9 Bible Verses about False Prophets

Then the LORD said unto me, The prophets prophesy lies in my name: I did not send them, neither have I commanded them, neither did I speak unto them: they prophesy unto you a false vision, divination, vanity, and the deceit of their heart.

thus hath the Lord GOD said: Woe unto the foolish prophets that follow their own spirit and have seen nothing!

They have seen vanity and lying divination, saying, The LORD saith: and the LORD has not sent them, and they have made others to wait for the word to be confirmed.

Therefore do not hearken unto your prophets, nor to your diviners, nor to your dreams, nor to your sorcerers, nor to your enchanters, which speak unto you, saying, Ye shall not serve the king of Babylon:

When there arises among you a prophet, or a dreamer of dreams, and gives thee a sign or a wonder, and the sign or the wonder comes to pass, of which he spoke unto thee, saying, Let us go after other gods, which thou hast not known, and let us serve them, thou shalt not hearken unto the words of that prophet or that dreamer of dreams; for the LORD your God proves you, to know whether ye love the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul.

For thus hath the LORD of the hosts the God of Israel said: Let not your prophets and your diviners that are in the midst of you, deceive you, neither hearken to your dreams which ye dream.

I have heard what those prophets said, that prophesy lies in my name, saying, I have dreamed, I have dreamed. How long shall this be in the heart of the prophets that prophesy lies and that prophesy the deceit of their own heart? Do they not think to cause my people to forget my name by their dreams which each one tells his neighbour, so much that their fathers have forgotten my name for Baal? read more.
The prophet with whom the dream came, let him tell the dream; and he with whom my word came, let him speak my true word. What is the chaff to the wheat? said the LORD.

Behold, I am against those that prophesy false dreams, saith the LORD, and did tell them, and caused my people to err by their lies, and by their flattery; yet I did not send them, nor command them; and they did not profit this people at all, said the LORD.

And the messenger that had gone to call Micaiah spoke unto him, saying, Behold now, the words of the prophets declare good unto the king with one mouth; now let thy word, I pray thee, be like the word of one of them and speak that which is good.

O Israel, thy prophets are like the foxes in the deserts.

His watchmen are blind: they are all ignorant; they are all dumb dogs; they cannot bark; sleeping, lying down, they love to slumber. And these anxious dogs are insatiable, and even the shepherds did not know enough to understand: they all look to their own ways, each one for his gain, from his quarter.

Therefore do not hearken unto your prophets, nor to your diviners, nor to your dreams, nor to your sorcerers, nor to your enchanters, which speak unto you, saying, Ye shall not serve the king of Babylon:

Thus hath the LORD of the hosts said, Hearken not unto the words of the prophets that prophesy unto you: they make you vain: they speak a vision of their own heart, and not out of the mouth of the LORD.

thou shalt not hearken unto the words of that prophet or that dreamer of dreams; for the LORD your God proves you, to know whether ye love the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul.

For I have not sent them, saith the LORD, yet they prophesy a lie in my name; that I might drive you out and that ye might perish, ye, and the prophets that prophesy unto you. Also I spoke to the priests and to all this people, saying, Thus hath the LORD said: Hearken not unto the words of your prophets that prophesy unto you, saying, Behold, the vessels of the LORD's house shall now shortly be brought again from Babylon; for they prophesy a lie unto you.

At that time, said the LORD, they shall bring out the bones of the kings of Judah and the bones of his princes and the bones of the priests and the bones of the prophets and the bones of the inhabitants of Jerusalem, out of their graves;

Therefore thus hath the LORD said concerning the prophets that prophesy in my name which I did not send and that say, Sword and famine shall not be in this land; By sword and famine shall those prophets be consumed.

therefore thus hath the LORD said; Behold, I visit upon Shemaiah the Nehelamite and upon his generation: he shall not have a man to dwell among this people; neither shall he behold that good which I do unto my people, said the LORD, because he has spoken rebellion against the LORD.

Therefore thus hath the LORD said; Behold, I will send thee away from upon the face of the earth; this year thou shalt die because thou hast spoken rebellion against the LORD.

They say boldly unto those that stir me to anger, The LORD hath said, Ye shall have peace; and they say unto anyone that walks after the imagination of his own heart, No evil shall come upon you.

