Bible Strands
Jeremiah 14:14
“The prophets are prophesying lies in My name,” replied the LORD. “I did not send them or appoint them or speak to them. They are prophesying to you a false vision, a worthless divination, the futility and delusion of their own minds.
Berean Standard Bible
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Study note
Setting — Yahweh replies directly to Jeremiah's report in v.13, where Jeremiah has just quoted the false prophets' promise of peace. The speakers are unauthorized; the claim is divine authority.
The words — שֶׁקֶר (sheker, "falsehood") is the noun that names the prophets' product, paired with נִבְּאִים (nibb'im, "prophesying"), the same root as navi' ("prophet")—so the verse says they are doing the very act of prophecy while producing falsehood. The phrase "in My name" (בִּשְׁמִי) is the charge: they borrow Yahweh's authority without his commission.
The thread — Ezekiel 13:6 repeats the formula: false visions, lying divinations, "Thus says the LORD" when the LORD did not send. Jeremiah 29:8 warns exiles not to be deceived by prophets and diviners; Isaiah 30:10 shows the demand side—people asking for pleasant words rather than truth.
Why it lands — The verse shifts the test from content to source: a message can sound right and still be unauthorized, so the reader's task is to verify provenance before accepting the claim.
Drafted by a language model from the text, its original words and its cross-references, then checked against them. It can still be wrong: open the verse in the app to report it.
The Hebrew words
King James Version
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.
Cross-references
- Ezekiel 13:6 They see false visions and speak lying divinations. They claim, ‘Thus declares the LORD,’ when the LORD did not send them; yet they wait for the fulfillment of their message.
- Jeremiah 29:8 For this is what the LORD of Hosts, the God of Israel, says: “Do not be deceived by the prophets and diviners among you, and do not listen to the dreams you elicit from them.
- Isaiah 30:10 They say to the seers, “Stop seeing visions!” and to the prophets, “Do not prophesy to us the truth! Speak to us pleasant words; prophesy illusions.
- Jeremiah 29:31 “Send a message telling all the exiles what the LORD says concerning Shemaiah the Nehelamite. Because Shemaiah has prophesied to you—though I did not send him—and has made you trust in a lie,
- Lamentations 2:14 The visions of your prophets were empty and deceptive; they did not expose your guilt to ward off your captivity. The burdens they envisioned for you were empty and misleading.
- Ezekiel 12:24 For there will be no more false visions or flattering divinations within the house of Israel,
- Jeremiah 27:9 But as for you, do not listen to your prophets, your diviners, your interpreters of dreams, your mediums, or your sorcerers who declare, ‘You will not serve the king of Babylon.’
- 2 Thessalonians 2:9 The coming of the lawless one will be accompanied by the working of Satan, with every kind of power, sign, and false wonder,
- Jeremiah 5:31 The prophets prophesy falsely, and the priests rule by their own authority. My people love it so, but what will you do in the end?
- Micah 3:11 Her leaders judge for a bribe, her priests teach for a price, and her prophets practice divination for money. Yet they lean upon the LORD, saying, “Is not the LORD among us? No disaster can come upon us.”