Yeremia 23:21

23:21 I did not send those prophets.

Yet they were in a hurry to give their message. ¹ 

I did not tell them anything.

Yet they prophesied anyway.

Yeremia 23:26

23:26 Those prophets are just prophesying lies. They are prophesying the delusions of their own minds. ² 

Yeremia 14:14

14:14 Then the Lord said to me, “Those prophets are prophesying lies while claiming my authority! ³  I did not send them. I did not commission them. ⁴  I did not speak to them. They are prophesying to these people false visions, worthless predictions, ⁵  and the delusions of their own mind.

Yehezkiel 13:3

13:3 This is what the sovereign Lord says: Woe to the foolish prophets who follow their own spirit but have seen nothing!

Yehezkiel 13:6

13:6 They see delusion and their omens are a lie. ⁶  They say, “the Lord declares,” though the Lord has not sent them; ⁷  yet they expect their word to be confirmed. ⁸ 

Yehezkiel 13:16

13:16 those prophets of Israel who would prophesy about Jerusalem ⁹  and would see visions of peace for it, when there was no peace,” declares the sovereign Lord.’

Yehezkiel 13:23

13:23 Therefore you will no longer see false visions and practice divination. I will rescue my people from your power, and you ¹⁰  will know that I am the Lord.’”

Yehezkiel 22:28

22:28 Her prophets coat their messages with whitewash. ¹¹  They see false visions and announce lying omens for them, saying, ‘This is what the sovereign Lord says,’ when the Lord has not spoken.

Mikha 2:11

2:11 If a lying windbag should come and say, ¹² 

‘I’ll promise you blessings of wine and beer,’ ¹³ 

he would be just the right preacher for these people! ¹⁴ 

[23:21]  ¹ tn Heb “Yet they ran.”

[23:21]  sn The image is that of a messenger bearing news from the king. See 2 Sam 18:19-24; Jer 51:31; Isa 40:9; 52:7; Hab 2:2 (the tablet/scroll bore the message the runner was to read to the intended recipients of his message). Their message has been given in v. 17 (see notes there for cross references).

[23:26]  ² sn See the parallel passage in Jer 14:13-15.

[14:14]  ³ tn Heb “Falsehood those prophets are prophesying in my name.” In the OT, the “name” reflected the person’s character (cf. Gen 27:36; 1 Sam 25:25) or his reputation (Gen 11:4; 2 Sam 8:13). To speak in someone’s name was to act as his representative or carry his authority (1 Sam 25:9; 1 Kgs 21:8).

[14:14]  ⁴ tn Heb “I did not command them.” Compare 1 Chr 22:12 for usage.

[14:14]  ⁵ tn Heb “divination and worthlessness.” The noun “worthlessness” stands as a qualifying “of” phrase (= to an adjective; an attributive genitive in Hebrew) after a noun in Zech 11:17; Job 13:4. This is an example of hendiadys where two nouns are joined by “and” with one serving as the qualifier of the other.

[14:14]  sn The word translated “predictions” here is really the word “divination.” Divination was prohibited in Israel (cf. Deut 18:10, 14). The practice of divination involved various mechanical means to try to predict the future. The word was used here for its negative connotations in a statement that is rhetorically structured to emphasize the falseness of the promises of the false prophets. It would be unnatural to contemporary English style to try to capture this emphasis in English. In the Hebrew text the last sentence reads: “False vision, divination, and worthlessness and the deceitfulness of their heart they are prophesying to them.” For the emphasis in the preceding sentence see the note there.

[13:6]  ⁶ sn The same description of a false prophet is found in Micah 2:11.

[13:6]  ⁷ sn The Lord has not sent them. A similar concept is found in Jer 14:14; 23:21.

[13:6]  ⁸ tn Or “confirmed”; NIV “to be fulfilled”; TEV “to come true.”

[13:16]  ⁹ map For location see Map5 B1; Map6 F3; Map7 E2; Map8 F2; Map10 B3; JP1 F4; JP2 F4; JP3 F4; JP4 F4.

[13:23]  ¹⁰ tn The Hebrew verb is feminine plural, indicating that it is the false prophetesses who are addressed here.

[22:28]  ¹¹ tn Heb “her prophets coat for themselves with whitewash.” The expression may be based on Ezek 13:10-15.

[2:11]  ¹² tn Heb “if a man, coming [as] wind and falsehood, should lie”; NASB “walking after wind and falsehood”; NIV “a liar and a deceiver.”

[2:11]  ¹³ tn Heb “I will foam at the mouth concerning wine and beer.”

[2:11]  ¹⁴ tn Heb “he would be the foamer at the mouth for this people.”