Historical

Yahweh’s Wrath Against Lying Prophets

13 Then the word of Yahweh came to me saying, ² “Son of man, prophesy against the ^(A)prophets of Israel who prophesy, and say to those who prophesy from their own heart, ‘^(B)Hear the word of Yahweh! ³ Thus says Lord Yahweh, “Woe to the ^(C)wickedly foolish prophets who are walking after their own spirit and have ^(D)seen nothing. ⁴ O Israel, your prophets have been like foxes among waste places. ⁵ You have not ^(E)gone up into the ^(F)breaches, nor did you build the wall around the house of Israel to stand in the battle on the ^(G)day of Yahweh. ⁶ They behold ^(H)worthlessness and lying divination who are saying, ‘Yahweh declares,’ when Yahweh has not sent them; ^(I)yet they wait for the establishing of their word. ^7 (J)Did you not see a worthless vision and speak a lying divination when you said, ‘Yahweh declares,’ but it is not I who have spoken?”’”

⁸ Therefore, thus says Lord Yahweh, “Because you have spoken worthlessness and beheld a lie, therefore behold, ^(K)I am against you,” declares Lord Yahweh. ⁹ “So My hand will be against the ^(L)prophets who see worthless visions and utter lying divinations. They will not be in the council of My people, ^(M)nor will they be written down in the register of the house of Israel, nor will they enter the land of Israel, ^[a]that you may know that I am Lord Yahweh. ¹⁰ It is definitely because they have ^(N)misled My people by saying, ‘^(O)Peace!’ when there is ^(P)no peace. And when anyone builds a wall, behold, they plaster it over with whitewash; ¹¹ so tell those who plaster it over with whitewash that it will fall. A ^(Q)flooding rain will come, and you, O hailstones, will fall; and a stormy wind will break out. ¹² Now behold, the wall will fall. Will it then not be said to you, ‘Where is the plaster with which you plastered it?’” ¹³ Therefore, thus says Lord Yahweh, “I will make a stormy wind break out in My wrath. There will also be in My anger a flooding rain and ^(R)hailstones to consume it in wrath. ¹⁴ So I will pull down the wall which you plastered over with whitewash and bring it down to the ground, so that its ^(S)foundation is laid bare; and it will fall, and you will be ^(T)consumed in its midst. And you will ^(U)know that I am Yahweh. ¹⁵ Thus I will spend My wrath on the wall and on those who have plastered it over with whitewash; and I will say to you, ‘The wall ^[b]is gone, and its plasterers are gone— ¹⁶ the prophets of Israel who prophesy to Jerusalem and who ^(V)see visions of peace for her when there is ^(W)no peace,’ declares Lord Yahweh.

¹⁷ “Now as for you, son of man, set your face against the daughters of your people who are ^(X)prophesying ^(Y)from their own heart. Prophesy against them ¹⁸ and say, ‘Thus says Lord Yahweh, “Woe to the women who sew magic bands on ^[c]all wrists and make veils for the heads of persons of every stature to ^(Z)hunt down ^[d]souls! Will you hunt down My people’s souls, but preserve your own souls? ^19 (AA)For handfuls of barley and fragments of bread, you have profaned Me to My people to put to death souls who should not die and to ^(AB)keep other souls alive who should not live, by your lying to My people who listen to lies.”’”

²⁰ Therefore, thus says Lord Yahweh, “Behold, I am against your magic bands by which you hunt souls there as ^[e]birds, and I will tear them from your arms; and I will let their souls go, the very souls whom you hunt as ^[f]birds. ²¹ I will also tear off your veils and ^(AC)deliver My people from your hands, and they will no longer be in your hands to be hunted; and you will know that I am Yahweh. ²² Because you ^(AD)disheartened the righteous with falsehood when I did not cause him grief, but have ^(AE)strengthened the hands of the wicked not to ^(AF)turn from his evil way and preserve his life, ²³ therefore, you women will no longer see ^(AG)worthless visions or practice divination, and I will ^(AH)deliver My people out of your hand. Thus you will ^(AI)know that I am Yahweh.”

Idolatrous Elders Punished

14 Then some ^(AJ)elders of Israel came to me and ^(AK)sat down before me. ² And the word of Yahweh came to me, saying, ³ “Son of man, these men have ^(AL)set up their idols in their hearts and have ^(AM)put right before their faces the stumbling block of their iniquity. Should I be ^(AN)inquired by them at all? ⁴ Therefore speak to them and tell them, ‘Thus says Lord Yahweh, “Any man of the house of Israel who sets up his idols in his heart, puts right before his face the stumbling block of his iniquity, and then comes to the prophet, I Yahweh will be brought to give him an answer ^[g]in light of it, ^[h]in light of the ^(AO)multitude of his idols, ⁵ in order to seize the house of Israel by ^(AP)their heart, those who are ^[i](AQ)estranged from Me through all their idols.”’

