Ezekiel 13:2

2 "Son of man, prophesy against the prophets of Israel, prophesy and say to those who prophesy out of their own minds: 'Hear the word of the LORD!'

Ezekiel 13:2 Meaning and Commentary

Ezekiel 13:2

Son of man, prophesy against the prophets of Israel
Who called themselves so, and were accounted such by others; though they were not true, but false prophets; and so the Targum calls them: that prophesy;
that is, smooth things to the people; promising a speedy return from the captivity; or that Jerusalem should not be taken by the Chaldeans, and the inhabitants of it, and of the land, be carried captive: and say thou unto them that prophesy out of their own hearts;
who were not sent of God, nor spake from him; but of themselves, what came into their heads, and was agreeable to their fancies, imaginations, and carnal hearts; such are false teachers, that go forth without being sent, and teach not according to the word of God, but according to their own carnal reasonings; so the Targum,

``according to the will of their hearts;''
what they pleased themselves: hear ye the word of the Lord;
which came from the Lord himself, and not from man, meaning the following prophecy; so the written word of God should be attended to, both by teachers and hearers, as the only rule of faith and practice; see ( Isaiah 8:20 ) .

Ezekiel 13:2 In-Context

1 The word of the LORD came to me:
2 "Son of man, prophesy against the prophets of Israel, prophesy and say to those who prophesy out of their own minds: 'Hear the word of the LORD!'
3 Thus says the Lord GOD, Woe to the foolish prophets who follow their own spirit, and have seen nothing!
4 Your prophets have been like foxes among ruins, O Israel.
5 You have not gone up into the breaches, or built up a wall for the house of Israel, that it might stand in battle in the day of the LORD.
Revised Standard Version of the Bible, copyright 1952 [2nd edition, 1971] by the Division of Christian Education of the National Council of the Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved.