New International Version
Ezekiel 13:3
3This is what the Sovereign Lord says: Woe to the foolish prophets who follow their own spirit and have seen nothing!
Ezekiel 13:3 in other versions
- King James Version (KJV)Thus saith the Lord God; Woe unto the foolish prophets, that follow their own spirit, and have seen nothing!
- English Standard Version (ESV)Thus says the Lord God, Woe to the foolish prophets who follow their own spirit, and have seen nothing!
- New King James Version (NKJV)Thus says the Lord God: “Woe to the foolish prophets, who follow their own spirit and have seen nothing!
- New Living Translation (NLT)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!’
Context of Ezekiel 13:3
1The word of the Lord came to me: 2“Son of man, prophesy against the prophets of Israel who are now prophesying. Say to those who prophesy out of their own imagination: ‘Hear the word of the Lord! This is what the Sovereign Lord says: Woe to the foolish prophets who follow their own spirit and have seen nothing! 4Your prophets, Israel, are like jackals among ruins. 5You have not gone up to the breaches in the wall to repair it for the people of Israel so that it will stand firm in the battle on the day of the Lord.
Read all of Ezekiel 13Ezekiel 13:3 word by word
כֹּ֤ה אָמַר֙ אֲדֹנָ֣י יְהוִ֔ה ה֖וֹי עַל־הַנְּבִיאִ֣ים הַנְּבָלִ֑ים אֲשֶׁ֥ר הֹלְכִ֛ים אַחַ֥ר רוּחָ֖ם וּלְבִלְתִּ֥י רָאֽוּ׃Read the interlinear
Words taken from the KJV.
- Thus saithאָמַר'âmar · to sayH559
- the Lordאֲדֹנָי'ădônây · LordH136
- Godיְהֹוִהyehôvih · YHWH/GodH3069
- Woeהוֹיhôy · woe!H1945
- unto the foolishנָבָלnâbâl · foolishH5036
- prophetsנָבִיאnâbîy' · prophetH5030
- that followאַחַר'achar · afterH310
- that followהָלַךְhâlak · to go: followH1980
- their own spiritרוּחַrûach · spiritH7307
- and have seenרָאָהrâ'âh · to see: seeH7200
Cross-references for Ezekiel 13:3
- Ezekiel 13:18and say, ‘This is what the Sovereign Lord says: Woe to the women who sew magic charms on all their wrists and make veils of various lengths for their heads in order to ensnare people. Will you ensnare the lives of my people but preserve your own?
- Ezekiel 34:2“Son of man, prophesy against the shepherds of Israel; prophesy and say to them: ‘This is what the Sovereign Lord says: Woe to you shepherds of Israel who only take care of yourselves! Should not shepherds take care of the flock?
- Jeremiah 23:1“Woe to the shepherds who are destroying and scattering the sheep of my pasture!” declares the Lord.
- Matthew 23:13“Woe to you, teachers of the law and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You shut the door of the kingdom of heaven in people’s faces. You yourselves do not enter, nor will you let those enter who are trying to.
- Luke 11:42“Woe to you Pharisees, because you give God a tenth of your mint, rue and all other kinds of garden herbs, but you neglect justice and the love of God. You should have practiced the latter without leaving the former undone.
- 1 Corinthians 9:16For when I preach the gospel, I cannot boast, since I am compelled to preach. Woe to me if I do not preach the gospel!
- Proverbs 15:2The tongue of the wise adorns knowledge, but the mouth of the fool gushes folly.
- Lamentations 2:14The visions of your prophets were false and worthless; they did not expose your sin to ward off your captivity. The prophecies they gave you were false and misleading.
- Hosea 9:7The days of punishment are coming, the days of reckoning are at hand. Let Israel know this. Because your sins are so many and your hostility so great, the prophet is considered a fool, the inspired person a maniac.
- Zechariah 11:15Then the Lord said to me, “Take again the equipment of a foolish shepherd.
- Matthew 23:16“Woe to you, blind guides! You say, ‘If anyone swears by the temple, it means nothing; but anyone who swears by the gold of the temple is bound by that oath.’
- Luke 11:40You foolish people! Did not the one who made the outside make the inside also?
- 1 Timothy 6:4they are conceited and understand nothing. They have an unhealthy interest in controversies and quarrels about words that result in envy, strife, malicious talk, evil suspicions
- 2 Timothy 3:9But they will not get very far because, as in the case of those men, their folly will be clear to everyone.
- Ezekiel 13:6Their visions are false and their divinations a lie. Even though the Lord has not sent them, they say, “The Lord declares,” and expect him to fulfill their words.
- Jeremiah 23:28Let the prophet who has a dream recount the dream, but let the one who has my word speak it faithfully. For what has straw to do with grain?” declares the Lord.
Commentaries on Ezekiel 13:3
- Barnes’ Notes on the Bible · v. 3That follow nothing - Better in the margin. A true prophet (like Ezekiel) spoke “the word of the Lord,” and declared what he had seen “in the visions of God.” These pretenders are stigmatized in scorn “prophets out of their own hearts,” “seers of what they have not seen.”Read the comment
- Tyndale Open Study Notes · v. 1-3The basic difference between true and false prophets was clear. False prophets made up their own messages. True prophets spoke the word of the Lord. Now the false prophets would hear a message from the Lord. This message was about their own destruction. These messengers had been deceived, and they had also deceived others. Great sorrow and judgment were coming upon them.Read the comment
- Jamieson–Fausset–Brown Commentary · v. 33. foolish--though vaunting as though exclusively possessing "wisdom" (1Co 1:19-21); the fear of God being the only beginning of wisdom (Psa 111:10). their own spirit--instead of the Spirit of God. A threefold distinction lay between the false and the true prophets: (1) The source of their messages respectively; of the false, "their own hearts"; of the true, an object presented to the spiritual sense (named from the noblest of the senses, a seeing) by the…Read the comment
Topics related to Ezekiel 13:3
In the dictionaries
Commentaries on Ezekiel 13
- Adam Clarke Bible Commentary
- Barnes’ Notes on the Bible
- Matthew Henry Concise Commentary
- Tyndale Open Study Notes
- Jamieson–Fausset–Brown Commentary
- Rashi on Tanakh
- Calvin’s Commentaries
- Keil & Delitzsch Commentary
- John Wesley’s Notes
- Darby Translation Notes
- Geneva Bible Translation Notes
- Kingcomments
- Matthew Henry’s Complete Commentary
- Matthew Henry’s Modern English Commentary
- Seventh-day Adventist Bible Commentary
- EGW Writings
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