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Saturday, July 19th, 2025
the Week of Proper 10 / Ordinary 15
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Read the Bible

The NET Bible®

Jeremiah 23:13

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.

Bible Study Resources

Concordances:

- Nave's Topical Bible - Baal;   Scofield Reference Index - Israel;   Thompson Chain Reference - Leaders;   Ministers;   Religious;   The Topic Concordance - Evil;   Prophecy and Prophets;   Sending and Those Sent;   Torrey's Topical Textbook - Prophecy;   Prophets, False;  

Dictionaries:

- Bridgeway Bible Dictionary - Prophecy, prophet;   Samaria, samaritans;   Baker Evangelical Dictionary of Biblical Theology - False Prophet;   Immorality, Sexual;   Holman Bible Dictionary - False Prophet;   Jeremiah;   Lamentations, Book of;   Prophecy, Prophets;   Samaria, Samaritans;  

Encyclopedias:

- International Standard Bible Encyclopedia - Err;   Fool;   Micaiah;   Samaria, City of;   Samaria, Country of;  

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.
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.
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 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 Here is what the Lord says concerning the false prophets: My heart and my mind are deeply disturbed. I tremble all over. I am like a drunk person, like a person who has had too much wine, because of the way the Lord and his holy word are being mistreated. 10 For the land is full of people unfaithful to him. They live wicked lives and they misuse their power. So the land is dried up because it is under his curse. The pastures in the wilderness are withered. 11 Moreover, the Lord says, "Both the prophets and priests are godless. I have even found them doing evil in my temple! 12 So the paths they follow will be dark and slippery. They will stumble and fall headlong. For I will bring disaster on them. A day of reckoning is coming for them." The Lord affirms it! 13 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. 14 But I see the prophets of Jerusalem doing something just as shocking. They are unfaithful to me and continually prophesy lies. So they give encouragement to people who are doing evil, with the result that they do not stop their evildoing. I consider all of them as bad as the people of Sodom, and the citizens of Jerusalem as bad as the people of Gomorrah. 15 So then I, the Lord who rules over all, have something to say concerning the prophets of Jerusalem: ‘I will make these prophets eat the bitter food of suffering and drink the poison water of judgment. For the prophets of Jerusalem are the reason that ungodliness has spread throughout the land.'" 16 The Lord who rules over all says to the people of Jerusalem: "Do not listen to what those prophets are saying to you. They are filling you with false hopes. They are reporting visions of their own imaginations, not something the Lord has given them to say. 17 They continually say to those who reject what the Lord has said, ‘Things will go well for you!' They say to all those who follow the stubborn inclinations of their own hearts, ‘Nothing bad will happen to you!' 18 Yet which of them has ever stood in the Lord 's inner circle so they could see and hear what he has to say? Which of them have ever paid attention or listened to what he has said?

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 sons of Heth answered Abraham,
Genesis 23:8
Then he said to them, "If you agree that I may bury my dead, then hear me out. Ask Ephron the son of Zohar
2 Samuel 24:24
But the king said to Araunah, "No, I insist on buying it from you! I will not offer to the Lord my God burnt sacrifices that cost me nothing." So David bought the threshing floor and the oxen for fifty pieces of silver.
Acts 20:35
By all these things, I have shown you that by working in this way we must help the weak, and remember the words of the Lord Jesus that he himself said, ‘It is more blessed to give than to receive.'"
Romans 13:8
Owe no one anything, except to love one another, for the one who loves his neighbor has fulfilled the law.
Colossians 4:5
Conduct yourselves with wisdom toward outsiders, making the most of the opportunities.
Hebrews 13:5
Your conduct must be free from the love of money and you must be content with what you have, for he has said, " I will never leave you and I will never abandon 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.


 
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