| New Living Translation | Berean Study Bible |
| 1Then this message came to me from the LORD: | 1Then the word of the LORD came to me, saying, |
| 2“Son of man, prophesy against the false prophets of Israel who are inventing their own prophecies. Say to them, ‘Listen to the word of the LORD. | 2“Son of man, prophesy against the prophets of Israel who are now prophesying. Tell those who prophesy out of their own imagination: Hear the word of the LORD! |
| 3This is what the Sovereign LORD says: What sorrow awaits the false prophets who are following their own imaginations and have seen nothing at all!’ | 3This is what the Lord GOD says: Woe to the foolish prophets who follow their own spirit, yet have seen nothing. |
| 4“O people of Israel, these prophets of yours are like jackals digging in the ruins. | 4Your prophets, O Israel, are like foxes among the ruins. |
| 5They have done nothing to repair the breaks in the walls around the nation. They have not helped it to stand firm in battle on the day of the LORD. | 5You did not go up to the gaps or restore the wall around the house of Israel so that it would stand in the battle on the Day of the LORD. |
| 6Instead, they have told lies and made false predictions. They say, ‘This message is from the LORD,’ even though the LORD never sent them. And yet they expect him to fulfill their prophecies! | 6They see false visions and speak lying divinations. They claim, ‘Thus declares the LORD,’ when the LORD did not send them; yet they wait for the fulfillment of their message. |
| 7Can your visions be anything but false if you claim, ‘This message is from the LORD,’ when I have not even spoken to you? | 7Haven’t you seen a false vision and spoken a lying divination when you proclaim, ‘Thus declares the LORD,’ even though I have not spoken? |
| 8“Therefore, this is what the Sovereign LORD says: Because what you say is false and your visions are a lie, I will stand against you, says the Sovereign LORD. | 8Therefore this is what the Lord GOD says: Because you have uttered vain words and seen false visions, I am against you, declares the Lord GOD. |
| 9I will raise my fist against all the prophets who see false visions and make lying predictions, and they will be banished from the community of Israel. I will blot their names from Israel’s record books, and they will never again set foot in their own land. Then you will know that I am the Sovereign LORD. | 9My hand will be against the prophets who see false visions and speak lying divinations. They will not belong to the council of My people or be recorded in the register of the house of Israel, nor will they enter the land of Israel. Then you will know that I am the Lord GOD. |
| 10“This will happen because these evil prophets deceive my people by saying, ‘All is peaceful’ when there is no peace at all! It’s as if the people have built a flimsy wall, and these prophets are trying to reinforce it by covering it with whitewash! | 10Because they have led My people astray, saying, ‘Peace,’ when there is no peace, and whitewashing any flimsy wall that is built, |
| 11Tell these whitewashers that their wall will soon fall down. A heavy rainstorm will undermine it; great hailstones and mighty winds will knock it down. | 11tell those whitewashing the wall that it will fall. Rain will come in torrents, I will send hailstones plunging down, and a windstorm will burst forth. |
| 12And when the wall falls, the people will cry out, ‘What happened to your whitewash?’ | 12Surely when the wall has fallen, you will not be asked, ‘Where is the whitewash with which you covered it?’ |
| 13“Therefore, this is what the Sovereign LORD says: I will sweep away your whitewashed wall with a storm of indignation, with a great flood of anger, and with hailstones of fury. | 13Therefore this is what the Lord GOD says: In My wrath I will release a windstorm, and in My anger torrents of rain and hail will fall with destructive fury. |
| 14I will break down your wall right to its foundation, and when it falls, it will crush you. Then you will know that I am the LORD. | 14I will tear down the wall you whitewashed and level it to the ground, so that its foundation is exposed. The city will fall, and you will be destroyed within it. Then you will know that I am the LORD. |
| 15At last my anger against the wall and those who covered it with whitewash will be satisfied. Then I will say to you: ‘The wall and those who whitewashed it are both gone. | 15And after I have vented My wrath against the wall and against those who whitewashed it, I will say to you: ‘The wall is gone, and so are those who whitewashed it— |
| 16They were lying prophets who claimed peace would come to Jerusalem when there was no peace. I, the Sovereign LORD, have spoken!’ Judgment against False Women Prophets | 16those prophets of Israel who prophesied to Jerusalem and saw a vision of peace for her when there was no peace, declares the Lord GOD.’ |
| 17“Now, son of man, speak out against the women who prophesy from their own imaginations. | 17Now, O son of man, set your face against the daughters of your people who prophesy out of their own imagination. Prophesy against them |
| 18This is what the Sovereign LORD says: What sorrow awaits you women who are ensnaring the souls of my people, young and old alike. You tie magic charms on their wrists and furnish them with magic veils. Do you think you can trap others without bringing destruction on yourselves? | 18and tell them that this is what the Lord GOD says: Woe to the women who sew magic charms on their wrists and make veils for the heads of people of every height, in order to ensnare their souls. Will you ensnare the souls of My people but preserve your own? |
| 19You bring shame on me among my people for a few handfuls of barley or a piece of bread. By lying to my people who love to listen to lies, you kill those who should not die, and you promise life to those who should not live. | 19You have profaned Me among My people for handfuls of barley and scraps of bread. By lying to My people who would listen, you have killed those who should not have died and spared those who should not have lived. |
| 20“This is what the Sovereign LORD says: I am against all your magic charms, which you use to ensnare my people like birds. I will tear them from your arms, setting my people free like birds set free from a cage. | 20Therefore this is what the Lord GOD says: See, I am against the magic charms with which you ensnare souls like birds, and I will tear them from your arms. So I will free the souls you have ensnared like birds. |
| 21I will tear off the magic veils and save my people from your grasp. They will no longer be your victims. Then you will know that I am the LORD. | 21I will also tear off your veils and deliver My people from your hands, so that they will no longer be prey in your hands. Then you will know that I am the LORD. |
| 22You have discouraged the righteous with your lies, but I didn’t want them to be sad. And you have encouraged the wicked by promising them life, even though they continue in their sins. | 22Because you have disheartened the righteous with your lies, even though I have caused them no grief, and because you have encouraged the wicked not to turn from their evil ways to save their lives, |
| 23Because of all this, you will no longer talk of seeing visions that you never saw, nor will you make predictions. For I will rescue my people from your grasp. Then you will know that I am the LORD.” | 23therefore you will no longer see false visions or practice divination. I will deliver My people from your hands. Then you will know that I am the LORD.” |
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