Immerse: Prophets - Flipbook - Page 345
12:24–13:12
E ze k iel
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“There will be no more false visions and flattering predictions in Israel.
For I am the Lord! If I say it, it will happen. There will be no more delays,
you rebels of Israel. I will fulfill my threat of destruction in your own life
time. I, the Sovereign Lord, have spoken!”
Then this message came to me from the Lord: “Son of man, the people of
Israel are saying, ‘He’s talking about the distant future. His visions won’t
come true for a long, long time.’ Therefore, tell them, ‘This is what the
Sovereign Lord says: No more delay! I will now do everything I have
threatened. I, the Sovereign Lord, have spoken!’”
Then this message came to me from the Lord: “Son of man, prophesy
against the false prophets of Israel who are inventing their own prophecies.
Say to them, ‘Listen to the word of the Lord. This is what the Sovereign
Lord says: What sorrow awaits the false prophets who are following their
own imaginations and have seen nothing at all!’
“O people of Israel, these prophets of yours are like jackals digging in
the ruins. They have done nothing to repair the breaks in the walls around
the nation. They have not helped it to stand firm in battle on the day of the
Lord. Instead, they have told lies and made false predictions. They say,
‘This message is from the Lord,’ even though the Lord never sent them.
And yet they expect him to fulfill their prophecies! Can your visions be
anything but false if you claim, ‘This message is from the Lord,’ when I
have not even spoken to you?
“Therefore, this is what the Sovereign Lord says: Because what you say
is false and your visions are a lie, I will stand against you, says the Sovereign
Lord. I will raise my fist against all the prophets who see false visions and
make lying predictions, and they will be banished from the community
of Israel. I will blot their names from Israel’s record books, and they will
never again set foot in their own land. Then you will know that I am the
Sovereign Lord.
“This will happen because these evil prophets deceive my people by
saying, ‘All is peaceful’ when there is no peace at all! It’s as if the people
have built a flimsy wall, and these prophets are trying to reinforce it by
covering it with whitewash! Tell these whitewashers that their wall will
soon fall down. A heavy rainstorm will undermine it; great hailstones and
mighty winds will knock it down. And when the wall falls, the people will
cry out, ‘What happened to your whitewash?’
