Ezekiel 13 · Verse 3

Ezekiel 13:3

Thus saith the Lord God; Woe unto the foolish prophets, that follow their own spirit, and have seen nothing!

Ezekiel 13:3, King James Version

Ezekiel 13:3 in other translations

BSB	This is what the Lord GOD says: Woe to the foolish prophets who follow their own spirit, yet have seen nothing.
WEB	The Lord GOD says, “Woe to the foolish prophets, who follow their own spirit, and have seen nothing!
ASV	Thus saith the Lord Jehovah, Woe unto the foolish prophets, that follow their own spirit, and have seen nothing!
YLT	Thus said the Lord Jehovah: Woe unto the prophets who are foolish, Who are going after their own spirit, And they have seen nothing.
DARBY	Thus saith the Lord Jehovah: Woe unto the foolish prophets, that follow their own spirit, and have seen nothing!
BBE	This is what the Lord has said: A curse on the foolish prophets who go after the spirit which is in them and have seen nothing!
Webster	Thus saith the Lord GOD; Woe to the foolish prophets, that follow their own spirit, and have seen nothing!

What does Ezekiel 13:3 mean?

Jamieson-Fausset-Brown

3. foolish--though vaunting as though exclusively possessing "wisdom" (1Co 1:19-21); the fear of God being the only beginning of wisdom (Psa 111:10). their own spirit--instead of the Spirit of God. A threefold distinction lay between the false and the true prophets: (1) The source of their messages respectively; of the false, "their own hearts"; of the true, an object presented to the spiritual sense (named from the noblest of the senses, a seeing) by the Spirit of God as from without, not produced by their own natural powers of reflection. The word, the body of the thought, presented itself not audibly to the natural sense, but directly to the spirit of the prophet; and so the perception of it is properly called a seeing, he perceiving that which thereafter forms itself in his soul as the cover of the external word [Delitzsch]; hence the peculiar expression, "seeing the word of God" (Is 2:1; 13:1; Am 1:1; Mi 1:1). (2) The point aimed at; the false "walking after their own spirit"; the true, after the Spirit of God. (3) The result; the false saw nothing, but spake as if they had seen; the true had a vision, not subjective, but objectively real [Fairbairn]. A refutation of those who set the inward word above the objective, and represent the Bible as flowing subjectively from the inner light of its writers, not from the revelation of the Holy Ghost from without. "They are impatient to get possession of the kernel without its fostering shell--they would have Christ without the Bible" [Bengel].

Robert Jamieson, A. R. Fausset & David Brown, 1871 · public domain

Matthew Henry's Concise Commentary on Ezekiel 13:1-9

Heavy judgments against lying prophets. (Ezek 13:1-9) The insufficiency of their work. (Ezek 13:10-16) Woes against false prophetesses. (Ezek 13:17-23) Verses 1-9 Where God gives a warrant to do any thing, he gives wisdom. What they delivered was not what they had seen or heard, as that is which the ministers of Christ deliver. They were not praying prophets, had no intercourse with Heaven; they contrived how to…

Read the full comment on Ezekiel 13:1-9 →

Ezekiel 13:3 in the original Hebrew

Word-by-word with transliteration, English gloss and Strong's number. Tap a number for the full definition and every place the word is used.

כֹּ֤הkohthusH3541

אָמַר֙'a.Marhe saysH559

אֲדֹנָ֣י'a.do.Nai[the] LordH136

יְהוִ֔הYah.wehYahwehH3069

ה֖וֹיHowoe!H1945

עַל\־'al-onH5921

הַנְּבִיאִ֣יםha.ne.vi.'Imthe prophetsH5030

הַנְּבָלִ֑יםha.ne.va.Limthe foolsH5036

אֲשֶׁ֥ר'a.SherwhoH834

הֹלְכִ֛יםho.le.Khim[are] walkingH1980

אַחַ֥ר'a.CharafterH310

רוּחָ֖םru.Chamown spirit theirH7307

וּלְבִלְתִּ֥יu.le.vil.Tiand to notH1115

רָאֽוּ\׃ra.'Uthey have seenH7200

Source: STEPBible TAHOT/TAGNT (Tyndale House, CC BY 4.0).

