Take an iron pan and set it up like a wall between you and the city. Face the city. It is under siege, and you are the one besieging it. This will be a sign to the nation of Israel.

"Mortal man," he said, "look toward the south. Speak against the south and prophesy against the forest of the south.

"Mortal man," he said, "denounce Jerusalem. Denounce the places where people worship. Warn the land of Israel

The LORD said, "Look how proud the women of Jerusalem are! They walk along with their noses in the air. They are always flirting. They take dainty little steps, and the bracelets on their ankles jingle.

A day is coming when the Lord will take away from the women of Jerusalem everything they are so proud of---the ornaments they wear on their ankles, on their heads, on their necks,

and their hats; the magic charms they wear on their arms and at their waists;

all their fine robes, gowns, cloaks, and purses;

Instead of using perfumes, they will stink; instead of fine belts, they will wear coarse ropes; instead of having beautiful hair, they will be bald; instead of fine clothes, they will be dressed in rags; their beauty will be turned to shame!

The city gates will mourn and cry, and the city itself will be like a woman sitting on the ground, stripped naked.

By his power the Lord will judge and purify the nation and wash away the guilt of Jerusalem and the blood that has been shed there.

Now Deborah, the wife of Lappidoth, was a prophet, and she was serving as a judge for the Israelites at that time.

Hilkiah, Ahikam, Achbor, Shaphan, and Asaiah went to consult a woman named Huldah, a prophet who lived in the newer part of Jerusalem. (Her husband Shallum, the son of Tikvah and grandson of Harhas, was in charge of the Temple robes.) They described to her what had happened,

There was a very old prophet, a widow named Anna, daughter of Phanuel of the tribe of Asher. She had been married for only seven years and was now eighty-four years old. She never left the Temple; day and night she worshiped God, fasting and praying.

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.

"Mortal man," he said, "denounce the prophets of Israel who make up their own prophecies. Tell them to listen to the word of the LORD."

But this is what I have against you: you tolerate that woman Jezebel, who calls herself a messenger of God. By her teaching she misleads my servants into practicing sexual immorality and eating food that has been offered to idols.