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Warnings Against False Prophets
13 Then the word of the Lord came to me. He said, 2 “Son of man,[a] you must speak to the prophets of Israel for me. They are only saying what they want to say. You must speak to them. Tell them this: ‘Listen to this message from the Lord! 3 This is what the Lord God says. Bad things will happen to you foolish prophets. You are following your own spirits. You are not telling people what you really see in visions.
4 “‘Israel, your prophets are false prophets. They are like jackals hunting for food among the ruins of a city. 5 You have not put soldiers near the broken walls of the city. You have not built walls to protect the family of Israel. So when the day comes for the Lord to punish you, you will lose the war!
6 “‘Your prophets say they have seen visions. They did their magic to see what will happen next. But everything they said would happen is a lie. They claim to speak for the Lord, but the Lord did not send them. And they still think that what they said is what will happen.
7 “‘If you prophets saw visions, they were not true. And all you got from your magic was lies! So how can you say that the Lord told you those things? I did not speak to you!’”
8 So now, the Lord God really will speak. He says, “You told lies. You saw visions that were not true. So now I am against you!” This is what the Lord God said. 9 “I will punish those prophets whose visions are false and who lie about the future. I will remove them from my people. Their names will not be in the list of the family of Israel. They will never again come to the land of Israel. Then you will know that I am the Lord God!
10 “Again and again those false prophets lied to my people. They said there would be peace, but there is no peace. The people need to fix the walls and prepare for war. But they only slap a thin coat of plaster[b] over the broken walls. 11 Tell them that I will send hail and a strong rain. The wind will blow hard, and a tornado will come. Then the wall will fall down. 12 When the wall falls down, the people will ask the prophets, ‘What happened to the plaster you put on the wall?’” 13 The Lord God says, “I am angry and I will send a storm against you. I am angry and I will send a strong rain. I am angry and I will make hail fall from the sky and completely destroy you! 14 You put plaster on the wall, but I will destroy the whole wall. I will pull it to the ground. The wall will fall on you, and then you will know that I am the Lord. 15 I will finish showing my anger against the wall and those who put plaster on it. Then I will say, ‘There is no wall, and there are no workers to put plaster on it.’
16 “All these things will happen to the false prophets of Israel. They speak to the people of Jerusalem and say there will be peace, but there is no peace.” This is what the Lord God said.
17 God said, “Son of man, look at the women prophets in Israel. They say the things they want to say, so you must speak against them for me. You must say this to them: 18 ‘This is what the Lord God says: Bad things will happen to you women. You sew cloth bracelets for people to wear on their arms. You make special scarves for people to wear on their heads. You say those things have magic powers to control people’s lives. You trap the people only to keep yourselves alive! 19 You make them think I am not important. You turn them against me for a few handfuls of barley and a few scraps of bread. You tell lies to my people. They love to listen to lies. You kill those who should live, and you let people live who should die. 20 So this is what the Lord God says to you: You make those cloth bracelets to trap people, but I will set them free. I will tear those bracelets off your arms, and the people will be free from you. They will be like birds flying from a trap. 21 And I will tear up those scarves and save my people from your power. They will escape from your trap, and you will know that I am the Lord.
22 “‘You prophets tell lies. Your lies hurt good people—I did not want to hurt them! You support the wicked and encourage them. You don’t tell them to change their lives. You don’t try to save their lives! 23 So you will not see any more useless visions or do any more magic. I will save my people from your power, and you will know that I am the Lord.’”
Warnings Against Idol Worship
14 Some of the elders of Israel came to me. They sat down to talk with me. 2 The word of the Lord came to me. He said, 3 “Son of man,[c] these men came to talk to you. But they still have their filthy idols. They kept the things that made them sin. They still worship those statues, so why do they come to me for advice? Should I answer their questions? 4 But I will give them an answer. You must tell them this: ‘This is what the Lord God says: If any Israelites come to a prophet and ask me for advice, I myself will answer their questions. I, the Lord, will answer them even if they still have their filthy idols, even if they kept the things that made them sin, and even if they still worship those statues. I will speak to them in spite of all their filthy idols. 5 This is because I want to touch their hearts. I want to show them that I love them, even though they left me for their filthy idols.’
