Yehezkiel 13:1-7

False Prophets Denounced

13:1 Then the word of the Lord came to me: 13:2 “Son of man, prophesy against the prophets of Israel who are now prophesying. Say to the prophets who prophesy from their imagination: ¹  ‘Hear the word of the Lord! 13:3 This is what the sovereign Lord says: Woe to the foolish prophets who follow their own spirit but have seen nothing! 13:4 Your prophets have become like jackals among the ruins, O Israel. 13:5 You have not gone up in the breaks in the wall, nor repaired a wall for the house of Israel that it would stand strong in the battle on the day of the Lord. 13:6 They see delusion and their omens are a lie. ²  They say, “the Lord declares,” though the Lord has not sent them; ³  yet they expect their word to be confirmed. ⁴  13:7 Have you not seen a false vision and announced a lying omen when you say, “the Lord declares,” although I myself never spoke?

[13:2]  ¹ tn Heb “from their mind.”

[13:2]  sn Who prophesy from their imagination. Note the testimony of Moses in Num 16:28, which contains a similar expression.

[13:6]  ² sn The same description of a false prophet is found in Micah 2:11.

[13:6]  ³ sn The Lord has not sent them. A similar concept is found in Jer 14:14; 23:21.

[13:6]  ⁴ tn Or “confirmed”; NIV “to be fulfilled”; TEV “to come true.”