Scriptural References- False Prophets and False Teachers

What does the Bible say about false prophets and false teachers? It is important to go straight to the sources when studying any topic or searching for answers. 2 Timothy 3:16 says " All Scripture is breathed out by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness,"

The Bible is the infalliable Word of God and is our first resource in searching out answers. We encourage you to begin your own personal study, by not only to reading the verses in listed but read the chapter associated with them. What was going on? What was the context? How does that help you understand God's Word better? Share your experience in the comments. We welcome discussions of ideas and insights that lead to better understanding and stronger faith!

Deuteronomy 13:1-5 ESV

13 “If a prophet or a dreamer of dreams arises among you and gives you a sign or a wonder, ² and the sign or wonder that he tells you comes to pass, and if he says, ‘Let us go after other gods,’ which you have not known, ‘and let us serve them,’ ³ you shall not listen to the words of that prophet or that dreamer of dreams. For the Lord your God is testing you, to know whether you love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul. ⁴ You shall walk after the Lord your God and fear him and keep his commandments and obey his voice, and you shall serve him and hold fast to him. ⁵ But that prophet or that dreamer of dreams shall be put to death, because he has taught rebellion against the Lord your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt and redeemed you out of the house of slavery, to make you leave the way in which the Lord your God commanded you to walk. So you shall purge the evil^[a] from your midst.

Deuteronomy 18:20-22 ESV

²⁰ But the prophet who presumes to speak a word in my name that I have not commanded him to speak, or^[a] who speaks in the name of other gods, that same prophet shall die.’ ²¹ And if you say in your heart, ‘How may we know the word that the Lord has not spoken?’— ²² when a prophet speaks in the name of the Lord, if the word does not come to pass or come true, that is a word that the Lord has not spoken; the prophet has spoken it presumptuously. You need not be afraid of him

Isaiah 8:20 ESV

²⁰ To the teaching and to the testimony! If they will not speak according to this word, it is because they have no dawn.

Jeremiah 5:30-31 ESV 

³⁰ An appalling and horrible thing has happened in the land:³¹ the prophets prophesy falsely, and the priests rule at their direction; my people love to have it so,  but what will you do when the end comes?

Jeremiah 14:14 ESV

¹⁴ And the Lord said to me: “The prophets are prophesying lies in my name. I did not send them, nor did I command them or speak to them. They are prophesying to you a lying vision, worthless divination, and the deceit of their own minds.

Jeremiah 23:16 ESV

¹⁶ Thus says the Lord of hosts: “Do not listen to the words of the prophets who prophesy to you, filling you with vain hopes. They speak visions of their own minds, not from the mouth of the Lord.

Jeremiah 23:1-40 ESV 

23 “Woe to the shepherds who destroy and scatter the sheep of my pasture!” declares the Lord. ² Therefore thus says the Lord, the God of Israel, concerning the shepherds who care for my people: “You have scattered my flock and have driven them away, and you have not attended to them. Behold, I will attend to you for your evil deeds, declares the Lord. ³ Then I will gather the remnant of my flock out of all the countries where I have driven them, and I will bring them back to their fold, and they shall be fruitful and multiply. ⁴ I will set shepherds over them who will care for them, and they shall fear no more, nor be dismayed, neither shall any be missing, declares the Lord.

⁵ “Behold, the days are coming, declares the Lord, when I will raise up for David a righteous Branch, and he shall reign as king and deal wisely, and shall execute justice and righteousness in the land. ⁶ In his days Judah will be saved, and Israel will dwell securely. And this is the name by which he will be called: ‘The Lord is our righteousness.’

⁷ “Therefore, behold, the days are coming, declares the Lord, when they shall no longer say, ‘As the Lord lives who brought up the people of Israel out of the land of Egypt,’ ⁸ but ‘As the Lord lives who brought up and led the offspring of the house of Israel out of the north country and out of all the countries where he^[a] had driven them.’ Then they shall dwell in their own land.”

