Ezekiel 13

CHAPTER 13

Yahweh’s Wrath Against Lying Prophets

¹Then the word of Yahweh came to me saying,

²“Son of man, prophesy against the ^aprophets of Israel who prophesy, and say to those who prophesy from their own heart, ‘^bHear the word of Yahweh!

³‘Thus says Lord Yahweh, “Woe to the ^awickedly foolish prophets who are walking after their own spirit and have ^bseen nothing.

⁴“O Israel, your prophets have been like foxes among waste places.

⁵“You have not ^agone up into the ^bbreaches, nor did you build the wall around the house of Israel to stand in the battle on the ^cday of Yahweh.

⁶“They behold ^aworthlessness and lying divination who are saying, ‘Yahweh declares,’ when Yahweh has not sent them; ^byet they wait for the establishing of their word.

⁷“^aDid you not see a worthless vision and speak a lying divination when you said, ‘Yahweh declares,’ but it is not I who have spoken?” ’ ”

⁸Therefore, thus says Lord Yahweh, “Because you have spoken worthlessness and beheld a lie, therefore behold, ^aI am against you,” declares Lord Yahweh.

⁹“So My hand will be against the ^aprophets who see worthless visions and utter lying divinations. They will not be in the council of My people, ^bnor will they be written down in the register of the house of Israel, nor will they enter the land of Israel, ¹that you may know that I am Lord Yahweh.

¹⁰“It is definitely because they have ^amisled My people by saying, ‘^bPeace!’ when there is ^cno peace. And when anyone builds a wall, behold, they plaster it over with whitewash;

¹¹so tell those who plaster it over with whitewash that it will fall. A ^aflooding rain will come, and you, O hailstones, will fall; and a stormy wind will break out.

¹²“Now behold, the wall will fall. Will it then not be said to you, ‘Where is the plaster with which you plastered it?’”

¹³Therefore, thus says Lord Yahweh, “I will make a stormy wind break out in My wrath. There will also be in My anger a flooding rain and ^ahailstones to consume it in wrath.

¹⁴“So I will pull down the wall which you plastered over with whitewash and bring it down to the ground, so that its ^afoundation is laid bare; and it will fall, and you will be ^bconsumed in its midst. And you will ^cknow that I am Yahweh.

¹⁵“Thus I will spend My wrath on the wall and on those who have plastered it over with whitewash; and I will say to you, ‘The wall ¹is gone, and its plasterers are gone—

¹⁶the prophets of Israel who prophesy to Jerusalem and who ^asee visions of peace for her when there is ^bno peace,’ declares Lord Yahweh.

¹⁷“Now as for you, son of man, set your face against the daughters of your people who are ^aprophesying ^bfrom their own heart. Prophesy against them

¹⁸and say, ‘Thus says Lord Yahweh, “Woe to the women who sew magic bands on ¹all wrists and make veils for the heads of persons of every stature to ^ahunt down ²souls! Will you hunt down My people’s souls, but preserve your own souls?

¹⁹“^aFor handfuls of barley and fragments of bread, you have profaned Me to My people to put to death souls who should not die and to ^bkeep other souls alive who should not live, by your lying to My people who listen to lies.” ’ ”

²⁰Therefore, thus says Lord Yahweh, “Behold, I am against your magic bands by which you hunt souls there as ¹birds, and I will tear them from your arms; and I will let their souls go, the very souls whom you hunt as ²birds.

²¹“I will also tear off your veils and ^adeliver My people from your hands, and they will no longer be in your hands to be hunted; and you will know that I am Yahweh.

²²“Because you ^adisheartened the righteous with falsehood when I did not cause him grief, but have ^bstrengthened the hands of the wicked not to ^cturn from his evil way and preserve his life,

²³therefore, you women will no longer see ^aworthless visions or practice divination, and I will ^bdeliver My people out of your hand. Thus you will ^cknow that I am Yahweh.”