1 And the word of the Lord came vnto me, saying, 2 Sonne of man, prophecie against the prophets of Israel, that prophecie, and say thou vnto them, that prophecie out of their owne hearts, Heare the worde of the Lord. 3 Thus sayth the Lord God, Woe vnto the foolish Prophets that follow their owne spirit, and haue seene nothing. 4 O Israel, thy Prophets are like the foxes in the waste places. 5 Ye haue not risen vp in the gappes, neither made vp the hedge for ye house of Israel, to stand in the battel in the daye of the Lord. 6 They haue seene vanitie, and lying diuination, saying, The Lord sayth it, and the Lord hath not sent them: and they haue made others to hope that they would cofirme the word of their prophecie. 7 Haue ye not seene a vaine vision? and haue yee not spoken a lying diuination? ye say, The Lord sayth it, albeit I haue not spoken. 8 Therefore thus sayth the Lord God, Because ye haue spoken vanytie and haue seene lyes, therefore beholde, I am agaynst you, sayth the Lord God, 9 And mine hande shalbe vpon the Prophets that see vanity, and diuine lies: they shall not be in the assemblie of my people, neither shall they be written in the writing of the house of Israel, neither shall they enter into the land of Israel: and yee shall know that I am the Lord God. 10 And therefore, because they haue deceiued my people, saying, Peace, and there was no peace: and one buylt vp a wall, and behold, the others daubed it with vntempered morter, 11 Say vnto them which daube it with vntempered morter, that it shall fall: for there shall come a great showre, and I wil sende haylestones, which shall cause it to fall, and a stormie winde shall breake it. 12 Lo, when the wall is fallen, shall it not bee sayd vnto you, Where is the daubing wherewith ye haue daubed it? 13 Therefore thus sayth the Lord God, I will cause a stormie winde to breake foorth in my wrath, and a great showre shall bee in mine anger, and hailestones in mine indignation to consume it. 14 So I wil destroy the wall that ye haue daubed with vntempered morter, and bring it downe to the ground, so that the fundation thereof shalbe discouered, and it shall fal, and ye shalbe consumed in the middes thereof, and ye shall know, that I am the Lord. 15 Thus will I accomplish my wrath vpon the wall, and vpon them that haue daubed it with vntempered morter, and will say vnto you, The wall is no more, neither the daubers thereof, 16 To wit, the Prophets of Israel, which prophesie vpon Ierusalem, and see visions of peace for it, and there is no peace, sayth the Lord God. 17 Likewise thou sonne of man, set thy face against the daughters of thy people, which prophesie out of their owne heart: and prophesie thou against them, and say, 18 Thus sayth the Lord God, Woe vnto the women that sowe pillowes vnder al arme holes, and make vailes vpon the head of euery one that standeth vp, to hunt soules: will yee hunt ye soules of my people, and will yee giue life to the soules that come vnto you? 19 And will ye pollute me among my people for handfuls of barly, and for pieces of bread to slay the soules of them that shoulde not dye, and to giue life to the soules that should not liue in lying to my people, that heare your lies? 20 Wherefore thus saith the Lord God, Behold, I will haue to do with your pillowes, wherewith yee hunt the soules to make them to flie, and I will teare them from your armes, and will let the soules goe, euen the soules, that ye hunt to make them to flie. 21 Your vailes also will I teare, and deliuer my people out of your hande, and they shalbe no more in your hands to be hunted, and ye shall knowe that I am the Lord. 22 Because with your lyes yee haue made the heart of the righteous sadde, whome I haue not made sad, and strengthened the hands of the wicked, that he should not returne from his wicked way, by promising him life, 23 Therefore ye shall see no more vanitie, nor diuine diuinatios: for I wil deliuer my people out of your hand, and ye shall know that I am ye Lord.
Prophecy against False Male Prophets
1 The Lord spoke to me. 2 “Mortal man,” he said, “denounce the prophets of Israel who make up their own prophecies. Tell them to listen to the word of the Lord.”
3 This is what the Sovereign Lord says: “These foolish prophets are doomed! They provide their own inspiration and invent their own visions. 4 People of Israel, your prophets are as useless as foxes living among the ruins of a city. 5 They don't guard the places where the walls have crumbled, nor do they rebuild the walls, and so Israel cannot be defended when war comes on the day of the Lord. 6 Their visions are false, and their predictions are lies. They claim that they are speaking my message, but I have not sent them. Yet they expect their words to come true! 7 I tell them: Those visions you see are false, and the predictions you make are lies. You say that they are my words, but I haven't spoken to you!”
8 So the Sovereign Lord says to them, “Your words are false, and your visions are lies. I am against you. 9 I am about to punish you prophets who have false visions and make misleading predictions. You will not be there when my people gather to make decisions; your names will not be included in the list of the citizens of Israel; you will never return to your land. Then you will know that I am the Sovereign Lord.
10 “The prophets mislead my people by saying that all is well. All is certainly not well! My people have put up a wall of loose stones, and then the prophets have come and covered it with whitewash. 11 Tell the prophets that their wall is going to fall down. I will send a pouring rain. Hailstones will fall on it, and a strong wind will blow against it. 12 The wall will collapse, and everyone will ask you what good the whitewash did.”
13 Now this is what the Sovereign Lord says: “In my anger I will send a strong wind, pouring rain, and hailstones to destroy the wall. 14 I intend to break down the wall they whitewashed, to shatter it, and to leave the foundation stones bare. It will collapse and kill you all. Then everyone will know that I am the Lord.
15 “The wall and those who covered it with whitewash will feel the force of my anger. Then I will tell you that the wall is gone and so are those who whitewashed it— 16 those prophets who assured Jerusalem that all was well, when all was not well!” The Sovereign Lord has spoken.
Prophecy against False Female Prophets
17 The Lord said, “Now, mortal man, look at the women among your people who make up predictions. Denounce them 18 and tell them what the Sovereign Lord is saying to them:
“You women are doomed! You sew magic wristbands for everyone and make magic scarves for everyone to wear on their heads, so that they can have power over other people's lives. You want to possess the power of life and death over my people and to use it for your own benefit. 19 You dishonor me in front of my people in order to get a few handfuls of barley and a few pieces of bread. You kill people who don't deserve to die, and you keep people alive who don't deserve to live. So you tell lies to my people, and they believe you.”
20 Now this is what the Sovereign Lord says: “I hate the wristbands that you use in your attempt to control life and death. I will rip them off your arms and set free the people that you were controlling. 21 I will rip off your scarves and let my people escape from your power once and for all. Then you will know that I am the Lord.
22 “By your lies you discourage good people, whom I do not wish to hurt. You prevent evil people from giving up evil and saving their lives. 23 So now your false visions and misleading predictions are over. I am rescuing my people from your power, so that you will know that I am the Lord.”