False Prophets Condemned

⁹ Concerning the prophets:

¹⁵ Therefore, this is what the Lord of Hosts says concerning the prophets:

¹⁶ This is what the Lord of Hosts says: “Do not listen to the words of the prophets who prophesy to you. They are making you worthless. They speak visions from their own minds, not from the Lord’s mouth. ¹⁷ They keep on saying to those who despise Me, ‘The Lord has said: You will have peace.’^(H) They have said to everyone who follows the stubbornness of his heart, ‘No harm will come to you.’”

²³ “Am I a God who is only near”^(M)—this is the Lord’s declaration—“and not a God who is far away? ²⁴ Can a man hide himself in secret places where I cannot see him?”^(N)—the Lord’s declaration. “Do I not fill the heavens and the earth?”^(O)—the Lord’s declaration.

²⁵ “I have heard what the prophets who prophesy a lie in My name have said, ‘I had a dream! I had a dream!’ ²⁶ How long will this continue in the minds of the prophets prophesying lies, prophets of the deceit of their own minds? ²⁷ Through their dreams that they tell one another, they plan to cause My people to forget My name as their fathers forgot My name through Baal worship.^{(P) 28} The prophet who has only a dream should recount the dream, but the one who has My word should speak My word truthfully, for what is straw compared to grain?”—this is the Lord’s declaration. ²⁹ “Is not My word like fire”—this is the Lord’s declaration—“and like a hammer that pulverizes rock? ³⁰ Therefore, take note! I am against the prophets”^(Q)—the Lord’s declaration—“who steal My words from each other. ³¹ I am against the prophets”—the Lord’s declaration—“who use their own tongues to make a declaration. ³² I am against those who prophesy false dreams”^(R)—the Lord’s declaration—“telling them and leading My people astray with their falsehoods and their boasting. It was not I who sent or commanded them, and they are of no benefit at all^(S) to these people”—this is the Lord’s declaration.

The Burden of the Lord

³³ “Now when these people or a prophet or a priest asks you, ‘What is the burden of the Lord?’ you will respond to them: What is the burden? I will throw you away”—this is the Lord’s declaration. ³⁴ “As for the prophet, priest, or people who say, ‘The burden of the Lord,’ I will punish that man and his household. ³⁵ This is what each man is to say to his friend and to his brother, ‘What has the Lord answered?’ or ‘What has the Lord spoken?’ ³⁶ But no longer refer to^[d] the burden of the Lord, for each man’s word becomes his burden and you pervert the words of the living God, the Lord of Hosts, our God. ³⁷ You must say to the prophet: What has the Lord answered you? and What has the Lord spoken? ³⁸ But if you say, ‘The burden of the Lord,’ then this is what the Lord says: Because you have said, ‘The burden of the Lord,’ and I specifically told you not to say, ‘The burden of the Lord,’ ³⁹ I will surely forget you^[e] and throw away from My presence both you and the city that I gave you and your fathers. ⁴⁰ I will bring on you everlasting shame and humiliation^(T) that will never be forgotten.”

Hananiah’s False Prophecy

28 In that same year, at the beginning of the reign of King Zedekiah of Judah,^(A) in the fifth month of the fourth year, the prophet Hananiah son of Azzur from Gibeon^(B) said to me in the temple of the Lord in the presence of the priests and all the people, ² “This is what the Lord of Hosts, the God of Israel, says: ‘I have broken the yoke of the king of Babylon.^{(C) 3} Within two years I will restore to this place all the articles of the Lord’s temple^(D) that King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon took from here and transported to Babylon. ⁴ And I will restore to this place Jeconiah^[a] son of Jehoiakim, king of Judah, and all the exiles from Judah^(E) who went to Babylon’—this is the Lord’s declaration—‘for I will break the yoke of the king of Babylon.’”

²⁹ Zephaniah the priest read this letter in the hearing of Jeremiah the prophet.

A Message about Shemaiah

³⁰ Then the word of the Lord came to Jeremiah: ³¹ “Send a message to all the exiles, saying: This is what the Lord says concerning Shemaiah the Nehelamite. Because Shemaiah prophesied to you, though I did not send him, and made you trust a lie,^{(A) 32} this is what the Lord says: I am about to punish Shemaiah the Nehelamite and his descendants. There will not be even one of his descendants living among these people,^(B) nor will any ever see the good that I will bring to My people”—this is the Lord’s declaration—“for he has preached rebellion against the Lord.”^(C)