Luke 1:20

Contemporary English Version

You have not believed what I have said. So you will not be able to say a thing until all this happens. But everything will take place when it is supposed to."

Parallel Translations

Christian Standard Bible®
Now listen. You will become silent and unable to speak until the day these things take place, because you did not believe my words, which will be fulfilled in their proper time.”

King James Version (1611)
And behold, thou shalt be dumbe, and not able to speake, vntill the day that these things shall bee performed, because thou beleeuest not my words, which shall bee fulfilled in their season.

King James Version
And, behold, thou shalt be dumb, and not able to speak, until the day that these things shall be performed, because thou believest not my words, which shall be fulfilled in their season.

English Standard Version
And behold, you will be silent and unable to speak until the day that these things take place, because you did not believe my words, which will be fulfilled in their time."

New American Standard Bible
"And behold, you will be silent and unable to speak until the day when these things take place, because you did not believe my words, which will be fulfilled at their proper time."

New Century Version
Now, listen! You will not be able to speak until the day these things happen, because you did not believe what I told you. But they will really happen."

Amplified Bible
"Listen carefully, you will be continually silent and unable to speak until the day when these things take place, because you did not believe what I told you; but my words will be fulfilled at their proper time."

New American Standard Bible (1995)
"And behold, you shall be silent and unable to speak until the day when these things take place, because you did not believe my words, which will be fulfilled in their proper time."

Legacy Standard Bible
And behold, you shall be silent and unable to speak until the day when these things take place, because you did not believe my words, which will be fulfilled in their proper time."

Berean Standard Bible
And now you will be silent and unable to speak until the day this comes to pass, because you did not believe my words, which will be fulfilled at their proper time."

Complete Jewish Bible
Now, because you didn't believe what I said, which will be fulfilled when the time comes, you will be silent, unable to speak until the day these things take place."

Darby Translation
and behold, thou shalt be silent and not able to speak, till the day in which these things shall take place, because thou hast not believed my words, the which shall be fulfilled in their time.

Easy-to-Read Version
Now, listen! You will not be able to talk until the day when these things happen. You will lose your speech because you did not believe what I told you. But everything I said will really happen."

Geneva Bible (1587)
And beholde, thou shalt be domme, & not be able to speake, vntill the day that these things be done, because thou beleeuedst not my words, which shalbe fulfilled in their season.

George Lamsa Translation
From henceforth you will be dumb, and not able to speak, till the day these things happen, because you did not believe these my words which are to be fulfilled in their time.

Good News Translation
But you have not believed my message, which will come true at the right time. Because you have not believed, you will be unable to speak; you will remain silent until the day my promise to you comes true."

Lexham English Bible
And behold, you will be silent and not able to speak until the day these things take place, because you did not believe my words, which will be fulfilled in their time."

Literal Translation
And behold, you shall be silent and not able to speak until the day these things take place, because you did not believe my words which shall be fulfilled in their season.

American Standard Version
And behold, thou shalt be silent and not able to speak, until the day that these things shall come to pass, because thou believedst not my words, which shall be fulfilled in their season.

Bible in Basic English
Now, see, you will be without voice or language till the day when these things come about, because you had not faith in my words, which will have effect at the right time.

Hebrew Names Version
Behold, you will be silent and not able to speak, until the day that these things will happen, because you didn't believe my words, which will be fulfilled in their proper time."

International Standard Version
But because you did not believe my words, which will be fulfilled at the proper time,in their times">[fn] you will become silent and unable to speak until the day this happens."Ezekiel 3:26; 24:27;">[xr]

Etheridge Translation
From henceforth thou shalt be dumb, and shalt not be able to speak, till the day when these things shall be done, because thou hast not believed these words, which shall be fulfilled in their time.

Murdock Translation
Henceforth thou wilt be dumb, and unable to speak, until the day when these things take place: because thou believedst not my words, which will be fulfilled in their time.

Bishop's Bible (1568)
And beholde, thou shalt be dumbe, & not be able to speake, vntyll the day that these thynges be perfourmed, because thou beleuedst not my wordes, whiche shalbe fulfylled in their season.

English Revised Version
And behold, thou shalt be silent and not able to speak, until the day that these things shall come to pass, because thou believedst not my words, which shall be fulfilled in their season.

World English Bible
Behold, you will be silent and not able to speak, until the day that these things will happen, because you didn't believe my words, which will be fulfilled in their proper time."

