The big picture
Other speakers claim to speak for God, and he sends his prophet Ezekiel against them. Among Israel, God's people, these prophets offer words drawn from their own minds. They promise peace where there is none and fail to prepare people for danger. God compares their work to a weak wall covered with poor plaster. Women using ritual objects also receive a warning for lies that trap people. God will expose the false speakers and free those held by their claims.
In this chapter
- Invented Messages Leave the Gaps Open Ezekiel 13:1-9
Ezekiel must confront prophets who follow their own spirit while claiming God's authority.
- The Whitewashed Wall Falls in the Storm Ezekiel 13:10-16
The false message is peace, though no peace exists.
- Lies Are Sold Through Ritual Objects Ezekiel 13:17-19
God also sends Ezekiel against women who prophesy from their own minds.
- God Tears Away the Means of Entrapment Ezekiel 13:20-23
God declares that he will tear away the ritual objects and release the people trapped through them.
Central truth
False prophets promise safety without God's word, while their lies discourage the innocent and help the wicked persist in wrongdoing.
Scripture beside the summary
Ezekiel · King James Version · 23Ezekiel 13:1-9
Invented Messages Leave the Gaps Open
Ezekiel must confront prophets who follow their own spirit while claiming God's authority. They have seen nothing from him. God compares them to foxes among ruins. They do not repair the breaches that leave his people exposed to battle. Instead, they offer empty visions and lying predictions, expecting their words to come true though God never sent them. He declares himself against them. They will lose their place in his people's gathering, their entry in its register, and their right to enter the land. A claim to speak for God cannot replace his actual word.
In everyday life
A flood volunteer reads an unsigned safety certificate handed out beside a broken embankment. Its confident stamp has drawn attention away from the hole that still needs repair. She puts the certificate down and points to the gap. The false prophets claim God's authority, while the volunteer can check a physical defect against an ordinary record.
Notice
Ezekiel 13:5 The prophets have not stood in the gaps or repaired the defence. Their failure includes leaving people unprepared, not only speaking words that turn out to be false.
Ezekiel 13:1-9
King James Version1And the word of the LORD came unto me, saying,
2Son of man, prophesy against the prophets of Israel that prophesy, and say thou unto them that prophesy out of their own hearts, Hear ye the word of the LORD;
3Thus saith the Lord GOD; Woe unto the foolish prophets, that follow their own spirit, and have seen nothing!
4O Israel, thy prophets are like the foxes in the deserts.
5Ye have not gone up into the gaps, neither made up the hedge for the house of Israel to stand in the battle in the day of the LORD.
6They have seen vanity and lying divination, saying, The LORD saith: and the LORD hath not sent them: and they have made others to hope that they would confirm the word.
7Have ye not seen a vain vision, and have ye not spoken a lying divination, whereas ye say, The LORD saith it; albeit I have not spoken?
8Therefore thus saith the Lord GOD; Because ye have spoken vanity, and seen lies, therefore, behold, I am against you, saith the Lord GOD.
9And mine hand shall be upon the prophets that see vanity, and that divine lies: they shall not be in the assembly of my people, neither shall they be written in the writing of the house of Israel, neither shall they enter into the land of Israel; and ye shall know that I am the Lord GOD.
Ezekiel 13:10-16
The Whitewashed Wall Falls in the Storm
The false message is peace, though no peace exists. God pictures one person building a wall while others coat it with weak mortar. Heavy rain, hail, and wind will bring it down. Once it falls, people will ask what became of the coating that made it seem sound. God identifies the storm with his own anger. He will expose the wall's foundation and destroy those who coated it. The wall and its builders will both be gone. This is his answer to prophets who announce peace for Jerusalem, the capital, without receiving that promise.
In everyday life
A plasterer taps a freshly painted partition and hears the hollow gap beneath its smooth surface. The owner has booked the room for guests on the strength of its appearance. She removes a loose patch and exposes the failed joints. Ezekiel's falling wall portrays God's judgement on false promises of peace, not an ordinary building inspection.
Notice
Ezekiel 13:16 God names the wall's coaters as the prophets who predict peace for the city. The building picture is explained. Its meaning need not be guessed from the storm alone.
Ezekiel 13:10-16
King James Version10Because, even because they have seduced my people, saying, Peace; and there was no peace; and one built up a wall, and, lo, others daubed it with untempered morter:
11Say unto them which daub it with untempered morter, that it shall fall: there shall be an overflowing shower; and ye, O great hailstones, shall fall; and a stormy wind shall rend it.
12Lo, when the wall is fallen, shall it not be said unto you, Where is the daubing wherewith ye have daubed it?
