Ezequiel 13

ARC · Chapter 13/48

1E veiu a mim a palavra do Senhor, dizendo:

2Filho do homem, prophetiza contra os prophetas de Israel que prophetizam, e dize aos que prophetizam de seu coração: Ouvi a palavra do Senhor:

3Assim diz o Senhor Jehovah: Ai dos prophetas loucos, que seguem o seu proprio espirito e o que não viram!

4Os teus prophetas, ó Israel, são como raposas nos desertos.

5Não subistes ás brechas, nem tapastes o muro quebrado para a casa d'Israel, para estardes na peleja no dia do Senhor.

6Vêem vaidade e adivinhação mentirosa os que dizem: O Senhor disse; e o Senhor os não enviou: e fazem que se espere o cumprimento da palavra.

7Porventura não vêdes visão de vaidade, e não fallaes adivinhação mentirosa, quando dizeis: O Senhor diz, sendo que eu tal não fallei

8Portanto assim diz o Senhor Jehovah: Porquanto fallaes vaidade, e vêdes a mentira, portanto eis que eu sou contra vós, diz o Senhor Jehovah.

9E a minha mão será contra os prophetas que vêem vaidade e que adivinham mentira: na congregação do meu povo não estarão, nem nos registros da casa d'Israel se escreverão, nem entrarão na terra de Israel: e sabereis que eu sou o Senhor Jehovah.

10Porquanto, sim, porquanto andam enganando o meu povo, dizendo: Paz, não havendo paz; e um edifica a parede de lodo, e eis que outros a rebocam de cal não adubada;

11Dize aos que a rebocam de cal não adubada que cairá: haverá uma grande pancada de chuva, e vós, ó pedras grandes de saraiva, caireis, e um vento tempestuoso a fenderá.

12Ora, eis que, caindo a parede, não vos dirão: Então onde está o reboco de que a rebocastes?

13Portanto assim diz o Senhor Jehovah: Um vento tempestuoso farei, sim, romper no meu furor, e uma grande pancada de chuva haverá na minha ira, e grandes pedras de saraiva na minha indignação, para consumir.

14E derribarei a parede que rebocastes de cal não adubada, e darei com ella por terra, e o seu fundamento se descobrirá; assim cairá, e perecereis no meio d'ella, e sabereis que eu sou o Senhor.

15Assim cumprirei o meu furor contra a parede, e contra os que a rebocam de cal não adubada; e vos direi: Já não ha parede, nem existem os que a rebocam;

16A saber, os prophetas de Israel, que prophetizam de Jerusalem, e vêem para ella visão de paz, não havendo paz, diz o Senhor Jehovah.

17E tu, ó filho do homem, dirige o teu rosto contra as filhas do teu povo, que prophetizam de seu coração, e prophetiza contra ellas.

18E dize: Assim diz o Senhor Jehovah: Ai das que cozem almofadas para todos os sovacos, e que fazem travesseiros para cabeças de toda a estatua, para caçarem as almas! porventura caçareis as almas do meu povo? e as almas guardareis em vida para vós?

19E me profanareis para com o meu povo, por punhados de cevada, e por pedaços de pão, para matardes as almas que não haviam de morrer, e para guardardes em vida as almas que não haviam de viver, mentindo assim ao meu povo que escuta a mentira?

20Portanto assim diz o Senhor Jehovah: Eis ahi vou eu contra as vossas almofadas, com que vós ali caçaes as almas nos jardins, e as arrancarei de vossos braços, e soltarei as almas que vós caçaes, as almas nos jardins.

21E rasgarei os vossos toucadores, e livrarei o meu povo das vossas mãos, e nunca mais estarão em vossas mãos para vossa caça; e sabereis que eu sou o Senhor.

22Porquanto entristecestes o coração do justo com falsidade, não o havendo eu entristecido; e porquanto esforçastes as mãos do impio, para que não se desviasse do seu mau caminho, para guardal-o em vida;

23Portanto não vereis mais a vaidade, nem adivinhareis adivinhação; mas livrarei o meu povo das vossas mãos, e sabereis que eu sou o Senhor.

📖 Chapter study

Summary

God condemns the false prophets who proclaim 'peace' when there is no peace, comparing them to those who plaster a weak wall with untempered mortar, and He also condemns the false prophetesses who deceive the people with sorcery.