Lying Prophets

⁹ Concerning the prophets:

My heart is broken within me;    all my bones shake;I am like a drunken man,    like a man overcome by wine,because of the Lord    and because of his holy words.¹⁰ For the land is full of adulterers;    because of the curse the land mourns,    and the pastures of the wilderness are dried up.Their course is evil,    and their might is not right.¹¹ “Both prophet and priest are ungodly;    even in my house I have found their evil,declares the Lord.¹² Therefore their way shall be to them    like slippery paths in the darkness,    into which they shall be driven and fall,for I will bring disaster upon them    in the year of their punishment,declares the Lord.¹³ In the prophets of Samaria    I saw an unsavory thing:they prophesied by Baal    and led my people Israel astray.¹⁴ But in the prophets of Jerusalem    I have seen a horrible thing:they commit adultery and walk in lies;    they strengthen the hands of evildoers,    so that no one turns from his evil;all of them have become like Sodom to me,    and its inhabitants like Gomorrah.”¹⁵ Therefore thus says the Lord of hosts concerning the prophets:“Behold, I will feed them with bitter food    and give them poisoned water to drink,for from the prophets of Jerusalem    ungodliness has gone out into all the land.”

¹⁶ Thus says the Lord of hosts: “Do not listen to the words of the prophets who prophesy to you, filling you with vain hopes. They speak visions of their own minds, not from the mouth of the Lord. ¹⁷ They say continually to those who despise the word of the Lord, ‘It shall be well with you’; and to everyone who stubbornly follows his own heart, they say, ‘No disaster shall come upon you.’”

¹⁸ For who among them has stood in the council of the Lord    to see and to hear his word,    or who has paid attention to his word and listened?¹⁹ Behold, the storm of the Lord!    Wrath has gone forth,a whirling tempest;    it will burst upon the head of the wicked.²⁰ The anger of the Lord will not turn back    until he has executed and accomplished    the intents of his heart.In the latter days you will understand it clearly.

²¹ “I did not send the prophets,    yet they ran;I did not speak to them,    yet they prophesied.²² But if they had stood in my council,    then they would have proclaimed my words to my people,and they would have turned them from their evil way,    and from the evil of their deeds.

²³ “Am I a God at hand, declares the Lord, and not a God far away? ²⁴ Can a man hide himself in secret places so that I cannot see him? declares the Lord. Do I not fill heaven and earth? declares the Lord. ²⁵ I have heard what the prophets have said who prophesy lies in my name, saying, ‘I have dreamed, I have dreamed!’ ²⁶ How long shall there be lies in the heart of the prophets who prophesy lies, and who prophesy the deceit of their own heart, ²⁷ who think to make my people forget my name by their dreams that they tell one another, even as their fathers forgot my name for Baal? ²⁸ Let the prophet who has a dream tell the dream, but let him who has my word speak my word faithfully. What has straw in common with wheat? declares the Lord. ²⁹ Is not my word like fire, declares the Lord, and like a hammer that breaks the rock in pieces? ³⁰ Therefore, behold, I am against the prophets, declares the Lord, who steal my words from one another. ³¹ Behold, I am against the prophets, declares the Lord, who use their tongues and declare, ‘declares the Lord.’ ³² Behold, I am against those who prophesy lying dreams, declares the Lord, and who tell them and lead my people astray by their lies and their recklessness, when I did not send them or charge them. So they do not profit this people at all, declares the Lord.

³³ “When one of this people, or a prophet or a priest asks you, ‘What is the burden of the Lord?’ you shall say to them, ‘You are the burden,^[b] and I will cast you off, declares the Lord.’ ³⁴ And as for the prophet, priest, or one of the people who says, ‘The burden of the Lord,’ I will punish that man and his household. ³⁵ Thus shall you say, every one to his neighbor and every one to his brother, ‘What has the Lord answered?’ or ‘What has the Lord spoken?’ ³⁶ But ‘the burden of the Lord’ you shall mention no more, for the burden is every man's own word, and you pervert the words of the living God, the Lord of hosts, our God. ³⁷ Thus you shall say to the prophet, ‘What has the Lord answered you?’ or ‘What has the Lord spoken?’ ³⁸ But if you say, ‘The burden of the Lord,’ thus says the Lord, ‘Because you have said these words, “The burden of the Lord,” when I sent to you, saying, “You shall not say, ‘The burden of the Lord,’” ³⁹ therefore, behold, I will surely lift you up^[c] and cast you away from my presence, you and the city that I gave to you and your fathers. ⁴⁰ And I will bring upon you everlasting reproach and perpetual shame, which shall not be forgotten.’”

