Ezekiel 22:28

22:28 Her prophets coat their messages with whitewash. ¹  They see false visions and announce lying omens for them, saying, ‘This is what the sovereign Lord says,’ when the Lord has not spoken.

Ezekiel 22:2

22:2 “As for you, son of man, are you willing to pronounce judgment, ²  are you willing to pronounce judgment on the bloody city? ³  Then confront her with all her abominable deeds!

Ezekiel 18:12

18:12 oppresses the poor and the needy, ⁴  commits robbery, does not give back what was given in pledge, prays to ⁵  idols, performs abominable acts,

Isaiah 30:10

30:10 They ⁶  say to the visionaries, “See no more visions!”

and to the seers, “Don’t relate messages to us about what is right! ⁷ 

Tell us nice things,

relate deceptive messages. ⁸ 

Jeremiah 5:31

5:31 The prophets prophesy lies.

The priests exercise power by their own authority. ⁹ 

And my people love to have it this way.

But they will not be able to help you when the time of judgment comes! ¹⁰ 

Micah 2:11

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

‘I’ll promise you blessings of wine and beer,’ ¹² 

he would be just the right preacher for these people! ¹³ 

¹ tn Heb “her prophets coat for themselves with whitewash.” The expression may be based on Ezek 13:10-15.

² tn Heb “will you judge.” Here the imperfect form of the verb is probably used with a desiderative nuance. Addressed to the prophet, “judge” means to warn of or pronounce God’s impending judgment upon the city. See 20:4.

³ tn The phrase “bloody city” is used of Nineveh in Nah 3:1.

⁴ sn The poor and needy are often mentioned together in the OT (Deut 24:14; Jer 22:16; Ezek 14:69; Ps 12:6; 35:10; 37:14).

⁵ tn Heb “lifts up his eyes.”

⁶ tn Heb “who” (so NASB, NRSV). A new sentence was started here in the translation for stylistic reasons.

⁷ tn Heb “Do not see for us right things.”

⁸ tn Heb “Tell us smooth things, see deceptive things.”

⁹ tn Heb “they shall rule at their hands.” Since the word “hand” can be used figuratively for authority or mean “side” and the pronoun “them” can refer to the priests themselves or the prophets, the following translations have also been suggested: “the priests rule under their [the prophets’] directions,” or “the priests rule in league with them [the prophets].” From the rest of the book it would appear that the prophets did not exercise authority over the priests nor did they exercise the same authority over the people that the priests did. Hence it probably mean “by their own hand/power/authority.”

¹⁰ tn Heb “But what will you do at its end?” The rhetorical question implies a negative answer: “Nothing!”

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

¹² tn Heb “I will foam at the mouth concerning wine and beer.”

¹³ tn Heb “he would be the foamer at the mouth for this people.”