False Prophets Condemned

⁹ Concerning the prophets:

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

¹⁶ This is what the Lord of Armies says: “Do not listen to the words of the prophets who prophesy to you. They are deluding you. They speak visions from their own minds,^(N) not from the Lord’s mouth.^{(O) 17} They keep on saying to those who despise me,^(P) ‘The Lord has spoken: You will have peace.’^(Q) 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”^(Y)—this is the Lord’s declaration—“and not a God who is far away? ²⁴ Can a person hide in secret places where I cannot see him?” ^(Z)—the Lord’s declaration. “Do I not fill the heavens and the earth?” ^(AA)—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!’ ^{(AB) 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 ancestors forgot my name through Baal worship.^{(AC) 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”^(AD)—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”^(AE)—the Lord’s declaration—“telling them and leading my people astray with their reckless lies. It was not I who sent or commanded them, and they are of no benefit at all^(AF) 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^[c] 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 Armies, our God. ³⁷ Say to the prophet, ‘What has the Lord answered you?’ or ‘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] I will throw you away from my presence—both you and the city that I gave you and your ancestors. ⁴⁰ I will bring on you everlasting disgrace and humiliation^(AG) 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 Armies, 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 The priest Zephaniah read this letter in the hearing of the prophet Jeremiah.

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)

⁸ “‘Therefore, this is what the Lord God says: You have spoken falsely and had lying visions; that’s why you discover that I am against you. This is the declaration of the Lord God. ⁹ My hand will be against the prophets who see false visions and speak lying divinations.^(A) They will not be present in the council of my people or be recorded in the register of the house of Israel, and they will not enter the land of Israel. Then you will know that I am the Lord God.

¹⁰ “‘Since they have led my people astray by saying, “Peace,”^(B) when there is no peace, and since when a flimsy wall is being built, they plaster it with whitewash,^{(C) 11} therefore, tell those plastering it with whitewash that it will fall. Torrential rain will come,^(D) and I will send hailstones plunging^[a] down, and a whirlwind will be released. ¹² When the wall has fallen, will you not be asked, “Where’s the whitewash you plastered on it?”

¹³ “‘So this is what the Lord God says: I will release a whirlwind in my wrath. Torrential rain will come in my anger, and hailstones will fall in destructive fury. ¹⁴ I will demolish the wall you plastered with whitewash and knock it to the ground so that its foundation is exposed.^(E) The city will fall, and you will be destroyed within it. Then you will know that I am the Lord. ¹⁵ After I exhaust my wrath against the wall and against those who plaster it with whitewash, I will say to you, “The wall is no more and neither are those who plastered it— ¹⁶ those prophets of Israel who prophesied to Jerusalem and saw a vision of peace for her when there was no peace.”^(F) This is the declaration of the Lord God.’