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Ezekiel 13

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Prophecy Against False Prophets 1–9

1
And the word of Jehovah came unto me, saying,
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Son of man, prophesy against the prophets of Israel that prophesy, and say thou unto them that prophesy out of their own heart, Hear ye the word of Jehovah: ​
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Thus saith the Lord Jehovah, Woe unto the foolish prophets, that follow their own spirit, and have seen nothing! ​
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O Israel, thy prophets have been like foxes in the waste places. ​
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Ye have not gone up into the gaps, neither built up the wall for the house of Israel, to stand in the battle in the day of Jehovah. ​
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They have seen falsehood and lying divination, that say, Jehovah saith; but Jehovah hath not sent them: and they have made men to hope that the word would be confirmed. ​
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Have ye not seen a false vision, and have ye not spoken a lying divination, in that ye say, Jehovah saith; albeit I have not spoken?
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Therefore thus saith the Lord Jehovah: Because ye have spoken falsehood, and seen lies, therefore, behold, I am against you, saith the Lord Jehovah.
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And my hand shall be against the prophets that see false visions, and that divine lies: they shall not be in the council of my people, neither shall they be written in the writing of the house of Israel, neither shall they enter into the land of Israel; and ye shall know that I am the Lord Jehovah. ​

The Wall of Untempered Mortar 10–16

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Because, even because they have seduced my people, saying, Peace; and there is no peace; and when one buildeth up a wall, behold, they daub it with untempered mortar: ​
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say unto them that daub it with untempered mortar, that it shall fall: there shall be an overflowing shower; and ye, O great hailstones, shall fall; and a stormy wind shall rend it. ​
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Lo, when the wall is fallen, shall it not be said unto you, Where is the daubing wherewith ye have daubed it?
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Therefore thus saith the Lord Jehovah: I will even rend it with a stormy wind in my wrath; and there shall be an overflowing shower in mine anger, and great hailstones in wrath to consume it.
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So will I break down the wall that ye have daubed with untempered mortar, and bring it down to the ground, so that the foundation thereof shall be uncovered; and it shall fall, and ye shall be consumed in the midst thereof: and ye shall know that I am Jehovah.
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Thus will I accomplish my wrath upon the wall, and upon them that have daubed it with untempered mortar; and I will say unto you, The wall is no more, neither they that daubed it;
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to wit, the prophets of Israel that prophesy concerning Jerusalem, and that see visions of peace for her, and there is no peace, saith the Lord Jehovah. ​

Judgment Against False Prophetesses 17–23

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And thou, son of man, set thy face against the daughters of thy people, that prophesy out of their own heart; and prophesy thou against them, ​
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and say, Thus saith the Lord Jehovah: Woe to the women that sew pillows upon all elbows, and make kerchiefs for the head of persons of every stature to hunt souls! Will ye hunt the souls of my people, and save souls alive for yourselves? ​
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And ye have profaned me among my people for handfuls of barley and for pieces of bread, to slay the souls that should not die, and to save the souls alive that should not live, by your lying to my people that hearken unto lies. ​
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Wherefore thus saith the Lord Jehovah: Behold, I am against your pillows, wherewith ye there hunt the souls to make them fly, and I will tear them from your arms; and I will let the souls go, even the souls that ye hunt to make them fly.
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Your kerchiefs also will I tear, and deliver my people out of your hand, and they shall be no more in your hand to be hunted; and ye shall know that I am Jehovah.
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Because with lies ye have grieved the heart of the righteous, whom I have not made sad, and strengthened the hands of the wicked, that he should not return from his wicked way, and be saved alive; ​
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Therefore ye shall no more see false visions, nor divine divinations: and I will deliver my people out of your hand; and ye shall know that I am Jehovah.

Bible text: American Standard Version (1901) · Public domain

Study Notes for Ezekiel 13

Verse 2

out of their own hearts — The prophets of Israel are told to 'Hear ye the word of the LORD', since they speak from themselves and not from him. Jeremiah brings the same charge against the prophets of Jerusalem: 'they speak a vision of their own heart, and not out of the mouth of the LORD' (Jer 23:16). Ezekiel is to prophesy against them with the very verb (naba) they use.

