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Ezekiel 13:1–7

False Prophets Condemned

13 The word of the Lord came to me: a“Son of man, prophesy against the prophets of Israel, who are prophesying, and say to those bwho prophesy from their own hearts: ‘Hear the word of the Lord!’ Thus says the Lord God, Woe to the foolish prophets who follow their own spirit, and have seen nothing! Your prophets have been like jackals among ruins, O Israel. cYou have not gone up into the breaches, or built up a wall for the house of Israel, that it might stand in battle in the day of the Lord. dThey have seen false visions and lying divinations. They say, ‘Declares the Lord,’ ewhen the Lord has not sent them, and yet they expect him to fulfill their word. Have you not seen a false vision and uttered a lying divination, fwhenever you have said, ‘Declares the Lord,’ although I have not spoken?”

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Ezekiel 13:1–7 — The New International Version (NIV)

The word of the Lord came to me: “Son of man, prophesy against the prophets of Israel who are now prophesying. Say to those who prophesy out of their own imagination: ‘Hear the word of the Lord! This is what the Sovereign Lord says: Woe to the foolish prophets who follow their own spirit and have seen nothing! Your prophets, Israel, are like jackals among ruins. You have not gone up to the breaches in the wall to repair it for the people of Israel so that it will stand firm in the battle on the day of the Lord. Their visions are false and their divinations a lie. Even though the Lord has not sent them, they say, “The Lord declares,” and expect him to fulfill their words. Have you not seen false visions and uttered lying divinations when you say, “The Lord declares,” though I have not spoken?

Ezekiel 13:1–7 — King James Version (KJV 1900)

And the word of the Lord came unto me, saying, Son of man, prophesy against the prophets of Israel that prophesy, and say thou unto them that prophesy out of their own hearts, Hear ye the word of the Lord; Thus saith the Lord God; Woe unto the foolish prophets, that follow their own spirit, and have seen nothing! O Israel, thy prophets are like the foxes in the deserts. Ye have not gone up into the gaps, neither made up the hedge for the house of Israel to stand in the battle in the day of the Lord. They have seen vanity and lying divination, saying, The Lord saith: and the Lord hath not sent them: and they have made others to hope that they would confirm the word. Have ye not seen a vain vision, and have ye not spoken a lying divination, whereas ye say, The Lord saith it; albeit I have not spoken?

Ezekiel 13:1–7 — New Living Translation (NLT)

Then this message came to me from the Lord: “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. This is what the Sovereign Lord says: What sorrow awaits the false prophets who are following their own imaginations and have seen nothing at all!’

“O people of Israel, these prophets of yours are like jackals digging in the ruins. They 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. Instead, 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! Can your visions be anything but false if you claim, ‘This message is from the Lord,’ when I have not even spoken to you?

Ezekiel 13:1–7 — The New King James Version (NKJV)

And the word of the Lord came to me, saying, “Son of man, prophesy against the prophets of Israel who prophesy, and say to those who prophesy out of their own heart, ‘Hear the word of the Lord!’ ”

Thus says the Lord God: “Woe to the foolish prophets, who follow their own spirit and have seen nothing! O Israel, your prophets are like foxes in the deserts. You have not gone up into the gaps to build a wall for the house of Israel to stand in battle on the day of the Lord. They have envisioned futility and false divination, saying, ‘Thus says the Lord!’ But the Lord has not sent them; yet they hope that the word may be confirmed. Have you not seen a futile vision, and have you not spoken false divination? You say, ‘The Lord says,’ but I have not spoken.”

Ezekiel 13:1–7 — New Century Version (NCV)

The Lord spoke his word to me, saying: “Human, prophesy against the prophets of Israel. Say to those who make up their own prophecies: ‘Listen to the word of the Lord. This is what the Lord God says: How terrible it will be for the foolish prophets who follow their own ideas and have not seen a vision from me! People of Israel, your prophets have been like wild dogs hunting to kill and eat among ruins. Israel is like a house in ruins, but you have not gone up into the broken places or repaired the wall. So how can Israel hold back the enemy in the battle on the Lord’s day of judging? Your prophets see false visions and prophesy lies. They say, “This is the message of the Lord,” when the Lord has not sent them. But they still hope their words will come true. You said, “This is the message of the Lord,” but that is a false vision. Your prophecies are lies, because I have not spoken.

Ezekiel 13:1–7 — American Standard Version (ASV)

And the word of Jehovah came unto me, saying, Son of man, prophesy against the prophets of Israel that prophesy, and say thou unto them that prophesy out of their own heart, Hear ye the word of Jehovah: Thus saith the Lord Jehovah, Woe unto the foolish prophets, that follow their own spirit, and have seen nothing! O Israel, thy prophets have been like foxes in the waste places. Ye have not gone up into the gaps, neither built up the wall for the house of Israel, to stand in the battle in the day of Jehovah. They have seen falsehood and lying divination, that say, Jehovah saith; but Jehovah hath not sent them: and they have made men to hope that the word would be confirmed. Have ye not seen a false vision, and have ye not spoken a lying divination, in that ye say, Jehovah saith; albeit I have not spoken?