13Therefore thus saith the Lord GOD; I will even rend it with a stormy wind in my fury; and there shall be an overflowing shower in mine anger, and great hailstones in my fury to consume it.
14So will I break down the wall that ye have daubed with untempered morter, and bring it down to the ground, so that the foundation thereof shall be discovered, and it shall fall, and ye shall be consumed in the midst thereof: and ye shall know that I am the LORD.
15Thus will I accomplish my wrath upon the wall, and upon them that have daubed it with untempered morter, and will say unto you, The wall is no more, neither they that daubed it;
16To wit, the prophets of Israel which prophesy concerning Jerusalem, and which see visions of peace for her, and there is no peace, saith the Lord GOD.
Ezekiel 13:17-19
Lies Are Sold Through Ritual Objects
God also sends Ezekiel against women who prophesy from their own minds. They sew padded objects and make coverings used to ensnare people; the exact practice is unclear. God asks why they hunt his people's lives while claiming to preserve them. For small payments of grain and bread, they profane his name. Their lies bring death to people who should live and preserve those who should not. The accusation concerns the harm their claims cause, not sewing as an ordinary craft. Their ritual work trades on God's name without his truth.
In everyday life
A consumer advocate examines cloth tokens sold to frightened families with promises of protection. She records the small payments and the threats used to keep buyers dependent. The objects matter because of the claims attached to them. Ezekiel names harm to life under false divine authority; the advocate does not know the ancient ritual's exact form.
Notice
Ezekiel 13:19 The payments are handfuls of barley and pieces of bread. The small price does not make the lies harmless when God's name and human lives are involved.
Ezekiel 13:17-19
King James Version17Likewise, thou son of man, set thy face against the daughters of thy people, which prophesy out of their own heart; and prophesy thou against them,
18And say, Thus saith the Lord GOD; Woe to the women that sew pillows to all armholes, and make kerchiefs upon the head of every stature to hunt souls! Will ye hunt the souls of my people, and will ye save the souls alive that come unto you?
19And will ye pollute me among my people for handfuls of barley and for pieces of bread, to slay the souls that should not die, and to save the souls alive that should not live, by your lying to my people that hear your lies?
Ezekiel 13:20-23
God Tears Away the Means of Entrapment
God declares that he will tear away the ritual objects and release the people trapped through them. They will no longer remain in the women's hands as prey. He names the moral reversal in their lies: righteous people have been made sad without his warrant, while wicked people have been encouraged to continue. Promises of life have kept them from turning away from evil. God will end the empty visions and false predictions. His people will be rescued from their control and will know that he is the Lord.
In everyday life
A support-line adviser helps a caller lay out messages from a manipulative fortune seller. The threats have frightened an honest relative while excusing the conduct of the person causing harm. Together they identify which claims hold the family in fear. God promises to break the deceivers' hold himself, not merely help people assess troubling messages.
Notice
Ezekiel 13:22 The lies harm the righteous and strengthen the wicked at the same time. Their moral effect is part of God's charge against them, not a separate concern.
Ezekiel 13:20-23
King James Version20Wherefore thus saith the Lord GOD; Behold, I am against your pillows, wherewith ye there hunt the souls to make them fly, and I will tear them from your arms, and will let the souls go, even the souls that ye hunt to make them fly.
21Your 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 ye shall know that I am the LORD.
22Because with lies ye have made the heart of the righteous sad, whom I have not made sad; and strengthened the hands of the wicked, that he should not return from his wicked way, by promising him life:
23Therefore ye shall see no more vanity, nor divine divinations: for I will deliver my people out of your hand: and ye shall know that I am the LORD.
Details worth noticing
The opening image
Ezekiel 13:1 begins with “And the word of the LORD came unto me, saying,”
Where the chapter turns
Ezekiel 13:12 forms a natural hinge: “Lo, when the wall is fallen, shall it not be said unto you, Where is the daubing wherewith ye have daubed it?”
The final note
Ezekiel 13:23 leaves the reader with “Therefore ye shall see no more vanity, nor divine divinations: for I will deliver my people out of your hand: and ye shall know that I am the LORD.”
A word trail through the chapter
The words LORD, people, souls, Israel, prophesy, daubed help reveal the chapter’s repeated concerns.
KJV words made clear
- untempered morter
- Poorly prepared material spread on a wall, unable to provide sound protection.
- divination
- An attempt to gain hidden knowledge or predictions through supernatural means.
Music and video connected to the passage
Related media appears when its Scripture reference overlaps this study. Music and video can illuminate a theme while the biblical text remains the foundation.
