Beginning
13 And the Word of the LORD came to me, saying:
2 “Son of man, prophesy against the prophets of Israel who prophesy. And say to those who prophesy out of their own hearts, ‘Hear the Word of the LORD!’”
3 Thus says the Lord GOD: “Woe to the foolish prophets who follow their own spirit and have seen nothing.
4 “O Israel, your prophets are like the foxes in the waste places.
5 “You have not risen up in the gaps or made up the hedge for the House of Israel, to stand in the battle on the day of the LORD.
6 “They have seen vanity, and lying divination, saying, ‘The LORD says it!’ and the LORD has not sent them. And they hoped that their words would be confirmed.
7 “Have you not seen an empty vision? And have you not spoken a lying divination? You say, ‘The LORD says it!’ even though I have not spoken.”
8 Therefore, thus says the Lord GOD: “Because you have spoken vanity and have seen lies, therefore behold, I am against you,” says the Lord GOD.
9 “And My Hand shall be upon the prophets who see vanity, and divine lies. They shall not be in the assembly of My people, nor shall they be written in the record of the House of Israel, nor shall they enter into the land of Israel. And you shall know that I am the Lord GOD.
10 “And therefore, because they have deceived My people, saying, ‘Peace!’ and there was no peace—and one builds up a wall and behold, the others daub it with untempered mortar—
11 “say to those who daub it with untempered mortar that it shall fall. There shall come a great shower; and I will send hailstones which shall cause it to fall. And a stormy wind shall break it.
12 “Lo, after the wall has fallen, shall it not be said to you, ‘Where is the daubing with which you have daubed it?’”
13 Therefore thus says the Lord GOD: “I will cause a stormy wind to break forth in My wrath, and a great shower shall be in My anger and hailstones in indignation, to consume it.
14 “So I will destroy the wall that you have daubed with untempered mortar, and bring it down to the ground, so that its foundation shall be uncovered. And it shall fall; and you shall be consumed in its midst. And you shall know that I am the LORD.
15 “Thus I will accomplish My wrath upon the wall, and upon those who have daubed it with untempered mortar, and will say to you, ‘The wall is no more, nor its daubers
16 ‘(to wit, the prophets of Israel, who prophesy upon Jerusalem and see visions of peace for it, and there is no peace),’ says the Lord GOD.
17 “Likewise, you son of man, set your face against the daughters of your people who prophesy out of their own heart. And Prophesy against them, and say,
18 ‘Thus says the Lord GOD: “Woe to the women who sew pillows into joints and make veils for the heads of people of every stature, to hunt souls! Will you hunt the souls of My people? And will you give life to the souls who come to you?
19 “And will you defame Me among My people for handfuls of barley and for pieces of bread—to slay the souls of those who should not die, and to give life to the souls who should not live—by lying to My people who hear your lies?”’”
20 Therefore, thus says the Lord GOD: “Behold, I am against your pillows with which you hunt the souls, to make them flee. And I will tear them from your arms, and will let the souls go, the souls that you hunt to make them flee.
21 “Also, I will tear your veils and deliver My people out of your hand. And they shall no longer be in your hands, to be hunted. And you shall know that I am the LORD.
22 “Because with lies you have made the heart of the righteous sad (whom I have not made sad) and strengthened the hands of the wicked by promising him life, so that he would not return from his wicked way.
23 “Therefore, you shall see no more vanity or divine divinations. For I will deliver My people out of your hand. And you shall know that I am the LORD.”
14 Then some of the elders of Israel came to me and sat before me.
2 And the Word of the LORD came to me, saying:
3 “Son of man, these men have set up their idols in their heart and put the stumbling block of their iniquity before their face. Should I be required to consult them?
4 “Therefore speak to them, and say to them, ‘Thus says the Lord GOD: “Every man of the House of Israel who sets up his idols in his heart and puts the stumbling block of his iniquity before his face and comes to the Prophet! I, the LORD, will answer who comes, according to the multitude of his idols,
5 so that I may take the House of Israel by their own heart, because they have all departed from Me through their idols.”’
6 “Therefore say to the House of Israel, ‘Thus says the Lord GOD: “Return, and withdraw yourselves; and turn your faces from your idols; and turn your faces from all your abominations.
7 “For every one of the House of Israel, or the stranger who sojourns in Israel, who departs from Me and sets up his idols in his heart and puts the stumbling block of his iniquity before his face and comes to a Prophet to inquire of him about Me, I the LORD will answer him Myself.
8 “And I will set My Face against that man and will make him an example and a proverb. And I will cut him off from the midst of My people. And you shall know that I am the LORD.
9 “And if the Prophet is persuaded to speak a thing, I the LORD have persuaded that Prophet. And I will stretch out My Hand upon him and will destroy him from the midst of My people of Israel.
10 “And they shall bear their punishment. The punishment of the Prophet shall be the same as the punishment of him who inquires,
11 “so that the House of Israel may no longer go astray from Me or be polluted anymore with all their transgressions, and that they may be my people and I may be their God,” says the Lord GOD.’”
12 The Word of the Lord GOD came to me again, saying:
13 “Son of man, when the land sins against Me by committing a trespass, then I will stretch out My Hand upon it and will break the staff of its bread and will send famine upon it. And I will cut off man and beast from it.
14 “Even if these three men—Noah, Daniel, and Job—were among them, they could only deliver their own souls by their righteousness,” says the Lord GOD.
15 “If I bring evil beasts into the land and they plunder it, so that it is desolate, so that no one may pass through because of beasts,
16 “even if these three men were in its midst, as I live,” says the Lord GOD, “they shall save neither sons nor daughters. They alone shall be delivered, but the land shall be desolate.
17 “Or if I bring a sword upon this land, and say, ‘Sword, go through the land, so that I cut off man and beast from it,
18 “though these three men were in its midst, as I live,” says the Lord GOD, “they shall deliver neither sons nor daughters, but only they themselves shall be delivered.
19 Or if I send a pestilence into this land, and pour out My wrath upon it in blood, to cut off man and beast from it,
20 with Noah, Daniel and Job in the midst of it, as I live,” says the Lord GOD, “they shall deliver neither son nor daughter: they shall only deliver their own souls by their righteousness.”
21 For thus says the Lord GOD: “How much more when I send My four severe judgments upon Jerusalem—the sword, and famine, and the evil beast, and pestilence—to cut off man and beast from it?
22 “Yet behold, therein shall be left a remnant of those who shall be carried away, sons and daughters. Behold, they shall come forth to you, and you shall see their ways and their enterprises. And you shall be comforted concerning the misery that I have brought upon Jerusalem, concerning all that I have brought upon it.
23 “And they shall comfort you when you see their ways and their enterprises. And you shall know that I have not done all that I have done in it without cause,” says the Lord GOD.
15 And the Word of the LORD came to me, saying:
2 “Son of man, how is the wood from the vine above all wood — the vine branch which is among the trees of the forest?
3 “Shall wood be taken from it do any work? Or will men take a pin from it to hang a vessel on?
4 “Behold, it is cast into the fire to be consumed. The fire consumes both ends of it, and the middle of it is burnt. Is it useful for any work?
5 “Behold, when it was whole, it was not useful for any work; how much less shall it be useful for any work when the fire has consumed it, and it is burnt?”
6 Therefore thus says the Lord GOD: “As the vine among the trees of the forest, which I have given to the fire to be consumed, so will I give the inhabitants of Jerusalem.
7 “And I will set My Face against them. They shall go out from one fire, and another fire shall consume them. And you shall know that I am the LORD, when I set My Face against them,
8 “and I make the land waste, because they have greatly offended,” says the Lord GOD.
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