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 head is the elder and honorable man,
And the prophet who teaches falsehood is the tail.

His watchmen are blind,
All of them know nothing.
All of them are mute dogs unable to bark,

Dreamers lying down, who love to slumber;

The prophets prophesy falsely,
And the priests rule on their own authority;
And My people love it so!
But what will you do at the end of it?

“For from the least of them even to the greatest of them,
Everyone is greedy for gain,
And from the prophet even to the priest
Everyone deals falsely.

“Therefore I will give their wives to others,
Their fields to new owners;
Because from the least even to the greatest
Everyone is greedy for gain;
From the prophet even to the priest
Everyone practices deceit.

But, “Ah, Lord God!” I said, “Look, the prophets are telling them, ‘You will not see the sword nor will you have famine, but I will give you lasting peace in this place.’”

As for the prophets:
My heart is broken within me,
All my bones tremble;
I have become like a drunken man,
Even like a man overcome with wine,
Because of the Lord
And because of His holy words.

So do not listen to the words of the prophets who speak to you, saying, ‘You will not serve the king of Babylon,’ for they prophesy a lie to you;

Your prophets have seen for you
False and foolish visions;
And they have not exposed your iniquity
So as to restore you from captivity,
But they have seen for you false and misleading oracles.

Thus says the Lord God, “Woe to the foolish prophets who are following their own spirit and have seen nothing.

The days of punishment have come,
The days of retribution have come;

Let Israel know this!

The prophet is a fool,
The inspired man is demented,
Because of the grossness of your iniquity,
And because your hostility is so great.

“If a man walking after wind and falsehood
Had told lies and said,
‘I will speak out to you concerning wine and liquor,’
He would be spokesman to this people.

Thus says the Lord concerning the prophets who lead my people astray;
When they have something to bite with their teeth,
They cry, “Peace,”
But against him who puts nothing in their mouths
They declare holy war.

“Beware of the false prophets, who come to you in sheep’s clothing, but inwardly are ravenous wolves.

For such men are false apostles, deceitful workers, disguising themselves as apostles of Christ.

But false prophets also arose among the people, just as there will also be false teachers among you, who will secretly introduce destructive heresies, even denying the Master who bought them, bringing swift destruction upon themselves.

Beloved, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits to see whether they are from God, because many false prophets have gone out into the world.

And the beast was seized, and with him the false prophet who performed the signs

in his presence, by which he deceived those who had received the mark of the beast and those who worshiped his image; these two were thrown alive into the lake of fire which burns with brimstone.

Her priests

Now the sons of Eli were

worthless men; they did not know the Lord

Her priests have done violence to My law and have profaned My holy things; they have made no distinction between the holy and the profane, and they have not taught the difference between the unclean and the clean; and they hide their eyes from My sabbaths, and I am profaned among them.

when you brought in foreigners, uncircumcised in heart and uncircumcised in flesh, to be in My sanctuary to profane it, even My house, when you offered My food, the fat and the blood; for they made My covenant void—this in addition to all your abominations.

My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge.

Because you have rejected knowledge,
I also will reject you from being My priest.
Since you have forgotten the law of your God,
I also will forget your children.

But as for you, you have turned aside from the way; you have caused many to stumble by the instruction; you have

corrupted the covenant of Levi,” says the Lord of hosts.

General references

“You shall not pervert the justice due to your needy brother in his dispute.

The Lord said, “Because they have forsaken My law which I set before them, and have not obeyed My voice nor walked according to it,

Then the Lord said to me, “A conspiracy has been found among the men of Judah and among the inhabitants of Jerusalem.

The priests and the prophets and all the people heard Jeremiah speaking these words in the house of the Lord.

Moreover, they shall teach My people the difference between the holy and the profane, and cause them to discern between the unclean and the clean.