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Wednesday, July 30th, 2025
the Week of Proper 12 / Ordinary 17
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Read the Bible

New Living Translation

Deuteronomy 4:12

And the Lord spoke to you from the heart of the fire. You heard the sound of his words but didn't see his form; there was only a voice.

Bible Study Resources

Concordances:

- Nave's Topical Bible - Afflictions and Adversities;   God;   Law;   Obedience;   Torrey's Topical Textbook - Church of Israel;  

Dictionaries:

- Bridgeway Bible Dictionary - Idol, idolatry;   Baker Evangelical Dictionary of Biblical Theology - Building;   Disciple, Discipleship;   Fire;   Teach, Teacher;   Word;   Charles Buck Theological Dictionary - Polytheism;   Easton Bible Dictionary - Idol;   Holman Bible Dictionary - Baptism of Fire;   Deuteronomy, the Book of;   Similitude;   Theophany;   Hastings' Dictionary of the Bible - Deuteronomy;   Morrish Bible Dictionary - Similitude;  

Encyclopedias:

- International Standard Bible Encyclopedia - Criticism (the Graf-Wellhausen Hypothesis);   Deuteronomy;   Form;   Ignorance;   Similitude;   The Jewish Encyclopedia - Bat Ḳol;   Theology;   Theophany;   Tobiah ben Eliezer;  

Parallel Translations

Hebrew Names Version
The LORD spoke to you out of the midst of the fire: you heard the voice of words, but you saw no form; only [you heard] a voice.
King James Version
And the Lord spake unto you out of the midst of the fire: ye heard the voice of the words, but saw no similitude; only ye heard a voice.
Lexham English Bible
And Yahweh spoke to you from the midst of the fire; you heard a sound of words, but you did not see a form—only a voice.
English Standard Version
Then the Lord spoke to you out of the midst of the fire. You heard the sound of words, but saw no form; there was only a voice.
New Century Version
The Lord spoke to you from the fire. You heard the sound of words, but you did not see him; there was only a voice.
New English Translation
Then the Lord spoke to you from the middle of the fire; you heard speech but you could not see anything—only a voice was heard.
Amplified Bible
"Then the LORD spoke to you from the midst of the fire; you heard the sound of the words, but you saw no form—there was only a voice.
New American Standard Bible
"Then the LORD spoke to you from the midst of the fire; you heard the sound of words, but you saw no form—there was only a voice.
Geneva Bible (1587)
And the Lorde spake vnto you out of the middes of the fire, and ye heard the voyce of the wordes, but sawe no similitude, saue a voyce.
Legacy Standard Bible
Then Yahweh spoke to you from the midst of the fire; you heard the sound of words, but you saw no form—only a voice.
Contemporary English Version
and the Lord spoke to you from the fire. You could hear him and understand what he was saying, but you couldn't see him.
Complete Jewish Bible
Then Adonai spoke to you out of the fire! You heard the sound of words but saw no shape, there was only a voice.
Darby Translation
And Jehovah spoke to you from the midst of the fire: ye heard the voice of the words, but ye saw no form; only [ye heard] a voice.
Easy-to-Read Version
Then the Lord spoke to you from the fire. You heard the sound of someone speaking, but you did not see any form. There was only a voice.
George Lamsa Translation
And the LORD spoke to you on the mountain out of the midst of the fire; you heard the sound of the words, but saw no form; there was only a voice.
Good News Translation
Tell them how the Lord spoke to you from the fire, how you heard him speaking but did not see him in any form at all.
Christian Standard Bible®
Then the Lord spoke to you from the fire. You kept hearing the sound of the words, but didn’t see a form; there was only a voice.
Literal Translation
And Jehovah spoke to you out of the midst of the fire; you heard the sound of words, but you did not see a form, only a voice.
Miles Coverdale Bible (1535)
And ye LORDE spake vnto you out of the myddes of the fyre. The voyce of his wordes ye herde, neuerthelesse ye sawe no ymage, but herde the voyce onely.
American Standard Version
And Jehovah spake unto you out of the midst of the fire: ye heard the voice of words, but ye saw no form; only ye heard a voice.
Bible in Basic English
And the voice of the Lord came to you out of the fire: the sound of his words came to your ears but you saw no form; there was nothing but a voice.
Bishop's Bible (1568)
And the Lorde spake vnto you out of the middes of the fire, and ye hearde the voyce of the wordes: but sawe no similitude, saue hearde a voyce only.
JPS Old Testament (1917)
And the LORD spoke unto you out of the midst of the fire; ye heard the voice of words, but ye saw no form; only a voice.
King James Version (1611)
And the Lord spake vnto you out of the midst of the fire: ye heard the voyce of the words, but saw no similitude, onely ye heard a voyce.
Brenton's Septuagint (LXX)
And the Lord spoke to you out of the midst of the fire a voice of words, which ye heard: and ye saw no likeness, only ye heard a voice.
English Revised Version
And the LORD spake unto you out of the midst of the fire: ye heard the voice of words, but ye saw no form; only ye heard a voice.
Berean Standard Bible
And the LORD spoke to you out of the fire. You heard the sound of the words, but saw no form; there was only a voice.
Wycliffe Bible (1395)
And the Lord spak to you fro the myddis of fier; ye herden the vois of hise wordis, and outirli ye sien no fourme.
Young's Literal Translation
`And Jehovah speaketh unto you out of the midst of the fire; a voice of words ye are hearing and a similitude ye are not seeing, only a voice;
Update Bible Version
And Yahweh spoke to you out of the midst of the fire: you heard the voice of words, but you saw no form; [you heard] only a voice.
Webster's Bible Translation
And the LORD spoke to you out of the midst of the fire: ye heard the voice of the words, but saw no similitude; only [ye heard] a voice.
World English Bible
Yahweh spoke to you out of the midst of the fire: you heard the voice of words, but you saw no form; only [you heard] a voice.
New King James Version
And the LORD spoke to you out of the midst of the fire. You heard the sound of the words, but saw no form; you only heard a voice.
New Life Bible
Then the Lord spoke to you from the center of the fire. You heard the sound of words, but saw no body. There was only a voice.
New Revised Standard
Then the Lord spoke to you out of the fire. You heard the sound of words but saw no form; there was only a voice.
J.B. Rotherham Emphasized Bible
Then spake Yahweh unto you out of the midst of the fire, - a voice of words, ye were hearing, no form, were ye seeing, there was only a voice.
Douay-Rheims Bible
And the Lord spoke to you from the midst of the fire. You heard the voice of his words, but you saw not any form at all.
Revised Standard Version
Then the LORD spoke to you out of the midst of the fire; you heard the sound of words, but saw no form; there was only a voice.
New American Standard Bible (1995)
"Then the LORD spoke to you from the midst of the fire; you heard the sound of words, but you saw no form—only a voice.

