16. The Lord proclaims:Don’t listen to the prophetswho are speaking to you;they are deceiving you.Their visions come from their own hearts,not from the Lord’s mouth.
17. They keep saying to those who scorn God’s message,"All will go well for you,"and to those who follow their own willful hearts,"Nothing bad will happen to you."
18. But who has stood in the Lord’s councilto listen to God’s word?Who has paid attention to his word and announced it?
19. Look! The Lord’s angry storm breaks out;it whirls around the heads of the wicked.
20. The Lord’s fierce angerwon’t turn backuntil it accomplishes all that he has planned.In the days to come,you will understand what this means.
21. I didn’t send the prophets,yet they ran anyway.I didn’t speak to them,yet they prophesied anyway.
22. If they had stood in my council,they would have proclaimedmy words to my people;they would have turned themfrom their evil ways and deeds.
23. The Lord declares, Am I a Godwho is only nearby and not far off?
24. Can people hide themselves in secret placesso I might not see them?Don’t I fill heaven and earth?
25. I have heard the prophets prophesying lies in my name. They claim, "I’ve had a dream; I’ve had a dream!"
26. How long will deceitful prophecies dominate the minds of the prophets? Those prophets are treacherous.
27. They scheme to make my people forget me by their dreams that people tell each other, just as their ancestors forgot me because of Baal.
28. Let the prophet who has a dream declare it, but let the one who has my word proclaim it faithfully.What a difference between straw and wheat!declares the Lord.