They treat also the destruction of the daughter of my people lightly, saying, Peace, peace; when there is no peace.

Therefore and because they have seduced my people, saying, Peace; and there was no peace; and one built up the wall, and, behold, others plastered it with loose mud:

Thus hath the LORD said concerning the prophets that make my people err, that bite with their teeth, and cry, Peace; and he that does not give them something to eat, they even prepare war against him.

Beloved, do not believe every spirit, but try the spirits whether they are of God because many false prophets are gone out into the world. In this know ye the Spirit of God: Every spirit that confesses that Jesus Christ, is come in flesh is of God: And every spirit that does not confess that Jesus Christ, is come in flesh is not of God: and this is that spirit of antichrist, of which ye have heard that it should come, and that now it is already in the world.

And if thou say in thine heart, How shall we know the word which the LORD has not spoken? When a prophet speaks in the name of the LORD, if the thing does not follow nor come to pass, it is a word which the LORD has not spoken, but the prophet has spoken it presumptuously; thou shalt not be afraid of him.

When there arises among you a prophet, or a dreamer of dreams, and gives thee a sign or a wonder,

Then the LORD said unto me, The prophets prophesy lies in my name: I did not send them, neither have I commanded them, neither did I speak unto them: they prophesy unto you a false vision, divination, vanity, and the deceit of their heart.

I did not send those prophets, yet they ran; I did not speak to them, yet they prophesied.

Send to all them of the captivity, saying, Thus hath the LORD said concerning Shemaiah the Nehelamite; Because that Shemaiah has prophesied unto you, and I did not send him, and he caused you to trust upon a lie;

And when they had gone through the isle unto Paphos, they found a certain wise man, a false prophet, a Jew, whose name was Barjesus,

Then the LORD said unto me, The prophets prophesy lies in my name: I did not send them, neither have I commanded them, neither did I speak unto them: they prophesy unto you a false vision, divination, vanity, and the deceit of their heart.

And her prophets have plastered them over with loose mud, prophesying vanity and divining lies unto them, saying: Thus hath the Lord GOD said, when the LORD has not spoken.

They say boldly unto those that stir me to anger, The LORD hath said, Ye shall have peace; and they say unto anyone that walks after the imagination of his own heart, No evil shall come upon you. For who has stood in the secret of the LORD and has seen and heard his word? Who has payed attention to his word and heard it?

Behold, I am against the prophets, saith the LORD, that sweeten their tongues and say, He said.

I have also seen a horrible thing in the prophets of Jerusalem: they committed adultery and walked by lies; they strengthened also the hands of evildoers, that no none is converted from his malice; they are all of them unto me as Sodom and the inhabitants thereof as Gomorrah.

For both prophet and priest are feigned; even in my house I have found their wickedness, said the LORD.

How long shall this be in the heart of the prophets that prophesy lies and that prophesy the deceit of their own heart?

Thus hath the LORD of the hosts said, Hearken not unto the words of the prophets that prophesy unto you: they make you vain: they speak a vision of their own heart, and not out of the mouth of the LORD.

The prophet with whom the dream came, let him tell the dream; and he with whom my word came, let him speak my true word. What is the chaff to the wheat? said the LORD.

Behold, I am against those that prophesy false dreams, saith the LORD, and did tell them, and caused my people to err by their lies, and by their flattery; yet I did not send them, nor command them; and they did not profit this people at all, said the LORD.

Notwithstanding I have a few things against thee because thou sufferest that woman Jezebel (who calls herself a prophetess) to teach and to seduce my slaves to commit fornication, and to eat things sacrificed unto idols.

My God, think thou upon Tobiah and Sanballat according to these their works and on the prophetess Noadiah and the rest of the prophets, that did things to put me in fear.

For there shall arise false Christs and false prophets and shall show great signs and wonders in such a manner that they shall deceive, if possible, the very elect.

And many false prophets shall rise and shall deceive many.

And I have seen folly in the prophets of Samaria; they prophesied in Baal and caused my people Israel to err.

Thus hath the LORD said concerning the prophets that make my people err, that bite with their teeth, and cry, Peace; and he that does not give them something to eat, they even prepare war against him.

The prophets prophesied falsely, and the priests bore rule by their hands; and my people love to have it so. What will ye do in the end thereof?