Verse 3

foolish prophets, that follow their own spirit — 'Foolish' is nabal, the word for the 'fool' of Ps 14:1, and 'woe' (hoy) opens the charge. They 'have seen nothing', though they claim visions. Jer 23:28 sets them against the true prophet: 'he that hath my word, let him speak my word faithfully. What is the chaff to the wheat?'

Verse 4

like the foxes in the deserts — The 'deserts' are chorbot, waste places or ruins, the word of 33:24 and 33:27, and in Lam 5:18 'the foxes walk upon' desolate Zion. The comparison is explained in the next verse: the prophets do not repair the breaches in the wall, so Israel's defence is left broken.

Verse 5

gone up into the gaps — A 'gap' (perets) is a breach in a wall, and the 'hedge' (gader) is the wall built to close it. The LORD says he 'sought for a man… that should make up the hedge, and stand in the gap' (22:30), and Moses 'stood before him in the breach' (Ps 106:23). The prophets did neither, and left Israel unprotected 'in the day of the LORD'.

Verse 6

the LORD hath not sent them — The fault has two parts: what they saw is 'vanity and lying divination', and they said 'The LORD saith' when he had not sent them. Jeremiah says the same: 'I have not sent these prophets, yet they ran' (Jer 23:21), and to Hananiah, 'The LORD hath not sent thee' (Jer 28:15). They 'made others to hope' that the word would be confirmed.

Verse 9

neither shall they be written in the writing of the house of Israel — Three exclusions follow: from the 'assembly' of his people, from the register, and from the land. 'Assembly' is sod, a circle of counsel, the word of Jer 23:18, 22, 'who hath stood in the counsel of the LORD'. The register recalls 'every one that shall be found written in the book' (Dan 12:1).

Verse 10

saying, Peace; and there was no peace — 'Seduced' (ta'ah), led astray, occurs only here, and Mic 3:5 describes prophets 'that make my people err… and cry, Peace'. The saying is quoted in Jer 6:14, 'Peace, peace; when there is no peace'. 'Untempered morter' (taphel) is a plaster that will not hold, a word found in Ezekiel only in this chapter and 22:28.

Verse 11

an overflowing shower… great hailstones — The wall coated with plaster is met by rain, hail and wind. 'Great hailstones' (avne elgavish) occurs only here, in v.13 and in 38:22. Isa 28:17 has the same judgment on a false shelter: 'the hail shall sweep away the refuge of lies'. In Matt 7:27 the house on the sand falls when 'the rain descended, and the floods came, and the winds blew'.

Verse 16

visions of peace for her, and there is no peace — The prophets are now named: those 'which prophesy concerning Jerusalem'. Jer 6:14 and 8:11 give the same words from the same years, 'Peace, peace; when there is no peace'. The LORD's own verdict, in Isa 48:22, is 'There is no peace, saith the LORD, unto the wicked.'

Verse 17

the daughters of thy people, which prophesy — The charge is against those who 'prophesy out of their own heart', as in v.2, and not against women as such, since Deborah (Judg 4:4) and Huldah (2 Kgs 22:14) are called prophetesses in Israel in good standing. In Rev 2:20 the woman Jezebel is one who 'calleth herself a prophetess' and leads the LORD's servants astray.

Verse 18

to hunt souls — 'Pillows' (kesatot) occurs only in vv.18, 20 and 'kerchiefs' (mispachot) only in vv.18, 21. The text says nothing of the practice except its aim, 'to hunt souls' (tsud, the verb of hunting game, as in Gen 27:3). The closing question is a rebuke: they hunt the souls of 'my people' and claim to 'save the souls alive'.

Verse 19

handfuls of barley and… pieces of bread — The price of the lies is small, a handful or a piece of bread, as in Prov 28:21, 'for a piece of bread that man will transgress'. Mic 3:5 names prophets who 'bite with their teeth, and cry, Peace'. By their word they 'slay the souls that should not die, and… save the souls alive that should not live', and so 'pollute' the LORD among his people.

Verse 22

the heart of the righteous sad — Two harms are named: the righteous are grieved by lies, and the wicked are 'strengthened' so that he 'should not return from his wicked way'. Jer 23:14 says the same of the prophets of Jerusalem: 'they strengthen also the hands of evildoers, that none doth return from his wickedness'. The LORD's own word is 'turn ye, turn ye' (33:11).