diff --git a/Cake/ORM/Validation/ValidationRule.php b/Cake/ORM/Validation/ValidationRule.php
index 93f915438ca..67040612e3f 100644
--- a/Cake/ORM/Validation/ValidationRule.php
+++ b/Cake/ORM/Validation/ValidationRule.php
@@ -26,13 +26,6 @@
  */
 class ValidationRule {
 
-/**
- * Validation method
- *
- * @var mixed
- */
-	protected $_rule = null;
-
 /**
  * Validation method arguments
  *
@@ -41,39 +34,32 @@ class ValidationRule {
 	protected $_ruleParams = array();
 
 /**
- * Holds passed in options
+ * The method to be called for a given scope
  *
- * @var array
+ * @var string|\Closure
  */
-	protected $_passedOptions = array();
-
-/**
- * The 'rule' key
- *
- * @var mixed
- */
-	public $rule = 'blank';
+	protected $_rule;
 
 /**
  * The 'on' key
  *
  * @var string
  */
-	public $on = null;
+	protected $_on = null;
 
 /**
  * The 'last' key
  *
  * @var boolean
  */
-	public $last = true;
+	protected $_last = true;
 
 /**
  * The 'message' key
  *
  * @var string
  */
-	public $message = null;
+	protected $_message = null;
 
 /**
  * Constructor
@@ -84,19 +70,6 @@ public function __construct($validator = array()) {
 		$this->_addValidatorProps($validator);
 	}
 
-/**
- * Checks if the rule is valid
- *
- * @return boolean
- */
-	public function isValid() {
-		if (!$this->_valid || (is_string($this->_valid) && !empty($this->_valid))) {
-			return false;
-		}
-
-		return true;
-	}
-
 /**
  * Checks if the validation rule should be skipped
  *
@@ -122,72 +95,25 @@ public function isLast() {
 	}
 
 /**
- * Gets the validation error message
- *
- * @return string
- */
-	public function getValidationResult() {
-		return $this->_valid;
-	}
-
-/**
- * Gets an array with the rule properties
+ * Dispatches the validation rule to the given validator method and returns
+ * a boolean indicating whether the rule passed or not. If a string is returned
+ * it is assumed that the rule failed and the error message was given as a result.
  *
- * @return array
+ * @param mixed $data The data to validate
+ * @param array $scopes associative array with objects or class names that will
+ * be passed as the last argument for the validation method
+ * @param boolean $newRecord whether or not the data to be validated belongs to
+ * a new record
+ * @return boolean|string
  */
-	protected function _getPropertiesArray() {
-		$rule = $this->rule;
-		if (!is_string($rule)) {
-			unset($rule[0]);
+	public function process($data, $scopes, $newRecord) {
+		$scope = $scopes['default'];
+		$callable = [$scope, $this->_rule];
+		$result = $callable($data, $scopes);
+		if ($result === false) {
+			return $this->_message ?: false;
 		}
-		return array(
-			'rule' => $rule,
-			'on' => $this->on,
-			'last' => $this->last,
-			'message' => $this->message
-		);
-	}
-
-/**
- * Dispatches the validation rule to the given validator method
- *
- * @param string $field Field name
- * @param array $data Data array
- * @param array $methods Methods list
- * @return boolean True if the rule could be dispatched, false otherwise
- */
-	public function process($field, $data, $methods) {
-		$this->_parseRule($field, $data);
-
-		$validator = $this->_getPropertiesArray();
-		$rule = strtolower($this->_rule);
-		if (isset($methods[$rule])) {
-			$this->_ruleParams[] = array_merge($validator, $this->_passedOptions);
-			$this->_ruleParams[0] = array($field => $this->_ruleParams[0]);
-			$this->_valid = call_user_func_array($methods[$rule], $this->_ruleParams);
-		} elseif (method_exists('Cake\Utility\Validation', $this->_rule)) {
-			$this->_valid = call_user_func_array(array('Cake\Utility\Validation', $this->_rule), $this->_ruleParams);
-		} elseif (is_string($validator['rule'])) {
-			$this->_valid = preg_match($this->_rule, $data[$field]);
-		} else {
-			trigger_error(__d('cake_dev', 'Could not find validation handler %s for %s', $this->_rule, $field), E_USER_WARNING);
-			return false;
-		}
-
-		return true;
-	}
-
-/**
- * Returns passed options for this rule
- *
- * @param string|integer $key Array index
- * @return array
- */
-	public function getOptions($key) {
-		if (!isset($this->_passedOptions[$key])) {
-			return null;
-		}
-		return $this->_passedOptions[$key];
+		return $result;
 	}
 