Wesley's New Testament (1755)
And behold, thou shalt be deaf, and not able to speak, till the day that these things are done, because thou believedst not my words, which shall be fulfilled in their season.

Weymouth's New Testament
And now you will be dumb and unable to speak until the day when this has taken place; because you did not believe my words--words which will be fulfilled at their appointed time."

Wycliffe Bible (1395)
And lo! thou schalt be doumbe, and thou schalt not mow speke til in to the dai, in which these thingis schulen be don; for thou hast not bileued to my wordis, whiche schulen be fulfillid in her tyme.

Update Bible Version
And look, you shall be silent and not able to speak, until the day that these things shall come to pass, because you didn't believe my words, which shall be fulfilled in their season.

Webster's Bible Translation
And behold, thou shalt be dumb, and not able to speak, until the day that these things shall be performed, because thou believest not my words which shall be fulfilled in their season.

New English Translation
And now, because you did not believe my words, which will be fulfilled in their time, you will be silent, unable to speak, until the day these things take place."

New King James Version
But behold, you will be mute and not able to speak until the day these things take place, because you did not believe my words which will be fulfilled in their own time."

New Living Translation
But now, since you didn't believe what I said, you will be silent and unable to speak until the child is born. For my words will certainly be fulfilled at the proper time."

New Life Bible
See! You will not be able to talk until the day this happens. It is because you did not believe my words. What I said will happen at the right time."

New Revised Standard
But now, because you did not believe my words, which will be fulfilled in their time, you will become mute, unable to speak, until the day these things occur."

J.B. Rotherham Emphasized Bible
And lo! thou shalt be silent, and not able to speak until the day when these things shall come to pass; because thou didst not believe in my words, - the which shall be fulfilled for their season.

Douay-Rheims Bible
And behold, thou shalt be dumb and shalt not be able to speak until the day wherein these things shall come to pass: because thou hast not believed my words, which shall be fulfilled in their time.

Revised Standard Version
And behold, you will be silent and unable to speak until the day that these things come to pass, because you did not believe my words, which will be fulfilled in their time."

Tyndale New Testament (1525)
And beholde thou shalt be domme and not able to speake vntyll the tyme that these thinges be performed because thou belevedst not my wordes which shalbe fulfilled in their season.

Young's Literal Translation
and lo, thou shalt be silent, and not able to speak, till the day that these things shall come to pass, because thou didst not believe my words, that shall be fulfilled in their season.'

Miles Coverdale Bible (1535)
And beholde, thou shalt be domme, and not able to speake, vntyll the daye that this come to passe, because thou hast not beleued my wordes, which shalbe fulfylled in their season.

Mace New Testament (1729)
you shall now become dumb and not recover your speech, till the very day when these things shall happen; because you distrusted my words, which in due time shall have their effect.

Simplified Cowboy Version
Now you hear me, and you better get used to listening because you're going to be doing a lot of it. You didn't believe what I said, so you are no longer going to be able to speak until all I have told you comes to pass . . . and it will."

Contextual Overview

⁵ When Herod was king of Judea, there was a priest by the name of Zechariah from the priestly group of Abijah. His wife Elizabeth was from the family of Aaron. ⁶ Both of them were good people and pleased the Lord God by obeying all that he had commanded. ⁷ But they did not have children. Elizabeth could not have any, and both Zechariah and Elizabeth were already old. ⁸ One day Zechariah's group of priests were on duty, and he was serving God as a priest. ⁹ According to the custom of the priests, he had been chosen to go into the Lord's temple that day and to burn incense, ¹⁰ while the people stood outside praying. ¹¹ All at once an angel from the Lord appeared to Zechariah at the right side of the altar. ¹² Zechariah was confused and afraid when he saw the angel. ¹³ But the angel told him: Don't be afraid, Zechariah! God has heard your prayers. Your wife Elizabeth will have a son, and you must name him John. ¹⁴ His birth will make you very happy, and many people will be glad.

