³¹ “Send to all the exiles, saying, ‘Thus says the Lord concerning ^(A)Shemaiah of Nehelam: Because ^(B)Shemaiah had prophesied to you ^(C)when I did not send him, and has made you trust in a lie,

⁹ for ^(A)it is a lie that they are prophesying to you in my name; ^(B)I did not send them, declares the Lord.

^22 (A)Because you have disheartened the righteous falsely, although I have not grieved him, and ^(B)you have encouraged the wicked, that ^(C)he should not turn from his evil way to save his life, ^23 (D)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.”

⁸ Therefore thus says the Lord God: “Because you have uttered falsehood and seen lying visions, therefore behold, ^(A)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, ^(B)nor be enrolled in the register of the house of Israel, ^(C)nor shall they enter the land of Israel. ^(D)And you shall know that I am the Lord God. ¹⁰ Precisely because they have misled my people, ^(E)saying, ‘Peace,’ when there is no peace, and because, when the people build a wall, ^(F)these prophets smear it with whitewash,^{[a] 11} say to those who smear it with whitewash that it shall fall! ^(G)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: ^(H)I will make a stormy wind break out in my wrath, ^(I)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, ^(J)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 ^(K)and saw visions of peace for her, when there was no peace, declares the Lord God.

²³ because they have done an outrageous thing in Israel, ^(A)they have committed adultery with their neighbors' wives, and ^(B)they have spoken in my name lying words that I did not command them. ^(C)I am the one who knows, ^(D)and I am witness, declares the Lord.’”

Shemaiah's False Prophecy

²⁴ To ^(E)Shemaiah of Nehelam you shall say:

¹⁴ And the Lord said to me: “The ^(A)prophets are prophesying lies in my name. ^(B)I did not send them, nor did I command them or speak to them. They are prophesying to you a lying vision, ^(C)worthless divination, and ^(D)the deceit of their own minds. ¹⁵ Therefore thus says the Lord concerning the prophets who prophesy in my name although ^(E)I did not send them, and who say, ^(F)‘Sword and famine shall not come upon this land’: ^(G)By sword and famine those prophets shall be consumed.

False Prophets and Teachers

2 But ^(A)false prophets also arose among the people, ^(B)just as there will be false teachers among you, who will ^(C)secretly bring in destructive heresies, even denying the Master ^(D)who bought them, bringing upon themselves swift destruction.

¹⁵ And Jeremiah the prophet said to the prophet Hananiah, “Listen, Hananiah, ^(A)the Lord has not sent you, ^(B)and you have made this people trust in a lie. ¹⁶ Therefore thus says the Lord: ‘Behold, I will remove you from the face of the earth. This year you shall die, ^(C)because you have uttered rebellion against the Lord.’”

¹⁷ In that same year, in the seventh month, the prophet Hananiah died.