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Word against False Preachers

13 Then the Word of the Lord came to me saying, “Son of man, speak against those of Israel who speak false words in My name. Say to those who tell what is going to happen in the future out of their own minds, ‘Listen to the Word of the Lord! The Lord God says, “It is bad for the foolish people who tell what is going to happen by following their own spirit and have seen nothing. O Israel, your men who speak in My name are of no more worth than foxes in destroyed cities. You have not gone up to the broken places to build the wall around the people of Israel so that it will stand in the battle on the day of the Lord. They have lied and have spoken false words using their secret ways, saying, ‘This is what the Lord says,’ when the Lord has not sent them. Yet they hope that what they say will come true. Did you not see a false dream and tell a lie using your secret ways when you said, ‘This is what the Lord says,’ when I have not spoken?”’”

So the Lord God says: “Because you have spoken false words and seen a lie, I am against you,” says the Lord God. “My hand will be against those who see false dreams and speak false words. They will have no place in the gathering of My wise people. Their names will not be written down with the people of Israel. And they will not go into the land of Israel. Then you will know that I am the Lord God. 10 Because they have led My people the wrong way by saying, ‘Peace,’ when there is no peace, and because, when anyone builds a bad wall, they cover it with whitewash, 11 tell those who cover it with whitewash that it will fall! A flood of rain will come, and large hailstones will fall. And a strong wind will break out. 12 When the wall has fallen, will you not be asked, ‘Where is the covering you used to cover the wall?’” 13 So the Lord God says, “I will make a strong wind break out in My anger. There will also be a flood of rain in My anger, and large hailstones to destroy that wall. 14 I will break down the wall that you covered with whitewash. I will bring it down to the ground so that its base will be showing. And when it falls, you will be destroyed with it. Then you will know that I am the Lord. 15 I will send My anger upon the wall and upon those who have covered it with whitewash. And I will say to you, ‘The wall is gone and the ones who covered it are gone. 16 There are no more people of Israel who speak false words to Jerusalem in My name, and who see dreams of peace for her when there is no peace,’ says the Lord God.

17 “Now, son of man, set your face against the daughters of your people who are telling what will happen from their own minds. Speak against them, 18 and tell them, ‘This is what the Lord God says: “It is bad for the women who sew objects with secret powers to wear on their arms, and make coverings for the heads to trap people. Will you go after the lives of My people, but save the lives of others for yourselves? 19 You have used Me in a sinful way among My people for hands full of barley and for pieces of bread. You have killed people who should not die, and have kept others alive who should not live, by your lying to My people who listen to lies.”’”

20 So the Lord God says, “I am against your objects with secret powers that you wear on your arms with which you trap people like birds. I will tear them from your arms. And I will let the people go that you trap like birds. 21 I will also tear off your head-coverings and save My people from you. They will no longer be trapped by your hands. Then you will know that I am the Lord. 22 You have made My good people sad because of your lies whom I did not want to hurt. But you have helped the sinful man, so that he does not turn from his sinful way and save his life. 23 So you women will no longer see false dreams or use your secret ways to learn the future. I will save My people from your hands. And then you will know that I am the Lord.”

Worshipers of False Gods

14 Then some leaders of Israel came and sat down in front of me. And the Word of the Lord came to me saying, “Son of man, these men have taken false gods into their hearts. They have put in front of their faces the sin which is the cause of their fall. Should I let Myself be asked questions by them at all? So speak to them and tell them, ‘The Lord God says, “Every man of Israel who has given his heart to false gods and lets them lead him into sin and then comes to the man of God, I the Lord will answer him, the answer that his many false gods should get, that I may again have the hearts of the people of Israel who have left Me for their false gods.”’

“So tell the people of Israel, ‘The Lord God says, “Be sorry for your sins and turn away from your false gods. Turn your faces away from all your sinful ways. If a man of Israel or a stranger living in Israel who turns away from Me and gives his heart to false gods, and worships them, and if he then comes to the man of God to get answers from Me, I the Lord will answer him Myself. I will set My face against that man and make him something special to see and to speak against. I will cut him off from among My people. And you will know that I am the Lord. But if the man who speaks in My name is given a false answer, it is I, the Lord, Who has caused him to speak. And I will put out My hand against him and destroy him from among My people Israel. 10 They will suffer the punishment of their sin. The man who asks the question and the man who speaks to him in My name will both be punished in the same way. 11 This is so that the people of Israel may no longer turn away from Me, and no longer make themselves sinful with all their wrong-doing. They will be My people and I will be their God,”’ says the Lord God.”

Those Not Faithful Are Judged

12 Then the Word of the Lord came to me saying, 13 “Son of man, if a country sins against Me by not being faithful, I will put out My hand against it. I will destroy its store of bread, and send hunger against it, and take away both man and animal from it. 14 For even if these three men, Noah, Daniel and Job, were in this country, they would save only their own lives by being right and good,” says the Lord God. 15 “If I sent wild animals to pass through the land to kill its people and destroy it so that no one would go through it because of the wild animals, 16 even if these three men were in the land, as I live,” says the Lord God, “they could not save their sons or their daughters. They alone would be saved, but the country would be laid waste. 17 If I bring a sword against that country and say, ‘Let the sword pass through the country and cut off man and animal from it,’ 18 even if these three men were in the land, as I live,” says the Lord God, “they could not save their sons or their daughters. They alone would be saved. 19 Or if I send a disease against that country and show My anger by killing, to take away man and animal from it, 20 even if Noah, Daniel and Job were in the land, as I live,” says the Lord God, “they could not save their son or daughter. They would save only themselves by being right and good.

21 “For the Lord God says, ‘How much worse will it be when I send my four worst punishments against Jerusalem! I will send the sword, hunger, wild animals, and disease, to take away man and animal from it! 22 Yet there will be some people and their children left alive in it who will be brought out. When they come to you, see how sinful they are. Then you will know that all the trouble I brought upon Jerusalem was right. 23 It will help you when you see how they act. Then you will know that there was a good reason for everything I did,’ says the Lord God.”

Jerusalem—a Vine of No Worth

15 Then the Word of the Lord came to me saying, “Son of man, how is the wood of the vine better than any wood of a branch among the trees? Can wood be taken from it to make anything? Or can men take a piece of wood from it on which to hang a pot? If it has been put into the fire to burn, and the fire has burned up both of its ends, and the center of it is black from the fire, can it then be used for anything? See, if it is not used for anything while it is whole, how much less can it ever be used for anything when the fire has burned it up and it has turned black! So the Lord God says, ‘Like the wood of the vine among the trees, which I have given to be burned in the fire, so will I give up the people of Jerusalem. I will set My face against them. Even if they get away from the fire, the fire will yet destroy them. Then you will know that I am the Lord, when I set My face against them. I will lay waste the land, because they have not been faithful,’” says the Lord God.