1 Kings 22:8-13

22:8 The king of Israel answered Jehoshaphat, “There is still one man through whom we can seek the Lord’s will. ¹  But I despise ²  him because he does not prophesy prosperity for me, but disaster. His name is Micaiah son of Imlah. ³  Jehoshaphat said, “The king should not say such things.” 22:9 The king of Israel summoned an official and said, “Quickly bring Micaiah son of Imlah.”

22:10 Now the king of Israel and King Jehoshaphat of Judah were sitting on their respective thrones, ⁴  dressed in their robes, at the threshing floor at the entrance of the gate of Samaria. ⁵  All the prophets were prophesying before them. 22:11 Zedekiah son of Kenaanah made iron horns and said, “This is what the Lord says, ‘With these you will gore Syria until they are destroyed.’” 22:12 All the prophets were prophesying the same, saying, “Attack Ramoth Gilead! You will succeed; the Lord will hand it over to the king.” 22:13 Now the messenger who went to summon Micaiah said to him, “Look, the prophets are in complete agreement that the king will succeed. ⁶  Your words must agree with theirs; you must predict success.” ⁷ 

1 Kings 22:27

22:27 Say, ‘This is what the king says, “Put this man in prison. Give him only a little bread and water ⁸  until I safely return.”’” ⁹ 

Jeremiah 6:13-14

6:13 “That is because, from the least important to the most important of them,

all of them are greedy for dishonest gain.

Prophets and priests alike,

all of them practice deceit.

6:14 They offer only superficial help

for the harm my people have suffered. ¹⁰ 

They say, ‘Everything will be all right!’

But everything is not all right! ¹¹ 

Jeremiah 8:10-11

8:10 ¹² So I will give their wives to other men

and their fields to new owners.

For from the least important to the most important of them,

all of them are greedy for dishonest gain.

Prophets and priests alike,

all practice deceit.

8:11 They offer only superficial help

for the hurt my dear people ¹³  have suffered. ¹⁴ 

They say, “Everything will be all right!”

But everything is not all right! ¹⁵ 

Jeremiah 23:17

23:17 They continually say ¹⁶  to those who reject what the Lord has said, ¹⁷ 

‘Things will go well for you!’ ¹⁸ 

They say to all those who follow the stubborn inclinations of their own hearts,

‘Nothing bad will happen to you!’

Jeremiah 23:26-29

23:26 Those prophets are just prophesying lies. They are prophesying the delusions of their own minds. ¹⁹  23:27 How long will they go on plotting ²⁰  to make my people forget who I am ²¹  through the dreams they tell one another? That is just as bad as what their ancestors ²²  did when they forgot who I am by worshiping the god Baal. ²³  23:28 Let the prophet who has had a dream go ahead and tell his dream. Let the person who has received my message report that message faithfully. What is like straw cannot compare to what is like grain! ²⁴  I, the Lord, affirm it! ²⁵  23:29 My message is like a fire that purges dross! ²⁶  It is like a hammer that breaks a rock in pieces! ²⁷  I, the Lord, so affirm it! ²⁸ 

Ezekiel 13:7-10

13:7 Have you not seen a false vision and announced a lying omen when you say, “the Lord declares,” although I myself never spoke?

13:8 “‘Therefore, this is what the sovereign Lord says: Because you have spoken false words and forecast delusion, look, ²⁹  I am against you, ³⁰  declares the sovereign Lord. 13:9 My hand will be against the prophets who see delusion and announce lying omens. They will not be included in the council ³¹  of my people, nor be written in the registry ³²  of the house of Israel, nor enter the land of Israel. Then you will know that I am the sovereign Lord.

13:10 “‘This is because they have led my people astray saying, “All is well,” ³³  when things are not well. When anyone builds a wall without mortar, ³⁴  they coat it with whitewash.

Ezekiel 13:18-22

13:18 and say ‘This is what the sovereign Lord says: Woe to those who sew bands ³⁵  on all their wrists ³⁶  and make headbands ³⁷  for heads of every size to entrap people’s lives! ³⁸  Will you entrap my people’s lives, yet preserve your own lives? 13:19 You have profaned me among my people for handfuls of barley and scraps of bread. You have put to death people ³⁹  who should not die and kept alive those who should not live by your lies to my people, who listen to lies!

13:20 “‘Therefore, this is what the sovereign Lord says: Take note ⁴⁰  that I am against your wristbands with which you entrap people’s lives ⁴¹  like birds. I will tear them from your arms and will release the people’s lives, which you hunt like birds. 13:21 I will tear off your headbands and rescue my people from your power; ⁴²  they will no longer be prey in your hands. Then you will know that I am the Lord. 13:22 This is because you have disheartened the righteous person with lies (although I have not grieved him), and because you have encouraged the wicked person not to turn from his evil conduct and preserve his life.