Lamentations 2:14 ESV

¹⁴ Your prophets have seen for you false and deceptive visions;they have not exposed your iniquity to restore your fortunes,but have seen for you oracles that are false and misleading.

Ezekiel 22:28 ESV

²⁸ And her prophets have smeared whitewash for them, seeing false visions and divining lies for them, saying, ‘Thus says the Lord God,’ when the Lord has not spoken.

Ezekiel 13:9 ESV

⁹ My hand will be against the prophets who see false visions and who give lying divinations. They shall not be in the council of my people, nor be enrolled in the register of the house of Israel, nor shall they enter the land of Israel. And you shall know that I am the Lord God.

Micah 3:11 ESV 

¹¹ Its heads give judgment for a bribe; its priests teach for a price;    its prophets practice divination for money; yet they lean on the Lord and say,    “Is not the Lord in the midst of us?  No disaster shall come upon us.”

Matthew 7:15-23 ESV

¹⁵ “Beware of false prophets, who come to you in sheep's clothing but inwardly are ravenous wolves. ¹⁶ You will recognize them by their fruits. Are grapes gathered from thornbushes, or figs from thistles? ¹⁷ So, every healthy tree bears good fruit, but the diseased tree bears bad fruit. ¹⁸ A healthy tree cannot bear bad fruit, nor can a diseased tree bear good fruit. ¹⁹ Every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire. ²⁰ Thus you will recognize them by their fruits.²¹ “Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but the one who does the will of my Father who is in heaven. ²² On that day many will say to me, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name, and cast out demons in your name, and do many mighty works in your name?’ ²³ And then will I declare to them, ‘I never knew you; depart from me, you workers of lawlessness.’

Matthew 16:11-12 ESV

¹¹ How is it that you fail to understand that I did not speak about bread? Beware of the leaven of the Pharisees and Sadducees.” ¹² Then they understood that he did not tell them to beware of the leaven of bread, but of the teaching of the Pharisees and Sadducees.

Matthew 24:4-5 ESV

⁴ And Jesus answered them, “See that no one leads you astray. ⁵ For many will come in my name, saying, ‘I am the Christ,’ and they will lead many astray.

Matthew 24:11 ESV

¹¹ And many false prophets will arise and lead many astray.

Matthew 24:24 ESV

²⁴ For false christs and false prophets will arise and perform great signs and wonders, so as to lead astray, if possible, even the elect.

Mark 7:6-9 ESV

⁶ And he said to them, “Well did Isaiah prophesy of you hypocrites, as it is written,

“‘This people honors me with their lips,    but their heart is far from me;⁷ in vain do they worship me,    teaching as doctrines the commandments of men.’

⁸ You leave the commandment of God and hold to the tradition of men.”

⁹ And he said to them, “You have a fine way of rejecting the commandment of God in order to establish your tradition!

Mark 13:22 ESV

²² For false christs and false prophets will arise and perform signs and wonders, to lead astray, if possible, the elect.

Luke 6:26 ESV

²⁶ “Woe to you, when all people speak well of you, for so their fathers did to the false prophets.

Acts 13:6-10 ESV

⁶ When they had gone through the whole island as far as Paphos, they came upon a certain magician, a Jewish false prophet named Bar-Jesus. ⁷ He was with the proconsul, Sergius Paulus, a man of intelligence, who summoned Barnabas and Saul and sought to hear the word of God. ⁸ But Elymas the magician (for that is the meaning of his name) opposed them, seeking to turn the proconsul away from the faith. ⁹ But Saul, who was also called Paul, filled with the Holy Spirit, looked intently at him ¹⁰ and said, “You son of the devil, you enemy of all righteousness, full of all deceit and villainy, will you not stop making crooked the straight paths of the Lord?

