Charles Ellicott Commentary Jeremiah 23:16

"Thus saith Jehovah of hosts, Hearken not unto the words of the prophets that prophesy unto you: they teach you vanity; they speak a vision of their own heart, and not out of the mouth of Jehovah." — Jeremiah 23:16 (ASV)

They make you vain. That is, they make fools of you and deceive you. As the next verse shows, they filled the people with vain hopes of peace.

This was then, as always, the crucial test between the true prophet and the false. The one roused the conscience, causing pain and anger by his rebukes; the other soothed and quieted people with a false assurance (Jeremiah 6:14; Jeremiah 14:13). They invented a vision which did not come to them from the mouth of Jehovah. (Compare to Deuteronomy 13:1-5.)