Ezekiel 13

13 ¹ The word of our Father came to me: ² Son of man, prophesy against Israel's prophets who prophesy, and tell those prophesying from their own heart: Hear the word of our Father! ³ The Sovereign Father says: Woe to the foolish prophets who follow their own spirit and have seen nothing! ⁴ Israel, your prophets are like foxes among the ruins. ⁵ You have not gone up into the gaps or built a wall for Israel's house to stand firm in battle on the day of our Father. ⁶ They see false visions and lying fortune-telling, saying, "God declares," though our Father hasn't sent them — yet they expect their word confirmed. ^a a v6 These prophets invoke the Father's own name over words he never gave — a counterfeit claim on his authority, not his true voice. ⁷ Didn't you see a false vision and speak lying fortune-telling when you said, 'Our Father declares,' though I never spoke?

⁸ So this is what the Sovereign Father says: Because you have spoken falsehood and seen lies, I am against you — declares the Sovereign Father. ⁹ My hand is against the prophets who see false visions and predict lies. They will not be in my people's council, nor recorded in Israel's register, nor enter Israel's land. Then you will know I am the Sovereign Father.

¹⁰ Yes, because they led my people astray, saying "Peace" when there is no peace; when someone builds a flimsy wall, he coats it with whitewash. ¹¹ Tell those who whitewash it that it will fall. Flooding rain will come, hailstones fall, and a stormy wind burst out. ¹² When the wall falls, won't you be asked, "Where is the whitewash you coated it with?"

¹³ So this is what the Sovereign Father says: In my wrath I will unleash a stormy wind, in my anger a flooding rain, in my rage hailstones to destroy. ¹⁴ I will tear down the wall you whitewashed and level it to the ground, exposing its foundation. It will fall, and you will perish within it. Then you will know that I am your Father. ¹⁵ So I will spend my anger on the wall and those who whitewashed it. I will tell you: The wall is gone, and so are those who coated it. ¹⁶ the prophets of Israel who prophesied about Jerusalem and saw visions of peace for her when there was no peace—declares the Sovereign Father.

¹⁷ And you, son of man, set your face against the women of your people who prophesy from their own heart. Prophesy against them ¹⁸ Say: The Sovereign Father says: Woe to the women who sew magic bands on every wrist and make veils for heads of every size to trap souls! Will you trap my people's souls and keep your own alive? ¹⁹ You've desecrated me among my people for handfuls of barley and scraps of bread, killing souls who shouldn't die and sparing souls who shouldn't live, by lying to my people who listen to lies.

²⁰ So the Sovereign Father says: I am against your magic bands with which you trap souls like birds. I will tear them off your arms and free the souls you trap like birds. ²¹ I will tear off your veils and rescue my people from your hands; they will no longer be prey in your hands. Then you will know that I am your Father. ²² Because you disheartened the righteous with lies when I brought him no grief, and encouraged the wicked not to turn from his evil way to save his life ²³ —so you will no longer see false visions or practice fortune-telling. I will rescue my people from your hands, and you will know that I am your Father.