The Best 50+ Bible Verses About False Prophets

False prophets have been a concern since ancient times. They mislead people with false teachings and deceptive practices.

This article compiles 50 Bible verses that address the issue of false prophets. These verses offer guidance and warnings to help you discern truth from deception.

50 Bible Verses About False Prophets

10 Bible Verses on Identifying False Prophets

• "Beware of false prophets, who come to you in sheep's clothing, but inwardly they are ravenous wolves." — Matthew 7:15
• "Beloved, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits, whether they are of God; because many false prophets have gone out into the world." — 1 John 4:1
• "For false christs and false prophets will rise and show great signs and wonders to deceive, if possible, even the elect." — Matthew 24:24
• "But there were also false prophets among the people, even as there will be false teachers among you, who will secretly bring in destructive heresies, even denying the Lord who bought them, and bring on themselves swift destruction." — 2 Peter 2:1
• "But the prophet who presumes to speak a word in My name, which I have not commanded him to speak, or who speaks in the name of other gods, that prophet shall die. And if you say in your heart, 'How shall we know the word which the Lord has not spoken?'—when a prophet speaks in the name of the Lord, if the thing does not happen or come to pass, that is the thing which the Lord has not spoken; the prophet has spoken it presumptuously; you shall not be afraid of him." — Deuteronomy 18:20-22
• "And the Lord said to me, 'The prophets prophesy lies in My name. I have not sent them, commanded them, nor spoken to them; they prophesy to you a false vision, divination, a worthless thing, and the deceit of their heart.'" — Jeremiah 14:14
• "My hand will be against the prophets who envision futility and who divine lies; they shall not be in the assembly of My people, nor be written in the record of the house of Israel, nor shall they enter into the land of Israel. Then you shall know that I am the Lord God." — Ezekiel 13:9
• "For such are false apostles, deceitful workers, transforming themselves into apostles of Christ. And no wonder! For Satan himself transforms himself into an angel of light. Therefore it is no great thing if his ministers also transform themselves into ministers of righteousness, whose end will be according to their works." — 2 Corinthians 11:13-15
• "For I know this, that after my departure savage wolves will come in among you, not sparing the flock. Also from among yourselves men will rise up, speaking perverse things, to draw away the disciples after themselves." — Acts 20:29-30
• "Now the Spirit expressly says that in latter times some will depart from the faith, giving heed to deceiving spirits and doctrines of demons." — 1 Timothy 4:1

10 Bible Verses on Warnings Against Deception

• "And Jesus answered and said to them: 'Take heed that no one deceives you. For many will come in My name, saying, "I am the Christ," and will deceive many.'" — Matthew 24:4-5
• "Beware lest anyone cheat you through philosophy and empty deceit, according to the tradition of men, according to the basic principles of the world, and not according to Christ." — Colossians 2:8
• "Let no one deceive you by any means; for that Day will not come unless the falling away comes first, and the man of sin is revealed, the son of perdition." — 2 Thessalonians 2:3
• "For many deceivers have gone out into the world who do not confess Jesus Christ as coming in the flesh. This is a deceiver and an antichrist." — 2 John 1:7
• "Let no one deceive you with empty words, for because of these things the wrath of God comes upon the sons of disobedience." — Ephesians 5:6
• "But evil men and impostors will grow worse and worse, deceiving and being deceived." — 2 Timothy 3:13
• "If anyone teaches otherwise and does not consent to wholesome words, even the words of our Lord Jesus Christ, and to the doctrine which accords with godliness, he is proud, knowing nothing, but is obsessed with disputes and arguments over words, from which come envy, strife, reviling, evil suspicions, useless wranglings of men of corrupt minds and destitute of the truth, who suppose that godliness is a means of gain. From such withdraw yourself." — 1 Timothy 6:3-5
• "Now I urge you, brethren, note those who cause divisions and offenses, contrary to the doctrine which you learned, and avoid them. For those who are such do not serve our Lord Jesus Christ, but their own belly, and by smooth words and flattering speech deceive the hearts of the simple." — Romans 16:17-18
• "You therefore, beloved, since you know this beforehand, beware lest you also fall from your own steadfastness, being led away with the error of the wicked." — 2 Peter 3:17
• "I marvel that you are turning away so soon from Him who called you in the grace of Christ, to a different gospel, which is not another; but there are some who trouble you and want to pervert the gospel of Christ. But even if we, or an angel from heaven, preach any other gospel to you than what we have preached to you, let him be accursed. As we have said before, so now I say again, if anyone preaches any other gospel to you than what you have received, let him be accursed." — Galatians 1:6-9