Micah 2:11

2:11 If a lying windbag should come and say, ⁴³ 

‘I’ll promise you blessings of wine and beer,’ ⁴⁴ 

he would be just the right preacher for these people! ⁴⁵ 

John 7:7

7:7 The world cannot hate you, but it hates me, because I am testifying about it that its deeds are evil.

John 8:45

8:45 But because I am telling you ⁴⁶  the truth, you do not believe me.

Romans 16:18

16:18 For these are the kind who do not serve our Lord Christ, but their own appetites. By their smooth talk and flattery they deceive the minds ⁴⁷  of the naive.

Galatians 4:16

4:16 So then, have I become your enemy by telling you the truth? ⁴⁸ 

[22:8]  ¹ tn Heb “to seek the Lord from him.”

[22:8]  ² tn Or “hate.”

[22:8]  ³ tn The words “his name is” are supplied for stylistic reasons.

[22:10]  ⁴ tn Heb “were sitting, a man on his throne.”

[22:10]  ⁵ map For location see Map2 B1; Map4 D3; Map5 E2; Map6 A4; Map7 C1.

[22:13]  ⁶ tn Heb “the words of the prophets are [with] one mouth good for the king.”

[22:13]  ⁷ tn Heb “let your words be like the word of each of them and speak good.”

[22:27]  ⁸ tn Heb “the bread of affliction and the water of affliction.”

[22:27]  ⁹ tn Heb “come in peace.” So also in v. 28.

[6:14]  ¹⁰ tn Heb “They heal [= bandage] the wound of my people lightly”; TEV “They act as if my people’s wounds were only scratches.”

[6:14]  ¹¹ tn Heb “They say, ‘Peace! Peace!’ and there is no peace!”

[8:10]  ¹² sn See Jer 6:12-15 for parallels to 8:10-12. The words of Jeremiah to the people may have been repeated on more than one occasion or have been found appropriate to more than one of his collection of messages in written and edited form. See Jer 36:4 and Jer 36:28 for reference to at least two of these collections.

[8:11]  ¹³ tn Heb “daughter of my people.” For the translation given here see 4:11 and the note on the phrase “dear people” there.

[8:11]  ¹⁴ tn Heb “They heal the wound of my people lightly.”

[8:11]  ¹⁵ tn Heb “They say, ‘Peace! Peace!’ and there is no peace!”

[23:17]  ¹⁶ tn The translation reflects an emphatic construction where the infinitive absolute follows a participle (cf. GKC 343 §113.r).

[23:17]  ¹⁷ tc The translation follows the Greek version. The Hebrew text reads, “who reject me, ‘The Lord has spoken, “Things…”’” The Greek version is to be preferred here because of (1) the parallelism of the lines “reject what the Lord has said” // “follow the stubborn inclinations of their own hearts;” (2) the preceding context which speaks of “visions of their own imaginations not of what the Lord has given them;” (3) the following context which denies that they have ever had access to the Lord’s secrets; (4) the general contexts earlier regarding false prophecy where rejection of the Lord’s word is in view (6:14 [see there v. 10]; 8:11 [see there v. 9]); (5) the meter of the poetic lines (the Hebrew meter is 3/5/4/3; the meter presupposed by the translation is 5/3/4/3 with the 3’s being their words). The difference is one of vocalization of the same consonants. The vocalization of the MT is יְהוָה מְנַאֲצַי דִּבֶּר [mÿna’atsay dibber yÿhvah]; the Hebrew Vorlage behind the Greek would be vocalized as מְנַאֲצֵי דְּבַר יְהוָה (mÿna’atsey dÿvar yÿhvah).

[23:17]  ¹⁸ tn Heb “You will have peace.” But see the note on 14:13. See also 6:14 and 8:11.

[23:26]  ¹⁹ sn See the parallel passage in Jer 14:13-15.

[23:27]  ²⁰ tn The relation of the words to one another in v. 26 and the beginning of v. 27 has created difficulties for translators and commentators. The proper solution is reflected in the NJPS. Verses 26-27 read somewhat literally, “How long is there in the hearts of the prophets who are prophesying the lie and [in the hearts of] the prophets of the delusions of their [own] heart the plotting to cause my people to forget my name…” Most commentaries complain that the text is corrupt, that there is no subject for “is there.” However, the long construct qualification “in the hearts of” has led to the lack of observation that the proper subject is “the plotting to make my people forget.” There are no exact parallels but Jer 14:22; Neh 5:5 follow the same structure. The “How long” precedes the other means of asking a question for the purpose of emphasis (cf. BDB 210 s.v. הֲ 1.b and compare for example the usage in 2 Sam 7:7). There has also been a failure to see that “the prophets of the delusion of…” is a parallel construct noun after “heart of.” Stripping the syntax down to its barest minimum and translating literally, the sentence would read “How long will the plotting…continue in the hearts of the prophets who…and [in hearts of] the prophets of…” The sentence has been restructured in the translation to conform to contemporary English style but attempt has been made to maintain the same subordinations.

