Ezekiel 13

Condemnation of False Prophets

1 And the word of Yahweh {came} to me, {saying},
2 "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!'
3 Thus says the Lord Yahweh: 'Alas, for the foolish prophets who [are] going after their [own] spirit, {and they did not see anything}!
4 Your prophets have been like foxes among ruins.
5 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.
6 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}.
7 Have you not seen {a false vision} and spoken [a] {lying divination}, and [you] said, 'Declaration of Yahweh!' but {I myself did not speak}.
8 Therefore thus says the Lord Yahweh: 'Because of your speaking falseness and [because] you envisioned a lie, therefore, look! I [am] against you!" {declares} the Lord Yahweh.
9 "And it will be my hand against the prophets who [are] seeing falseness and who [are] practicing lying divination. They will not be in the council of my people, and they will not be written [down] in the record [book] of the house of Israel, and into the land of Israel they will not come, and [then] you will know that I [am] the Lord Yahweh.
10 Because, yes, because they led my people astray, {saying} 'Peace!' And [there is] not peace. And [when] anyone builds a flimsy wall, look, they coat it [with] whitewash.
11 Say to [those] covering [it] [with] whitewash that it will fall; there will be {a torrent of rain}, and I will give stones of hail; they will fall! And a {windstorm} will burst forth!
12 And look! [When] the wall falls, will it not be said to you, 'Where [is] the whitewash [with] which you covered [it]?'
13 Therefore thus says the Lord Yahweh: 'And [so] I will let burst forth a {windstorm} in my rage, and {there will be a torrent of rain} in my anger, and hailstones in [my] rage {for complete destruction}.
14 And I will break down the wall that you covered [with] whitewash, and I will knock it to the ground, and its foundation will be revealed, and it will fall, and you will come to an end in the midst of it, and you will know that I [am] Yahweh!
15 And I will fully vent my rage against the wall and against those covering it [with] whitewash, and I will say to you, "{The wall is no more}, and {the people covering it are no more},
16 [that is], the prophets of Israel, the ones prophesying concerning Jerusalem and the ones seeing visions of peace, and there is not peace!'" " {declares} the Lord Yahweh.
17 "And you, son of man, place your face toward the daughters of your people who prophesy from their {imagination}, and prophesy against them!
18 And you must say, 'Thus says the Lord Yahweh: "Woe to {those who sew} magic charm bands on all the wrists of the hands of my [people] and {those who make the veils} [that are] on the head of [people of] every height, to ensnare [people's] lives! Will you ensnare [the] lives of my people {and keep yourselves alive}?
19 And you defiled me among my people for a handful of barley and for morsels of bread to kill persons who should not die and to keep alive persons who should not live by [means of] your lies to my people [who are] listening to [your] lies." '
20 Therefore thus says the Lord Yahweh: 'Look! I am against your magic charm bands {with which you are ensnaring persons} as birds; I will tear them from your arms, and I will release the persons that you [are] ensnaring, [treating] persons as birds.
21 And I will tear off your veils, and I will deliver my people from your hand, and they will not any longer be in your hand as prey, and you will know that I [am] Yahweh.
22 Because [you] disheartened [the] heart of [the] righteous [by] deception, and I have not caused him pain, and strengthened [the] hands of [the] wicked [so that he did] not turn from his wicked way to save his life.
23 Therefore falseness you will not see, and divination you will not practice any longer, and I will rescue my people from your hand, and you will know that I [am] Yahweh!'"

Footnotes 42

  • [a]. Literally "was"
  • [b]. Or "to say"
  • [c]. Or "mortal," or "son of humankind"
  • [d]. Or "against"
  • [e]. Literally "the [ones] prophesying"
  • [f]. Literally "heart"
  • [g]. Literally "and not they saw"
  • [h]. Or "jackals"
  • [i]. Hebrew "in"
  • [j]. Literally "a divination of a lie"
  • [k]. Literally "to confirm a word"
  • [l]. Literally "vision of falseness"
  • [m]. Literally "divination of a lie"
  • [n]. Literally "I not I spoke"
  • [o]. Literally "declaration of"
  • [p]. Hebrew "in"
  • [q]. Literally "to say"
  • [r]. Hebrew "he"
  • [s]. Literally "rain flooding"
  • [t]. Or "and I will give great hailstones. They will fall"
  • [u]. Literally "wind of a storm"; or "with respect/concerning you stones of hail, they will fall"
  • [v]. Literally "a wind of storm"
  • [w]. Literally "rain flooding there will be"
  • [x]. Literally "to complete destruction"
  • [y]. Literally "not [is] the wall"
  • [z]. Literally "not [are] the [people] whitewashing him"
  • [aa]. Literally "declaration of"
  • [ab]. Or "mortal," or "son of humankind"
  • [ac]. Literally "heart"
  • [ad]. Literally "[the] sewers of"
  • [ae]. Or "joints"
  • [af]. Literally "the makers of the veils"
  • [ag]. Or "souls"
  • [ah]. Or "souls"
  • [ai]. Literally "and lives/souls for you, you keep alive"
  • [aj]. Hebrew "lie"
  • [ak]. Literally "which you [are] ensnaring with them the souls/individuals"
  • [al]. Or "did not"
  • [am]. Or "not to turn"
  • [an]. Or "vanity" or "vain/false visions"
  • [ao]. Or "observe"
  • [ap]. Or "you will indeed not practice divination"

Ezekiel 13 Commentaries

Scripture quotations marked (LEB) are from the Lexham English Bible. Copyright 2012 Logos Bible Software. Lexham is a registered trademark of Logos Bible Software.