Cross references for Ezekiel 13:3

Lamentations 2:14
Thy prophets have seen vain and foolish things for thee: and they have not discovered thine iniquity, to turn away thy captivity; but have seen for thee false burdens and causes of banishment.
Jeremiah 23:28-32
The prophet that hath a dream, let him tell a dream; and he that hath my word, let him speak my word faithfully. What is the chaff to the wheat? saith the Lord. Is not my word like as a fire? saith the Lord; and like a hammer that breaketh the rock in pieces? Therefore, behold, I am against the prophets, saith the Lord, that steal my words every one from his neighbour. Behold, I am against the prophets, saith the Lord, that use their tongues, and say, He saith. …
Hosea 9:7
The days of visitation are come, the days of recompence are come; Israel shall know it: the prophet is a fool, the spiritual man is mad, for the multitude of thine iniquity, and the great hatred.
Jeremiah 23:1
Woe be unto the pastors that destroy and scatter the sheep of my pasture! saith the Lord.
Matthew 23:13-29
But woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for ye shut up the kingdom of heaven against men: for ye neither go in yourselves, neither suffer ye them that are entering to go in. Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for ye devour widows’ houses, and for a pretence make long prayer: therefore ye shall receive the greater damnation. Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for ye compass sea and land to make one proselyte, and when he is made, ye make him twofold more the child of hell than yourselves. Woe unto you, ye blind guides, which say, Whosoever shall swear by the temple, it is nothing; but whosoever shall swear by the gold of the temple, he is a debtor! …
Ezekiel 34:2
Son of man, prophesy against the shepherds of Israel, prophesy, and say unto them, Thus saith the Lord God unto the shepherds; Woe be to the shepherds of Israel that do feed themselves! should not the shepherds feed the flocks?
Proverbs 15:14
The heart of him that hath understanding seeketh knowledge: but the mouth of fools feedeth on foolishness.
Luke 11:42-47
But woe unto you, Pharisees! for ye tithe mint and rue and all manner of herbs, and pass over judgment and the love of God: these ought ye to have done, and not to leave the other undone. Woe unto you, Pharisees! for ye love the uppermost seats in the synagogues, and greetings in the markets. Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for ye are as graves which appear not, and the men that walk over them are not aware of them. Then answered one of the lawyers, and said unto him, Master, thus saying thou reproachest us also. …
Proverbs 15:2
The tongue of the wise useth knowledge aright: but the mouth of fools poureth out foolishness.
Ezekiel 13:6-7
They have seen vanity and lying divination, saying, The Lord saith: and the Lord hath not sent them: and they have made others to hope that they would confirm the word. Have ye not seen a vain vision, and have ye not spoken a lying divination, whereas ye say, The Lord saith it; albeit I have not spoken?
Luke 11:52
Woe unto you, lawyers! for ye have taken away the key of knowledge: ye entered not in yourselves, and them that were entering in ye hindered.
Ezekiel 13:18
And say, Thus saith the Lord God; Woe to the women that sew pillows to all armholes, and make kerchiefs upon the head of every stature to hunt souls! Will ye hunt the souls of my people, and will ye save the souls alive that come unto you?

Ranked by reader votes · OpenBible.info cross references (CC BY).

Treasury of Scripture Knowledge

Woe.
18; 34:2; Jer 23:1; Mt 23:13-29; Lu 11:42-47,52; 1Co 9:16
foolish.
Pr 15:2,14; La 2:14; Ho 9:7; Zec 11:15; Mt 23:16-26; Lu 11:40
1Ti 6:4; 2Ti 3:9
follow. Heb. walk after. have seen nothing. or, thingswhich they have not seen.
6,7; Jer 23:28-32

Treasury of Scripture Knowledge (Samuel Bagster, c. 1836) · public domain

Context

Ezekiel 13:2
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;
Ezekiel 13:3
Thus saith the Lord God; Woe unto the foolish prophets, that follow their own spirit, and have seen nothing!
Ezekiel 13:4
O Israel, thy prophets are like the foxes in the deserts.

Read all of Ezekiel 13

Ezekiel 13:3 in other languages

Spanish Reina-Valera 1909	Así ha dicho el Señor Jehová: ¡Ay de los profetas insensatos, que andan en pos de su propio espíritu, y nada vieron!
French Bible J.N. Darby 1885	Ainsi dit le Seigneur, l’ Éternel: Malheur aux prophètes insensés qui suivent leur propre esprit et n’ont rien vu!
German Elberfelder 1871	So spricht der Herr, Jehova: Wehe den törichten Propheten, welche ihrem eigenen Geiste nachgehen und dem, was sie nicht gesehen haben!
Latin Clementine Vulgate	Hæc dicit Dominus Deus: Væ prophetis insipientibus, qui sequuntur spiritum suum, et nihil vident!