Jeremiah 27:16

"And I spake to the priests and to all the people, saying, Thus saith Jehovah: Hearken not to the words of your prophets that prophesy unto you, saying, Behold the vessels of Jehovah's house shall now shortly be brought again from Babylon; for they prophesy a lie unto you. Hearken not unto them; serve the king of Babylon, and live: wherefore should this city become a desolation? But if they be prophets, and if the word of Jehovah be with them, let them now make intercession to Jehovah of hosts, that the vessels which are left in the house of Jehovah, and in the house of the king of Judah, and at Jerusalem, go not to Babylon."

What a courageous, blunt, overwhelming challenge this is. Jeremiah did not merely call the false prophets, diviners, soothsayers, etc. liars; but he did so to their face, and laid down the challenge that they were not merely lying when they prophesied the speedy return of the golden vessels from Babylon, but that if the false teachers had one word of truth in them they would be praying that the remaining "vessels" would not also be carried away to Babylon, a prophecy which Jeremiah at once pronounced in their hearing, namely, that the remaining vessels indeed, not merely of the temple, but of the king's house and of all Jerusalem also, would also all be carried to Babylon! (See next paragraph).

John Bright in the Anchor Bible commentary stated that "vessels" in Jeremiah 27:16 is an inadequate word, because much more was meant, as indicated in Jeremiah 27:19, below.[12]

As Green observed, "Jeremiah's conflict with the false prophets was growing more and more acute."[13]