Revised Common Lectionary (Complementary)

Prayer for Help.

False Prophets Condemned

13 Then the word of the Lord 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 ^[a]inspiration, ‘^(B)Listen to the word of the Lord! ³ This is what the Lord ^[b]God says: “Woe to the ^(C)foolish prophets who are following their own spirit and have ^(D)seen nothing! ⁴ Israel, your prophets have been like jackals among ruins. ⁵ You have not ^(E)gone up into the ^(F)breaches, nor did you build up a stone wall around the house of Israel to stand in the battle on the ^(G)day of the Lord. ⁶ They see ^(H)deceit and lying divination, those who are saying, ‘The Lord declares,’ when the Lord has not sent them; ^(I)yet they wait for the fulfillment of their word! ^7 (J)Did you not see a false vision and tell a lying divination when you said, ‘The Lord declares,’ but it is not I who have spoken?”’”

⁸ Therefore, this is what the Lord God says: “Because you have spoken deceit and have seen a lie, therefore behold, ^(K)I am against you,” declares the Lord God. ⁹ “So My hand will be against the ^(L)prophets who see false visions and utter lying divinations. They will ^[c]have no place 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, ^[d]so that you may know that I am the Lord God. 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, hailstones, will fall, and a violent wind will break out. ¹² Behold, when the wall has fallen, will you not be asked, ‘Where is the plaster with which you plastered it?’” ¹³ Therefore, this is what the Lord God says: “I will make a violent 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 tear down the wall which you plastered over with whitewash and hurl it down to the ground, so that its ^(S)foundation is exposed; and when it falls, you will ^(T)perish in its midst. And you will ^(U)know that I am the Lord. ¹⁵ So I will expend My wrath on the wall and on those who have plastered it over with whitewash; and I will say to you, ‘The wall ^[e]is gone and those who plastered it are gone, ¹⁶ along with the prophets of Israel who prophesy to Jerusalem, and who ^(V)see a vision of peace for her when there is ^(W)no peace,’ declares the Lord God.

The Appearance of False Prophets

2 But ^(A)false prophets also appeared among the people, just as there will also be ^(B)false teachers ^(C)among you, who will ^(D)secretly introduce ^(E)destructive heresies, even ^(F)denying the ^(G)Master who ^(H)bought them, bringing swift destruction upon themselves. ² Many will follow their ^(I)indecent behavior, and because of them ^(J)the way of the truth will be ^(K)maligned; ³ and in their ^(L)greed they will ^(M)exploit you with ^(N)false words; ^(O)their judgment from long ago is not idle, and their destruction is not asleep.