Deuteronomy 18:21

Now if you say to yourselves, ¹  ‘How can we tell that a message is not from the Lord?’ ²  –

You may say to yourselves, "How can we know when a message has not been spoken by the LORD?"

"You may say in your heart, ‘How will we know the word which the LORD has not spoken?’

You may wonder, ‘How will we know whether the prophecy is from the LORD or not?’

You may be wondering among yourselves, "How can we tell the difference, whether it was GOD who spoke or not?" Here's how:

And if you say in your hearts, How are we to be certain that the word does not come from the Lord?

You may say to yourself, "How can we recognize a word that the LORD has not spoken?"

"And if you say in your heart, ‘How shall we know the word which the LORD has not spoken?’ ––

Now if you say to yourselves, ¹  ‘How can we tell that a message is not from the Lord?’ ²  –

¹ tn Heb “in your heart.”

² 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.