1 Long ago in many ways and at many times God's prophets spoke his message to our ancestors.

⁶ Then after commanding them to listen carefully, he said:

²⁷ Israel's officials are like ferocious wolves, ripping their victims apart. They make a dishonest living by injuring and killing people.

²⁸ And then the prophets in Israel cover up these sins by giving false visions. I have never spoken to them, but they lie and say they have a message from me. ²⁹ The people themselves cheat and rob; they abuse the poor and take advantage of foreigners.

False Prophets and Teachers

2 Sometimes false prophets spoke to the people of Israel. False teachers will also sneak in and speak harmful lies to you. But these teachers don't really belong to the Master who paid a great price for them, and they will quickly destroy themselves. ² Many people will follow their evil ways and cause others to tell lies about the true way. ³ They will be greedy and cheat you with smooth talk. But long ago God decided to punish them, and God doesn't sleep.

God Is Love

4 Dear friends, don't believe everyone who claims to have the Spirit of God. Test them all to find out if they really do come from God. Many false prophets have already gone out into the world, ² and you can know which ones come from God. His Spirit says that Jesus Christ had a truly human body. ³ But when someone doesn't say this about Jesus, you know this person has a spirit that doesn't come from God and is the enemy of Christ. You knew this enemy was coming into the world and now is already here.