Zephaniah 3:4

Treasury of Scripture Knowledge

Summary

Her prophets are light and treacherous persons: her priests have polluted the sanctuary, they have done violence to the law.

Light

Her priests

Malachi 2:8

General references

Ezekiel 44:23

Bible References

Light

The man who is honoured and responsible is the head, and the prophet who gives false teaching is the tail.

His watchmen are blind, they are all without knowledge; they are all dogs without tongues, unable to make a sound; stretched out dreaming, loving sleep.

The prophets give false words and the priests give decisions by their direction; and my people are glad to have it so: and what will you do in the end?

For from the least of them even to the greatest, everyone is given up to getting money; from the prophet even to the priest, everyone is working deceit.

So I will give their wives to others, and their fields to those who will take them for themselves: for everyone, from the least to the greatest, is given up to getting money; from the priest even to the prophet, everyone is false.

Then I said, Ah, Lord God! see, the prophets say to them, You will not see the sword or be short of food; but I will give you certain peace in this place.

About the prophets. My heart is broken in me, all my bones are shaking; I am like a man full of strong drink, like a man overcome by wine; because of the Lord, and because of his holy words.

And you are not to give ear to the prophets who say to you, You will not become servants of the king of Babylon: for what they say is not true.

The visions which your prophets have seen for you are false and foolish; they have not made clear to you your sin so that your fate might be changed: but they have seen for you false words, driving you away.

This is what the Lord has said: A curse on the foolish prophets who go after the spirit which is in them and have seen nothing!

The days of punishment, the days of reward are come; Israel will be put to shame; the prophet is foolish, the man who has the spirit is off his head, because of your great sin.

If a man came with a false spirit of deceit, saying, I will be a prophet to you of wine and strong drink: he would be the sort of prophet for this people.

This is what the Lord has said about the prophets by whom my people have been turned from the right way; who, biting with their teeth, say, Peace; and if anyone puts nothing in their mouths they make ready for war against him.

Be on the watch for false prophets, who come to you in sheep's clothing, but inside they are cruel wolves.

For such men are false Apostles, workers of deceit, making themselves seem like Apostles of Christ.

But there were false prophets among the people, as there will be false teachers among you, who will secretly put forward wrong teachings for your destruction, even turning away from the Lord who gave himself for them; whose destruction will come quickly, and they themselves will be the cause of it.

My loved ones, do not put your faith in every spirit, but put them to the test, to see if they are from God: because a great number of false prophets have gone out into the world.

And the beast was taken, and with him the false prophet who did the signs before him, by which they were turned from the true way who had the mark of the beast, and who gave worship to his image: these two were put living into the sea of ever-burning fire.

Her priests

Now the sons of Eli were evil and good-for-nothing men, having no knowledge of the Lord.

Her priests have been acting violently against my law; they have made my holy things unclean: they have made no division between what is holy and what is common, and they have not made it clear that the unclean is different from the clean, and their eyes have been shut to my Sabbaths, and I am not honoured among them.

To have let men from strange lands, without circumcision of heart or flesh, come into my holy place, making my house unclean; and to have made the offering of my food, even the fat and the blood; and in addition to all your disgusting ways, you have let my agreement be broken.

Destruction has overtaken my people because they have no knowledge; because you have given up knowledge, I will give you up, so that you will be no priest to me, because you have not kept in mind the law of your God, I will not keep your children in my memory.

But you are turned out of the way; you have made the law hard for numbers of people; you have made the agreement of Levi of no value, says the Lord of armies.

General references

Let no wrong decisions be given in the poor man's cause.

And the Lord said, Because they have given up my law which I put before them, giving no attention to my voice and not being guided by it;

And the Lord said to me, There is an evil design at work among the men of Judah and the people of Jerusalem.

And in the hearing of the priests and the prophets and all the people, Jeremiah said these words in the house of the Lord.

And they are to make clear to my people the division between what is holy and what is common, and to give them the knowledge of what is clean and what is unclean.