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.”
1 tn Or “commanded” (so KJV, NAB, NIV, NRSV).
2 tn Heb “in your heart.”
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.
4 tn Heb “the
5 tn Heb “the word,” but a predictive word is in view here. Cf. NAB “his oracle.”
6 tn Heb “does not happen or come to pass.”
7 tn Heb “the
8 tn Heb “that is the word which the Lord has not spoken.”