Then the LORD said unto me, The prophets prophesy lies in my name: I sent them not, neither have I commanded them, neither spake unto them: they prophesy unto you a false vision and divination, and a thing of nought , and the deceit of their heart.
Jeremiah was a prophet in ancient Jerusalem during one of the darkest periods in its history — the city was on the brink of destruction by the Babylonian empire around 600 BC. But Jeremiah wasn't the only man delivering messages in God's name. Other prophets were also preaching — and they were delivering optimistic, comfortable words, assuring the people that peace was coming and everything would be fine. In this verse, God corrects Jeremiah: those men were never sent by him. He didn't appoint them, didn't speak to them, didn't give them any vision. What they were delivering were fabrications — their own wishful thinking, their own delusions, dressed up in the language of divine prophecy. The word "divinations" refers to occult practices used to predict the future, which were strictly forbidden in ancient Israel.
God, give me the courage to pursue truth even when comfortable lies are easier to swallow. Guard me from voices — outside me and inside me — that dress wishful thinking as your word. Help me love truth more than I love being comfortable. Amen.
Picture a doctor who doesn't tell you about the troubling test results because he doesn't want to ruin your afternoon. He smiles, says everything looks great, sends you home. That's the false prophet — someone who tells you what you want to hear because it builds their following, because the truth is complicated, or because they've genuinely confused their own desires with God's voice. The line between the two can be terrifyingly thin. This verse cuts in more than one direction. Yes, it's a call to be a discerning listener — not everything spoken in God's name comes from God, and that was true in Jeremiah's day and it is true now. But it also invites a more uncomfortable examination: are you sometimes a false prophet to yourself? Do you reach for comfortable interpretations that don't ask much of you? Do you take seriously the voices that challenge you, or only the ones that affirm you? Discernment isn't paranoia — it's a kind of spiritual maturity. The question worth sitting with is honest and a little sharp: are you more drawn to what grows you, or to what reassures you that you're already fine?
God lists several specific characteristics of the false prophets' messages — false visions, divinations, idolatries, and the delusions of their own minds. What do those words have in common, and what does that pattern tell you about how false prophecy tends to work?
Have you ever received advice — even well-meaning religious advice — that turned out to be more about what you wanted to hear than what was true? What did that experience cost you?
How do you personally test whether a message or voice claiming to speak for God is actually trustworthy? What's your process, and how confident are you in it?
False prophets always had audiences — people who chose to believe them. How does the desire for comfort or good news make us vulnerable to misleading voices, even when part of us suspects something is off?
Who in your life tells you hard truths with enough grace that you can actually receive them? How could you better invite — and reward — that kind of honesty?
Beware of false prophets, which come to you in sheep's clothing, but inwardly they are ravening wolves.
Matthew 7:15
Even him, whose coming is after the working of Satan with all power and signs and lying wonders,
2 Thessalonians 2:9
And for this cause God shall send them strong delusion, that they should believe a lie:
2 Thessalonians 2:11
For God doth know that in the day ye eat thereof, then your eyes shall be opened, and ye shall be as gods, knowing good and evil.
Genesis 3:5
Thus saith the LORD of hosts, 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.
Jeremiah 23:16
But the prophet, which shall presume to speak a word in my name, which I have not commanded him to speak, or that shall speak in the name of other gods, even that prophet shall die.
Deuteronomy 18:20
Speaking lies in hypocrisy; having their conscience seared with a hot iron;
1 Timothy 4:2
For many shall come in my name, saying, I am Christ; and shall deceive many.
Matthew 24:5
Then the LORD said to me, "The [counterfeit] prophets are prophesying lies in My Name. I have neither sent them nor authorized them nor spoken to them. They are prophesying to you made-up visions [pretending to call forth responses from handmade gods], a worthless divination and the deceit of their own mind.
AMP
And the LORD said to me: “The prophets are prophesying lies in my name. I did not send them, nor did I command them or speak to them. They are prophesying to you a lying vision, worthless divination, and the deceit of their own minds.
ESV
Then the LORD said to me, 'The prophets are prophesying falsehood in My name. I have neither sent them nor commanded them nor spoken to them; they are prophesying to you a false vision, divination, futility and the deception of their own minds.
NASB
Then the Lord said to me, “The prophets are prophesying lies in my name. I have not sent them or appointed them or spoken to them. They are prophesying to you false visions, divinations, idolatries and the delusions of their own minds.
NIV
And the LORD said to me, “The prophets prophesy lies in My name. I have not sent them, commanded them, nor spoken to them; they prophesy to you a false vision, divination, a worthless thing, and the deceit of their heart.
NKJV
Then the LORD said, “These prophets are telling lies in my name. I did not send them or tell them to speak. I did not give them any messages. They prophesy of visions and revelations they have never seen or heard. They speak foolishness made up in their own lying hearts.
NLT
Then God said, "These preachers are liars, and they use my name to cover their lies. I never sent them, I never commanded them, and I don't talk with them. The sermons they've been handing out are sheer illusion, tissues of lies, whistlings in the dark.
MSG