Deuteronomy 18:21

Bishop's Bible

And if thou say in thine heart: howe shall we knowe the worde which the Lorde hath not spoken?

Parallel Translations

Christian Standard Bible®
You may say to yourself, ‘How can we recognize a message the Lord has not spoken?’

Hebrew Names Version
If you say in your heart, How shall we know the word which the LORD has not spoken?

King James Version
And if thou say in thine heart, How shall we know the word which the Lord hath not spoken?

Lexham English Bible
And if you say to yourself, ‘How can we know the word that Yahweh has not spoken to him?'

English Standard Version
And if you say in your heart, ‘How may we know the word that the Lord has not spoken?'—

New Century Version
You might be thinking, "How can we know if a message is not from the Lord ?"

New English Translation
Now if you say to yourselves, ‘How can we tell that a message is not from the Lord ?'—

Amplified Bible
"If you say in your heart, 'How will we know and recognize the word which the LORD has not spoken?'

New American Standard Bible
"And if you say in your heart, 'How will we recognize the word which the LORD has not spoken?'

Geneva Bible (1587)
And if thou thinke in thine heart, Howe shall we knowe the worde which the Lorde hath not spoken?

Legacy Standard Bible
Now you may say in your heart, ‘How will we know the word which Yahweh has not spoken?'

Contemporary English Version
Moses said to Israel: You may be asking yourselves, "How can we tell if a prophet's message really comes from the Lord ?"

Complete Jewish Bible
You may be wondering, ‘How are we to know if a word has not been spoken by Adonai ?'

Darby Translation
And if thou say in thy heart, How shall we know the word that Jehovah hath not spoken?

Easy-to-Read Version
You might be thinking, ‘How can we know if something a prophet says is not from the Lord ?'

George Lamsa Translation
And if you say in your heart, How shall we know the word which the LORD has not spoken?

Good News Translation
"You may wonder how you can tell when a prophet's message does not come from the Lord .

Literal Translation
And if you say in your heart, How shall we know the word which Jehovah has not spoken?

Miles Coverdale Bible (1535)
But yf thou saye in thine hert: How can I knowe what worde the LORDE hath not spoken?

American Standard Version
And if thou say in thy heart, How shall we know the word which Jehovah hath not spoken?

Bible in Basic English
And if you say in your hearts, How are we to be certain that the word does not come from the Lord?

JPS Old Testament (1917)
And if thou say in thy heart: 'How shall we know the word which the LORD hath not spoken?'

King James Version (1611)
And if thou say in thine heart, How shall wee know the word which the Lord hath not spoken?

Brenton's Septuagint (LXX)
But if thou shalt say in thine heart, How shall we know the word which the Lord has not spoken?

English Revised Version
And if thou say in thine heart, How shall we know the word which the LORD hath not spoken?

Berean Standard Bible
You may ask in your heart, "How can we recognize a message that the LORD has not spoken?"

Wycliffe Bible (1395)
That if thou answerist bi pryuy thouyt, Hou may Y vndirstonde the word, which the Lord spak not? thou schalt haue this signe,

Young's Literal Translation
`And when thou sayest in thy heart, How do we know the word which Jehovah hath not spoken? --

Update Bible Version
And if you say in your heart, How shall we know the word which Yahweh has not spoken?

Webster's Bible Translation
And if thou shalt say in thy heart, How shall we know the word which the LORD hath not spoken?

World English Bible
If you say in your heart, How shall we know the word which Yahweh has not spoken?

New King James Version
And if you say in your heart, "How shall we know the word which the LORD has not spoken?'--

New Living Translation
"But you may wonder, ‘How will we know whether or not a prophecy is from the Lord ?'

New Life Bible
You may say to yourselves, ‘How can we know which words the Lord has not spoken?'

New Revised Standard
You may say to yourself, "How can we recognize a word that the Lord has not spoken?"

J.B. Rotherham Emphasized Bible
And, when thou shalt say in thy heart, - In what manner shall we know the word which Yahweh hath not spoken!?,

Douay-Rheims Bible
And if in silent thought thou answer: How shall I know the word that the Lord hath not spoken?

Revised Standard Version
And if you say in your heart, 'How may we know the word which the LORD has not spoken?' --

THE MESSAGE
You may be wondering among yourselves, "How can we tell the difference, whether it was God who spoke or not?" Here's how: If what the prophet spoke in God 's name doesn't happen, then obviously God wasn't behind it; the prophet made it up. Forget about him.

