Prophets are people who said that God or gods talked to them. They freely teach other people what they learned. Most of them warn people that something very good will happen if they live good lives. Or if they sin, God will punish them. Sometimes people who are not religious are also called prophets if they correctly predict the future. Persons who think bad things will happen are sometimes made fun of as being "prophets of doom". A person who says things will happen, but they don't happen are called "false prophets".