Revised Common Lectionary (Complementary)

A prayer when you are in trouble^[a]

The Lord is against false prophets

13 Then the Lord gave this message to me: ² ‘Son of man, speak my message to warn Israel's prophets. They are prophesying but they teach only their own ideas. Say to them, “Listen to this message from the Lord. ³ This is what the Almighty Lord says: Terrible trouble will come to those foolish prophets. They have not seen any vision from me but they tell people their own ideas. ⁴ People of Israel, your prophets have become like wild dogs that live among heaps of stones. ⁵ They have not helped you to mend the broken walls of your city. The walls will not be strong enough to keep Israel's people safe on the day of the Lord. That is when I will allow your enemies to attack you. ⁶ The visions that these prophets see are false. They tell lies about what will happen. They say, ‘The Lord says this,’ when I have not sent them with any message. But they still think that what they say will really happen. ⁷ Yes, you prophets have seen false visions. You tell lies when you say, ‘The Lord says this.’ You say that, but I have not spoken any message to you!

⁸ So this is what I, the Almighty Lord, say to them: I am now your enemy because of your lies. You deceive people when you tell them what will happen. Yes, I have become your enemy. That is what the Almighty Lord says.

⁹ I will punish the prophets who see false visions and who tell lies. They will not be among the leaders of my people. They will not be on the list of people who are true Israelites. They will not even return to the land of Israel. Then you will know that I am the Almighty Lord.

¹⁰ Those prophets have deceived my people. They say that there will be peace. But there is no peace for my people. They are like men who build a wall without any mortar.^[a] They paint it white to make it look nice. ¹¹ So tell those prophets that their paint is useless. The wall will soon fall down. There will be a lot of rain, hail and strong winds that knock it down. ¹² After the wall has fallen down, people will say, ‘That white paint was useless!’

¹³ So this is what I, the Almighty Lord, say: Because I am angry with you, I will send strong winds to destroy your wall. I will send a lot of rain and hail. ¹⁴ I will break down your wall with its white paint. I will knock it down to the ground and leave only its foundation. It will fall on you and it will destroy you. Then you will know that I am the Lord. ¹⁵ I will show you that I am very angry. I will destroy the wall and the prophets who painted it white. Then I will say to you, ‘The wall is no longer there. The prophets who painted it are no longer alive.^{[b] 16} They were prophets of Israel who told lies. They promised that Jerusalem would have peace. But there was really no peace.’ That is what the Almighty Lord says.”

God will punish false teachers

2 Many years ago, there were false prophets among God's people. They did not speak God's true messages. In the same way, there will also be false teachers among you. They will come among you and they will teach you things that are not true. Their wrong ideas will deceive people. Those false teachers will even speak against the Master, who paid the price for their sins. As a result, they will bring trouble on themselves that quickly destroys them. ² Many people will believe these false teachers. They will live in a bad way, like the false teachers. As a result, other people will say bad things against God's true way to live.

³ The false teachers want you to give them money. So they will teach things that are not true. A long time ago, God already decided that he must punish them. God is ready to do that now. Certainly, he will soon destroy them.