The Prophet’s Call

Then He said to me, “Son of man, stand on your feet, and I will speak with you.”

As for them, whether they listen or not—for they are a rebellious house—they will know that a prophet has been among them.

Disaster will come upon disaster and rumor will be added to rumor; then they will seek a vision from a prophet, but the Law will be lost from the priest, and counsel from the elders.

False Prophets Condemned

Then the word of the Lord came to me, saying,

“Son of man, prophesy against the prophets of Israel who prophesy, and say to those who prophesy from their own inspiration, ‘Listen to the word of the Lord!

This is what the Lord God says: “Woe to the foolish prophets who are following their own spirit and have seen nothing!

Israel, your prophets have been like jackals among ruins.

“So My hand will be against the prophets who see false visions and utter lying divinations. They will have no place in the council of My people, nor will they be written down in the register of the house of Israel, nor will they enter the land of Israel, so that you may know that I am the Lord God.

along with the prophets of Israel who prophesy to Jerusalem, and who see a vision of peace for her when there is no peace,’ declares the Lord God.

“Now you, son of man, set your face against the daughters of your people who are talking like prophets from their own imagination. Prophesy against them

Therefore speak to them and tell them, ‘This is what the Lord God says: “Anyone of the house of Israel who sets up his idols in his heart, puts in front of his face the stumbling block of his wrongdoing, and then comes to the prophet, I the Lord will let Myself answer him in the matter in view of the multitude of his idols,

For anyone of the house of Israel, or of the strangers who reside in Israel, who deserts Me, sets up his idols in his heart, puts in front of his face the stumbling block of his wrongdoing, and then comes to the prophet to request something of Me for himself, I the Lord will let Myself answer him Myself.

“But if the prophet is persuaded so that he speaks a word, it is I, the Lord, who have persuaded that prophet; and I will stretch out My hand against him and eliminate him from among My people Israel.

And they will bear the punishment for their wrongdoing; as the wrongdoing of the inquirer is, so the wrongdoing of the prophet will be,

“Son of man, set your face toward the south, and speak prophetically against the south and prophesy against the forest land of the Negev,

“Son of man, set your face against Jerusalem, and speak prophetically against the sanctuaries and prophesy against the land of Israel;

There is a conspiracy of her prophets in her midst like a roaring lion tearing the prey. They have devoured lives; they have taken treasure and precious things; they have made many widows in the midst of her.

And her prophets have coated with whitewash for them, seeing false visions and divining lies for them, saying, ‘This is what the Lord God says,’ when the Lord has not spoken.

So when it comes—as it certainly will—then they will know that a prophet has been among them.”

‘This is what the Lord God says: “Are you the one of whom I spoke in former days through My servants the prophets of Israel, who prophesied in those days for many years that I would bring you against them?