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Tuesday, August 19th, 2025
the Week of Proper 15 / Ordinary 20
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Read the Bible

J.B. Rotherham Emphasized Bible

Exodus 4:8

thus shall it come to pass, if they will not believe thee, nor hearken to the voice of the first sign, then will they believe the voice of the next sign;

Bible Study Resources

Concordances:

- Nave's Topical Bible - Call;   Communion;   Condescension of God;   Israel;   Miracles;   Moses;   Sign;   Token;   Scofield Reference Index - Miracles;  

Dictionaries:

- American Tract Society Bible Dictionary - Aaron;   Sign;   Sinai;   Bridgeway Bible Dictionary - Moses;   Holman Bible Dictionary - Prophecy, Prophets;   Sign;   Hastings' Dictionary of the Bible - Exodus;   Magic, Divination, and Sorcery;   Moses;   Prayer;   Morrish Bible Dictionary - Miracles;   Wilson's Dictionary of Bible Types - Sign;   Voice;   Watson's Biblical & Theological Dictionary - Moses;   Sign;  

Encyclopedias:

- Condensed Biblical Cyclopedia - Exodus, the;   Moses, the Man of God;   International Standard Bible Encyclopedia - Moses;   Sign;   The Jewish Encyclopedia - Miracle;  

Parallel Translations

Hebrew Names Version
"It will happen, if they will neither believe you nor listen to the voice of the first sign, that they will believe the voice of the latter sign.
King James Version
And it shall come to pass, if they will not believe thee, neither hearken to the voice of the first sign, that they will believe the voice of the latter sign.
Lexham English Bible
"And if they do not believe you and they will not listen to the voice of the former sign, then they will believe the voice of the latter sign.
New Century Version
Then the Lord said, "If the people do not believe you or pay attention to the first miracle, they may believe you when you show them this second miracle.
New English Translation
"If they do not believe you or pay attention to the former sign, then they may believe the latter sign.
Amplified Bible
"If they will not believe you or pay attention to the evidence of the first sign, they may believe the evidence of the second sign.
New American Standard Bible
"So if they will not believe you nor pay attention to the evidence of the first sign, they may believe the evidence of the last sign.
Geneva Bible (1587)
So shall it be, if they wil not beleeue thee, neither obey the voyce of ye first signe, yet shall they beleeue for the voyce of the seconde signe.
Legacy Standard Bible
"And so it will be, if they will not believe you or listen to the witness of the first sign, they may believe the witness of this last sign.
Contemporary English Version
Then the Lord said, "If no one believes either of these miracles, take some water from the Nile River and pour it on the ground. The water will immediately turn into blood."
Complete Jewish Bible
"If they won't believe you or heed the evidence of the first sign, they will be convinced by the second.
Darby Translation
And it shall come to pass, if they will not believe thee, neither hearken to the voice of the first sign, that they will believe the voice of the other sign.
Easy-to-Read Version
Then God said, "If the people don't believe you when you use your walking stick, then they will believe you when you show them this sign.
English Standard Version
"If they will not believe you," God said, "or listen to the first sign, they may believe the latter sign.
George Lamsa Translation
And if they will not believe you, neither hearken to the voice of the first sign, they will believe the voice of the latter sign.
Good News Translation
The Lord said, "If they will not believe you or be convinced by the first miracle, then this one will convince them.
Christian Standard Bible®
“If they will not believe you and will not respond to the evidence of the first sign, they may believe the evidence of the second sign.
Literal Translation
And it shall be, if they will not believe you and will not listen to the voice of the first sign, that they will believe the latter sign.
Miles Coverdale Bible (1535)
Yf they wil not beleue the, ner heare ye voyce of the first token, yet shal they beleue the voyce of the seconde token.
American Standard Version
And it shall come to pass, if they will not believe thee, neither hearken to the voice of the first sign, that they will believe the voice of the latter sign.
Bible in Basic English
And if they do not have faith in you or give ear to the voice of the first sign, they will have faith in the second sign.
Bishop's Bible (1568)
Therfore yf they wyll not beleue thee, neither heare ye voyce of the first signes, yet wyll they beleue for the voyce of the seconde signes.
JPS Old Testament (1917)
And it shall come to pass, if they will not believe thee, neither hearken to the voice of the first sign, that they will believe the voice of the latter sign.
King James Version (1611)
And it shall come to passe, if they wil not beleeue thee, neither hearken to the voice of the first signe, that they will beleeue the voice of the latter signe.
Brenton's Septuagint (LXX)
And if they will not believe thee, nor hearken to the voice of the first sign, they will believe thee because of the voice of the second sign.
English Revised Version
And it shall come to pass, if they will not believe thee, neither hearken to the voice of the first sign, that they will believe the voice of the latter sign.
Berean Standard Bible
And the LORD said, "If they refuse to believe you or heed the witness of the first sign, they may believe that of the second.
Wycliffe Bible (1395)
The Lord seide, If thei schulen not bileue to thee, nether schulen here the word of the formere signe, thei schulen bileue to the word of the signe suynge;
Young's Literal Translation
`-- and it hath come to pass, if they do not give credence to thee, and hearken not to the voice of the first sign, that they have given credence to the voice of the latter sign.
Update Bible Version
And it shall come to pass, if they will not believe you, neither listen to the voice of the first sign, that they will believe the voice of the latter sign.
Webster's Bible Translation
And it shall come to pass, if they will not believe thee, neither hearken to the voice of the first sign, that they will believe the voice of the latter sign.
World English Bible
"It will happen, if they will neither believe you nor listen to the voice of the first sign, that they will believe the voice of the latter sign.
New King James Version
"Then it will be, if they do not believe you, nor heed the message of the first sign, that they may believe the message of the latter sign.
New Living Translation
The Lord said to Moses, "If they do not believe you and are not convinced by the first miraculous sign, they will be convinced by the second sign.
New Life Bible
God said, "If they will not listen to you or believe you when they are shown the first thing, they may believe when this is shown to them.
New Revised Standard
"If they will not believe you or heed the first sign, they may believe the second sign.
Douay-Rheims Bible
If they will not believe thee, saith he, nor hear the voice of the former sign, they will believe the word of the latter sign.
Revised Standard Version
"If they will not believe you," God said, "or heed the first sign, they may believe the latter sign.
THE MESSAGE
"So if they don't trust you and aren't convinced by the first sign, the second sign should do it. But if it doesn't, if even after these two signs they don't trust you and listen to your message, take some water out of the Nile and pour it out on the dry land; the Nile water that you pour out will turn to blood when it hits the ground."
New American Standard Bible (1995)
"If they will not believe you or heed the witness of the first sign, they may believe the witness of the last sign.

