The false_prophets will suffer
1The Lord talked to me and He said: 2‘Son of man, you must tell the prophets of Israel what I say. Prophesy_against them. They say they are prophets, but God did not call them. They decided themselves to become prophets and they prophesy anything they want to. You must tell them: “Listen to what the Lord says. 3The Lord God says: You will suffer, you foolish prophets. I have not shown you anything. I did not give you a message. You are telling people things that you have decided yourselves.”
4People of Israel, your prophets are like foxes that look for food in cities that have been destroyed. 5Foolish prophets, you did not stand at the places where the wall is broken to guard the people. You did not help to build the wall again to protect the Israelites. When the day_of_the_Lord comes, the walls will not be strong enough and the Lord will judge you. 6These prophets say things that I did not show them. They see false_visions. They are like fortune-tellers who are telling lies. They say: “This is what the Lord said,” but I did not tell them anything. And then they hope that the things they said will happen. 7They said things that I did not show them. Their prophecies are lies. I did not tell them anything, but they lied and said: “This is what the Lord said.”
8But this is what the Lord God says: “I am against you because you say things that are not_true and you say you have seen visions, but you are false. You are lying.” ’ This is what the Lord God said. 9The Lord also said: ‘I will put out my hand and I will punish the prophets who see false_visions when I did not show them anything, and who prophesy lies, like fortune-tellers. I will cut them off from my people. There will be no place for them. Their names will not be written in the book of Israel and they will not go into the land_of_Israel. You will know that I am the Lord.
10They have lied to my people and led them in the wrong way, because they said: “There will be peace”, but there was no peace. The people built a thin and weak wall, and the prophets painted it with lime to look strong. That is why 11you must talk to the prophets who have painted the wall that will fall down. You must tell them: “I will send rain and hail-stones and I will make a storm wind blow. 12You must know this: When the wall falls down, the people will ask you: “‘Where is the lime that you used to paint the wall?”’ This is what they will ask, it is sure.” ’
13The Lord God says: ‘I am angry with you because of what you have done. I will send storm winds to blow and I will make it rain hard and I will send hail-stones that will destroy the wall. 14I will break down the wall that you have painted with lime. The stones will lie on the ground and the people will see the foundations of the wall. And you will die among the stones. Yes, you will know that I am the Lord. 15I will break down the wall and I will punish the people who have painted it. I will punish them until I am not angry with them anymore. Then I will say: “There is no wall anymore and the people who have painted it are dead. 16The prophets of Israel who told the people of Jerusalem that I had sent them will be gone. These are the prophets who said there would be peace, but there was no peace.” ’ This is what the Lord said.
17The Lord also said to me: ‘Son of man, you must look at the women who say they are prophets, when that is not_true. They say only things that they want to say. You must prophesy_against them and tell them what I say. 18Tell them: “The Lord God says: Women, you will suffer, you who put bracelets on people's arms and veils over their heads and say they have magic powers. You trap my people so that you can keep yourselves alive. 19You have made my name impure among the people of my nation, and they gave you only a few handfuls of barley and pieces of bread for it. You lied and you have killed people who should not have died, but you let people live who should not be alive. My people have believed your lies.” ’
20The Lord God says: ‘I am against your magic bracelets that you use to trap people like you trap birds. I will take the bracelets from your arms because of what you have done and I will set my people free. 21I will take off your veils and I will save my people from you. You will not be able to do with them what you want. You will know that I am the Lord. 22You have lied to people who wanted to do what was right and you have discouraged them when I did not want them to be sad. And you have encouraged people who do what is wrong. You did not help them to turn away from sin so that they could be saved. 23That is why you will not be able to see false_visions anymore or prophesy lies like fortune-tellers. I will save my people from you and you will know that I am the Lord.’
