Because they have committed villany in Israel, and have committed adultery with their neighbours' wives, and have spoken lying words in my name, which I have not commanded them; even I know, and {am} a witness, saith the LORD.

Except the LORD of hosts had left unto us a very small remnant, we should have been as Sodom, {and} we should have been like unto Gomorrah.

{There is} a conspiracy of her prophets in the midst thereof, like a roaring lion ravening the prey; they have devoured souls; they have taken the treasure and precious things; they have made her many widows in the midst thereof.

The heads thereof judge for reward, and the priests thereof teach for hire, and the prophets thereof divine for money: yet will they lean upon the LORD, and say, {Is} not the LORD among us? none evil can come upon us. {and say: Heb. saying}

And the LORD said, Because the cry of Sodom and Gomorrah is great, and because their sin is very grievous;

Because 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: {by...: or, that I should save his life: Heb. by quickening him}

Behold, I {am} against them that prophesy false dreams, saith the LORD, and do tell them, and cause my people to err by their lies, and by their lightness; yet I sent them not, nor commanded them: therefore they shall not profit this people at all, saith the LORD.

For their vine {is} of the vine of Sodom, and of the fields of Gomorrah: their grapes {are} grapes of gall, their clusters {are} bitter: {of the vine: or, worse than the vine}

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.

And thine elder sister {is} Samaria, she and her daughters that dwell at thy left hand: and thy younger sister, that dwelleth at thy right hand, {is} Sodom and her daughters. {thy younger: Heb. lesser than thou}

Her prophets {are} light {and} treacherous persons: her priests have polluted the sanctuary, they have done violence to the law.

Son 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; {that prophesy out...: Heb. that are prophets out of their own hearts}

But I say unto you, That it shall be more tolerable for the land of Sodom in the day of judgment, than for thee.

They helped every one his neighbour; and {every one} said to his brother, Be of good courage. {Be...: Heb. Be strong}

And let that man be as the cities which the LORD overthrew, and repented not: and let him hear the cry in the morning, and the shouting at noontide;

A wonderful and horrible thing is committed in the land; {A wonderful...: or, Astonishment and filthiness}

But the men of Sodom {were} wicked and sinners before the LORD exceedingly.

I have heard what the prophets said, that prophesy lies in my name, saying, I have dreamed, I have dreamed.

But the fearful, and unbelieving, and the abominable, and murderers, and whoremongers, and sorcerers, and idolaters, and all liars, shall have their part in the lake which burneth with fire and brimstone: which is the second death.

And the beast was taken, and with him the false prophet that wrought miracles before him, with which he deceived them that had received the mark of the beast, and them that worshipped his image. These both were cast alive into a lake of fire burning with brimstone.

For without {are} dogs, and sorcerers, and whoremongers, and murderers, and idolaters, and whosoever loveth and maketh a lie.

Speaking lies in hypocrisy; having their conscience seared with a hot iron;

{Even him}, whose coming is after the working of Satan with all power and signs and lying wonders,

And turning the cities of Sodom and Gomorrha into ashes condemned {them} with an overthrow, making {them} an ensample unto those that after should live ungodly;

Even as Sodom and Gomorrha, and the cities about them in like manner, giving themselves over to fornication, and going after strange flesh, are set forth for an example, suffering the vengeance of eternal fire. {strange: Gr. other}

And their dead bodies {shall lie} in the street of the great city, which spiritually is called Sodom and Egypt, where also our Lord was crucified.

Having eyes full of adultery, and that cannot cease from sin; beguiling unstable souls: an heart they have exercised with covetous practices; cursed children: {adultery: Gr. an adulteress}

But there were false prophets also among the people, even as there shall be false teachers among you, who privily shall bring in damnable heresies, even denying the Lord that bought them, and bring upon themselves swift destruction.

{To 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.

The burden of the word of the LORD to Israel by Malachi. {by...: Heb. by the hand of}

They say still unto them that despise me, The LORD hath said, Ye shall have peace; and they say unto every one that walketh after the imagination of his own heart, No evil shall come upon you. {imagination: or, stubbornness}

Therefore thus saith the LORD; Ask ye now among the heathen, who hath heard such things: the virgin of Israel hath done a very horrible thing.

Because 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: {by...: or, that I should save his life: Heb. by quickening him}

And their dead bodies {shall lie} in the street of the great city, which spiritually is called Sodom and Egypt, where also our Lord was crucified.