Woe unto you when all men shall speak well of you! for so did their fathers treat the false prophets.

I have also seen a horrible thing in the prophets of Jerusalem: they committed adultery and walked by lies; they strengthened also the hands of evildoers, that no none is converted from his malice; they are all of them unto me as Sodom and the inhabitants thereof as Gomorrah. Therefore, thus hath the LORD of the hosts said against those prophets: Behold, I will cause them to eat wormwood and make them drink the waters of gall, for from the prophets of Jerusalem is hypocrisy gone forth upon all the land.

thou shalt not hearken unto the words of that prophet or that dreamer of dreams; for the LORD your God proves you, to know whether ye love the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul.

And there came forth a spirit and stood before the LORD and said, I will persuade him. And the LORD said unto him, In what manner? And he said, I will go forth, and I will be a lying spirit in the mouth of all his prophets. And he said, Thou shalt persuade him, and prevail also; go forth and do so.

Then the LORD said unto me, The prophets prophesy lies in my name: I did not send them, neither have I commanded them, neither did I speak unto them: they prophesy unto you a false vision, divination, vanity, and the deceit of their heart.

Do they not think to cause my people to forget my name by their dreams which each one tells his neighbour, so much that their fathers have forgotten my name for Baal?

Therefore, behold, I am against the prophets, saith the LORD, that steal my words each one from his neighbour.

The ancient and venerable to look upon is the head; the prophet that teaches lies, he is the tail. For the governors of this people are deceivers, and those who are governed by them are lost.

Her prophets are light and treacherous persons: her priests have polluted the sanctuary; they have falsified the law.

The prophets prophesied falsely, and the priests bore rule by their hands; and my people love to have it so. What will ye do in the end thereof?

There is a conspiracy of her prophets in the midst thereof, like a roaring lion ravening the prey; they have devoured souls; they have taken treasures and honour; they have made her many widows in the midst thereof.

but the prophets shall become like wind, and there is no word in them: thus shall it be done unto them.

Keep yourselves also from the false prophets, who come to you in sheep's clothing, but inwardly they are ravening wolves.

The priests did not say, Where is the LORD? and those that handled the law did not know me; the pastors also rebelled against me, and the prophets prophesied by Baal and walked after things that do not profit.

And the prophet when he is deceived and speaks a word, I the LORD have deceived that prophet, and I will stretch out my hand upon him and will destroy him from among my people Israel.

O Israel, thy prophets are like the foxes in the deserts.

thus hath the Lord GOD said: Woe unto the foolish prophets that follow their own spirit and have seen nothing!

But there were also false prophets among the people, even as there shall be false teachers among you, who covertly shall bring in destructive sects and shall deny the Lord that bought them, bringing upon themselves swift destruction.

But they also have erred through wine, and through strong drink are out of the way; the priest and the prophet have erred through strong drink; they are swallowed up of wine, they are out of the way through strong drink; they err in vision, they stumble in judgment.

the heads thereof judge for bribes, and the priests thereof teach for hire, and the prophets thereof divine for money: yet they come near unto the LORD, and say, Is not the LORD among us? No evil can come upon us.

Likewise, thou son of man, set thy face against the daughters of thy people, who prophesy out of their own heart; prophesy thou against them, And say, Thus hath the Lord GOD said; Woe to the women that sew pillows to all armholes and make kerchiefs upon the head of every stature to hunt souls! Must ye hunt the souls of my people to maintain thus your own life? And will ye profane me among my people for handfuls of barley and for pieces of bread, slaying the souls that should not die and giving life to the souls that should not live, by your lying to my people that listen to the lie? read more.
Therefore thus hath the Lord GOD said; Behold, I am against your pillows, with which ye hunt there the loose souls, and I will tear them from your arms and will let the souls go, even the loose souls that ye hunt. Your kerchiefs also I will tear and deliver my people out of your hand, and they shall no longer be in your hand to be hunted; and ye shall know that I am the LORD. Because with lies ye have made the heart of the righteous sad, whom I have not made sad; and ye strengthen the hands of the wicked that he should not leave his wicked way, encouraging him: therefore ye shall not see vanity, nor divine divinations any longer: for I will deliver my people out of your hand; and ye shall know that I am the LORD.