Jeremiah 5:31

5:31 The prophets prophesy lies.

The priests exercise power by their own authority. ¹ 

And my people love to have it this way.

But they will not be able to help you when the time of judgment comes! ² 

Jeremiah 6:15

6:15 Are they ashamed because they have done such shameful things?

No, they are not at all ashamed.

They do not even know how to blush!

So they will die, just like others have died. ³ 

They will be brought to ruin when I punish them,”

says the Lord.

Jeremiah 8:12

8:12 Are they ashamed because they have done such disgusting things?

No, they are not at all ashamed!

They do not even know how to blush!

So they will die just like others have died. ⁴ 

They will be brought to ruin when I punish them,

says the Lord.

Ezekiel 14:9-10

14:9 “‘As for the prophet, if he is made a fool by being deceived into speaking a prophetic word – I, the Lord, have made a fool of ⁵  that prophet, and I will stretch out my hand against him and destroy him from among my people Israel. 14:10 They will bear their punishment; ⁶  the punishment of the one who sought an oracle will be the same as the punishment of the prophet who gave it ⁷ 

Micah 3:6-7

3:6 Therefore night will fall, and you will receive no visions; ⁸ 

it will grow dark, and you will no longer be able to read the omens. ⁹ 

The sun will set on these prophets,

and the daylight will turn to darkness over their heads. ¹⁰ 

3:7 The prophets ¹¹  will be ashamed;

the omen readers will be humiliated.

All of them will cover their mouths, ¹² 

for they will receive no divine oracles.” ¹³ 

Micah 3:2

3:2 yet you ¹⁴  hate what is good, ¹⁵ 

and love what is evil. ¹⁶ 

You flay my people’s skin ¹⁷ 

and rip the flesh from their bones. ¹⁸ 

Micah 2:1

Land Robbers Will Lose their Land

2:1 Those who devise sinful plans are as good as dead, ¹⁹ 

those who dream about doing evil as they lie in bed. ²⁰ 

As soon as morning dawns they carry out their plans, ²¹ 

because they have the power to do so.

Micah 2:1

Land Robbers Will Lose their Land

2:1 Those who devise sinful plans are as good as dead, ²² 

those who dream about doing evil as they lie in bed. ²³ 

As soon as morning dawns they carry out their plans, ²⁴ 

because they have the power to do so.

Revelation 19:20

19:20 Now ²⁵  the beast was seized, and along with him the false prophet who had performed the signs on his behalf ²⁶  – signs by which he deceived those who had received the mark of the beast and those who worshiped his image. Both of them were thrown alive into the lake of fire burning with sulfur. ²⁷ 

Revelation 22:15

22:15 Outside are the dogs and the sorcerers ²⁸  and the sexually immoral, and the murderers, and the idolaters and everyone who loves and practices falsehood! ²⁹ 

[5:31]  ¹ 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.”

[5:31]  ² tn Heb “But what will you do at its end?” The rhetorical question implies a negative answer: “Nothing!”

[6:15]  ³ tn Heb “They will fall among the fallen.”

[8:12]  ⁴ tn Heb “They will fall among the fallen.”