⁶ “Therefore say to the house of Israel, ‘Thus says Lord Yahweh, “^[j](AR)Turn back and turn away from your idols and turn your faces away from all your ^(AS)abominations. ⁷ For anyone of the house of Israel or of the ^(AT)sojourners who sojourn in Israel who separates himself from Me, sets up his idols in his heart, puts right before his face the stumbling block of his iniquity, and then comes to the prophet to inquire of Me for himself, ^(AU)I, Yahweh, will be brought to answer him in My own person. ⁸ I will ^(AV)set My face against that man and make him a ^(AW)sign and ^[k]a proverb, and I will cut him off from among My people. So you will know that I am Yahweh.

⁹ “But if the prophet is enticed to speak a word, it is I, Yahweh, who have enticed that prophet, and I will stretch out My hand against him and ^(AX)destroy him from among My people Israel. ¹⁰ They will bear the punishment of their iniquity; as the iniquity of the inquirer is, so the iniquity of the prophet will be, ¹¹ in order that the house of Israel may no longer ^(AY)wander from Me and no longer ^(AZ)defile themselves with all their transgressions. Thus they will be ^(BA)My people, and I shall be their God,”’ declares Lord Yahweh.”

Calamitous Judgments of Jerusalem

¹² Then the word of Yahweh came to me saying, ¹³ “Son of man, if a country sins against Me by ^(BB)committing unfaithfulness, and I stretch out My hand against it, break its ^(BC)staff of bread, send famine against it, and cut off from it both man and beast, ¹⁴ even ^(BD)though these three men, ^(BE)Noah, ^(BF)Daniel, and ^(BG)Job were in its midst, by their own righteousness they could only deliver ^(BH)themselves,” declares Lord Yahweh. ¹⁵ “If I were to cause ^(BI)wild beasts to pass through the land and they bereaved it of children and it became desolate so that no one would pass through it because of the beasts, ¹⁶ though these three men were in its midst, as I live,” declares Lord Yahweh, “they could not deliver either their sons or their daughters. ^(BJ)They alone would be delivered, but the country would become desolate. ¹⁷ Or if I should ^(BK)bring a sword on that country and say, ‘Let the sword pass through the country and ^(BL)cut off man and beast from it,’ ¹⁸ even though these three men were in its midst, as I live,” declares Lord Yahweh, “they could not deliver either their sons or their daughters, but they alone would be delivered. ¹⁹ Or if I should send a ^(BM)plague against that country and pour out My wrath in blood on it to cut off man and beast from it, ²⁰ even though Noah, Daniel, and Job were in its midst, as I live,” declares Lord Yahweh, “they could not deliver either their son or their daughter. They would deliver only themselves by their righteousness.”

²¹ For thus says Lord Yahweh, “How much more when ^(BN)I send My four calamitous judgments against Jerusalem: sword, famine, wild beasts, and plague to cut off man and beast from it! ²² Yet, behold, ^[l]survivors will be left in it who will be brought out, both sons and daughters. Behold, they are going to come forth to you, and you will ^(BO)see their way and actions; then you will be ^(BP)comforted for the calamity which I have brought against Jerusalem for everything which I have brought upon it. ²³ Then they will comfort you when you see their way and actions, so you will know that I have not done ^(BQ)in vain all that I did ^[m]to it,” declares Lord Yahweh.

Is Jerusalem Useful for Anything?

15 Then the word of Yahweh came to me, saying, ² “Son of man, how is the wood of the ^(BR)vine better than any wood of a branch which is among the trees of the forest? ³ Can wood be taken from it to make ^[n]anything, or can men take a peg from it on which to hang any vessel? ^4 [o]If it has been put into the ^(BS)fire for fuel, and the fire has consumed both of its ends, and its middle part has been charred, is it then useful for ^[p]anything? ⁵ Behold, while it is intact, it is not made into ^[q]anything. How much less, when the fire has consumed it and it is charred, can it still be made into ^[r]anything! ⁶ Therefore, thus says Lord Yahweh, ‘As the wood of the vine among the trees of the forest, which I have given to the fire for fuel, so have I given up the inhabitants of Jerusalem; ⁷ and I will ^(BT)give My face to be against them. Though they have ^(BU)come out of the fire, yet the fire will consume them. Then you will know that I am Yahweh, when I set My face against them. ⁸ Thus I will give over the land to desolation because they have ^(BV)acted unfaithfully,’” declares Lord Yahweh.