Lectionary Calendar
Wednesday, May 7th, 2025
the Third Week after Easter
Attention!
Tired of seeing ads while studying? Now you can enjoy an "Ads Free" version of the site for as little as 10¢ a day and support a great cause!
Click here to learn more!

Read the Bible

English Standard Version

Exodus 4:8

"If they will not believe you," God said, "or listen to the first sign, they may believe the latter 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.
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.
J.B. Rotherham Emphasized Bible
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;
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 Moses answered, "But behold, they will not believe me or listen to my voice, for they will say, ‘The Lord did not appear to you.'" 2 The Lord said to him, "What is that in your hand?" He said, "A staff." 3 And he said, "Throw it on the ground." So he threw it on the ground, and it became a serpent, and Moses ran from it. 4 But the Lord said to Moses, "Put out your hand and catch it by the tail"—so he put out his hand and caught it, and it became a staff in his hand— 5 "that they may believe that the Lord , the God of their fathers, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob, has appeared to you." 6 Again, the Lord said to him, "Put your hand inside your cloak." And he put his hand inside his cloak, and when he took it out, behold, his hand was leprous like snow. 7 Then God said, "Put your hand back inside your cloak." So he put his hand back inside his cloak, and when he took it out, behold, it was restored like the rest of his flesh. 8 "If they will not believe you," God said, "or listen to the first sign, they may believe the latter sign. 9 If they will not believe even these two signs or listen to your voice, you shall take some water from the Nile and pour it on the dry ground, and the water that you shall take from the Nile will become blood on the dry ground."

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
In the course of time Cain brought to the Lord an offering of the fruit of the ground,
Genesis 4:6
The Lord said to Cain, "Why are you angry, and why has your face fallen?
Genesis 4:9
Then the Lord said to Cain, "Where is Abel your brother?" He said, "I do not know; am I my brother's keeper?"
Genesis 4:10
And the Lord said, "What have you done? The voice of your brother's blood is crying to me from the ground.
Genesis 4:12
When you work the ground, it shall no longer yield to you its strength. You shall be a fugitive and a wanderer on the earth."
Genesis 4:15
Then the Lord said to him, "Not so! If anyone kills Cain, vengeance shall be taken on him sevenfold." And the Lord put a mark on Cain, lest any who found him should attack him.
Genesis 4:24
If Cain's revenge is sevenfold, then Lamech's is seventy-sevenfold."
Genesis 4:26
To Seth also a son was born, and he called his name Enosh. At that time people began to call upon the name of the Lord .
2 Samuel 3:27
And when Abner returned to Hebron, Joab took him aside into the midst of the gate to speak with him privately, and there he struck him in the stomach, so that he died, for the blood of Asahel his brother.
2 Samuel 14:6
And your servant had two sons, and they quarreled with one another in the field. There was no one to separate them, and one struck the other and killed 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.


 
adsfree-icon
Ads FreeProfile