Contextual Overview

1 Then responded Moses, and said, And lo! they will not believe me, neither hearken to my voice, - for they will say, Yahweh, hath not appeared unto thee. 2 And Yahweh said unto him - What is this in thy hand? And he said - A staff. 3 Then said he - Cast it to the earth. And he cast it to the earth, and it became a serpent, - and Moses fled from the face thereof. 4 And Yahweh said unto Moses, Put forth thy hand, and take it by its tail: So he put forth his hand, and laid hold of it, and it became a staff in his hand: - 5 that they may believe that Yahweh, God of their fathers, - God of Abraham, God of Isaac, and God of Jacob hath appeared unto thee. 6 Then said Yahweh unto him, yet again - Bring, I pray thee, thy hand, into thy bosom. So he brought his hand, into his bosom, - and then took it out, and lo! his hand, was leprous, - like snow, 7 And he said - Put back thy hand into thy bosom: So he put back his hand into his bosom, - and then took it out of his bosom, and lo it had come again like his own flesh: 8 thus shall it come to pass, if they will not believe thee, nor hearken to the voice of the first sign, then will they believe the voice of the next sign; 9 and it shall come to pass if they will not believe even these two signs nor hearken to thy voice, then shalt thou take of the water of the river, and pour it out on the dry land, - so shall the water which thou hast taken from the river, become, yea it shall become, blood, on the dry land.

Bible Verse Review
  from Treasury of Scripure Knowledge

if they: Exodus 4:30, Exodus 4:31, Isaiah 28:10, John 12:37

that they: Deuteronomy 32:39, 2 Kings 5:7, Job 5:18

Reciprocal: Exodus 4:28 - told Aaron 1 Samuel 10:7 - signs 1 Kings 13:3 - General John 6:30 - What

Cross-References

Genesis 4:3
So it came to pass, after certain days, that Cain brought in of the fruit of the ground, a present to Yahweh:
Genesis 4:6
So then Yahweh said unto Cain, - Wherefore hath it angered thee, and wherefore hath thy countenance fallen?
Genesis 4:9
Then said Yahweh unto Cain, Where is Abel thy brother? And he said know not, the keeper of my brother, am, I?
Genesis 4:10
And he said, What hast thou done? With a voice, the shed-blood of thy brother is crying out to me from the ground,
Genesis 4:12
Though thou till the ground, it shall not go on to give its vigour to thee. A wanderer and a fugitive, shalt thou be in the earth.
Genesis 4:15
And Yahweh said to him - Not so, whosoever slayeth Cain seven - fold, shall it be avenged. So Yahweh set, for Cain, a sign, that none finding him should smite him.
Genesis 4:24
If, sevenfold, be, the avenging of Cain, Then, of Lamech, seventy and seven.
Genesis 4:26
And to Seth - to him also, was born a son, and he called his name Enosh, - then, was a beginning made, to call on the name of Yahweh.
2 Samuel 3:27
So Abner returned to Hebron, and Joab took him aside into the midst of the gate, to speak with him quietly, - and then smote him there, in the belly, that he died, for the blood of Asahel the brother of Joab.
2 Samuel 14:6
Now, thy maidservant, had two sons, and they two strove together in the field, with none to tear them apart, - so the one smote the other, and slew him.

Gill's Notes on the Bible

And it shall come to pass, if they will not believe thee,.... Will not give credit to the commission he had from God, but question the truth of it:

neither hearken to the voice of the first sign; which miracle wrought, spoke plain enough that he that wrought it, or for whose sake it was wrought, must be one come from God, or such a miracle would never be wrought by him or for him; but should any of the Israelites be still incredulous, it is supposed,

that they will believe the voice of the latter sign; which had a voice in it commanding belief that he was a messenger of God; the first sign respects his rod, the other his hand.

Clarke's Notes on the Bible

Verse Exodus 4:8. If they will not believe - the voice of the first sign, c.] Probably intimating that some would be more difficult to be persuaded than others: some would yield to the evidence of the first miracle others would hesitate till they had seen the second; and others would not believe till they had seen the water of the Nile turned into blood, when poured upon the dry land; Exodus 4:9.


 
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