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Condemnation of False Prophets

13 And the word of Yahweh came[a] to me, saying,[b] “Son of man,[c] prophesy to[d] the prophets of Israel who are prophesying,[e] and you must say to those who are prophets out of their own imagination,[f] ‘Hear the word of Yahweh!’ Thus says the Lord Yahweh: ‘Alas, for the foolish prophets who are going after their own spirit, and they did not see anything![g] Your prophets have been like foxes[h] among ruins. You did not go up into[i] the breaches and repair a wall for the house of Israel to stand firm in the battle on the day of Yahweh. They saw falseness and a lying divination,[j] the ones saying, ‘Declaration of Yahweh!’ and Yahweh did not send them, and they wait for the confirmation of their word.[k] Have you not seen a false vision[l] and spoken a lying divination,[m] and you said, ‘Declaration of Yahweh!’ but I myself did not speak.[n] Therefore thus says the Lord Yahweh: ‘Because of your speaking falseness and because you envisioned a lie, therefore, look! I am against you!” declares[o] the Lord Yahweh. “And it will be my hand against the prophets who are seeing falseness and who are practicing lying divination. They will not be in the council of my people, and they will not be written down in the record book of the house of Israel, and into[p] the land of Israel they will not come, and then you will know that I am the Lord Yahweh. 10 Because, yes, because they led my people astray, saying[q] ‘Peace!’ And there is not peace. And when anyone[r] builds a flimsy wall, look, they coat it with whitewash. 11 Say to those covering it with whitewash that it will fall; there will be a torrent of rain,[s] and I will give stones of hail; they will fall! [t] And a windstorm[u] will burst forth! 12 And look! When the wall falls, will it not be said to you, ‘Where is the whitewash with which you covered it?’ 13 Therefore thus says the Lord Yahweh: ‘And so I will let burst forth a windstorm[v] in my rage, and there will be a torrent of rain[w] in my anger, and hailstones in my rage for complete destruction.[x] 14 And I will break down the wall that you covered with whitewash, and I will knock it to the ground, and its foundation will be revealed, and it will fall, and you will come to an end in the midst of it, and you will know that I am Yahweh! 15 And I will fully vent my rage against the wall and against those covering it with whitewash, and I will say to you, “The wall is no more,[y] and the people covering it are no more,[z] 16 that is, the prophets of Israel, the ones prophesying concerning Jerusalem and the ones seeing visions of peace, and there is not peace!’” ” declares[aa] the Lord Yahweh.

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Footnotes

  1. Ezekiel 13:1 Literally “was”
  2. Ezekiel 13:1 Or “to say”
  3. Ezekiel 13:2 Or “mortal,” or “son of humankind”
  4. Ezekiel 13:2 Or “against”
  5. Ezekiel 13:2 Literally “the ones prophesying”
  6. Ezekiel 13:2 Literally “heart”
  7. Ezekiel 13:3 Literally “and not they saw”
  8. Ezekiel 13:4 Or “jackals”
  9. Ezekiel 13:5 Hebrew “in”
  10. Ezekiel 13:6 Literally “a divination of a lie”
  11. Ezekiel 13:6 Literally “to confirm a word”
  12. Ezekiel 13:7 Literally “vision of falseness”
  13. Ezekiel 13:7 Literally “divination of a lie”
  14. Ezekiel 13:7 Literally “I not I spoke”
  15. Ezekiel 13:8 Literally “declaration of”
  16. Ezekiel 13:9 Hebrew “in”
  17. Ezekiel 13:10 Literally “to say”
  18. Ezekiel 13:10 Hebrew “he”
  19. Ezekiel 13:11 Literally “rain flooding”
  20. Ezekiel 13:11 Or “and I will give great hailstones. They will fall”
  21. Ezekiel 13:11 Literally “wind of a storm”; or “with respect/concerning you stones of hail, they will fall”
  22. Ezekiel 13:13 Literally “a wind of storm”
  23. Ezekiel 13:13 Literally “rain flooding there will be”
  24. Ezekiel 13:13 Literally “to complete destruction”
  25. Ezekiel 13:15 Literally “not is the wall”
  26. Ezekiel 13:15 Literally “not are the people whitewashing him”
  27. Ezekiel 13:16 Literally “declaration of”

Judgment against False Prophets

13 Then this message came to me from the Lord: “Son of man, prophesy against the false prophets of Israel who are inventing their own prophecies. Say to them, ‘Listen to the word of the Lord. This is what the Sovereign Lord says: What sorrow awaits the false prophets who are following their own imaginations and have seen nothing at all!’

“O people of Israel, these prophets of yours are like jackals digging in the ruins. They have done nothing to repair the breaks in the walls around the nation. They have not helped it to stand firm in battle on the day of the Lord. Instead, they have told lies and made false predictions. They say, ‘This message is from the Lord,’ even though the Lord never sent them. And yet they expect him to fulfill their prophecies! Can your visions be anything but false if you claim, ‘This message is from the Lord,’ when I have not even spoken to you?

“Therefore, this is what the Sovereign Lord says: Because what you say is false and your visions are a lie, I will stand against you, says the Sovereign Lord. I will raise my fist against all the prophets who see false visions and make lying predictions, and they will be banished from the community of Israel. I will blot their names from Israel’s record books, and they will never again set foot in their own land. Then you will know that I am the Sovereign Lord.

10 “This will happen because these evil prophets deceive my people by saying, ‘All is peaceful’ when there is no peace at all! It’s as if the people have built a flimsy wall, and these prophets are trying to reinforce it by covering it with whitewash! 11 Tell these whitewashers that their wall will soon fall down. A heavy rainstorm will undermine it; great hailstones and mighty winds will knock it down. 12 And when the wall falls, the people will cry out, ‘What happened to your whitewash?’

13 “Therefore, this is what the Sovereign Lord says: I will sweep away your whitewashed wall with a storm of indignation, with a great flood of anger, and with hailstones of fury. 14 I will break down your wall right to its foundation, and when it falls, it will crush you. Then you will know that I am the Lord. 15 At last my anger against the wall and those who covered it with whitewash will be satisfied. Then I will say to you: ‘The wall and those who whitewashed it are both gone. 16 They were lying prophets who claimed peace would come to Jerusalem when there was no peace. I, the Sovereign Lord, have spoken!’

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