Jeremiah 23:13

Easy-to-Read Version

"I saw the prophets of Samaria doing wrong things. I saw them prophesy in the name of the false god Baal. They led the people of Israel away from me.

Parallel Translations

Christian Standard Bible®
Among the prophets of SamariaI saw something disgusting:They prophesied by Baaland led my people Israel astray.

Hebrew Names Version
I have seen folly in the prophets of Shomron; they prophesied by Ba`al, and caused my people Yisra'el to err.

King James Version
And I have seen folly in the prophets of Samaria; they prophesied in Baal, and caused my people Israel to err.

English Standard Version
In the prophets of Samaria I saw an unsavory thing: they prophesied by Baal and led my people Israel astray.

New American Standard Bible
"Moreover, among the prophets of Samaria I saw an offensive thing: They prophesied by Baal and led My people Israel astray.

New Century Version
"I saw the prophets of Samaria do something wrong. Those prophets prophesied by Baal and led my people Israel away.

Amplified Bible
"And I have seen a foolish and an offensive thing in the prophets of Samaria: They prophesied by Baal and caused My people Israel to go astray.

World English Bible
I have seen folly in the prophets of Samaria; they prophesied by Baal, and caused my people Israel to err.

Geneva Bible (1587)
And I haue seene foolishnesse in the prophets of Samaria, that prophecied in Baal, & caused my people Israel to erre.

Legacy Standard Bible
"Moreover, among the prophets of Samaria I saw an offensive thing:They prophesied by Baal and led My people Israel astray.

Berean Standard Bible
"Among the prophets of Samaria I saw an offensive thing: They prophesied by Baal and led My people Israel astray.

Contemporary English Version
The prophets in Samaria were disgusting to me, because they preached in the name of Baal and led my people astray.

Complete Jewish Bible
"I have seen inappropriate conduct in the prophets of Shomron — they prophesied by Ba‘al and led my people Isra'el astray.

Darby Translation
And I have seen folly in the prophets of Samaria: they prophesied by Baal, and caused my people Israel to err.

George Lamsa Translation
And I have seen falsehood in the prophets of Samaria; they prophesied by Baal and caused my people Israel to err.

Good News Translation
I have seen the sin of Samaria's prophets: they have spoken in the name of Baal and have led my people astray.

Lexham English Bible
"Now in the prophets of Samaria I saw a disgusting thing. They prophesied by Baal and they caused my people Israel to err.

Literal Translation
And I have seen frivolity among the prophets of Samaria; they prophesied by Baal and led astray My people Israel.

Miles Coverdale Bible (1535)
I haue sene foly amonge the prophetes of Samaria, yt they preched for Baal, ad disceaued my people off Israel.

American Standard Version
And I have seen folly in the prophets of Samaria; they prophesied by Baal, and caused my people Israel to err.

Bible in Basic English
And I have seen ways without sense in the prophets of Samaria; they became prophets of the Baal, causing my people Israel to go wrong.

JPS Old Testament (1917)
And I have seen unseemliness in the prophets of Samaria: they prophesied by Baal, and caused My people Israel to err.

King James Version (1611)
And I haue seene folly in the prophets of Samaria; they prophecied in Baal, and caused my people Israel to erre.

Bishop's Bible (1568)
I haue seene folly among the prophetes of Samaria, that preached for Baal, and deceaued my people of Israel.

Brenton's Septuagint (LXX)
And in the prophets of Samaria I have seen lawless deeds; they prophesied by Baal, and led my people Israel astray.

English Revised Version
And I have seen folly in the prophets of Samaria; they prophesied by Baal, and caused my people Israel to err.

Wycliffe Bible (1395)
And in the profetis of Samarie Y siy fonnednesse, and thei profesieden in Baal, and disseyueden my puple Israel.

Update Bible Version
And I have seen folly in the prophets of Samaria; they prophesied by Baal, and caused my people Israel to err.

