Ezekiel 22:28

Truth and honesty

²⁶ Her priests do violence to My law and profane My holy things. They make no distinction between the holy and the common, and they fail to distinguish between the clean and the unclean. They disregard My Sabbaths, so that I am profaned among them.

²⁷ Her officials within her are like wolves tearing their prey, shedding blood, and destroying lives for dishonest gain.

Her prophets whitewash these deeds by false visions and lying divinations, saying, ‘This is what the Lord GOD says,’ when the LORD has not spoken.

²⁹ The people of the land have practiced extortion and committed robbery. They have oppressed the poor and needy and have exploited the foreign resident without justice.

³⁰ I searched for a man among them to repair the wall and stand in the gap before Me on behalf of the land, so that I should not destroy it. But I found no one.

This was said to Israel at a particular time, so it is wise to read it together with the surrounding text. Do read the surrounding verses too, because the context often says more than a single verse.

Compare

BSB: Her prophets whitewash these deeds by false visions and lying divinations, saying, ‘This is what the Lord GOD says,’ when the LORD has not spoken.
KJV: And her prophets have daubed them with untempered morter, seeing vanity, and divining lies unto them, saying, Thus saith the Lord GOD, when the LORD hath not spoken.
WEB: Her prophets have plastered for them with whitewash, seeing false visions, and divining lies to them, saying, ‘The Lord GOD says,’ when the LORD has not spoken.
ASV: And her prophets have daubed for them with untempered [mortar], seeing false visions, and divining lies unto them, saying, Thus saith the Lord Jehovah, when Jehovah hath not spoken.
DARBY: And her prophets have daubed for them with untempered [mortar], seeing vanity and divining lies unto them, saying, Thus saith the Lord Jehovah! and Jehovah hath not spoken.
BLB: And her prophets have covered them with whitewash, seeing falsehood and divining for them a lie, saying, ‘Thus says the Lord YHWH,’ and YHWH has not spoken.

ÅB: Dets profeter stryker over med kalk for dem; de skuer tomhet og spår dem løgn og sier: Så sier Herren, Israels Gud - enda Herren ikke har talt.
OTB: Hennes profeter dekker over disse gjerningene for dem med falske visjoner og bedragerske spådommer. De hevder, 'Dette sier Herren Gud'—når Herren ikke har talt.
B1930: Dets profeter stryker over med kalk for dem; de skuer tomhet og spår dem løgn og sier: Så sier Herren, Israels Gud - enda Herren ikke har talt.

Study notes (Tyndale)

Original text and word study

Cross references

Ezekiel 13:6–7
They see false visions and speak lying divinations. They claim, ‘Thus declares the LORD,’ when the LORD did not send them; yet they wait for the fulfillment of their message.
Read in context
Ezekiel 13:10–16
Because they have led My people astray, saying, ‘Peace,’ when there is no peace, and whitewashing any flimsy wall that is built,
Read in context
Jeremiah 23:25–32
“I have heard the sayings of the prophets who prophesy lies in My name: ‘I had a dream! I had a dream!’
Read in context
Isaiah 30:10
They say to the seers, “Stop seeing visions!” and to the prophets, “Do not prophesy to us the truth! Speak to us pleasant words; prophesy illusions.
Read in context
Jeremiah 23:21
I did not send these prophets, yet they have run with their message; I did not speak to them, yet they have prophesied.
Read in context
Jeremiah 28:2
“This is what the LORD of Hosts, the God of Israel, says: ‘I have broken the yoke of the king of Babylon.
Read in context
Jeremiah 8:10–11
Therefore I will give their wives to other men and their fields to new owners. For from the least of them to the greatest, all are greedy for gain; from prophet to priest, all practice deceit.
Read in context
Zephaniah 3:4
Her prophets are reckless, faithless men. Her priests profane the sanctuary; they do violence to the law.
Read in context