Prophets I: Isaiah, Jeremiah, Lamentations, Baruch

The role of the prophets was to communicate God's message to the people and to communicate with the Lord on behalf of the people. Prophets did not receive their office through heredity as did the priests of the Old Testament, but they received their call from God, often through an intermediary sent by God. Since they were chosen by the Lord, prophets often began their message with the words, "Thus says the Lord," or something similar. Unlike the priesthood of the Old Testament which was limited to males, prophets could be male or female. In the Book of Judges, a woman named Deborah is identified as a prophet(ess) (Judges 4:4). From the Introduction