- 22But if they have stood in My council,
- Then let them cause My people to hear My words,
- And turn them from their evil way,
- And from the evil of their doings.
- 23Am I a God near at hand, saith the Lord,
- And not a God afar off?
- 24Can any hide himself in secret places
- That I shall not see him? saith the Lord.
- Do not I fill heaven and earth?
- Saith the Lord.
- 25I have heard what the prophets have said,
- That prophesy lies in My name, saying:
- 'I have dreamed, I have dreamed.'
- 26How long shall this be?
- Is it in the heart of the prophets that prophesy lies,
- And the prophets of the deceit of their own heart?
- 27That think to cause My people to forget My name
- By their dreams which they tell every man to his neighbour,
- As their fathers forgot My name for Baal.
- 28The prophet that hath a dream, let him tell a dream;
- And he that hath My word; let him speak My word faithfully.
- What hath the straw to do with the wheat?
- Saith the Lord.
- 29Is not My word like as fire?
- Saith the Lord;
- And like a hammer that breaketh the rock in pieces?
30Therefore, behold, I am against the prophets, saith the Lord, that steal My words every one from his neighbour. 31Behold, I am against the prophets, saith the Lord, that use there tongues and say: 'He saith.' 32Behold, I am against them that prophesy lying dreams, saith the Lord, and do tell them, and cause My people to err by their lies, and by their wantonness; yet I sent them not, nor commanded them; neither can they profit this people at all, saith the Lord.
33And when this people, or the prophet, or a priest, shall ask thee, saying: 'What is the burden of the Lord?' then shalt thou say unto them: 'What burden! I will cast you off, saith the Lord.' 34And as for the prophet, and the priest, and the people, that shall say: 'The burden of the Lord', I will even punish that man and his house. 35Thus shall ye say every one to his neighbour, and every one to his brother: 'What hath the Lord answered?' and: 'What hath the Lord spoken?' 36And the burden of the Lord shall ye mention no more; for every man's own word shall be his burden; and would ye pervert the words of the living God, of the Lord of hosts our God? 37Thus shalt thou say to the prophet: 'What hath the Lord answered thee?' and: 'What hath the Lord spoken?' 38But if ye say: 'The burden of the Lord'; therefore thus saith the Lord: Because ye say this word: 'The burden of the Lord', and I have sent unto you, saying: 'Ye shall not say: The burden of the Lord'; 39therefore, behold, I will utterly tear you out, and I will cast you off, and the city that I gave unto you and to your fathers, away from My presence; 40and I will bring an everlasting reproach upon you, and a perpetual shame, which shall not be forgotten
24The Lord showed me, and behold two baskets of figs set before the temple of the Lord; after
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