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.

¹⁷ “Now you, son of man, set your face against the daughters of your people who are ^(X)talking like prophets ^(Y)from their own ^[f]imagination. Prophesy against them ¹⁸ and say, ‘This is what the Lord God says: “Woe to the women who sew magic bands on ^[g]all wrists and make veils for the heads of persons of every stature to ^(Z)capture souls! Will you capture the souls of My people, but keep the souls of others alive for yourselves? ^19 (AA)For handfuls of barley and pieces of bread, you have profaned Me to My people, to put to death ^[h]some who should not die, and to ^(AB)keep ^[i]others alive who should not live, by your lying to My people who listen to lies.”’”

²⁰ Therefore, this is what the Lord God says: “Behold, I am against your magic bands by which you capture souls there as ^[j]birds, and I will tear them from your arms; and I will let ^[k]them go, those souls whom you capture as ^[l]birds. ²¹ I will also tear off your veils and ^(AC)save My people from your hands, and they will no longer be in your hands as prey; and you will know that I am the Lord. ²² Because you ^(AD)disheartened the righteous with falsehood when I did not cause him pain, but you have ^[m](AE)encouraged the wicked not to ^(AF)turn from his wicked way to keep him alive, ²³ therefore you women will no longer see ^(AG)deceitful visions or practice divination, and I will ^(AH)save My people from your hands. So you will ^(AI)know that I am the Lord.”

Idolatrous Elders Condemned

14 Then some ^(AJ)elders of Israel came to me and ^(AK)sat down before me. ² And the word of the Lord came to me, saying, ³ “Son of man, these men have ^(AL)set up their idols in their hearts and have ^(AM)put in front of their faces the stumbling block of their wrongdoing. Should I let Myself be ^(AN)consulted by them at all? ⁴ Therefore speak to them and tell them, ‘This is what the Lord ^[n]God says: “Anyone of the house of Israel who sets up his idols in his heart, puts in front of his face the stumbling block of his wrongdoing, and then comes to the prophet, I the Lord will let Myself answer him in ^[o]the matter in view of the ^(AO)multitude of his idols, ⁵ in order to take hold of ^[p](AP)the hearts of the house of Israel who have ^[q](AQ)turned away from Me due to all their idols.”’

⁶ “Therefore say to the house of Israel, ‘This is what the Lord God says: “^(AR)Repent 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)strangers who reside in Israel, who deserts Me, sets up his idols in his heart, puts in front of his face the stumbling block of his wrongdoing, and then comes to the prophet to request something of Me for himself, ^(AU)I the Lord will let Myself answer him Myself. ⁸ I will ^(AV)set My face against that person and make him a ^(AW)sign and ^[r]a proverb, and I will eliminate him from among My people. So you will know that I am the Lord.

⁹ “But if the prophet is persuaded so that he speaks a word, it is I, the Lord, who have persuaded that prophet; and I will stretch out My hand against him and ^(AX)eliminate him from among My people Israel. ¹⁰ And they will bear the punishment for their wrongdoing; as the wrongdoing of the inquirer is, so the wrongdoing of the prophet will be, ¹¹ in order that the house of Israel may no longer ^(AY)stray from Me and no longer ^(AZ)defile themselves with all their offenses. So they will be ^(BA)My people, and I shall be their God,”’ declares the Lord God.”

The City Will Not Be Spared

¹² Then the word of the Lord came to me, saying, ¹³ “Son of man, if a country sins against Me by ^(BB)being unfaithful, and I stretch out My hand against it, ^[s]destroy its ^(BC)supply of bread, send famine against it, and eliminate from it both human and animal life, 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 save ^(BH)themselves,” declares the Lord God. ¹⁵ “If I were to cause ^(BI)vicious animals to pass through the land and they ^[t]depopulated it, and it became desolate so that no one would pass through it because of the animals, ¹⁶ though these three men were in its midst, as I live,” declares the Lord God, “they could not save either their sons or their daughters. ^(BJ)They alone would be saved, but the country would be desolate. ¹⁷ Or if I were to ^(BK)bring a sword on that country and say, ‘A sword is to pass through the country,’ and I ^(BL)eliminated human and animal life from it, ¹⁸ even though these three men were in its midst, as I live,” declares the Lord God, “they could not save either their sons or their daughters, but they alone would be saved. ¹⁹ Or if I were to send a ^(BM)plague against that country and pour out My wrath on it in blood to eliminate man and animal from it, ²⁰ even though Noah, Daniel, and Job were in its midst, as I live,” declares the Lord God, “they could not save either their son or their daughter. They would save only themselves by their righteousness.”

²¹ For this is what the Lord God says: “How much more when ^(BN)I send My four ^[u]severe judgments against Jerusalem: sword, famine, vicious animals, and plague to eliminate human and animal life from it! ²² Yet, behold, ^[v]survivors will be left in it who will be brought out, both sons and daughters. Behold, they are going to come out to you, and you will ^(BO)see their conduct and actions; then you will be ^(BP)comforted for the disaster which I have brought against Jerusalem for everything which I have brought upon it. ²³ Then they will comfort you when you see their conduct and actions, for you will know that I have not done ^(BQ)without reason whatever I did ^[w]to it,” declares the Lord God.

Jerusalem like a Useless Vine

15 Then the word of the Lord came to me, saying, ² “Son of man, ^[x]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 ^[y]anything, or can even a peg be taken from it on which to hang any utensil? ⁴ 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 good for ^[z]anything? ⁵ Behold, while it is intact, it is not made into ^[aa]anything. How much less, when the fire has consumed it and it is charred, can it still be made into ^[ab]anything! ⁶ Therefore, this is what the Lord ^[ac]God says: ‘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 ^(BT)set My face against them. Though they have ^(BU)come out of the fire, yet the fire will consume them. Then you will know that I am the Lord, when I set My face against them. ⁸ So I will make the land desolate, because they have ^(BV)acted unfaithfully,’” declares the Lord God.