- And the word of the Lord came unto me, saying, Son of man, what is that proverb that you have in the land of Israel, saying, The days are prolonged and every vision fails? Tell them, therefore, Thus says the Lord God: I will make this proverb to cease, and they shall no more use it as a proverb in Israel. But say unto them, The days are at hand, and the fulfillment of every vision. For there shall be no more any vain vision nor flattering divination within the house of Israel. For I am the Lord. I will speak, and the word that I shall speak shall come to pass. It shall be no more prolonged, for in your days, O rebellious house, will I say the word and will perform it, says the Lord God.
- Again the word of the Lord came to me, saying, Son of man, behold, they of the house of Israel say, The vision that he sees is for many days to come, and he prophesies of the times that are far off. Therefore, say unto them, Thus says the Lord God: There shall none of my words be prolonged anymore, but the word which I have spoken shall be done, says the Lord God.
- And the word of the Lord came unto me, saying, Son of man, prophesy against the prophets of Israel that prophesy, and say unto them that prophesy out of their own hearts, Hear the word of the Lord; thus says the Lord God: Woe unto the foolish prophets that follow their own spirit and have seen nothing. O Israel, your prophets are like the foxes in the deserts. You have not gone up into the gaps, neither made up the hedge for the house of Israel to stand in the battle in the day of the Lord. They have seen vanity and lying divination, saying, The Lord says — and the Lord has not sent them; and they have made others to hope that they would confirm the word. Have you not seen a vain vision, and have you not spoken a lying divination, whereas you say, The Lord says it — albeit I have not spoken?
- Therefore, thus says the Lord God: Because you have spoken vanity and seen lies, therefore behold, I am against you, says the Lord God. And my hand shall be upon the prophets that see vanity and that divine lies. They shall not be in the assembly of my people, neither shall they be written in the writing of the house of Israel, neither shall they enter into the land of Israel; and you shall know that I am the Lord God. Because, even because they have seduced my people, saying, Peace — and there was no peace, and one built up a wall, and behold, others plastered it with untempered mortar, say unto them who plaster it with untempered mortar, that it shall fall. There shall be an overflowing shower, and you, O great hailstones, shall fall, and a stormy wind shall rend it. Behold, when the wall is fallen shall it not be said unto you, Where is the plaster with which you have plastered it?
- Therefore, thus says the Lord God: I will even rend it with a stormy wind in my fury, and there shall be an overflowing shower in my anger, and great hailstones in my fury to consume it. So will I break down the wall that you have plastered with untempered mortar, and bring it down to the ground, so that the foundation thereof shall be uncovered. And it shall fall, and you shall be consumed in the midst thereof; and you shall know that I am the Lord. Thus will I accomplish my wrath upon the wall and upon them that have plastered it with untempered mortar, and will say unto you, The wall is no more, neither they that plastered it — namely the prophets of Israel who prophesy concerning Jerusalem and who see visions of peace for her, and there is no peace, says the Lord God.
- Likewise, you son of man, set your face against the daughters of your people who prophesy out of their own heart, and prophesy against them, and say, Thus says the Lord God: Woe to the women that sew pillows to all armholes, and make kerchiefs upon the head of every stature to hunt souls. Will you hunt the souls of my people and will you save the souls alive that come unto you? And will you pollute me among my people for handfuls of barley and for pieces of bread? To slay the souls that should not die and to save the souls alive that should not live, by your lying to my people that hear your lies?
- Wherefore, thus says the Lord God: Behold, I am against your pillows with which you there hunt the souls to make them fly; and I will tear them from your arms and will let the souls go, even the souls that you hunt to make them fly. Your kerchiefs also will I tear, and deliver my people out of your hand, and they shall be no more in your hand to be hunted; and you shall know that I am the Lord. Because with lies you have made the heart of the righteous sad whom I have not made sad, and strengthened the hands of the wicked that he should not return from his wicked way, by promising him life, therefore you shall see no more vanity nor divine divinations; for I will deliver my people out of your hand, and you shall know that I am the Lord.
- Then certain of the elders of Israel came unto me and sat before me. And the word of the Lord came unto me, saying, Son of man, these men have set up their idols in their heart and put the stumbling block of their iniquity before their face. Should I be inquired of at all by them? Therefore, speak unto them, and say unto them, Thus says the Lord God: Every man of the house of Israel that sets up his idols in his heart, and puts the stumbling block of his iniquity before his face, and comes to the prophet, I the Lord will answer him that comes according to the multitude of his idols, that I may take the house of Israel in their own heart, because they are all estranged from me through their idols. Therefore, say unto the house of Israel, Thus says the Lord God: Repent, and turn yourselves from your idols, and turn away your faces from all your abominations; for everyone of the house of Israel, or of the stranger that sojourns in Israel, who separates himself from me, and sets up his idols in his heart, and puts the stumbling block of his iniquity before his face, and comes to a prophet to inquire of him concerning me, I the Lord will answer him by myself. And I will set my face against that man and will make him a sign and a proverb, and I will cut him off from the midst of my people, and you shall know that I am the Lord.
- And if the prophet is deceived when he has spoken a thing, I, the Lord, have not deceived that prophet; therefore, I will stretch out my hand upon him and will destroy him from the midst of my people Israel, and they shall bear the punishment of their iniquity. The punishment of the prophet shall be even as the punishment of him that seeks unto him, that the house of Israel may go no more astray from me, neither be polluted anymore with all their transgressions, but that they may be my people and I may be their God, says the Lord God.
- The word of the Lord came again to me, saying, Son of man, when the land sins against me by trespassing grievously, then will I stretch out my hand upon it, and will break the support of the bread thereof, and will send famine upon it, and will cut off man and beast from it. Though these three men — Noah, Daniel, and Job — were in it, they should deliver but their own souls by their righteousness, says the Lord God. If I cause noxious beasts to pass through the land, and they spoil it so that it be desolate, that no man may pass through because of the beasts, though these three men were in it, as I live, says the Lord God, they shall deliver neither sons nor daughters — they only shall be delivered; but the land shall be desolate. Or if I bring a sword upon that land and say, Sword, go through the land so that I cut off man and beast from it, though these three men were in it, as I live, says the Lord God, they shall deliver neither sons nor daughters, but they only shall be delivered themselves. Or if I send a pestilence into that land and pour out my fury upon it in blood, to cut off from it man and beast, though Noah, Daniel, and Job were in it, as I live, says the Lord God, they shall deliver neither son nor daughter; they shall but deliver their own souls by their righteousness.
- For thus says the Lord God: How much more when I send my four severe judgments upon Jerusalem — the sword, and the famine, and the noxious beast, and the pestilence — to cut off from it man and beast? Yet behold, therein shall be left a remnant that shall be brought forth, both sons and daughters. Behold, they shall come forth unto you, and you shall see their way and their doings, and you shall be comforted concerning the evil that I have brought upon Jerusalem, even concerning all that I have brought upon it. And they shall comfort you when you see their ways and their doings, and you shall know that I have not done without cause all that I have done in it, says the Lord God.
Chapter 5