Ezekiel 13:1–7 — 1890 Darby Bible (DARBY)

And the word of Jehovah came unto me, saying: Son of man, prophesy against the prophets of Israel that prophesy, and say unto them that prophesy out of their own heart, Hear ye the word of Jehovah. Thus saith the Lord Jehovah: Woe unto the foolish prophets, that follow their own spirit, and have seen nothing! O Israel, thy prophets have been like foxes in desert places. Ye have not gone up into the breaches, nor made up the fence for the house of Israel, to stand in the battle in the day of Jehovah. They have seen vanity and lying divination, that say, Jehovah saith! and Jehovah hath not sent them; and they make them to hope that the word will be fulfilled. Have ye not seen a vain vision, and spoken a lying divination, when ye say, Jehovah saith; and I have not spoken?

Ezekiel 13:1–7 — GOD’S WORD Translation (GW)

The Lord spoke his word to me. He said, “Son of man, prophesy against the prophets of Israel. Tell those who make up their prophecies, ‘Listen to the Lord’s word. 

“ ‘This is what the Almighty Lord says: How horrible it will be for the foolish prophets. They follow their own ideas, and they have seen nothing. Israel, your prophets are like foxes among the ruins ⸤of a city⸥. They haven’t repaired the gaps in the wall or rebuilt the wall for the nation of Israel. So Israel will not be protected in battle on the day of the Lord. These foolish prophets see false visions, and their predictions don’t come true. They say, “The Lord said this.” But the Lord hasn’t sent them. Then they hope that their message will come true. Prophets of Israel, haven’t you seen false visions and predicted things that don’t come true? Don’t you say, “The Lord said this,” even though I haven’t said anything? 

Ezekiel 13:1–7 — The Holman Christian Standard Bible (HCSB)

The word of the Lord came to me: “Son of man, prophesy against the prophets of Israel who are prophesying. Say to those who prophesy out of their own imagination: Hear the word of the Lord! This is what the Lord God says: Woe to the foolish prophets who follow their own spirit and have seen nothing. Your prophets, Israel, are like jackals among ruins. You did not go up to the gaps or restore the wall around the house of Israel so that it might stand in battle on the day of the Lord. They see false visions and speak lying divinations. They claim, ‘This is the Lord’s declaration,’ when the Lord did not send them, yet they wait for the fulfillment of their message. 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?

Ezekiel 13:1–7 — The New Revised Standard Version (NRSV)

The word of the Lord came to me: Mortal, prophesy against the prophets of Israel who are prophesying; say to those who prophesy out of their own imagination: “Hear the word of the Lord!” Thus says the Lord God, Alas for the senseless prophets who follow their own spirit, and have seen nothing! Your prophets have been like jackals among ruins, O Israel. You have not gone up into the breaches, or repaired a wall for the house of Israel, so that it might stand in battle on the day of the Lord. They have envisioned falsehood and lying divination; they say, “Says the Lord,” when the Lord has not sent them, and yet they wait for the fulfillment of their word! Have you not seen a false vision or uttered a lying divination, when you have said, “Says the Lord,” even though I did not speak?

Ezekiel 13:1–7 — The Lexham English Bible (LEB)

And the word of Yahweh came to me, saying, “Son of man, prophesy to the prophets of Israel who are prophesying, and you must say to those who are prophets out of their own imagination, ‘Hear the word of Yahweh!’ Thus says the Lord Yahweh: ‘Alas, for the foolish prophets who are going after their own spirit, and they did not see anything! Your prophets have been like foxes among ruins. You did not go up into the breaches and repair a wall for the house of Israel to stand firm in the battle on the day of Yahweh. They saw falseness and a lying divination, the ones saying, ‘Declaration of Yahweh!’ and Yahweh did not send them, and they wait for the confirmation of their word. Have you not seen a false vision and spoken a lying divination, and you said, ‘Declaration of Yahweh!’ but I myself did not speak.

Ezekiel 13:1–7 — New International Reader’s Version (1998) (NIrV)

A message came to me from the Lord. He said, “Son of man, prophesy against those who are now prophesying in Israel. What they prophesy comes out of their own minds. Tell them, ‘Listen to the Lord’s message! The Lord and King says, “How terrible it will be for you foolish prophets! You say what your own minds tell you to. Your visions did not come from me.

“ ‘ “Israel, your prophets are like wild dogs that live among broken-down buildings. You have not repaired the cracks in the city wall for the people of Israel. So it will not stand firm in the battle on the day I judge you. The visions of those prophets are false. They use magic to try to find out what is going to happen. But their magic tricks are lies. They say, ‘The Lord announces.’ But I have not sent them. In spite of that, they expect their words to come true.

“ ‘ “You prophets have seen false visions. You have used magic to try to find out what is going to happen. But your magic tricks are lies. So you lied when you said, ‘The Lord announces.’ I did not even speak to you at all.”

Ezekiel 13:1–7 — New American Standard Bible: 1995 Update (NASB95)

Then the word of the Lord came to me saying,

Son of man, prophesy against the prophets of Israel who prophesy, and say to those who prophesy from their own inspiration, ‘Listen to the word of the Lord!

Thus says the Lord God, “Woe to the foolish prophets who are following their own spirit and have seen nothing.

“O Israel, your prophets have been like foxes among ruins.

“You have not gone up into the breaches, nor did you build the wall around the house of Israel to stand in the battle on the day of the Lord.

“They see falsehood and lying divination who are saying, ‘The Lord declares,’ when the Lord has not sent them; yet they hope for the fulfillment of their word.

“Did you not see a false vision and speak a lying divination when you said, ‘The Lord declares,’ but it is not I who have spoken?” ’ ”


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