Deuteronomy 18:21

Geneva Bible

And if thou thinke 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?'

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?

Bishop's Bible (1568)
And if thou say in thine heart: howe shall we knowe the worde which the Lorde hath not spoken?

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 will raise vp vnto thee a Prophet like vnto me, from among you, euen of thy brethren: vnto him ye shall hearken, ¹⁶ According to al that thou desiredst of the Lord thy God in Horeb, in the day of the assemblie, when thou saidest, Let me heare the voice of my Lorde God no more, nor see this great fire any more, that I die not. ¹⁷ And the Lord sayde vnto me, They haue well spoken. ¹⁸ I will raise them vp a Prophet from among their brethren like vnto thee, and will put my woordes in his mouth, and he shall speake vnto them all that I shall commaund him. ¹⁹ And whosoeuer will not hearken vnto my wordes, which he shall speake in my Name, I will require it of him. ²⁰ But the prophet yt shall presume to speake a worde in my name, which I haue not commanded him to speake, or that speaketh in the name of other gods, euen the same prophet shall die. ²¹ And if thou thinke in thine heart, Howe shall we knowe the worde which the Lorde hath not spoken? ²² When a prophet speaketh in the Name of the Lorde, if the thing followe not nor come to passe, that is the thing which the Lorde hath not spoken, but the prophet hath spoken it presumptuously: thou shalt not therefore be afraid of him.

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 Lord came downe, to see the citie and towre, which the sonnes of men builded.

Genesis 11:7
Come on, let vs goe downe, and there confound their language, that euery one perceiue not anothers speache.

Genesis 18:1
Againe the Lord appeared vnto him in the plaine of Mamre, as he sate in his tent doore about the heate of the day.

Genesis 18:24
If there be fiftie righteous within the citie, wilt thou destroy and not spare the place for the fiftie righteous that are therein?

Exodus 3:8
Therefore I am come downe to deliuer them out of the hande of the Egyptians, and to bring them out of that lande into a good lande and a large, into a lande that floweth with milke and honie, euen into the place of the Canaanites, and the Hittites, and the Amorites, and the Perizzites, and the Hiuites, and the Iebusites.

Exodus 33:5
(For the Lord had said to Moses, Say vnto the children of Israel, Ye are a stiffe necked people, I wil come suddenly vpon thee, and consume thee: therefore now put thy costly rayment from thee, that I may know what to do vnto thee)

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

Deuteronomy 13:3
Thou shalt not hearken vnto the wordes of the prophet, or vnto that dreamer of dreames: for the Lord your God prooueth you, to knowe whether ye loue the Lord your God with al your heart, and with all your soule.

Joshua 22:22
The Lorde God of gods, the Lorde God of gods, he knoweth, and Israel himselfe shal know: if by rebellion, or by transgression against ye Lord we haue done it, saue thou vs not this day.

Job 34:22
There is no darkenesse nor shadowe of death, that the workers of iniquitie might be hid therein.

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.