[23:27]  ²¹ tn Heb “my name.”

[23:27]  ²² tn Heb “fathers” (also in v. 39).

[23:27]  ²³ tn Heb “through Baal.” This is an elliptical expression for the worship of Baal. See 11:17; 12:16; 19:5 for other references to their relation to Baal. There is a deliberate paralleling in the syntax here between “through their dreams” and “through Baal.”

[23:28]  ²⁴ tn Heb “What to the straw with [in comparison with] the grain?” This idiom represents an emphatic repudiation or denial of relationship. See, for example, the usage in 2 Sam 16:10 and note BDB 553 s.v. מָה 1.d(c).

[23:28]  ²⁵ tn Heb “Oracle of the Lord.”

[23:29]  ²⁶ tn Heb “Is not my message like a fire?” The rhetorical question expects a positive answer that is made explicit in the translation. The words “that purges dross” are not in the text but are implicit to the metaphor. They are supplied in the translation for clarity.

[23:29]  ²⁷ tn Heb “Is it not like a hammer that breaks a rock in pieces?” See preceding note.

[23:29]  ²⁸ tn Heb “Oracle of the Lord.”

[13:8]  ²⁹ tn The word h!nn@h indicates becoming aware of something and has been translated here as a verb.

[13:8]  ³⁰ tn Or “I challenge you.” The phrase “I am against you” may be a formula for challenging someone to combat or a duel. See D. I. Block, Ezekiel (NICOT), 1:201-2, and P. Humbert, “Die Herausforderungsformel ‘h!nn#n' ?l?K>,’” ZAW 45 (1933): 101-8.

[13:9]  ³¹ tn The Hebrew term may refer to the secret council of the Lord (Jer 23:18; Job 15:8), but here it more likely refers to a human council comprised of civic leaders (Gen 49:6; Jer 6:11; 15:17 Ps 64:3; 111:1).

[13:9]  ³² tn The reference here is probably to a civil list (as in Ezra 2:16; Neh 7:64) rather than to a “book of life” (Exod 32:32; Isa 4:3; Ps 69:29; Dan 12:1). This registry may have been established at the making of David’s census (2 Sam 24:2, 9).

[13:10]  ³³ tn Or “peace.”

[13:10]  ³⁴ tn The Hebrew word only occurs here in the Bible. According to L. C. Allen (Ezekiel [WBC], 1:202-3) it is also used in the Mishnah of a wall of rough stones without mortar. This fits the context here comparing the false prophetic messages to a nice coat of whitewash on a structurally unstable wall.

[13:18]  ³⁵ sn The wristbands mentioned here probably represented magic bands or charms. See D. I. Block, Ezekiel (NICOT), 1:413.

[13:18]  ³⁶ tn Heb “joints of the hands.” This may include the elbow and shoulder joints.

[13:18]  ³⁷ tn The Hebrew term occurs in the Bible only here and in v. 21. It has also been understood as a veil or type of head covering. D. I. Block (Ezekiel [NICOT], 1:414) suggests that given the context of magical devices, the expected parallel to the magical arm bands, and the meaning of this Hebrew root (סָפַח [safakh, “to attach” or “join”]), it may refer to headbands or necklaces on which magical amulets were worn.

[13:18]  ³⁸ tn Heb “human lives” or “souls” (three times in v. 18 and twice in v. 19).

[13:19]  ³⁹ tn Heb “human lives” or “souls.”

[13:20]  ⁴⁰ tn The word הִנֵּה (hinneh, traditionally “behold”) indicates becoming aware of something and has been translated here as a verb.

[13:20]  ⁴¹ tn Heb “human lives” or “souls.”

[13:21]  ⁴² tn Heb “from your hand(s).” This refers to their power over the people.

[2:11]  ⁴³ 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]  ⁴⁴ tn Heb “I will foam at the mouth concerning wine and beer.”

[2:11]  ⁴⁵ tn Heb “he would be the foamer at the mouth for this people.”

[8:45]  ⁴⁶ tn Or “because I tell you.”

[16:18]  ⁴⁷ tn Grk “hearts.”

[4:16]  ⁴⁸ tn Or “have I become your enemy because I am telling you the truth?” The participle ἀληθεύων (alhqeuwn) can be translated as a causal adverbial participle or as a participle of means (as in the translation).