¹⁰ Precisely because they have misled my people, ^(A)saying, ‘Peace,’ when there is no peace, and because, when the people build a wall, ^(B)these prophets smear it with whitewash,^[a]

¹⁷ They say continually to those who despise the word of the Lord, ^(A)‘It shall be well with you’; and to everyone who ^(B)stubbornly follows his own heart, they say, ^(C)‘No disaster shall come upon you.’”

¹⁰ Then I said, “Ah, Lord God, ^(A)surely you have utterly deceived this people and Jerusalem, saying, ‘It shall be well with you,’ whereas the sword has reached their very life.”

Lying Prophets

¹³ Then I said: “Ah, Lord God, behold, the prophets ^(A)say to them, ‘You shall not see the sword, nor shall you have famine, but I will give you assured peace in this place.’”

¹⁸ For, ^(A)speaking loud boasts of folly, they entice by sensual passions of the flesh those who are barely ^(B)escaping from those who live in error. ¹⁹ They promise them ^(C)freedom, ^(D)but they themselves are slaves^[a] of corruption. For whatever overcomes a person, to that he is enslaved.

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.