Lying Prophets

9 Concerning the prophets:

hMy heart is broken within me;

iall my bones shake;

I am like a drunken man,

like a man overcome by wine,

because of the Lord

and because of his holy words.

10  jFor the land is full of adulterers;

kbecause of the curse lthe land mourns,

and mthe pastures of the wilderness are dried up.

nTheir course is evil,

and their might is not right.

11  o“Both prophet and priest are ungodly;

even pin my house I have found their evil,

declares the Lord.

12  qTherefore their way shall be to them

like slippery paths rin the darkness,

into which they shall be driven and fall,

for I will bring disaster upon them

sin the year of their punishment,

declares the Lord.

13  In the prophets of tSamaria

uI saw an unsavory thing:

vthey prophesied by Baal

wand led my people Israel astray.

14  But in the prophets of Jerusalem

I have seen a horrible thing:

xthey commit adultery and walk in lies;

ythey strengthen the hands of evildoers,

so that no one turns from his evil;

zall of them have become like Sodom to me,

zand its inhabitants like Gomorrah.”

15  Therefore thus says the Lord of hosts concerning the prophets:

a“Behold, I will feed them with bitter food

aand give them bpoisoned water to drink,

for from the prophets of Jerusalem

ungodliness has gone out into all the land.”

16 Thus says the Lord of hosts: “Do not listen to the words of the prophets who prophesy to you, cfilling you with vain hopes. dThey speak visions of their own minds, not from the mouth of the Lord. 17 They say continually to those who despise the word of the Lord, e‘It shall be well with you’; and to everyone who fstubbornly follows his own heart, they say, g‘No disaster shall come upon you.’ ”

18  For hwho among them has stood in the council of the Lord

to see and to hear his word,

or who has paid attention to his word and listened?

19  iBehold, the storm of the Lord!

Wrath has gone forth,

ja whirling tempest;

it will burst upon the head of the wicked.

20  kThe anger of the Lord will not turn back

until he has executed and kaccomplished

the intents of his heart.

lIn the latter days you will understand it clearly.

21  m“I did not send the prophets,

yet they ran;

I did not speak to them,

yet they prophesied.

22  nBut if they had stood in my council,

then they would have proclaimed my words to my people,

oand they would have turned them from their evil way,

and pfrom the evil of their deeds.