Webster's Bible Translation
And I have seen folly in the prophets of Samaria; they prophesied in Baal, and caused my people Israel to err.

New English Translation
The Lord says, "I saw the prophets of Samaria doing something that was disgusting. They prophesied in the name of the god Baal and led my people Israel astray.

New King James Version
"And I have seen folly in the prophets of Samaria: They prophesied by Baal And caused My people Israel to err.

New Living Translation
"I saw that the prophets of Samaria were terribly evil, for they prophesied in the name of Baal and led my people of Israel into sin.

New Life Bible
"In Samaria I have seen a very bad thing among the men of Samaria who tell what is going to happen in the future. They speak for the false god Baal, and have led My people into sin.

New Revised Standard
In the prophets of Samaria I saw a disgusting thing: they prophesied by Baal and led my people Israel astray.

J.B. Rotherham Emphasized Bible
Even among the prophets of Samaria, had I seen a foolish thing, - They prophesied by Baal, And led astray my people Israel.

Douay-Rheims Bible
And I have seen folly in the prophets of Samaria: they prophesied in Baal and deceived my people Israel.

Revised Standard Version
In the prophets of Sama'ria I saw an unsavory thing: they prophesied by Ba'al and led my people Israel astray.

Young's Literal Translation
And in prophets of Samaria I have seen folly, They have prophesied by Baal, And cause my people -- Israel -- to err.

THE MESSAGE
"Over in Samaria I saw prophets acting like silly fools—shocking! They preached using that no-god Baal for a text, messing with the minds of my people. And the Jerusalem prophets are even worse—horrible!— sex-driven, living a lie, Subsidizing a culture of wickedness, and never giving it a second thought. They're as bad as those wretches in old Sodom, the degenerates of old Gomorrah."

New American Standard Bible (1995)
"Moreover, among the prophets of Samaria I saw an offensive thing: They prophesied by Baal and led My people Israel astray.

Contextual Overview

⁹ A message to the prophets: I am very sad—my heart is broken. All my bones are shaking. Because of the Lord and his holy words, I am like a man who is drunk. ¹⁰ The land of Judah is full of people who commit adultery. They are unfaithful in many ways. So God cursed the land, and it became very dry. The plants are dried and dying in the pastures. The fields have become like the desert. The prophets are evil. They use their influence and power in the wrong way. ¹¹ This message is from the Lord : "The prophets and even the priests are evil. I have seen them doing evil things in my own Temple. ¹² I will stop giving my messages to them. They will walk in darkness. The road will be slippery for those prophets and priests, and they will fall in that darkness. I will bring disaster on them; I will punish them." This message is from the Lord . ¹³ "I saw the prophets of Samaria doing wrong things. I saw them prophesy in the name of the false god Baal. They led the people of Israel away from me. ¹⁴ I have even seen the prophets of Jerusalem doing sinful things. They are committing adultery and living a life of lies. They support their fellow prophets and never stop doing evil. They have become like Sodom; they are all like Gomorrah." ¹⁵ So this is what the Lord All-Powerful says about those Jerusalem prophets: "I will make them suffer. Their food will be bitter, their water like poison. I will punish them because they started a spiritual sickness that spread through the whole country." ¹⁶ This is what the Lord All-Powerful says: "Don't pay attention to what those prophets are saying to you. They are trying to fool you. They talk about visions, but they did not get their visions from me. Their visions come from their own minds. ¹⁷ Some of the people hate the real messages from the Lord , so the prophets give them a different message. They say, ‘You will have peace.' Some of the people are very stubborn. They do only what they want to do. So the prophets say, ‘Nothing bad will happen to you!' ¹⁸ But none of these prophets has stood in the heavenly council. None of them has seen or heard the message from the Lord . None of them has paid close attention to his message.

