9 Bible Verses about False Prophets

Then the LORD said to me, "The prophets prophesy lies in my name; I did not send them, neither have I commanded them, neither spoke I to them: they prophesy to you a lying vision, and divination, and a thing of nothing, and the deceit of their own heart.

Thus says the Lord GOD, "Woe to the foolish prophets, who follow their own spirit, and have seen nothing.

They have seen falsehood and lying divination, who say, "The LORD says"; but the LORD has not sent them: and they have made men to hope that the word would be confirmed.

But as for you, do not listen to your prophets, nor to your diviners, nor to your dreams, nor to your soothsayers, nor to your sorcerers, who speak to you, saying, 'You shall not serve the king of Babylon':

If there arise in the midst of you a prophet, or a dreamer of dreams, and he give you a sign or a wonder, and the sign or the wonder come to pass, of which he spoke to you, saying, "Let us go after other gods" (which you have not known) "and let us serve them"; you shall not listen to the words of that prophet, or to that dreamer of dreams: for the LORD your God proves you, to know whether you love the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul.

For thus says the LORD of hosts, the God of Israel: 'Do not let your prophets who are in the midst of you, and your diviners, deceive you; neither listen to your dreams which you cause to be dreamed.

'I have heard what the prophets have said, who prophesy lies in my name, saying, "I have dreamed, I have dreamed." How long shall this be in the heart of the prophets who prophesy lies, even the prophets of the deceit of their own heart, who think to cause my people to forget my name by their dreams which they tell every man to his neighbor, as their fathers forgot my name for Baal. read more.
The prophet who has a dream, let him tell a dream; and he who has my word, let him speak my word faithfully. What is the straw to the wheat?' says the LORD.

Behold, I am against those who prophesy lying dreams,' says the LORD, 'and do tell them, and cause my people to err by their lies, and by their vain boasting: yet I did not send them, nor commanded them; neither do they profit this people at all,' says the LORD.

The messenger who went to call Micaiah spoke to him, saying, "See now, the prophets declare good to the king with one mouth. Please let your word be like the word of one of them, and speak good."

Israel, your prophets have been like foxes in the waste places.

His watchmen are blind, they are all without knowledge; they are all mute dogs, they can't bark; dreaming, lying down, loving to slumber. Yes, the dogs are greedy, they can never have enough; and these are shepherds who can't understand: they have all turned to their own way, each one to his gain, from every quarter.

But as for you, do not listen to your prophets, nor to your diviners, nor to your dreams, nor to your soothsayers, nor to your sorcerers, who speak to you, saying, 'You shall not serve the king of Babylon':

Thus says the LORD of hosts, 'Do not listen to the words of the prophets who prophesy to you: they teach you vanity; they speak a vision of their own heart, and not out of the mouth of the LORD.

you shall not listen to the words of that prophet, or to that dreamer of dreams: for the LORD your God proves you, to know whether you love the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul.

'For I have not sent them,' says the LORD, 'but they prophesy falsely in my name; that I may drive you out, and that you may perish, you, and the prophets who prophesy to you.'" Also I spoke to the priests and to all this people, saying, "Thus says the LORD: 'Do not listen to the words of your prophets who prophesy to you, saying, Behold, the vessels of the LORD's house shall now shortly be brought again from Babylon; for they prophesy a lie to you.

"At that time," says the LORD, "they shall bring out the bones of the kings of Judah, and the bones of his officials, 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 says the LORD concerning the prophets who prophesy in my name, and I did not send them, yet they say, 'Sword and famine shall not be in this land:' 'By sword and famine shall those prophets be consumed.'

therefore," thus says the LORD, "Behold, I will punish Shemaiah the Nehelamite, and his seed; he shall not have a man to dwell among this people, neither shall he see the good that I will do to my people, says the LORD, because he has spoken rebellion against the LORD."'"

Therefore thus says the LORD, 'Behold, I will send you away from off the surface of the earth: this year you shall die, because you have spoken rebellion against the LORD.'"

