King James Bible
"For they prophesy falsely unto you in my name: I have not sent them, saith the LORD."
God exposes false prophets who claim divine authority while delivering deceptive messages to the exiles in Babylon. These prophets misuse God's name to legitimize their own wishful thinking about a quick return from exile, contradicting Jeremiah's authentic seventy-year prophecy. The LORD explicitly denies commissioning these prophets, establishing the crucial test of true prophecy: divine authorization. This emphatic declaration protects the exiles from false hope and reinforces that genuine prophetic messages originate solely from God's initiative. This authoritative formula marks the statement as direct divine speech, lending absolute certainty to the warning. The phrase underscores that identifying false prophets is not Jeremiah's personal opinion but God's own verdict.