of their own imagination, and prophesy against them.^{(M) 18} Say, ‘This is what the Lord God says: Woe to the women who sew magic bands on the wrist of every hand and who make veils for the heads of people of every size in order to ensnare lives. Will you ensnare the lives of my people but preserve your own?^{(N) 19} You profane me among my people for handfuls of barley^(O) and scraps of bread; you put those to death who should not die and spare those who should not live, when you lie to my people, who listen to lies.

²⁰ “‘Therefore, this is what the Lord God says: I am against your magic bands with which you ensnare people like birds, and I will tear them from your arms. I will free the people you have ensnared like birds. ²¹ I will also tear off your veils and rescue my people from your hands,^(P) so that they will no longer be prey in your hands. Then you will know that I am the Lord. ²² Because you have disheartened the righteous person with lies (when I intended no distress),^(Q) and because you have supported^[c] the wicked^(R) person so that he does not turn from his evil way to save his life, ²³ therefore you will no longer see false visions or practice divination.^(S) I will rescue my people from your hands. Then you will know that I am the Lord.’”

Idolatrous Elders Punished

14 Some of the elders of Israel came^(T) to me and sat down in front of me.^{(U) 2} Then the word of the Lord came to me: ³ “Son of man, these men have set up idols in their hearts and have put their sinful stumbling blocks in front of themselves.^(V) Should I actually let them inquire of me?^(W)

⁴ “Therefore, speak to them and tell them, ‘This is what the Lord God says: When anyone from the house of Israel sets up idols in his heart and puts his sinful stumbling block in front of himself, and then comes to the prophet, I, the Lord, will answer him appropriately.^[d] I will answer him according to his many idols, ⁵ so that I may take hold of the house of Israel by their hearts. They are all estranged from me because of their idols.’

⁶ “Therefore, say to the house of Israel, ‘This is what the Lord God says: Repent and turn away^(X) from your idols; turn your faces away from all your detestable things. ⁷ For when anyone from the house of Israel or from the aliens who reside in Israel separates himself from me, setting up idols in his heart and putting his sinful stumbling block in front of himself, and then comes to the prophet to inquire of me, I, the Lord, will answer him myself. ⁸ I will turn against that one and make him a sign and a proverb; I will cut him off from among my people.^(Y) Then you will know that I am the Lord.

⁹ “‘But if the prophet is deceived and speaks a message, it was I, the Lord, who deceived that prophet.^(Z) I will stretch out my hand against him and destroy him from among my people Israel.^{(AA) 10} They will bear their punishment—the punishment of the one who inquires will be the same as that of the prophet— ¹¹ in order that the house of Israel may no longer stray from following me and no longer defile themselves^(AB) with all their transgressions. Then they will be my people and I will be their God.^(AC) This is the declaration of the Lord God.’”

Four Devastating Judgments

¹² The word of the Lord came to me: ¹³ “Son of man, suppose a land sins against me by acting faithlessly, and I stretch out my hand against it to cut off its supply of bread,^(AD) to send famine through it, and to wipe out both people and animals from it. ¹⁴ Even if these three men^(AE)—Noah,^(AF) Daniel,^(AG) and Job^(AH)—were in it, they would rescue only themselves by their righteousness.” This is the declaration of the Lord God.

¹⁵ “Suppose I allow dangerous animals^(AI) to pass through the land and depopulate it so that it becomes desolate, with no one passing through it for fear of the animals. ¹⁶ Even if these three men were in it, as I live”—the declaration of the Lord God—“they could not rescue their sons or daughters. They alone would be rescued, but the land would be desolate.^(AJ)

¹⁷ “Or suppose I bring a sword^(AK) against that land and say, ‘Let a sword pass through it,’ so that I wipe out both people and animals from it.^{(AL) 18} Even if these three men were in it, as I live”—the declaration of the Lord God—“they could not rescue their sons or daughters, but they alone would be rescued.

¹⁹ “Or suppose I send a plague into that land^(AM) and pour out my wrath on it with bloodshed to wipe out both people and animals from it. ²⁰ Even if Noah, Daniel, and Job were in it, as I live”—the declaration of the Lord God—“they could not rescue their son or daughter. They would rescue only themselves by their righteousness.

²¹ “For this is what the Lord God says: How much worse will it be when I send my four^(AN) devastating judgments against Jerusalem—sword, famine, dangerous animals, and plague—in order to wipe out both people and animals from it! ²² Even so, there will be survivors left in it, sons and daughters who will be brought out. Indeed, they will come out to you, and you will observe their conduct and actions.^(AO) Then you will be consoled about the devastation I have brought on Jerusalem, about all I have brought on it. ²³ They will bring you consolation when you see their conduct and actions, and you will know that it was not without cause that I have done what I did to it.”^(AP) This is the declaration of the Lord God.

Parable of the Useless Vine

15 Then the word of the Lord came to me: ² “Son of man, how does the wood of the vine,^(AQ) that branch among the trees of the forest, compare to any other wood? ³ Can wood be taken from it to make something useful? Or can anyone make a peg from it to hang things on? ⁴ In fact, it is put into the fire as fuel.^(AR) The fire devours both of its ends, and the middle is charred. Can it be useful for anything? ⁵ Even when it was whole it could not be made into a useful object. How much less can it ever be made into anything useful when the fire has devoured it and it is charred!”