10 Bible Verses on Consequences for Deceivers

• "Not everyone who says to Me, 'Lord, Lord,' shall enter the kingdom of heaven, but he who does the will of My Father in heaven. Many will say to Me in that day, 'Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in Your name, cast out demons in Your name, and done many wonders in Your name?' And then I will declare to them, 'I never knew you; depart from Me, you who practice lawlessness!'" — Matthew 7:21-23
• "Then the beast was captured, and with him the false prophet who worked signs in his presence, by which he deceived those who received the mark of the beast and those who worshiped his image. These two were cast alive into the lake of fire burning with brimstone." — Revelation 19:20
• "If there arises among you a prophet or a dreamer of dreams, and he gives you a sign or a wonder, and the sign or the wonder comes to pass, of which he spoke to you, saying, 'Let us go after other gods'—which you have not known—'and let us serve them,' 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. You shall walk after the Lord your God and fear Him, and keep His commandments and obey His voice; you shall serve Him and hold fast to Him. But that prophet or that dreamer of dreams shall be put to death, because he has spoken in order to turn you away from the Lord your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt and redeemed you from the house of bondage, to entice you from the way in which the Lord your God commanded you to walk. So you shall put away the evil from your midst." — Deuteronomy 13:1-5
• "Therefore behold, I am against the prophets,” says the Lord, “who steal My words every one from his neighbor. Behold, I am against the prophets,” says the Lord, “who use their tongues and say, ‘He says.’ Behold, I am against those who prophesy false dreams,” says the Lord, “and tell them, and cause My people to err by their lies and by their recklessness. Yet I did not send them or command them; therefore they shall not profit this people at all,” says the Lord." — Jeremiah 23:30-32
• "Thus says the Lord God: 'Woe to the foolish prophets, who follow their own spirit and have seen nothing! O Israel, your prophets are like foxes in the deserts.'" — Ezekiel 13:3-4
• "It shall be in that day,” says the Lord of hosts, “that I will cut off the names of the idols from the land, and they shall no longer be remembered. I will also cause the prophets and the unclean spirit to depart from the land. It shall come to pass that if anyone still prophesies, then his father and mother who begot him will say to him, ‘You shall not live, because you have spoken lies in the name of the Lord.’ And his father and mother who begot him shall thrust him through when he prophesies." — Zechariah 13:2-3
• "By covetousness they will exploit you with deceptive words; for a long time their judgment has not been idle, and their destruction does not slumber." — 2 Peter 2:3
• "For certain men have crept in unnoticed, who long ago were marked out for this condemnation, ungodly men, who turn the grace of our God into lewdness and deny the only Lord God and our Lord Jesus Christ." — Jude 1:4
• "Thus says the Lord concerning the prophets who make my people stray; who chant 'Peace' while they chew with their teeth, but who prepare war against him who puts nothing into their mouths: 'Therefore you shall have night without vision, and you shall have darkness without divination; the sun shall go down on the prophets, and the day shall be dark for them. So the seers shall be ashamed, and the diviners abashed; indeed they shall all cover their lips; for there is no answer from God.'" — Micah 3:5-7
• "But the cowardly, unbelieving, abominable, murderers, sexually immoral, sorcerers, idolaters, and all liars shall have their part in the lake which burns with fire and brimstone, which is the second death." — Revelation 21:8

10 Bible Verses on Characteristics of Impostors

• "For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine, but according to their own desires, because they have itching ears, they will heap up for themselves teachers; and they will turn their ears away from the truth, and be turned aside to fables." — 2 Timothy 4:3-4
• "Little children, it is the last hour; and as you have heard that the Antichrist is coming, even now many antichrists have come, by which we know that it is the last hour." — 1 John 2:18
• "Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you are like whitewashed tombs which indeed appear beautiful outwardly, but inside are full of dead men’s bones and all uncleanness. Even so you also outwardly appear righteous to men, but inside you are full of hypocrisy and lawlessness." — Matthew 23:27-28
• "For there are many insubordinate, both idle talkers and deceivers, especially those of the circumcision, whose mouths must be stopped, who subvert whole households, teaching things which they ought not, for the sake of dishonest gain." — Titus 1:10-11
• "For if he who comes preaches another Jesus whom we have not preached, or if you receive a different spirit which you have not received, or a different gospel which you have not accepted—you may well put up with it!" — 2 Corinthians 11:4
• "Thus says the Lord of hosts: 'Do not listen to the words of the prophets who prophesy to you. They make you worthless; they speak a vision of their own heart, not from the mouth of the Lord.'" — Jeremiah 23:16
• "Her prophets plastered them with untempered mortar, seeing false visions, and divining lies for them, saying, ‘Thus says the Lord God,’ when the Lord had not spoken." — Ezekiel 22:28
• "Who say to the seers, 'Do not see,' and to the prophets, 'Do not prophesy to us right things; speak to us smooth things, prophesy deceits.'" — Isaiah 30:10
• "If a man should walk in a false spirit and speak a lie, saying, 'I will prophesy to you of wine and drink,' even he would be the prattler of this people." — Micah 2:11
• "For those who are such do not serve our Lord Jesus Christ, but their own belly, and by smooth words and flattering speech deceive the hearts of the simple." — Romans 16:18

