You leaders of Israel should be watchdogs, protecting my people. But you can't see a thing, and you never warn them. Dozing and daydreaming are all you ever do.
Pashhur, you are guilty of telling lies and claiming they were messages from me. That's why I will make the Babylonians take you, your family, and your friends as prisoners to Babylonia, where you will all die and be buried.
These prophets go to people who refuse to respect me and who are stubborn and do whatever they want. The prophets tell them, “The LORD has promised everything will be fine.”
I said, “You are the LORD God. So why have you fooled everyone, especially the people of Jerusalem? Why did you promise peace, when a knife is at our throats?”
Their prophets lie and say, “The LORD won't punish us. We will have peace and plenty of food.” They tell these lies in my name, so now they will be killed in war or starve to death.
Prophets give their messages in the name of a false god, my priests don't want to serve me, and you—my own people— like it this way! But on the day of disaster, where will you turn for help?
They do things I would never do. They lie to good people and encourage them to do wrong, and they convince the wicked to keep sinning and ruin their lives.
You leaders accept bribes for dishonest decisions. You priests and prophets teach and preach, but only for money. Then you say, “The LORD is on our side. No harm will come to us.”
Sometimes false prophets spoke to the people of Israel. False teachers will also sneak in and speak harmful lies to you. But these teachers don't really belong to the Master who paid a great price for them, and they will quickly destroy themselves.