Israel’s False Prophets Condemned

13 The word of the Lord came to me: ² “Son of man, prophesy against the prophets of Israel who^(A) are prophesying. Say to those who prophesy out of their own imagination:^(B) Hear the word of the Lord! ³ This is what the Lord God says: Woe to the foolish prophets who follow their own spirit and have seen nothing. ⁴ Your prophets, Israel, are like jackals among ruins. ⁵ You did not go up to the gaps^(C) or restore the wall around the house of Israel so that it might stand in battle on the day of the Lord. ⁶ They see false visions and speak lying divinations.^(D) They claim, ‘This is the Lord’s declaration,’ when the Lord did not send them,^(E) yet they wait for the fulfillment of their message. ⁷ Didn’t you see a false vision and speak a lying divination when you proclaimed, ‘This is the Lord’s declaration,’ even though I had not spoken?

⁸ “Therefore, this is what the Lord God says: I am against you because you have spoken falsely and had lying visions.” This is the declaration of the Lord God. ⁹ “My hand will be against the prophets who see false visions and speak lying divinations.^(F) They will not be present in the fellowship of My people or be recorded in the register of the house of Israel, and they will not enter the land of Israel. Then you will know that I am the Lord Yahweh.

¹⁰ “Since they have led My people astray saying, ‘Peace,’^(G) when there is no peace, for when someone builds a wall they plaster it with whitewash,^{(H) 11} therefore, tell those who plaster it that it will fall. Torrential rain will come,^(I) and I will send hailstones plunging^[a] down, and a windstorm will be released. ¹² Now when the wall has fallen, will you not be asked, ‘Where is the coat of whitewash that you put on it?’

¹³ “So this is what the Lord God says: I will release a windstorm in My wrath. Torrential rain will come in My anger, and hailstones will fall in destructive fury. ¹⁴ I will tear down the wall you plastered with whitewash and knock it to the ground so that its foundation is exposed.^(J) The city will fall, and you will be destroyed within it. Then you will know that I am Yahweh. ¹⁵ After I exhaust My wrath against the wall and against those who plaster it with whitewash, I will say to you: The wall is no more and neither are those who plastered it— ¹⁶ those prophets of Israel who prophesied to Jerusalem and saw a vision of peace for her when there was no peace.”^(K) This is the declaration of the Lord God.

¹⁷ “Now, son of man, turn^[b] toward the women of your people who prophesy^(L) out of their own imagination. Prophesy against them^{(M) 18} and say: This is what the Lord God says: Woe to the women who sew magic bands on the wrist of every hand and who make veils for the heads of people of every height in order to ensnare lives. Will you ensnare the lives of My people but preserve your own?^{(N) 19} You profane Me in front of My people for handfuls of barley^(O) and scraps of bread; you kill those who should not die and spare those who should not live, when you lie to My people, who listen to lies.

²⁰ “Therefore, this is what the Lord God says: I am against your magic bands that you ensnare people with like birds, and I will tear them from your arms. I will free the people you have ensnared like birds. ²¹ I will also tear off your veils and deliver My people from your hands,^(P) so that they will no longer be prey in your hands. Then you will know that I am Yahweh. ²² Because you have disheartened the righteous person with lies, even though I have not caused him grief,^(Q) and because you have encouraged the wicked^(R) person not to turn from his evil way to save his life, ²³ therefore you will no longer see false visions or practice divination.^(S) I will deliver My people from your hands. Then you will know that I am Yahweh.”

Idolatrous Elders Punished

14 Some of the elders of Israel came^(T) to me and sat down in front of me.^{(U) 2} Then the word of the Lord came to me: ³ “Son of man, these men have set up idols in their hearts and have put sinful stumbling blocks before their faces.^(V) Should I be consulted by them at all?^(W)

⁴ “Therefore, speak to them and tell them: This is what the Lord God says: When anyone from the house of Israel sets up idols in his heart, puts a sinful stumbling block before his face, and then comes to the prophet, I, Yahweh, will answer him appropriately.^[c] I will answer him according to his many idols, ⁵ so that I may take hold of the house of Israel by their hearts. They are all estranged from Me because of their idols.