Explanation

False prophets were a recurring problem in Israel, telling the people what they wanted to hear instead of God's truth (compare with Jeremiah 6:14, written around the same time). The image of a wall plastered with weak mortar perfectly illustrates the danger: from the outside it looks solid, but it collapses at the first real storm. The prophetesses mentioned practiced some kind of magic with bands and veils, selling false guarantees of spiritual protection for token prices ('handfuls of barley'). The lesson for today is the importance of discerning between true comfort and empty words that merely avoid confronting reality.

Fun facts

  • The practice of 'hunting souls' with charms (v.18-20) is one of the only detailed biblical accounts of popular Israelite sorcery, showing that magical practices existed, unlawfully, alongside the official faith.
  • The metaphor of the collapsing wall is picked up by Jesus in the parable of the house built on sand (Matthew 7:24-27), with the same principle that appearances without a solid foundation cannot withstand the test.

Verse-by-verse explanation

  1. Ezequiel 13:1This opens a new oracle, this time aimed directly at the false prophets of Israel.
  2. Ezequiel 13:2The chapter’s central accusation appears right at the opening: these prophets speak on their own authority, inventing messages God never gave.
  3. Ezequiel 13:3God calls these prophets foolish precisely because they follow their own imagination, without having received any real vision from God.
  4. Ezequiel 13:4Comparing the false prophets to “foxes in the deserts” is a way of saying they dig burrows to hide in rather than reinforce the city’s defenses — they use the office of prophet for their own gain, with no real commitment to the people.
  5. Ezequiel 13:5The image of shoring up a gap in the wall compares the prophet’s role to that of a city’s defender — these false prophets failed to give timely warning of the real danger approaching.
  6. Ezequiel 13:6The problem is not just the lie itself, but that these false messages gave the people hope that everything would be fine, when it would not.
  7. Ezequiel 13:7God confronts the false prophets directly: they attribute to Him words that never came from God’s mouth.
  8. Ezequiel 13:8The consequence announced is personal: God sets Himself directly against these prophets, not just against the content of their false messages.
  9. Ezequiel 13:9The punishment includes losing their place among God’s people entirely — neither taking part in the community nor being counted among those who return to the land.
  10. Ezequiel 13:10The wall plastered with “untempered morter” is an image of shoddy construction disguised as sound — the false prophets promised peace with no foundation, and the text warns that the first storm will bring it all down.
  11. Ezequiel 13:11The image of the shoddy wall gains detail: a storm of rain, hail, and wind will easily bring down what looked solid but was only a disguise.
  12. Ezequiel 13:12When the wall falls, everyone will ask about the plaster that promised safety — the question exposes the uselessness of the false assurance the prophets gave.
  13. Ezequiel 13:13God claims authorship of the storm that will destroy the shoddy wall — the collapse of the false security is no accident, it is direct judgment.
  14. Ezequiel 13:14The wall’s collapse will be so complete that even the foundation will be exposed — and whoever built that false security will be struck down along with it.
  15. Ezequiel 13:15God declares that both the wall and its builders will vanish together — neither the disguise nor the one who made it will be left standing.
  16. Ezequiel 13:16This closes the metaphor by explaining who the builders of the shoddy wall really are: the prophets who announced peace for Jerusalem when there was no peace at all.
  17. Ezequiel 13:17The second half of the chapter shifts the target: now it is women among the people practicing a similar kind of false prophecy, and Ezekiel is ordered to confront them too.
  18. Ezequiel 13:18The “pillows” and “kerchiefs” made by certain women were probably amulets or divination items sold as magical protection — the accusation is that they profited by trapping and releasing lives through paid superstition, exploiting other people’s fear.
  19. Ezequiel 13:19The accusation is that these women charged for their divination services — a bit of food in exchange for lies that, in practice, decided life and death for the people who believed them.
  20. Ezequiel 13:20God promises to literally tear away the objects used in these practices — destroying the tool used to exploit and trap people through fear.
  21. Ezequiel 13:21Besides the amulets, the kerchiefs will also be torn away — God promises to free the people from this religious exploitation disguised as spiritual protection.
  22. Ezequiel 13:22The double accusation: these women saddened innocent people for no reason while, at the same time, giving false hope to wrongdoers, encouraging them to keep on doing wrong.
  23. Ezequiel 13:23The chapter ends with the same promise given to the male false prophets: an end to these practices and the people’s freedom from this deceptive influence.

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