10 Bible Verses on Discernment of Spirits

• "to another the working of miracles, to another prophecy, to another discerning of spirits, to another different kinds of tongues, to another the interpretation of tongues." — 1 Corinthians 12:10
• "But solid food belongs to those who are of full age, that is, those who by reason of use have their senses exercised to discern both good and evil." — Hebrews 5:14
• "By this you know the Spirit of God: Every spirit that confesses that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh is of God, and every spirit that does not confess that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh is not of God. And this is the spirit of the Antichrist, which you have heard was coming, and is now already in the world." — 1 John 4:2-3
• "And this I pray, that your love may abound still more and more in knowledge and all discernment, that you may approve the things that are excellent, that you may be sincere and without offense till the day of Christ." — Philippians 1:9-10
• "Test all things; hold fast what is good. Abstain from every form of evil." — 1 Thessalonians 5:21-22
• "Yes, if you cry out for discernment, and lift up your voice for understanding, if you seek her as silver, and search for her as for hidden treasures; then you will understand the fear of the Lord, and find the knowledge of God." — Proverbs 2:3-5
• "If any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask of God, who gives to all liberally and without reproach, and it will be given to him." — James 1:5
• "Therefore give to Your servant an understanding heart to judge Your people, that I may discern between good and evil. For who is able to judge this great people of Yours?" — 1 Kings 3:9
• "that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give to you the spirit of wisdom and revelation in the knowledge of Him, the eyes of your understanding being enlightened; that you may know what is the hope of His calling, what are the riches of the glory of His inheritance in the saints." — Ephesians 1:17-18
• "For this reason we also, since the day we heard it, do not cease to pray for you, and to ask that you may be filled with the knowledge of His will in all wisdom and spiritual understanding." — Colossians 1:9

What Does the Bible Say About False Prophets

The Bible has a lot to say about false prophets. These are individuals who claim to speak for God but actually lead people astray. The verses we've looked at offer a mix of warnings, characteristics, and consequences related to false prophets. Understanding these themes can help us stay grounded in our faith and avoid deception.

One key theme is the importance of identifying false prophets. Verses like Matthew 7:15 and 1 John 4:1 remind us to be cautious and test the spirits. False prophets often appear harmless but have harmful intentions. Recognizing them is the first step in protecting ourselves and our communities.

Another theme is the warning against deception. Many verses, such as Colossians 2:8 and 2 Timothy 3:13, caution us to be vigilant. Deception can come in many forms, from smooth words to false teachings. Staying rooted in the truth of the Bible helps us avoid these traps.

The Bible also speaks about the consequences for deceivers. Verses like Revelation 19:20 and Jeremiah 23:30-32 make it clear that false prophets will face severe judgment. This serves as a sobering reminder of the seriousness of leading others astray.

Lastly, the Bible encourages us to develop discernment. Verses like 1 Corinthians 12:10 and Philippians 1:9-10 highlight the need for wisdom and understanding. By seeking God's guidance, we can better discern truth from falsehood and live in a way that honors Him.

How to Apply These Bible Verses About False Prophets

Applying the Bible's teachings about false prophets to daily life is crucial for staying grounded in faith. These verses offer practical wisdom that can guide our actions and decisions.

• Stay Rooted in Scripture: Make it a habit to read the Bible daily. This helps you recognize false teachings when they arise.
• Pray for Discernment: Ask God for wisdom to identify truth from deception. Simple prayers like, "Lord, help me see clearly," can make a big difference.
• Join a Faith Community: Surround yourself with believers who can offer support and guidance. Attend church regularly and participate in Bible study groups.
• Be Cautious of New Teachings: Before accepting new spiritual ideas, compare them with what the Bible says. If something feels off, it probably is.
• Encourage Open Dialogue: Talk openly with friends and family about your faith. Discussing different viewpoints can help you stay alert to false teachings.

Remember, God is always with you, guiding you through life's challenges. Trust in His wisdom and let your faith lead you. For more prayers and Bible verses, visit PrayersFor or try our Bible Verse Generator to deepen your understanding and faith.