And it shall come to pass in that day, saith the LORD of hosts, {that} I will cut off the names of the idols out of the land, and they shall no more be remembered: and also I will cause the prophets and the unclean spirit to pass out of the land.

Because they have committed villany in Israel, and have committed adultery with their neighbours' wives, and have spoken lying words in my name, which I have not commanded them; even I know, and {am} a witness, saith the LORD.

A wonderful and horrible thing is committed in the land; {A wonderful...: or, Astonishment and filthiness}

I have overthrown {some} of you, as God overthrew Sodom and Gomorrah, and ye were as a firebrand plucked out of the burning: yet have ye not returned unto me, saith the LORD.

Woe unto them that draw iniquity with cords of vanity, and sin as it were with a cart rope:

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.

And 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?

Therefore thus saith the LORD; Ask ye now among the heathen, who hath heard such things: the virgin of Israel hath done a very horrible thing.

If a man walking in the spirit and falsehood do lie, {saying}, I will prophesy unto thee of wine and of strong drink; he shall even be the prophet of this people. {walking...: or, walk with the wind, and lie falsely}

Then the king of Israel gathered the prophets together, about four hundred men, and said unto them, Shall I go against Ramothgilead to battle, or shall I forbear? And they said, Go up; for the Lord shall deliver {it} into the hand of the king.

Hear the word of the LORD, ye rulers of Sodom; give ear unto the law of our God, ye people of Gomorrah.

They have belied the LORD, and said, {It is} not he; neither shall evil come upon us; neither shall we see sword nor famine:

Speaking lies in hypocrisy; having their conscience seared with a hot iron;

Moreover thou shalt say unto them, Thus saith the LORD; Shall they fall, and not arise? shall he turn away, and not return?

I have seen an horrible thing in the house of Israel: there {is} the whoredom of Ephraim, Israel is defiled.

And when they had gone through the isle unto Paphos, they found a certain sorcerer, a false prophet, a Jew, whose name {was} Barjesus:

Therefore {it is} no great thing if his ministers also be transformed as the ministers of righteousness; whose end shall be according to their works.

Let no man deceive you with vain words: for because of these things cometh the wrath of God upon the children of disobedience. {disobedience: or, unbelief}

Her adversaries are the chief, her enemies prosper; for the LORD hath afflicted her for the multitude of her transgressions: her children are gone into captivity before the enemy.

For there shall be no more any vain vision nor flattering divination within the house of Israel.

Therefore thus saith the LORD concerning the prophets that prophesy in my name, and I sent them not, yet they say, Sword and famine shall not be in this land; By sword and famine shall those prophets be consumed.

And among the sons of the priests there were found that had taken strange wives: {namely}, of the sons of Jeshua the son of Jozadak, and his brethren; Maaseiah, and Eliezer, and Jarib, and Gedaliah.

And thine elder sister {is} Samaria, she and her daughters that dwell at thy left hand: and thy younger sister, that dwelleth at thy right hand, {is} Sodom and her daughters. {thy younger: Heb. lesser than thou}

Destroy, O Lord, {and} divide their tongues: for I have seen violence and strife in the city.

So two {or} three cities wandered unto one city, to drink water; but they were not satisfied: yet have ye not returned unto me, saith the LORD.

Behold, ye trust in lying words, that cannot profit.

For from the least of them even unto the greatest of them every one {is} given to covetousness; and from the prophet even unto the priest every one dealeth falsely.

Therefore the king of Israel gathered together of prophets four hundred men, and said unto them, Shall we go to Ramothgilead to battle, or shall I forbear? And they said, Go up; for God will deliver {it} into the king's hand.

The ancient and honourable, he {is} the head; and the prophet that teacheth lies, he {is} the tail.

And thou, Pashur, and all that dwell in thine house shall go into captivity: and thou shalt come to Babylon, and there thou shalt die, and shalt be buried there, thou, and all thy friends, to whom thou hast prophesied lies.

He said unto him, I {am} a prophet also as thou {art}; and an angel spake unto me by the word of the LORD, saying, Bring him back with thee into thine house, that he may eat bread and drink water. {But} he lied unto him.

For this city hath been to me {as} a provocation of mine anger and of my fury from the day that they built it even unto this day; that I should remove it from before my face, {a provocation...: Heb. for my anger}

It may be that the house of Judah will hear all the evil which I purpose to do unto them; that they may return every man from his evil way; that I may forgive their iniquity and their sin.