Translations
F.O.G.MPrimary
F.O.G MessageBut if a prophet is lured into speaking — know that I, Yahweh, have permitted that deception. I will stretch out My hand against him and destroy him from the midst of My people Israel.
F.O.GSecondary
The F.O.GBut if a prophet is beguiled into speaking a word — I, YHWH, have beguiled that prophet. I will stretch out My hand against him and destroy him from the midst of My people Yisra'el.
KJV
King James VersionAnd if the prophet be deceived when he hath spoken a thing, I the LORD have deceived that prophet, and I will stretch out my hand upon him, and will destroy him from the midst of my people Israel.
BSB
Berean Standard BibleBut if the prophet is enticed to speak a message, then it was I the LORD who enticed him, and I will stretch out My hand against him and destroy him from among My people Israel.
Footnotes
The verb *pittah* (to entice, seduce, beguile) appears twice in chiastic fashion: "if the prophet is beguiled... I, YHWH, have beguiled him." This is one of the most theologically demanding statements in Ezekiel. The closest parallel is 1 Kings 22:19–23, where YHWH permits a lying spirit to enter false prophets. The divine action here is not moral complicity in deception but sovereign permission: when a prophet serves an audience that has already embraced idolatry and lies, YHWH withdraws restraint and allows the delusion to run its course — a form of judicial hardening. FOG renders *pittah* consistently as "beguiled" to preserve the verbal echo and its unsettling force; FOG Message renders it as "permitted that deception" to flag the permissive rather than causative sense.