[14:9]  ⁵ tn The translation is uncertain due to difficulty both in determining the meaning of the verb’s stem and its conjugation in this context. In the Qal stem the basic meaning of the verbal root פָּתַה (patah) is “to be gullible, foolish.” The doubling stems (the Pual and Piel used in this verse) typically give such stative verbs a factitive sense, hence either “make gullible” (i.e., “entice”) or “make into a fool” (i.e., “to show to be a fool”). The latter represents the probable meaning of the term in Jer 20:7, 10 and is followed here (see L. C. Allen, Ezekiel [WBC], 1:193; R. Mosis “Ez 14, 1-11 - ein Ruf zur Umkehr,” BZ 19 [1975]: 166-69 and ThWAT 4:829-31). In this view, if a prophet speaks when not prompted by God, he will be shown to be a fool, but this does not reflect negatively on the Lord because it is God who shows him to be a fool. Secondly, the verb is in the perfect conjugation and may be translated “I have made a fool of him” or “I have enticed him,” or to show determination (see IBHS 439-41 §27.2f and g), or in certain syntactical constructions as future. Any of these may be plausible if the doubling stems used are understood in the sense of “making a fool of.” But if understood as “to make gullible,” more factors come into play. As the Hebrew verbal form is a perfect, it is often translated as present perfect: “I have enticed.” In this case the Lord states that he himself enticed the prophet to cooperate with the idolaters. Such enticement to sin would seem to be a violation of God’s moral character, but sometimes he does use such deception and enticement to sin as a form of punishment against those who have blatantly violated his moral will (see, e.g., 2 Sam 24). If one follows this line of interpretation in Ezek 14:9, one would have to assume that the prophet had already turned from God in his heart. However, the context gives no indication of this. Therefore, it is better to take the perfect as indicating certitude and to translate it with the future tense: “I will entice.” In this case the Lord announces that he will judge the prophet appropriately. If a prophet allows himself to be influenced by idolaters, then the Lord will use deception as a form of punishment against that deceived prophet. A comparison with the preceding oracles also favors this view. In 14:4 the perfect of certitude is used for emphasis (see “I will answer”), though in v. 7 a participle is employed. For a fuller discussion of this text, see R. B. Chisholm, Jr., “Does God Deceive?” BSac 155 (1998): 23-25.

[14:10]  ⁶ tn Or “They will bear responsibility for their iniquity.” The Hebrew term “iniquity” (three times in this verse) often refers by metonymy to the consequence of sin (see Gen 4:13).

[14:10]  ⁷ tn Or “As is the guilt of the inquirer so is the guilt of the prophet.”

[3:6]  ⁸ tn Heb “it will be night for you without a vision.”

[3:6]  ⁹ tn Heb “it will be dark for you without divination.”

[3:6]  ¹⁰ tn Heb “and the day will be dark over them.”

[3:7]  ¹¹ tn Or “seers.”

[3:7]  ¹² tn Or “the mustache,” or perhaps “the beard.” Cf. KJV, NAB, NRSV “cover their lips.”

[3:7]  ¹³ tn Heb “for there will be no answer from God.”

[3:2]  ¹⁴ tn Heb “the ones who.”

[3:2]  ¹⁵ tn Or “good.”

[3:2]  ¹⁶ tn Or “evil.”

[3:2]  ¹⁷ tn Heb “their skin from upon them.” The referent of the pronoun (“my people,” referring to Jacob and/or the house of Israel, with the Lord as the speaker) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[3:2]  ¹⁸ tn Heb “and their flesh from their bones.”

[2:1]  ¹⁹ tn Heb “Woe to those who plan sin.” The Hebrew term הוֹי (hoy, “woe”; “ah”) was a cry used in mourning the dead.

[2:1]  ²⁰ tn Heb “those who do evil upon their beds.”

[2:1]  ²¹ tn Heb “at the light of morning they do it.”

[2:1]  ²² tn Heb “Woe to those who plan sin.” The Hebrew term הוֹי (hoy, “woe”; “ah”) was a cry used in mourning the dead.

[2:1]  ²³ tn Heb “those who do evil upon their beds.”

[2:1]  ²⁴ tn Heb “at the light of morning they do it.”

[19:20]  ²⁵ tn Here καί (kai) has been translated as “now” to indicate the introduction of an unexpected development in the account: The opposing armies do not come together in battle; rather the leader of one side is captured.

[19:20]  ²⁶ tn For this meaning see BDAG 342 s.v. ἐνώπιον 4.b, “by the authority of, on behalf of Rv 13:12, 14; 19:20.”

[19:20]  ²⁷ tn Traditionally, “brimstone.”

[22:15]  ²⁸ tn On the term φάρμακοι (farmakoi) see L&N 53.101.

[22:15]  ²⁹ tn Or “lying,” “deceit.”