15. So the Lord who rules over all speaks about the prophets. He says, "I will make them eat bitter food. I will make them drink poisoned water. The prophets of Jerusalem have spread their ungodly ways all through the land."
16. The Lord who rules over all says to the people of Judah, "Do not listen to what the prophets are saying to you. They fill you with false hopes. They talk about visions that come from their own minds. What they say does not come from my mouth.
17. They keep speaking to those who hate me. They say, 'The Lord says you will have peace.' They speak to all those who do what their stubborn hearts want them to do. They tell them, 'No harm will come to you.'
18. But which of them has ever stood in my courts? Have they been there to see a vision or hear my message? Who has listened and heard my message there?
19. A storm will burst out because of my burning anger. A windstorm will sweep down on the heads of sinful people.
20. My anger will not turn back. I will accomplish everything I plan to do. In days to come you will understand it clearly.
21. I did not send those prophets. But they have run to tell you their message anyway. I did not speak to them. But they have still prophesied.
22. Suppose they had stood in my courts. Then they would have announced my message to my people. They would have turned my people from their evil ways. They would have turned them away from their sins.
23. "Am I only a God who is nearby?" announces the Lord. "Am I not a God who is also far away?
24. Can anyone hide in secret places so that I can't see him?" announces the Lord. "Don't I fill heaven and earth?" announces the Lord.
25. "I have heard what the prophets are saying. They prophesy lies in my name. They say, 'I had a dream! The Lord has given me a dream!'
26. How long will that continue in the hearts of those prophets who tell lies? They try to get others to believe their own mistaken ideas.
27. They tell one another their dreams. They think that will make my people forget my name. In the same way, their people of long ago forgot my name when they worshiped Baal.
28. "Let the prophet who has a dream tell his dream. But let the one who has my message speak it faithfully. Your prophets have given you straw to eat instead of grain," announces the Lord.
29. "My message is like fire," announces the Lord. "It is like a hammer that breaks a rock in pieces.
30. "So I am against those prophets," announces the Lord. "I am against those who steal messages from one another. They claim that the messages come from me.
31. "Yes," announces the Lord. "I am against the prophets who wag their own tongues but still say, 'Here is what the Lord says.'
32. I am against prophets who talk about dreams that did not come from me," announces the Lord. "They tell foolish lies. Their lies lead my people down the wrong path. "But I did not send those prophets. I did not appoint them. They do not help my people in the least," announces the Lord.
33. "Jeremiah, those people might ask you a question. Or a prophet or priest might do it. They might ask, 'What message have you received from the Lord?' "Then tell them, 'You ask, "What message?" Here it is. "I will desert you," announces the Lord.'
34. "A prophet or priest might make a claim. Or someone else might do it. He might claim, 'I have received a message from the Lord.' Then I will punish him and his family.