Acts 20:28-31 ESV

²⁸ Pay careful attention to yourselves and to all the flock, in which the Holy Spirit has made you overseers, to care for the church of God,^[a] which he obtained with his own blood.^[b] 29 I know that after my departure fierce wolves will come in among you, not sparing the flock; ³⁰ and from among your own selves will arise men speaking twisted things, to draw away the disciples after them. ³¹ Therefore be alert, remembering that for three years I did not cease night or day to admonish every one with tears.

Romans 16:17-18 ESV

¹⁷ I appeal to you, brothers, to watch out for those who cause divisions and create obstacles contrary to the doctrine that you have been taught; avoid them. ¹⁸ For such persons do not serve our Lord Christ, but their own appetites,^[a] and by smooth talk and flattery they deceive the hearts of the naive.

2 Corinthians 11:13-15 ESV

¹³ For such men are false apostles, deceitful workmen, disguising themselves as apostles of Christ. ¹⁴ And no wonder, for even Satan disguises himself as an angel of light. ¹⁵ So it is no surprise if his servants, also, disguise themselves as servants of righteousness. Their end will correspond to their deeds.

Galatians 1:6-9 ESV

⁶ I am astonished that you are so quickly deserting him who called you in the grace of Christ and are turning to a different gospel— ⁷ not that there is another one, but there are some who trouble you and want to distort the gospel of Christ. ⁸ But even if we or an angel from heaven should preach to you a gospel contrary to the one we preached to you, let him be accursed. ⁹ As we have said before, so now I say again: If anyone is preaching to you a gospel contrary to the one you received, let him be accursed.

Colossians 2:8 ESV

⁸ See to it that no one takes you captive by philosophy and empty deceit, according to human tradition, according to the elemental spirits^[a] of the world, and not according to Christ.

1 Thessalonians 5:21 ESV

²¹ but test everything; hold fast what is good.

2 Timothy 4:1-5 ESV

4 I charge you in the presence of God and of Christ Jesus, who is to judge the living and the dead, and by his appearing and his kingdom: ² preach the word; be ready in season and out of season; reprove, rebuke, and exhort, with complete patience and teaching. ³ For the time is coming when people will not endure sound^[a] teaching, but having itching ears they will accumulate for themselves teachers to suit their own passions, ⁴ and will turn away from listening to the truth and wander off into myths. ⁵ But as for you, always be sober-minded, endure suffering, do the work of an evangelist, fulfill your ministry.

2 Peter 2: 1-3 ESV

2 But false prophets also arose among the people, just as there will be false teachers among you, who will secretly bring in destructive heresies, even denying the Master who bought them, bringing upon themselves swift destruction. ² And many will follow their sensuality, and because of them the way of truth will be blasphemed. ³ And in their greed they will exploit you with false words. Their condemnation from long ago is not idle, and their destruction is not asleep.

1 John 4:1-6 ESV

4 Beloved, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits to see whether they are from God, for many false prophets have gone out into the world. ² By this you know the Spirit of God: every spirit that confesses that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh is from God, ³ and every spirit that does not confess Jesus is not from God. This is the spirit of the antichrist, which you heard was coming and now is in the world already. ⁴ Little children, you are from God and have overcome them, for he who is in you is greater than he who is in the world. ⁵ They are from the world; therefore they speak from the world, and the world listens to them. ⁶ We are from God. Whoever knows God listens to us; whoever is not from God does not listen to us. By this we know the Spirit of truth and the spirit of error.

Jude 1:3-5

³ Beloved, although I was very eager to write to you about our common salvation, I found it necessary to write appealing to you to contend for the faith that was once for all delivered to the saints. ⁴ For certain people have crept in unnoticed who long ago were designated for this condemnation, ungodly people, who pervert the grace of our God into sensuality and deny our only Master and Lord, Jesus Christ.⁵ Now I want to remind you, although you once fully knew it, that Jesus, who saved^[a] a people out of the land of Egypt, afterward destroyed those who did not believe.

Revelation 2:20 ESV

²⁰ But I have this against you, that you tolerate that woman Jezebel, who calls herself a prophetess and is teaching and seducing my servants to practice sexual immorality and to eat food sacrificed to idols.

Revelation 13:14 ESV

¹⁴ and by the signs that it is allowed to work in the presence of^[a] the beast it deceives those who dwell on earth, telling them to make an image for the beast that was wounded by the sword and yet lived.