 /**
@@ -203,29 +129,10 @@ protected function _addValidatorProps($validator = array()) {
 		foreach ($validator as $key => $value) {
 			if (isset($value) || !empty($value)) {
 				if (in_array($key, array('rule', 'on', 'message', 'last'))) {
-					$this->{$key} = $validator[$key];
-				} else {
-					$this->_passedOptions[$key] = $value;
+					$this->{"_$key"} = $validator[$key];
 				}
 			}
 		}
 	}
 
-/**
- * Parses the rule and sets the rule and ruleParams
- *
- * @param string $field Field name
- * @param array $data Data array
- * @return void
- */
-	protected function _parseRule($field, $data) {
-		if (is_array($this->rule)) {
-			$this->_rule = $this->rule[0];
-			$this->_ruleParams = array_merge(array($data[$field]), array_values(array_slice($this->rule, 1)));
-		} else {
-			$this->_rule = $this->rule;
-			$this->_ruleParams = array($data[$field]);
-		}
-	}
-
 }
diff --git a/Cake/ORM/Validation/ValidationSet.php b/Cake/ORM/Validation/ValidationSet.php
index cd0d480287b..a7ba581b8b6 100644
--- a/Cake/ORM/Validation/ValidationSet.php
+++ b/Cake/ORM/Validation/ValidationSet.php
@@ -190,64 +190,6 @@ public function remove($name) {
 		return $this;
 	}
 
-/**
- * Fetches the correct error message for a failed validation
- *
- * @param string $name the name of the rule as it was configured
- * @param Cake\Model\Validator\ValidationRule $rule the object containing validation information
- * @return string
- */
-	protected function _processValidationResponse($name, $rule) {
-		$message = $rule->getValidationResult();
-		if (is_string($message)) {
-			return $message;
-		}
-		$message = $rule->message;
-
-		if ($message !== null) {
-			$args = null;
-			if (is_array($message)) {
-				$result = $message[0];
-				$args = array_slice($message, 1);
-			} else {
-				$result = $message;
-			}
-			if (is_array($rule->rule) && $args === null) {
-				$args = array_slice($rule->rule, 1);
-			}
-			$args = $this->_translateArgs($args);
-
-			$message = __d($this->_validationDomain, $result, $args);
-		} elseif (is_string($name)) {
-			if (is_array($rule->rule)) {
-				$args = array_slice($rule->rule, 1);
-				$args = $this->_translateArgs($args);
-				$message = __d($this->_validationDomain, $name, $args);
-			} else {
-				$message = __d($this->_validationDomain, $name);
-			}
-		} else {
-			$message = __d('cake', 'The provided value is invalid');
-		}
-
-		return $message;
-	}
-
-/**
- * Applies translations to validator arguments.
- *
- * @param array $args The args to translate
- * @return array Translated args.
- */
-	protected function _translateArgs($args) {
-		foreach ((array)$args as $k => $arg) {
-			if (is_string($arg)) {
-				$args[$k] = __d($this->_validationDomain, $arg);
-			}
-		}
-		return $args;
-	}
-
 /**
  * Returns whether an index exists in the rule set
  *
diff --git a/Cake/ORM/Validator.php b/Cake/ORM/Validator.php
index f9879ded77a..7cc6f63df79 100644
--- a/Cake/ORM/Validator.php
+++ b/Cake/ORM/Validator.php
@@ -63,13 +63,31 @@ public function errors(array $data, $newRecord = true) {
 		$errors = [];
 		foreach ($this->_fields as $name => $field) {
 			$keyPresent = array_key_exists($name, $data);
+
 			if (!$keyPresent && !$this->_checkPresence($field, $newRecord)) {
 				$errors[$name][] = __d('cake', 'This field is required');
+				continue;
+			}
+
+			if (!$keyPresent) {
+				continue;
 			}
-			if ($keyPresent && !$this->_checkEmpty($field, $newRecord)) {
-				if ($this->_fieldIsEmpty($data[$name])) {
-					$errors[$name][] = __d('cake', 'This field cannot be left empty');
-				}
+
+			$canBeEmpty = $this->_canBeEmpty($field, $newRecord);
+			$isEmpty = $this->_fieldIsEmpty($data[$name]);
+
+			if (!$canBeEmpty && $isEmpty) {
+				$errors[$name][] = __d('cake', 'This field cannot be left empty');
+				continue;
+			}
+
+			if ($isEmpty) {
+				continue;
+			}
+
+			$result = $this->_processRules($field, $data[$name], $newRecord);
+			if ($result) {
+				$errors[$name] = $result;
 			}
 		}
 
