'Prophets' in the Bible

Do not listen to the prophets who are telling you that you do not need to serve the king of Babylon. For they are prophesying lies to you.

For I, the Lord, affirm that I did not send them. They are prophesying lies to you. If you listen to them, I will drive you and the prophets who are prophesying lies out of the land and you will all die in exile."

I also told the priests and all the people, "The Lord says, 'Do not listen to what your prophets are saying. They are prophesying to you that the valuable articles taken from the Lord's temple will be brought back from Babylon very soon. But they are prophesying a lie to you.

I also told them, "If they are really prophets and the Lord is speaking to them, let them pray earnestly to the Lord who rules over all. Let them plead with him not to let the valuable articles that are still left in the Lord's temple, in the royal palace, and in Jerusalem be taken away to Babylon.

From earliest times, the prophets who preceded you and me invariably prophesied war, disaster, and plagues against many countries and great kingdoms.

The prophet Jeremiah sent a letter to the exiles Nebuchadnezzar had carried off from Jerusalem to Babylon. It was addressed to the elders who were left among the exiles, to the priests, to the prophets, and to all the other people who were exiled in Babylon.

"For the Lord God of Israel who rules over all says, 'Do not let the prophets or those among you who claim to be able to predict the future by divination deceive you. And do not pay any attention to the dreams that you are encouraging them to dream.

"You say, 'The Lord has raised up prophets of good news for us here in Babylon.'

For they have not paid attention to what I said to them through my servants the prophets whom I sent to them over and over again,' says the Lord. 'And you exiles have not paid any attention to them either,' says the Lord.

I am determined to do so because the people of Israel and Judah have made me angry with all their wickedness -- they, their kings, their officials, their priests, their prophets, and especially the people of Judah and the citizens of Jerusalem have done this wickedness.

I sent all my servants the prophets to warn you over and over again. They said, "Every one of you, stop doing the evil things you have been doing and do what is right. Do not pay allegiance to other gods and worship them. Then you can continue to live in this land that I gave to you and your ancestors." But you did not pay any attention or listen to me.

Where now are the prophets who prophesied to you that the king of Babylon would not attack you or this land?

I sent my servants the prophets to you people over and over again warning you not to do this disgusting thing I hate.

Destructive forces will come against her false prophets; they will be shown to be fools! Destructive forces will come against her soldiers; they will be filled with terror!

(Tet) Her city gates have fallen to the ground; he smashed to bits the bars that lock her gates. Her king and princes were taken into exile; there is no more guidance available. As for her prophets, they no longer receive a vision from the Lord.

(Nun) Your prophets saw visions for you that were worthless lies. They failed to expose your sin so as to restore your fortunes. They saw oracles for you that were worthless lies.

(Mem) But it happened due to the sins of her prophets and the iniquities of her priests, who poured out in her midst the blood of the righteous.

"Son of man, prophesy against the prophets of Israel who are now prophesying. Say to the prophets who prophesy from their imagination: 'Hear the word of the Lord!

This is what the sovereign Lord says: Woe to the foolish prophets who follow their own spirit but have seen nothing!

Your prophets have become like jackals among the ruins, O Israel.

My hand will be against the prophets who see delusion and announce lying omens. They will not be included in the council of my people, nor be written in the registry of the house of Israel, nor enter the land of Israel. Then you will know that I am the sovereign Lord.

those prophets of Israel who would prophesy about Jerusalem and would see visions of peace for it, when there was no peace," declares the sovereign Lord.'

Her prophets coat their messages with whitewash. They see false visions and announce lying omens for them, saying, 'This is what the sovereign Lord says,' when the Lord has not spoken.

"'This is what the sovereign Lord says: Are you the one of whom I spoke in former days by my servants the prophets of Israel, who prophesied in those days that I would bring you against them?

We have not paid attention to your servants the prophets, who spoke by your authority to our kings, our leaders, and our ancestors, and to all the inhabitants of the land as well.

We have not obeyed the LORD our God by living according to his laws that he set before us through his servants the prophets.

You stumble day and night, and the false prophets stumble with you; You have destroyed your own people!

Therefore, I will certainly cut you into pieces at the hands of the prophets; I will certainly kill you in fulfillment of my oracles of judgment; for my judgment will come forth like the light of the dawn.