They say continually to those who despise me, "The LORD has said, 'You shall have peace'"; and to everyone who walks in the stubbornness of his own heart they say, "No evil shall come on you."

They have healed also the hurt of my people superficially, saying, 'Peace, peace.' when there is no peace.

Because, even because they have seduced my people, saying, 'Peace'; and there is no peace; and when one builds up a wall, behold, they plaster it with whitewash:

Thus says the LORD concerning the prophets who lead my people astray; for those who feed their teeth, they proclaim, "Peace." and whoever doesn't provide for their mouths, they prepare war against him:

Beloved, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits, whether they are of God, because many false prophets have gone out into the world. By this you know the Spirit of God: every spirit who confesses that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh is of God, and every spirit who does not confess Jesus is not of God; and this is that of the antichrist, of whom you have heard that it comes. Now it is in the world already.

If you say in your 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 doesn't follow, nor happen, that is the thing which the LORD has not spoken: the prophet has spoken it presumptuously, you shall not be afraid of him.

If there arise in the midst of you a prophet, or a dreamer of dreams, and he give you a sign or a wonder,

Then the LORD said to me, "The prophets prophesy lies in my name; I did not send them, neither have I commanded them, neither spoke I to them: they prophesy to you a lying vision, and divination, and a thing of nothing, and the deceit of their own heart.

I sent not these prophets, yet they ran: I did not speak to them, yet they prophesied.

"Send to all them of the captivity, saying, 'Thus says the LORD concerning Shemaiah the Nehelamite: "Because Shemaiah has prophesied to you, and I did not send him, and he has caused you to trust in a lie;

When they had gone through the whole island as far as Paphos, they found a certain man, a sorcerer, a false prophet, a Jew, whose name was Bar-Jesus,

Then the LORD said to me, "The prophets prophesy lies in my name; I did not send them, neither have I commanded them, neither spoke I to them: they prophesy to you a lying vision, and divination, and a thing of nothing, and the deceit of their own heart.

Her prophets have plastered for them with whitewash, seeing false visions, and divining lies to them, saying, 'Thus says the Lord GOD,' when the LORD has not spoken.

They say continually to those who despise me, "The LORD has said, 'You shall have peace'"; and to everyone who walks in the stubbornness of his own heart they say, "No evil shall come on you." For who has stood in the council of the LORD, that he should perceive and hear his word? Who has marked my word, and heard it?

Behold, I am against the prophets,' says the LORD, 'who use their tongues, and say, "He says."

In the prophets of Jerusalem also I have seen a horrible thing: they commit adultery, and walk in lies; and they strengthen the hands of evildoers, so that none does return from his wickedness: they are all of them become to me as Sodom, and its inhabitants as Gomorrah.

for both prophet and priest are profane; yes, in my house have I found their wickedness," says the LORD.

How long shall this be in the heart of the prophets who prophesy lies, even the prophets of the deceit of their own heart,

Thus says the LORD of hosts, 'Do not listen to the words of the prophets who prophesy to you: they teach you vanity; they speak a vision of their own heart, and not out of the mouth of the LORD.

The prophet who has a dream, let him tell a dream; and he who has my word, let him speak my word faithfully. What is the straw to the wheat?' says the LORD.

Behold, I am against those who prophesy lying dreams,' says the LORD, 'and do tell them, and cause my people to err by their lies, and by their vain boasting: yet I did not send them, nor commanded them; neither do they profit this people at all,' says the LORD.

But I have this against you, that you tolerate the woman, Jezebel, who calls herself a prophetess. She teaches and seduces my servants to commit sexual immorality, and to eat things sacrificed to idols.

"Remember, my God, Tobiah and Sanballat according to these their works, and also the prophetess Noadiah, and the rest of the prophets, that would have put me in fear."

For there will arise false messiahs, and false prophets, and they will show great signs and wonders, so as to lead astray, if possible, even the chosen ones.