Bible Verse Review
  from Treasury of Scripure Knowledge

thou shalt: Luke 1:22, Luke 1:62, Luke 1:63, Exodus 4:11, Ezekiel 3:26, Ezekiel 24:27

dumb: ישנשם [Strong's G4623], silent; for in this case, though there was no natural imperfection or debility of the organs of speech, as in dumbness, yet, thou shalt not be able to speak. This was at once a proof of the severity and mercy of God: of severity, in condemning him to nine months' silence for his unbelief; of mercy, in rendering his punishment temporary, and the means of making others rejoice in the events predicted.

because: Luke 1:45, Genesis 18:10-15, Numbers 20:12, 2 Kings 7:2, 2 Kings 7:19, Isaiah 7:9, Mark 9:19, Mark 16:14, Revelation 3:19

which: Romans 3:3, 2 Timothy 2:13, Titus 1:2, Hebrews 6:18

Reciprocal: Job 35:15 - because Ecclesiastes 3:2 - time to be born Daniel 10:1 - and the Daniel 10:15 - I set Zechariah 8:6 - should Luke 1:64 - his mouth

Cross-References

Genesis 1:7
And that's what happened. God made the dome

Genesis 1:14

The Fourth Day

God said, "I command lights to appear in the sky and to separate day from night and to show the time for seasons, special days, and years.

Genesis 1:22
Then he gave the living creatures his blessing—he told the ocean creatures to live everywhere in the ocean and the birds to live everywhere on earth.

Genesis 1:24

The Sixth Day

God said, "I command the earth to give life to all kinds of tame animals, wild animals, and reptiles." And that's what happened.

Genesis 1:25
God made every one of them. Then he looked at what he had done, and it was good.

Genesis 1:30
And I have given the green plants as food for everything else that breathes. These will be food for animals, both wild and tame, and for birds.

Genesis 2:19
So the Lord took some soil and made animals and birds. He brought them to the man to see what names he would give each of them. Then the man named the tame animals and the birds and the wild animals. That's how they got their names. None of these was the right kind of partner for the man.

Genesis 8:17
Let out the birds, animals, and reptiles, so they can mate and live all over the earth."

1 Kings 4:33
He could talk about all kinds of plants, from large trees to small bushes, and he taught about animals, birds, reptiles, and fish.

Psalms 148:10
every wild and tame animal, all reptiles and birds, come praise the Lord !

Gill's Notes on the Bible

And behold, thou shalt be dumb, c] Or "silent and not able to speak", if he would. Silence is sometimes voluntary; but this was what he could not help;par par until the day that these thing shall be performed; which he had said concerning the conception and birth of a son, and the imposition of a name on him; for this dumbness remained upon Zachariah, not only until his wife had conceived, and the child was born, but until the eighth day after, when he was circumcised, and his name was given him the angel directed to: "because thou believest not my words": he was struck both deaf and dumb, as appears from his friends making signs to him, Luke 1:62 which they had no need to have done, could he have heard: he was struck with deafness, because he hearkened not to the angel's words; and with dumbness, because from the unbelief of his heart he objected to them. We learn from hence, what an evil unbelief is, and how much resented by God, and how much it becomes us to take heed, that it prevails not in us: and especially since it easily besets us: "which shall be fulfilled in their season"; first the conception, then the birth; after that the calling him by his name, and in process of time, the doing of his work and office; so that the unbelief Zacharias did not make the faith of God of none effect; for though sometimes the people of God are very unbelieving, yet he abides faithful to his word and promises. Mahomet, in his Alkoran k, very wrongly makes the angel to say these words to Zacharias;

"thy sign shall be, that thou shalt speak unto no man for three days, otherwise than by gesture.''

And elsewhere l it is said three nights.

k C. 3. p. 40. Ed. Sale. l C. 10. p. 249.

Barnes' Notes on the Bible

Because thou believest not ... - This was both a sign and a judgment - a sign that he had come from God, and that the thing would be fulfilled: and a judgment for not giving credit to what he had said. There is no sin in the sight of God more aggravated than unbelief. When God speaks; man should believe; nor can he that “will not” believe escape punishment. God speaks only truth, and we should believe Him. God speaks only what is for our good, and it is right that we should suffer if we do not credit what He says.

Clarke's Notes on the Bible

Verse Luke 1:20. Thou shalt be dumb — σιωπων silent; this translation is literal; the angel immediately explains it, thou shalt not be able to speak. Dumbness ordinarily proceeds from a natural imperfection or debility of the organs of speech; in this case there was no natural weakness or unfitness in those organs; but, for his rash and unbelieving speech, silence is imposed upon him by the Lord, and he shall not be able to break it, till the power that has silenced him gives him again the permission to speak! Let those who are intemperate in the use of their tongues behold here the severity and mercy of the Lord; nine months' silence for one intemperate speech! Many, by giving way to the language of unbelief, have lost the language of praise and thanksgiving for months, if not years!