I spoke to the prophets; I myself revealed many visions; I spoke in parables through the prophets."

I made some of your sons prophets and some of your young men Nazirites. Is this not true, you Israelites?" The Lord is speaking!

"But you made the Nazirites drink wine; you commanded the prophets, 'Do not prophesy!'

Certainly the sovereign Lord does nothing without first revealing his plan to his servants the prophets.

Don't preach with such impassioned rhetoric,' they say excitedly. 'These prophets should not preach of such things; we will not be overtaken by humiliation.'

This is what the Lord says: "The prophets who mislead my people are as good as dead. If someone gives them enough to eat, they offer an oracle of peace. But if someone does not give them food, they are ready to declare war on him.

Therefore night will fall, and you will receive no visions; it will grow dark, and you will no longer be able to read the omens. The sun will set on these prophets, and the daylight will turn to darkness over their heads.

The prophets will be ashamed; the omen readers will be humiliated. All of them will cover their mouths, for they will receive no divine oracles."

Her leaders take bribes when they decide legal cases, her priests proclaim rulings for profit, and her prophets read omens for pay. Yet they claim to trust the Lord and say, "The Lord is among us. Disaster will not overtake us!"

Her prophets are proud; they are deceitful men. Her priests defile what is holy; they break God's laws.

"Do not be like your ancestors, to whom the former prophets called out, saying, 'The Lord who rules over all says, "Turn now from your evil wickedness,"' but they would by no means obey me," says the Lord.

"As for your ancestors, where are they? And did the prophets live forever?

But have my words and statutes, which I commanded my servants the prophets, not outlived your fathers? Then they paid attention and confessed, 'The Lord who rules over all has indeed done what he said he would do to us, because of our sinful ways.'"

by asking both the priests of the temple of the Lord who rules over all and the prophets, "Should we weep in the fifth month, fasting as we have done over the years?"

Should you not have obeyed the words that the Lord cried out through the former prophets when Jerusalem was peacefully inhabited and her surrounding cities, the Negev, and the Shephelah were also populated?

Indeed, they made their heart as hard as diamond, so that they could not obey the Torah and the other words the Lord who rules over all had sent by his Spirit through the former prophets. Therefore, the Lord who rules over all had poured out great wrath.

"The Lord who rules over all also says, 'Gather strength, you who are listening to these words today from the mouths of the prophets who were there at the founding of the house of the Lord who rules over all, so that the temple might be built.

And also on that day," says the Lord who rules over all, "I will remove the names of the idols from the land and they will never again be remembered. Moreover, I will remove the prophets and the unclean spirit from the land.

He came to a town called Nazareth and lived there. Then what had been spoken by the prophets was fulfilled, that Jesus would be called a Nazarene.

Rejoice and be glad because your reward is great in heaven, for they persecuted the prophets before you in the same way.

"Do not think that I have come to abolish the law or the prophets. I have not come to abolish these things but to fulfill them.

In everything, treat others as you would want them to treat you, for this fulfills the law and the prophets.

"Watch out for false prophets, who come to you in sheep's clothing but inwardly are voracious wolves.

For all the prophets and the law prophesied until John appeared.

For I tell you the truth, many prophets and righteous people longed to see what you see but did not see it, and to hear what you hear but did not hear it.

They answered, "Some say John the Baptist, others Elijah, and others Jeremiah or one of the prophets."

All the law and the prophets depend on these two commandments."

"Woe to you, experts in the law and you Pharisees, hypocrites! You build tombs for the prophets and decorate the graves of the righteous.

And you say, 'If we had lived in the days of our ancestors, we would not have participated with them in shedding the blood of the prophets.'

By saying this you testify against yourselves that you are descendants of those who murdered the prophets.

"For this reason I am sending you prophets and wise men and experts in the law, some of whom you will kill and crucify, and some you will flog in your synagogues and pursue from town to town,

"O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, you who kill the prophets and stone those who are sent to you! How often I have longed to gather your children together as a hen gathers her chicks under her wings, but you would have none of it!

And many false prophets will appear and deceive many,

For false messiahs and false prophets will appear and perform great signs and wonders to deceive, if possible, even the elect.