Many false prophets will arise, and will lead many astray.

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

Thus says the LORD concerning the prophets who lead my people astray; for those who feed their teeth, they proclaim, "Peace." and whoever doesn't provide for their mouths, they prepare war against him:

The prophets prophesy falsely, and the priests rule by their own authority; and my people love to have it so. What will you do in the end of it?

Woe to you when all men speak well of you, for their fathers did the same thing to the false prophets.

In the prophets of Jerusalem also I have seen a horrible thing: they commit adultery, and walk in lies; and they strengthen the hands of evildoers, so that none does return from his wickedness: they are all of them become to me as Sodom, and its inhabitants as Gomorrah. Therefore thus says the LORD of hosts concerning the prophets: 'Behold, I will feed them with wormwood, and make them drink the water of gall; for from the prophets of Jerusalem is ungodliness gone forth into all the land.'

you shall not listen to the words of that prophet, or to that dreamer of dreams: for the LORD your God proves you, to know whether you love the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul.

A spirit came out and stood before the LORD, and said, 'I will entice him.' The LORD said to him, 'How?' He said, 'I will go out and will be a lying spirit in the mouth of all his prophets.' He said, 'You will entice him, and will also prevail. Go out and do so.'

Then the LORD said to me, "The prophets prophesy lies in my name; I did not send them, neither have I commanded them, neither spoke I to them: they prophesy to you a lying vision, and divination, and a thing of nothing, and the deceit of their own heart.

who think to cause my people to forget my name by their dreams which they tell every man to his neighbor, as their fathers forgot my name for Baal.

Therefore behold, I am against the prophets,' says the LORD, 'who steal my words everyone from his neighbor.

The elder and the honorable man is the head, and the prophet who teaches lies is the tail. For those who lead this people lead them astray; and those who are led by them are destroyed.

Her prophets are arrogant and treacherous people. Her priests have profaned the sanctuary. They have done violence to the law.

The prophets prophesy falsely, and the priests rule by their own authority; and my people love to have it so. What will you do in the end of it?

There is a conspiracy of her prophets in its midst, like a roaring lion ravening the prey: they have devoured souls; they take treasure and precious things; they have made her widows many in its midst.

The prophets shall become wind, and the word is not in them. Thus shall it be done to them."

"Beware of false prophets, who come to you in sheep's clothing, but inwardly are ravening wolves.

The priests did not say, 'Where is the LORD?' And those who handle the law did not know me. The rulers also transgressed against me, and the prophets prophesied by Baal, and walked after things that do not profit.

"'"If the prophet is deceived and speaks a word, I, the LORD, have deceived that prophet, and I will stretch out my hand on him, and will destroy him from the midst of my people Israel.

Israel, your prophets have been like foxes in the waste places.

Thus says the Lord GOD, "Woe to the foolish prophets, who follow their own spirit, and have seen nothing.

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

They also reel with wine, and stagger with strong drink. The priest and the prophet reel with strong drink. They are swallowed up by wine. They stagger with strong drink. They err in vision. They stumble in judgment.

Her leaders judge for bribes, and her priests teach for a price, and her prophets of it tell fortunes for money: yet they lean on the LORD, and say, "Isn't the LORD in the midst of us? No disaster will come on us."

"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 who sew pillows on all elbows, and make kerchiefs for the head of persons of every stature to hunt souls. Will you hunt the souls of my people, and save souls alive for yourselves? You have profaned me among my people for handfuls of barley and for pieces of bread, to kill the souls who should not die, and to save the souls alive who should not live, by your lying to my people who listen to lies." read more.
"'Therefore 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 I will let the souls go, even the souls whom 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 grieved the heart of the righteous, whom I have not made sad; and strengthened the hands of the wicked, that he should not return from his wicked way, and be saved alive: Therefore you shall no more see false visions, nor practice divination. I will deliver my people out of your hand; and you shall know that I am the LORD."'"