New Living Translation NLT
The Message Bible MSG
1 Then this message came to me from the LORD :
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God's Message came to me:
2 “Son of man, prophesy against the false prophets of Israel who are inventing their own prophecies. Say to them, ‘Listen to the word of the LORD .
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"Son of man, preach against the prophets of Israel who are making things up out of their own heads and calling it 'prophesying.'
3 This is what the Sovereign LORD says: What sorrow awaits the false prophets who are following their own imaginations and have seen nothing at all!’
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God, the Master, pronounces doom on the empty-headed prophets who do their own thing and know nothing of what's going on!
4 “O people of Israel, these prophets of yours are like jackals digging in the ruins.
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Your prophets, Israel, are like jackals scavenging through the ruins.
5 They have done nothing to repair the breaks in the walls around the nation. They have not helped it to stand firm in battle on the day of the LORD .
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They haven't lifted a finger to repair the defenses of the city and have risked nothing to help Israel stand on God's Day of Judgment.
6 Instead, they have told lies and made false predictions. They say, ‘This message is from the LORD,’ even though the LORD never sent them. And yet they expect him to fulfill their prophecies!
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All they do is fantasize comforting illusions and preach lying sermons. They say 'God says . . .' when God hasn't so much as breathed in their direction. And yet they stand around thinking that something they said is going to happen.
7 Can your visions be anything but false if you claim, ‘This message is from the LORD,’ when I have not even spoken to you?
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"Haven't you fantasized sheer nonsense? Aren't your sermons tissues of lies, saying 'God says . . .' when I've done nothing of the kind?
8 “Therefore, this is what the Sovereign LORD says: Because what you say is false and your visions are a lie, I will stand against you, says the Sovereign LORD .
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Therefore - and this is the Message of God, the Master, remember - I'm dead set against prophets who substitute illusions for visions and use sermons to tell lies.
9 I will raise my fist against all the prophets who see false visions and make lying predictions, and they will be banished from the community of Israel. I will blot their names from Israel’s record books, and they will never again set foot in their own land. Then you will know that I am the Sovereign LORD .
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I'm going to ban them from the council of my people, remove them from membership in Israel, and outlaw them from the land of Israel. Then you'll realize that I am God, the Master.
10 “This will happen because these evil prophets deceive my people by saying, ‘All is peaceful’ when there is no peace at all! It’s as if the people have built a flimsy wall, and these prophets are trying to reinforce it by covering it with whitewash!
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"The fact is that they've lied to my people. They've said, 'No problem; everything's just fine,' when things are not at all fine. When people build a wall, they're right behind them slapping on whitewash.
11 Tell these whitewashers that their wall will soon fall down. A heavy rainstorm will undermine it; great hailstones and mighty winds will knock it down.
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Tell those who are slapping on the whitewash, 'When a torrent of rain comes and the hailstones crash down and the hurricane sweeps in
12 And when the wall falls, the people will cry out, ‘What happened to your whitewash?’
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and the wall collapses, what's the good of the whitewash that you slapped on so liberally, making it look so good?'
13 “Therefore, this is what the Sovereign LORD says: I will sweep away your whitewashed wall with a storm of indignation, with a great flood of anger, and with hailstones of fury.
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"And that's exactly what will happen. I, God, the Master, say so: 'I'll let the hurricane of my wrath loose, a torrent of my hailstone-anger.
14 I will break down your wall right to its foundation, and when it falls, it will crush you. Then you will know that I am the LORD .
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I'll make that wall you've slapped with whitewash collapse. I'll level it to the ground so that only the foundation stones will be left. And in the ruin you'll all die. You'll realize then that I am God.
15 At last my anger against the wall and those who covered it with whitewash will be satisfied. Then I will say to you: ‘The wall and those who whitewashed it are both gone.
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"'I'll dump my wrath on that wall, all of it, and on those who plastered it with whitewash. I will say to them, There is no wall, and those who did such a good job of whitewashing it wasted their time,
16 They were lying prophets who claimed peace would come to Jerusalem when there was no peace. I, the Sovereign LORD, have spoken!’
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those prophets of Israel who preached to Jerusalem and announced all their visions telling us things were just fine when they weren't at all fine. Decree of God, the Master.'
17 “Now, son of man, speak out against the women who prophesy from their own imaginations.
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"And the women prophets - son of man, take your stand against the women prophets who make up stuff out of their own minds. Oppose them.
18 This is what the Sovereign LORD says: What sorrow awaits you women who are ensnaring the souls of my people, young and old alike. You tie magic charms on their wrists and furnish them with magic veils. Do you think you can trap others without bringing destruction on yourselves?
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Say 'Doom' to the women who sew magic bracelets and head scarves to suit every taste, devices to trap souls. Say, 'Will you kill the souls of my people, use living souls to make yourselves rich and popular?
19 You bring shame on me among my people for a few handfuls of barley or a piece of bread. By lying to my people who love to listen to lies, you kill those who should not die, and you promise life to those who should not live.
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You have profaned me among my people just to get ahead yourselves, used me to make yourselves look good - killing souls who should never have died and coddling souls who shouldn't live. You've lied to people who love listening to lies.'
20 “This is what the Sovereign LORD says: I am against all your magic charms, which you use to ensnare my people like birds. I will tear them from your arms, setting my people free like birds set free from a cage.
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"Therefore God says, 'I am against all the devices and techniques you use to hunt down souls. I'll rip them out of your hands. I'll free the souls you're trying to catch.
21 I will tear off the magic veils and save my people from your grasp. They will no longer be your victims. Then you will know that I am the LORD .
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I'll rip your magic bracelets and scarves to shreds and deliver my people from your influence so they'll no longer be victimized by you. That's how you'll come to realize that I am God.
22 You have discouraged the righteous with your lies, but I didn’t want them to be sad. And you have encouraged the wicked by promising them life, even though they continue in their sins.
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"'Because you've confounded and confused good people, unsuspecting and innocent people, with your lies, and because you've made it easy for others to persist in evil so that it wouldn't even dawn on them to turn to me so I could save them,
23 Because of all this, you will no longer talk of seeing visions that you never saw, nor will you make predictions. For I will rescue my people from your grasp. Then you will know that I am the LORD .”
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as of now you're finished. No more delusion-mongering from you, no more sermonic lies. I'm going to rescue my people from your clutches. And you'll realize that I am God.'"
Holy Bible. New Living Translation copyright© 1996, 2004, 2007, 2013 by
Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.
Published by permission. Originally published by NavPress in English as THE MESSAGE: The Bible in Contemporary Language copyright 2002 by Eugene Peterson. All rights reserved.