But this has happened so that the scriptures of the prophets would be fulfilled." Then all the disciples left him and fled.

Others said, "He is Elijah." Others said, "He is a prophet, like one of the prophets from the past."

They said, "John the Baptist, others say Elijah, and still others, one of the prophets."

For false messiahs and false prophets will appear and perform signs and wonders to deceive, if possible, the elect.

as he spoke through the mouth of his holy prophets from long ago,

Rejoice in that day, and jump for joy, because your reward is great in heaven. For their ancestors did the same things to the prophets.

"Woe to you when all people speak well of you, for their ancestors did the same things to the false prophets.

while others were saying that Elijah had appeared, and still others that one of the prophets of long ago had risen.

They answered, "John the Baptist; others say Elijah; and still others that one of the prophets of long ago has risen."

For I tell you that many prophets and kings longed to see what you see but did not see it, and to hear what you hear but did not hear it."

Woe to you! You build the tombs of the prophets whom your ancestors killed.

So you testify that you approve of the deeds of your ancestors, because they killed the prophets and you build their tombs!

For this reason also the wisdom of God said, 'I will send them prophets and apostles, some of whom they will kill and persecute,'

so that this generation may be held accountable for the blood of all the prophets that has been shed since the beginning of the world,

There will be weeping and gnashing of teeth when you see Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, and all the prophets in the kingdom of God but you yourselves thrown out.

O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, you who kill the prophets and stone those who are sent to you! How often I have longed to gather your children together as a hen gathers her chicks under her wings, but you would have none of it!

"The law and the prophets were in force until John; since then, the good news of the kingdom of God has been proclaimed, and everyone is urged to enter it.

But Abraham said, 'They have Moses and the prophets; they must respond to them.'

He replied to him, 'If they do not respond to Moses and the prophets, they will not be convinced even if someone rises from the dead.'"

Then Jesus took the twelve aside and said to them, "Look, we are going up to Jerusalem, and everything that is written about the Son of Man by the prophets will be accomplished.

So he said to them, "You foolish people -- how slow of heart to believe all that the prophets have spoken!

Then beginning with Moses and all the prophets, he interpreted to them the things written about himself in all the scriptures.

Then he said to them, "These are my words that I spoke to you while I was still with you, that everything written about me in the law of Moses and the prophets and the psalms must be fulfilled."

Philip found Nathanael and told him, "We have found the one Moses wrote about in the law, and the prophets also wrote about -- Jesus of Nazareth, the son of Joseph."

It is written in the prophets, 'And they will all be taught by God.' Everyone who hears and learns from the Father comes to me.

Then the Judeans responded, "Now we know you're possessed by a demon! Both Abraham and the prophets died, and yet you say, 'If anyone obeys my teaching, he will never experience death.'

You aren't greater than our father Abraham who died, are you? And the prophets died too! Who do you claim to be?"

But the things God foretold long ago through all the prophets -- that his Christ would suffer -- he has fulfilled in this way.

This one heaven must receive until the time all things are restored, which God declared from times long ago through his holy prophets.

And all the prophets, from Samuel and those who followed him, have spoken about and announced these days.

You are the sons of the prophets and of the covenant that God made with your ancestors, saying to Abraham, 'And in your descendants all the nations of the earth will be blessed.'

But God turned away from them and gave them over to worship the host of heaven, as it is written in the book of the prophets: 'It was not to me that you offered slain animals and sacrifices forty years in the wilderness, was it, house of Israel?

Which of the prophets did your ancestors not persecute? They killed those who foretold long ago the coming of the Righteous One, whose betrayers and murderers you have now become!

About him all the prophets testify, that everyone who believes in him receives forgiveness of sins through his name."

At that time some prophets came down from Jerusalem to Antioch.

Now there were these prophets and teachers in the church at Antioch: Barnabas, Simeon called Niger, Lucius the Cyrenian, Manaen (a close friend of Herod the tetrarch from childhood) and Saul.

After the reading from the law and the prophets, the leaders of the synagogue sent them a message, saying, "Brothers, if you have any message of exhortation for the people, speak it."

For the people who live in Jerusalem and their rulers did not recognize him, and they fulfilled the sayings of the prophets that are read every Sabbath by condemning him.