Exodus 32:18

Moses ¹  said, “It is not the sound of those who shout for victory, ²  nor is it the sound of those who cry because they are overcome, ³  but the sound of singing ⁴  I hear.” ⁵ 

Moses replied: "It is not the sound of victory, it is not the sound of defeat; it is the sound of singing that I hear."

But he said, "It is not the sound of the cry of triumph, Nor is it the sound of the cry of defeat; But the sound of singing I hear."

But Moses replied, "No, it’s neither a cry of victory nor a cry of defeat. It is the sound of a celebration."

But Moses said, Those aren't songs of victory, And those aren't songs of defeat, I hear songs of people throwing a party.

And Moses said, It is not the voice of men who are overcoming in the fight, or the cry of those who have been overcome; it is the sound of songs which comes to my ear.

But he said, "It is not the sound made by victors, or the sound made by losers; it is the sound of revelers that I hear."

But he said: " It is not the noise of the shout of victory, Nor the noise of the cry of defeat, But the sound of singing I hear."

Moses ¹  said, “It is not the sound of those who shout for victory, ²  nor is it the sound of those who cry because they are overcome, ³  but the sound of singing ⁴  I hear.” ⁵ 

¹ tn Heb “he”; the referent (Moses) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

² tn Heb “the sound of the answering of might,” meaning it is not the sound of shouting in victory (U. Cassuto, Exodus, 418).

³ tn Heb “the sound of the answering of weakness,” meaning the cry of the defeated (U. Cassuto, Exodus, 415).

⁴ tn Heb “answering in song” (a play on the twofold meaning of the word).

⁵ sn See A. Newman, “Compositional Analysis and Functional Ambiguity Equivalence: Translating Exodus 32, 17-18,” Babel 21 (1975): 29-35.