6 “So tell the family of Israel, ‘This is what the Lord God says: Come back to me and leave your filthy idols. Turn away from those terrible, false gods. 7 If any Israelites or foreigners who live in Israel come to me for advice, I will give them an answer. I, the Lord, will answer them even if they still have their filthy idols, even if they kept the things that made them sin, and even if they worship those statues. This is the answer I will give them: 8 I will turn against them and destroy them. They will be an example to others. People will laugh at them. I will remove them from my people. Then you will know that I am the Lord! 9 And if a prophet is foolish enough to give his own answer, I, the Lord, will show him how foolish he is! I will use my power against him. I will destroy him and remove him from among my people, Israel. 10 So both the one who came for advice and the prophet who gave an answer will get the same punishment. 11 Why? So that those prophets will stop leading my people away from me, and my people will stop being filthy with sin. Then they will be my special people, and I will be their God.’” This is what the Lord God said.
Jerusalem Will Be Punished
12 Then the word of the Lord came to me. He said, 13 “Son of man, I will punish any nation that leaves me and sins against me. I will stop their food supply. I might cause a famine and remove the people and animals from that country. 14 I would punish that country even if Noah, Daniel, and Job[d] lived there. They could save their own lives by their goodness, but they could not save the whole country.” This is what the Lord God said.
15 “Or I might send wild animals through that country to kill all the people. Then no one would travel through that country because of the wild animals. 16 If Noah, Daniel, and Job lived there, those three men could save their own lives. But I promise by my own life that they could not save the lives of other people—not even their own sons and daughters! That evil country would be destroyed.” This is what the Lord God said.
17 “Or I might send an enemy army to fight against that country. The soldiers would destroy that country—I would remove all the people and animals from that country. 18 If Noah, Daniel, and Job lived there, those three men could save their own lives. But I promise by my own life that they could not save the lives of other people—not even their own sons and daughters! That evil country would be destroyed.” This is what the Lord God said.
19 “Or I might send a disease against that country. I will pour my anger down on the people. I will remove all the people and animals from that country. 20 If Noah, Daniel, and Job lived there, those three men could save their own lives because they are good men. But I promise by my own life that they could not save the lives of other people—not even their own sons and daughters!” This is what the Lord God said.
21 Then the Lord God said, “So think how bad it will be for Jerusalem. I will send all four of those punishments against that city! I will send enemy soldiers, hunger, disease, and wild animals against that city. I will remove all the people and animals from that country. 22 Some of the people will escape from that country. They will bring their sons and daughters and come to you for help. Then you will see how bad those people really are, and you will feel better about all the troubles that I am bringing to Jerusalem. 23 You will see how they live and all the bad things they do. Then you will know that I had a good reason for punishing them.” This is what the Lord God said.
Jerusalem, the Vine, Will Be Burned
15 Then the word of the Lord came to me. He said, 2 “Son of man,[e] are the pieces of wood from a grapevine[f] any better than the little branches cut from trees in the forest? 3 Can you use that wood from a grapevine to make anything? Can you use that wood to make pegs to hang dishes on? 4 People throw that wood into the fire. The ends burn, and the middle is scorched. 5 If you cannot make anything from that wood before it is burned, you surely cannot make anything from that wood after it is burned! 6 So people throw the pieces of wood from a grapevine into the fire. It is just like wood from any other tree in the forest. In the same way I will throw the people living in Jerusalem into the fire!” This is what the Lord God said. 7 “I will punish those people. But some of them will be like the sticks that don’t burn completely. They will be punished, but they will not be destroyed completely. You will see that I punished them, and you will know that I am the Lord! 8 I will destroy that country because the people left me to worship false gods.” This is what the Lord God said.
Copyright © 2006 by Bible League International