Then the old prophet from Bethel said to him, "I, too, am a prophet just like you, and at the LORD's command an angel told me to take you home with me and offer you my hospitality." But the old prophet was lying.

As they were sitting at the table, the word of the LORD came to the old prophet,

Instead, you returned and ate a meal in a place he had ordered you not to eat in. Because of this you will be killed, and your body will not be buried in your family grave."

So Ahab called in the prophets, about four hundred of them, and asked them, "Should I go and attack Ramoth, or not?" "Attack it," they answered. "The Lord will give you victory."

The LORD asked, 'Who will deceive Ahab so that he will go and be killed at Ramoth?' Some of the angels said one thing, and others said something else,

'How?' the LORD asked. The spirit replied, 'I will go and make all of Ahab's prophets tell lies.' The LORD said, 'Go and deceive him. You will succeed.' "

Godless people are like those reeds; their hope is gone, once God is forgotten.

There would be nothing that nations could do to keep godless oppressors from ruling them.

If it were an enemy making fun of me, I could endure it; if it were an opponent boasting over me, I could hide myself from him.

My former companion attacked his friends; he broke his promises.

His words were smoother than cream, but there was hatred in his heart; his words were as soothing as oil, but they cut like sharp swords.

"Be on your guard against false prophets; they come to you looking like sheep on the outside, but on the inside they are really like wild wolves.

But you teach that if people have something they could use to help their father or mother, but say, 'This belongs to God,'

You hypocrites! How right Isaiah was when he prophesied about you!

It is no use for them to worship me, because they teach human rules as though they were my laws!' "

It is not what goes into your mouth that makes you ritually unclean; rather, what comes out of it makes you unclean."

"Every plant which my Father in heaven did not plant will be pulled up," answered Jesus.

The time will come when some men from your own group will tell lies to lead the believers away after them.

Those men are not true apostles---they are false apostles, who lie about their work and disguise themselves to look like real apostles of Christ.

So it is no great thing if his servants disguise themselves to look like servants of righteousness. In the end they will get exactly what their actions deserve.

Then the Wicked One will be revealed, but when the Lord Jesus comes, he will kill him with the breath from his mouth and destroy him with his dazzling presence.

and use every kind of wicked deceit on those who will perish. They will perish because they did not welcome and love the truth so as to be saved.

The Spirit says clearly that some people will abandon the faith in later times; they will obey lying spirits and follow the teachings of demons.

Such people teach that it is wrong to marry and to eat certain foods. But God created those foods to be eaten, after a prayer of thanks, by those who are believers and have come to know the truth.

False prophets appeared in the past among the people, and in the same way false teachers will appear among you. They will bring in destructive, untrue doctrines, and will deny the Master who redeemed them, and so they will bring upon themselves sudden destruction.

In their greed these false teachers will make a profit out of telling you made-up stories. For a long time now their Judge has been ready, and their Destroyer has been wide awake!

You will become wise, and your knowledge will give you pleasure.

and prevent you from doing the wrong thing. They will keep you away from people who stir up trouble by what they say---

those who find pleasure in doing wrong and who enjoy senseless evil,

You will be able to resist any immoral woman who tries to seduce you with her smooth talk,

Get wisdom and insight! Do not forget or ignore what I say.

Do not abandon wisdom, and she will protect you; love her, and she will keep you safe.

Their instructions are a shining light; their correction can teach you how to live.

It can keep you away from bad women, from the seductive words of other men's wives.

"You will see 'The Awful Horror' standing in the place where he should not be." (Note to the reader: understand what this means!) "Then those who are in Judea must run away to the hills.

For false Messiahs and false prophets will appear. They will perform miracles and wonders in order to deceive even God's chosen people, if possible.

Be on your guard! I have told you everything ahead of time.

And so we shall all come together to that oneness in our faith and in our knowledge of the Son of God; we shall become mature people, reaching to the very height of Christ's full stature.

Then we shall no longer be children, carried by the waves and blown about by every shifting wind of the teaching of deceitful people, who lead others into error by the tricks they invent.

This is what he says in all his letters when he writes on the subject. There are some difficult things in his letters which ignorant and unstable people explain falsely, as they do with other passages of the Scriptures. So they bring on their own destruction.

But continue to grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. To him be the glory, now and forever! Amen.

I write you, then, not because you do not know the truth; instead, it is because you do know it, and you also know that no lie ever comes from the truth.

But as for you, Christ has poured out his Spirit on you. As long as his Spirit remains in you, you do not need anyone to teach you. For his Spirit teaches you about everything, and what he teaches is true, not false. Obey the Spirit's teaching, then, and remain in union with Christ.