Deuteronomy 18:20-22

18:20 “But if any prophet presumes to speak anything in my name that I have not authorized ¹  him to speak, or speaks in the name of other gods, that prophet must die. 18:21 Now if you say to yourselves, ²  ‘How can we tell that a message is not from the Lord?’ ³  – 18:22 whenever a prophet speaks in my ⁴  name and the prediction ⁵  is not fulfilled, ⁶  then I have ⁷  not spoken it; ⁸  the prophet has presumed to speak it, so you need not fear him.”

[18:20]  ¹ tn Or “commanded” (so KJV, NAB, NIV, NRSV).

[18:21]  ² tn Heb “in your heart.”

[18:21]  ³ tn Heb “know the word which the Lord has not spoken.” The issue here is not understanding the meaning of the message, but distinguishing a genuine prophetic word from a false one.

[18:22]  ⁴ tn Heb “the Lord’s.” See note on the word “his” in v. 5.

[18:22]  ⁵ tn Heb “the word,” but a predictive word is in view here. Cf. NAB “his oracle.”

[18:22]  ⁶ tn Heb “does not happen or come to pass.”

[18:22]  ⁷ tn Heb “the Lord has.” See note on the word “his” in v. 5.

[18:22]  ⁸ tn Heb “that is the word which the Lord has not spoken.”