⁶ Therefore, this is what the Lord God says, “Like the wood of the vine among the trees of the forest, which I have given to the fire as fuel, so I will give up the residents of Jerusalem. ⁷ I will turn against them.^(AS) They may have escaped from the fire, but it will still consume them.^(AT) And you will know that I am the Lord when I turn against them. ⁸ I will make the land desolate because they have acted unfaithfully.” This is the declaration of the Lord God.

Psalm 136

God’s Love Is Eternal

The Third Sign: Healing the Sick

5 After this, a Jewish festival took place, and Jesus went up to Jerusalem.^{(A) 2} By the Sheep Gate^(B) in Jerusalem there is a pool, called Bethesda^[a] in Aramaic, which has five colonnades. ³ Within these lay a large number of the disabled—blind, lame, and paralyzed.^[b]

⁵ One man was there who had been disabled for thirty-eight years. ⁶ When Jesus saw him lying there and realized he had already been there a long time,^(C) he said to him, “Do you want to get well?”

⁷ “Sir,”^(D) the disabled man answered, “I have no one to put me into the pool when the water is stirred up, but while I’m coming, someone goes down ahead of me.”

⁸ “Get up,” Jesus told him, “pick up your mat and walk.” ⁹ Instantly the man got well, picked up his mat, and started to walk.

Now that day was the Sabbath,^{(E) 10} and so the Jews^(F) said to the man who had been healed, “This is the Sabbath.^(G) The law prohibits you from picking up your mat.”

¹¹ He replied, “The man who made me well^(H) told me, ‘Pick up your mat and walk.’”

¹² “Who is this man who told you, ‘Pick up your mat and walk’?” they asked. ¹³ But the man who was healed did not know who it was,^(I) because Jesus had slipped away into the crowd that was there.^[c]

¹⁴ After this, Jesus found him in the temple^(J) and said to him, “See, you are well. Do not sin anymore, so that something worse doesn’t happen to you.” ¹⁵ The man went and reported to the Jews that it was Jesus who had made him well.^{(K) 16} Therefore, the Jews began persecuting^(L) Jesus^[d] because he was doing these things on the Sabbath.^(M)

Honoring the Father and the Son

¹⁷ Jesus responded to them, “My Father^(N) is still working, and I am working also.” ¹⁸ This is why the Jews began trying all the more to kill him:^(O) Not only was he breaking the Sabbath, but he was even calling God his own Father, making himself equal to God.

¹⁹ Jesus replied, “Truly I tell you, the Son is not able to do anything on his own, but only what he sees the Father doing. For whatever the Father^[e] does, the Son likewise does these things.^{(P) 20} For the Father loves the Son and shows him everything he is doing, and he will show him greater works^(Q) than these so that you will be amazed. ²¹ And just as the Father raises^(R) the dead and gives them life, so the Son also gives life to whom he wants.^{(S) 22} The Father,^(T) in fact, judges no one but has given all judgment to the Son, ²³ so that all people may honor the Son just as they honor the Father.^(U) Anyone who does not honor the Son does not honor the Father who sent him.^(V)

Life and Judgment

²⁴ “Truly I tell you, anyone who hears my word and believes him who sent me has eternal life^(W) and will not come under judgment but has passed from death to life.

²⁵ “Truly I tell you, an hour is coming, and is now here,^(X) when the dead will hear the voice of the Son of God, and those who hear will live.^{(Y) 26} For just as the Father has life in himself, so also he has granted to the Son^(Z) to have life in himself. ²⁷ And he has granted him the right to pass judgment,^(AA) because he is the Son of Man.^{(AB) 28} Do not be amazed at this, because a time is coming when all who are in the graves will hear his voice ²⁹ and come out—those who have done good things, to the resurrection of life, but those who have done wicked things, to the resurrection of condemnation.

³⁰ “I can do nothing on my own. I judge only as I hear, and my judgment^(AC) is just,^(AD) because I do not seek my own will, but the will of him who sent me.^(AE)

Witnesses to Jesus

³¹ “If I testify about myself, my testimony is not true. ³² There is another who testifies about me, and I know that the testimony he gives about me is true.^{(AF) 33} You sent messengers to John, and he testified to the truth.^{(AG) 34} I don’t receive human testimony, but I say these things so that you may be saved. ³⁵ John^[f](AH) was a burning and shining lamp,^(AI) and you were willing to rejoice for a while in his light.^(AJ)

³⁶ “But I have a greater testimony than John’s because of the works that the Father has given me to accomplish.^(AK) These very works I am doing testify about me that the Father has sent^(AL) me. ³⁷ The Father who sent me has himself testified^(AM) about me. You have not heard his voice at any time, and you haven’t seen his form.^{(AN) 38} You don’t have his word residing in you, because you don’t believe the one he sent. ³⁹ You pore over the Scriptures^(AO) because you think you have eternal life in them, and yet they testify about me.^{(AP) 40} But you are not willing^(AQ) to come to me^(AR) so that you may have life.

⁴¹ “I do not accept glory^(AS) from people, ⁴² but I know you—that you have no love for God^(AT) within you. ⁴³ I have come in my Father’s name,^(AU) and yet you don’t accept me.^(AV) If someone else comes in his own name, you will accept him. ⁴⁴ How can you believe, since you accept glory from one another but don’t seek the glory that comes from the only^(AW) God?^{(AX) 45} Do not think that I will accuse you to the Father. Your accuser is Moses,^(AY) on whom you have set your hope. ⁴⁶ For if you believed Moses, you would believe me, because he wrote about me. ⁴⁷ But if you don’t believe what he wrote,^(AZ) how will you believe my words?”^(BA)