@@ -308,7 +326,7 @@ protected function _checkPresence($field, $newRecord) {
  * @param boolean $newRecord whether the data to be validated is new or to be updated.
  * @return boolean
  */
-	protected function _checkEmpty($field, $newRecord) {
+	protected function _canBeEmpty($field, $newRecord) {
 		$allowed = $field->isEmptyAllowed();
 		if (in_array($allowed, array('create', 'update'), true)) {
 			$allowed = (
@@ -333,4 +351,21 @@ protected function _fieldIsEmpty($data) {
 		return false;
 	}
 
+	protected function _processRules(ValidationSet $rules, $value, $newRecord) {
+		$errors = [];
+		$this->scope('default'); // Loading default scope in case there is none
+		foreach ($rules as $name => $rule) {
+			$result = $rule->process($value, $this->_scopes, $newRecord);
+			if ($result === true) {
+				continue;
+			}
+
+			$errors[$name] = __d('cake', 'The provided value is invalid');
+			if (is_string($result)) {
+				$errors[$name] = __d($this->_validationDomain, $result);
+			}
+		}
+		return $errors;
+	}
+
 }
diff --git a/Cake/Test/TestCase/ORM/ValidatorTest.php b/Cake/Test/TestCase/ORM/ValidatorTest.php
index 2c0777bf2a7..f164131622d 100644
--- a/Cake/Test/TestCase/ORM/ValidatorTest.php
+++ b/Cake/Test/TestCase/ORM/ValidatorTest.php
@@ -225,4 +225,26 @@ public function testScope() {
 		$this->assertEquals('\Cake\Utility\Validation', $validator->scope('default'));
 	}
 
+/**
+ * Tests errors() method when using validators from the default scope, this proves
+ * that it returns a default validation message and the custom one set in the rule
+ *
+ * @return void
+ */
+	public function testErrorsFromDefaultScope() {
+		$validator = new Validator;
+		$validator
+			->add('email', 'alpha', ['rule' => 'alphanumeric'])
+			->add('email', 'notEmpty', ['rule' => 'notEmpty'])
+			->add('email', 'email', ['rule' => 'email', 'message' => 'Y u no write email?']);
+		$errors = $validator->errors(['email' => 'not an email!']);
+		$expected = [
+			'email' => [
+				'alpha' => 'The provided value is invalid',
+				'email' => 'Y u no write email?'
+			]
+		];
+		$this->assertEquals($expected, $errors);
+	}
+
 }