⁶ “Therefore, say to the house of Israel: This is what the Lord God says: Repent and turn away^(X) from your idols; turn your faces away from all your detestable things. ⁷ For when anyone from the house of Israel or from the foreigners who reside in Israel separates himself from Me, setting up idols in his heart and putting a sinful stumbling block before his face, and then comes to the prophet to inquire of Me,^[d] I, Yahweh, will answer him Myself. ⁸ I will turn against that one and make him a sign and a proverb; I will cut him off from among My people.^(Y) Then you will know that I am Yahweh.

⁹ “But if the prophet is deceived and speaks a message, it was I, Yahweh, who deceived that prophet.^(Z) I will stretch out My hand against him and destroy him from among My people Israel.^{(AA) 10} They will bear their punishment—the punishment of the one who inquires will be the same as that of the prophet— ¹¹ in order that the house of Israel may no longer stray from following Me and no longer defile themselves^(AB) with all their transgressions. Then they will be My people and I will be their God.”^(AC) This is the declaration of the Lord God.

Four Devastating Judgments

¹² The word of the Lord came to me: ¹³ “Son of man, if a land sins against Me by acting faithlessly, and I stretch out My hand against it to cut off its supply of bread,^(AD) to send famine through it, and to wipe out both man and animal from it, ¹⁴ even if these three men^(AE)—Noah,^(AF) Daniel,^(AG) and Job^(AH)—were in it, they would deliver only themselves by their righteousness.” This is the declaration of the Lord God.

¹⁵ “If I allow dangerous animals^(AI) to pass through the land and depopulate it so that it becomes desolate, with no one passing through it for fear of the animals, ¹⁶ even if these three men were in it, as I live”—the declaration of the Lord God—“they could not deliver their sons or daughters. They alone would be delivered, but the land would be desolate.^(AJ)

¹⁷ “Or if I bring a sword^(AK) against that land and say: Let a sword pass through it, so that I wipe out both man and animal from it,^{(AL) 18} even if these three men were in it, as I live”—the declaration of the Lord God—“they could not deliver their sons or daughters, but they alone would be delivered.

¹⁹ “Or if I send a plague into that land^(AM) and pour out My wrath on it with bloodshed to wipe out both man and animal from it, ²⁰ even if Noah, Daniel, and Job were in it, as I live”—the declaration of the Lord God—“they could not deliver their son or daughter. They would deliver only themselves by their righteousness.

²¹ “For this is what the Lord God says: How much worse will it be when I send My four^(AN) devastating judgments against Jerusalem—sword, famine, dangerous animals, and plague—in order to wipe out both man and animal from it! ²² Even so, there will be survivors left in it, sons and daughters who will be brought out. Indeed, they will come out to you, and you will observe their conduct and actions.^(AO) Then you will be consoled about the devastation I have brought on Jerusalem, about all I have brought on it. ²³ They will bring you consolation when you see their conduct and actions, and you will know that it was not without cause that I have done what I did to it.”^(AP) This is the declaration of the Lord God.

Parable of the Useless Vine

15 Then the word of the Lord came to me: ² “Son of man, how does the wood of the vine,^(AQ) that branch among the trees of the forest, compare to any other wood? ³ Can wood be taken from it to make something useful? Or can anyone make a peg from it to hang things on? ⁴ In fact, it is put into the fire as fuel.^(AR) The fire devours both of its ends, and the middle is charred. Can it be useful for anything? ⁵ Even when it was whole it could not be made into a useful object. How much less can it ever be made into anything useful when the fire has devoured it and it is charred!

⁶ “Therefore, this is what the Lord God says: Like the wood of the vine among the trees of the forest, which I have given to the fire as fuel, so I will give up the residents of Jerusalem. ⁷ I will turn against them.^(AS) They may have escaped from the fire, but it will still consume them.^(AT) And you will know that I am Yahweh when I turn against them. ⁸ I will make the land desolate because they have acted unfaithfully.” This is the declaration of the Lord God.