Jeremiah 23:14
I have seen also in the prophets of Jerusalem an horrible thing: they commit adultery, and walk in lies: they strengthen also the hands of evildoers, that none doth return from his wickedness: they are all of them unto me as Sodom, and the inhabitants thereof as Gomorrah.
Study Note
Study Note
The oracle against Jerusalem's prophets — 'I have seen also in the prophets of Jerusalem an horrible thing: they commit adultery, and walk in lies' — escalates the earlier critique of Samarian prophets (23:13) by charging that the southern capital's prophets practice both moral and theological treachery. The comparison to Sodom and Gomorrah ('they are all of them unto me as Sodom, and the inhabitants thereof as Gomorrah') invokes the paradigmatic judgment narrative of Genesis 19 to characterize Jerusalem's prophets as beyond recovery. The connection between prophetic falsehood and sexual immorality follows a pattern in which theological distortion and moral corruption are seen as structurally linked — both violate covenant loyalty. Ezekiel 13 develops the same analysis of false prophets as 'whitewashers' who plaster over structural decay with cosmetic optimism.
Other Translations
In the prophets of Jerusalem also I have seen a horrible thing: they commit adultery, and walk in lies; and they strengthen the hands of evil-doers, so that none doth return from his wickedness: they are all of them become unto me as Sodom, and the inhabitants thereof as Gomorrah.
And in prophets of Jerusalem I have seen a horrible thing, Committing adultery, and walking falsely, Yea, they strengthened the hands of evil doers, So that they have not turned back Each from his wickedness, They have been to me--all of them--as Sodom, And its inhabitants as Gomorrah.
And in the prophets of Jerusalem I have seen a shocking thing; they are untrue to their wives, walking in deceit, and they make strong the hands of evil-doers, so that a man may not be turned back from his evil-doing: they have all become like Sodom to me, and its people like Gomorrah.
Cross References
But the men of Sodom were wicked and sinners before the Lord exceedingly.
And the Lord said, Because the cry of Sodom and Gomorrah is great, and because their sin is very grievous;
For their vine is of the vine of Sodom, and of the fields of Gomorrah: their grapes are grapes of …
Except the Lord of hosts had left unto us a very small remnant, we should have been as Sodom, and …
Hear the word of the Lord, ye rulers of Sodom; give ear unto the law of our God, ye people …
They helped every one his neighbour; and every one said to his brother, Be of good courage.
So the carpenter encouraged the goldsmith, and he that smootheth with the hammer him that smote the anvil, saying, It …
A wonderful and horrible thing is committed in the land;
The prophets prophesy falsely, and the priests bear rule by their means; and my people love to have it so: …
Then the Lord said unto me, The prophets prophesy lies in my name: I sent them not, neither have I …