Jeremiah 23:16

16 Thus saith the LORD of hosts, Hearken not to the words of the prophets that prophesy to you: they make you vain: they speak a vision of their own heart, [and] not from the mouth of the LORD.

Jeremiah 23:16 Meaning and Commentary

Jeremiah 23:16

Thus saith the Lord of hosts, hearken not unto the words of
the prophets that prophesy unto you
Do not hear them; stop your ears at what they say; give no credit to them. The Targum is,

``do not receive the words of the false prophets that prophesy unto you:''

they make you vain;
they filled their heads with vain and empty things, and their hearts with vain hopes, which deceived them; so the Targum,

``they deceive you;''

they taught them vain things, and made them vain and sinful in their lives and conversations; and therefore were not to be hearkened to: they speak a vision of their own heart, [and] not out of the mouth of
the Lord;
what they imagined they saw was a device of their own hearts, and what was agreeable to them, which must be bad enough; a produce of their own brains; an invention of their own; mere doctrines of men, and not such as come from the mouth of God, are his revealed will, and according to his word; and therefore not to be hearkened to; for nothing is to be heard and received, in matters of religion, but what is according to the revelation of God's will in his word; see ( Isaiah 8:20 ) . The Targum is,

``they speak to you the wickedness of their hearts, and not by the word of the Lord.''

Jeremiah 23:16 In-Context

14 I have seen also in the prophets of Jerusalem a horrible thing: they commit adultery, and walk in lies: they strengthen also the hands of evil-doers, that none doth return from his wickedness: they are all of them to me as Sodom, and the inhabitants of it as Gomorrah

15 Therefore thus saith the LORD of hosts concerning the prophets; Behold, I will feed them with wormwood, and make them drink the water of gall: for from the prophets of Jerusalem is profaneness gone forth into all the land.

16 Thus saith the LORD of hosts, Hearken not to the words of the prophets that prophesy to you: they make you vain: they speak a vision of their own heart, [and] not from the mouth of the LORD.

17 They say still to them that despise me, The LORD hath said, Ye shall have peace; and they say to every one that walketh after the imagination of his own heart, No evil shall come upon you.

18 For who hath stood in the counsel of the LORD, and hath perceived and heard his word? who hath marked his word, and heard [it]?