Bible Verse Review
  from Treasury of Scripure Knowledge

folly: or, an absurd thing, Heb. unsavoury

prophets: Hosea 9:7, Hosea 9:8

prophesied: Jeremiah 2:8, 1 Kings 18:18-21, 1 Kings 18:25-28, 1 Kings 18:40

and: 2 Chronicles 33:9, Isaiah 9:16

Reciprocal: Deuteronomy 18:20 - the prophet Proverbs 13:17 - wicked Isaiah 28:7 - err in Isaiah 56:10 - they are all dumb Jeremiah 36:2 - against Israel Ezekiel 13:10 - seduced Amos 2:4 - and their Matthew 7:15 - false Matthew 7:22 - have we

Cross-References

Genesis 23:5
The Hittites answered Abraham,

Genesis 23:8
He said to them, "If you really want to help me bury my dead wife, speak to Ephron the son of Zohar for me.

2 Samuel 24:24
But the king said to Araunah, "No! I must pay you for everything. I will not offer burnt offerings to the Lord my God that cost me nothing." So David bought the threshing floor and the oxen for 50 shekels of silver.

Acts 20:35
I always showed you that you should work just as I did and help people who are weak. I taught you to remember the words of the Lord Jesus: ‘You will have a greater blessing when you give than when you receive.'"

Romans 13:8
You should owe nothing to anyone, except that you will always owe love to each other. The person who loves others has done all that the law commands.

Colossians 4:5
Be wise in the way you act with those who are not believers. Use your time in the best way you can.

Hebrews 13:5
Keep your lives free from the love of money. And be satisfied with what you have. God has said, "I will never leave you; I will never run away from you."

Gill's Notes on the Bible

And I have seen folly in the prophets of Samaria,.... The ten tribes of Israel, among whom, in Ahab's time there were many false prophets, Baal's prophets, even four hundred and fifty; whose "folly" the Lord had formerly taken notice of; even their idolatry and impiety for giving into which the ten tribes had been carried captive years ago. The word r here used signifies that which is "unsavoury": something very unsavoury in their doctrines, and in their lives; they were as salt which has lost its savour and is good for nothing; to which bad ministers are compared, Matthew 5:13. These words are to be read in connection with the following, and may be rendered, "indeed I have seen folly in the prophets of Samaria"; of Israel in times past; "but I have seen in the prophets of Jerusalem" s that which is far worse; and therefore they must not expect to escape; or, as the Syriac version, "as I have seen in the prophets of Samaria--so have I seen in the prophets of Jerusalem", c. so that here is a comparison run between them and the latter are represented as worse than the former, though they were bad enough; as follows: for

they prophesied in Baal; in the name of Baal, whose prophets they were; so the Targum,

"they prophesied in the name of idols:''

or, "they prophesied by Baal", as the Septuagint version t; they pretended to be inspired by him, and to receive their prophecies from him: or, "they prophesied concerning Baal"; what he would do for them, for those that worshipped him. The Arabic version is, "they prophesied in my name to Baal"; which seems to be foreign from the sense of the place:

and caused my people Israel to err; by following their directions and instructions, and worshipping Baal.

r תפלה "insulsitatem", Junius Tremellius, Piscator, Schmidt "intulsa", Pagninus; "insulsam rem", Munster, Vatablus; "insulsum", Montanus, Cocceius. s So Schmidt. t בבעל, δια τον βααλ, Sept. "per Baalem", Schmidt. So Junius & Tremellius, Piscator.

Barnes' Notes on the Bible

And I have seen folly ... - Rather, “Also I have seen.” The prophet contrasts the prophets of Samaria with those of Jerusalem. In the conduct of the former God saw folly (literally that which is insipid, as being unsalted). It was stupidity to prophesy by Baal, an idol.

In Baal - i. e., in the name of Baal.

Clarke's Notes on the Bible

Verse Jeremiah 23:13. I have seen folly in the prophets of Samaria — This was not to be wondered at, for their religion was a system of corruption.