New American Standard Bible (1995)
"You may say in your heart, 'How will we know the word which the LORD has not spoken?'

Contextual Overview

¹⁵ The Lorde thy God wyll stirre vp vnto thee a prophete among you, euen of thy brethren like vnto me, vnto hym ye shall hearken, ¹⁶ Accordyng to all that thou desiredst of the Lorde thy God in Horeb in the day of the assemblie, when thou saydest: Let me heare the voyce of my Lorde God no more, nor see this great fire any more, that I dye not. ¹⁷ And the Lorde sayde vnto me: They haue well spoken. ¹⁸ I wyll raise them vp a prophete from among their brethren lyke vnto thee, and wyll put my wordes in his mouth, and he shall speake vnto them all that I shall commaunde hym. ¹⁹ And whosoeuer wyll not hearken vnto my wordes, which he shall speake in my name, I wyll require it of hym. ²⁰ But the prophete which shall presume to speake a worde in my name, which I haue not comaunded hym to speake, or that speaketh in the name of strauge gods, the same prophete shall dye. ²¹ And if thou say in thine heart: howe shall we knowe the worde which the Lorde hath not spoken? ²² Euen when a prophete speaketh in the name of the Lord, if the thing folowe not, nor come to passe: that is the thyng which the Lorde hath not spoken, but the prophete hath spoken it presumptuously: Thou shalt not therfore be afrayde of hym.

Bible Verse Review
  from Treasury of Scripure Knowledge

1 Thessalonians 5:24, 1 John 4:1-3, Revelation 2:2

Reciprocal: Deuteronomy 7:17 - thou shalt Jeremiah 13:22 - if

Cross-References

Genesis 11:5
But the Lorde came downe to see the citie and towre whiche the chyldren of men buylded.

Genesis 11:7
Come on, let vs go downe, and there confounde their language, that euerye one perceaue not his neighbours speache.

Genesis 18:1
And the Lorde appeared vnto hym in the playne of Mamre, and he sate in his tent doore in the heate of the day.

Genesis 18:24
If there be fiftie ryghteous within the citie, wylt thou destroye and not spare the place for the sake of fiftie ryghteous that are therein?

Exodus 3:8
And am come downe to deliuer the out of the hande of the Egyptians, and to bryng them out of that lande, vnto a good lande & a large, vnto a lande that floweth with mylke and hony, euen vnto the place of the Chanaanites, and Hethites, and Amorites, and Pherizites, and Heuites, and of the Iebusites.

Exodus 33:5
And the Lorde spake vnto Moyses: Say vnto the chyldren of Israel, ye are a styfnecked people: I must come once sodaynly vpon you, and make an ende of you: therefore nowe put thy goodly rayment from thee, that I may wyt what to do vnto thee.

Deuteronomy 8:2
And thou shalt remember all the way which the Lorde thy God led thee this fourtie yeres in the wildernesse, for to humble thee, & to proue thee, and to knowe what was in thine heart, whether thou wouldest kepe his comaundementes, or no.

Deuteronomy 13:3
Hearken not thou vnto the wordes of that prophete or dreamer of dreames: For the Lorde thy God proueth you, to knowe whether ye loue the Lorde your God with all your heart and with all your soule.

Joshua 22:22
The Lorde God of gods, the Lorde God of gods knoweth, and also Israel shall knowe, yf it be to rebell or to transgresse against the Lorde, then thou Lorde saue vs not this day.

Job 34:22
There is no darkenesse nor shadowe of death that can hide the wicked doers from him.

Gill's Notes on the Bible

And if thou say in thine heart, &c] Such a thought arises in the mind, and it appears to be a difficulty, and a query is made upon it,

how shall we know the word which the Lord hath not spoken? What marks, signs, and criterions are those by which it may be known that it is not a word that comes from the Lord?

Barnes' Notes on the Bible

And if thou say in thine heart, How ... - The passage evidently assumes such an occasion for consulting the prophet as was usual among the pagan, e. g., an impending battle or other such crisis (compare 1 Kings 22:11), in which his veracity would soon be put to the test. Failure of a prediction is set forth as a sure note of its being “presumptuous.” But from Deuteronomy 13:2 ff we see that the fulfillment of a prediction would not decisively accredit him who uttered it: for the prophet or dreamer of dreams who endeavoured on the strength of miracles to seduce to idolatry was to be rejected and punished. Nothing therefore contrary to the revealed truth of God was to be accepted under any circumstances.