Contextual Overview

1 "And now, Israel, listen carefully to these decrees and regulations that I am about to teach you. Obey them so that you may live, so you may enter and occupy the land that the Lord , the God of your ancestors, is giving you. 2 Do not add to or subtract from these commands I am giving you. Just obey the commands of the Lord your God that I am giving you. 3 "You saw for yourself what the Lord did to you at Baal-peor. There the Lord your God destroyed everyone who had worshiped Baal, the god of Peor. 4 But all of you who were faithful to the Lord your God are still alive today—every one of you. 5 "Look, I now teach you these decrees and regulations just as the Lord my God commanded me, so that you may obey them in the land you are about to enter and occupy. 6 Obey them completely, and you will display your wisdom and intelligence among the surrounding nations. When they hear all these decrees, they will exclaim, ‘How wise and prudent are the people of this great nation!' 7 For what great nation has a god as near to them as the Lord our God is near to us whenever we call on him? 8 And what great nation has decrees and regulations as righteous and fair as this body of instructions that I am giving you today? 9 "But watch out! Be careful never to forget what you yourself have seen. Do not let these memories escape from your mind as long as you live! And be sure to pass them on to your children and grandchildren. 10 Never forget the day when you stood before the Lord your God at Mount Sinai, where he told me, ‘Summon the people before me, and I will personally instruct them. Then they will learn to fear me as long as they live, and they will teach their children to fear me also.'

Bible Verse Review
  from Treasury of Scripure Knowledge

the Lord: Deuteronomy 5:4, Deuteronomy 5:22

no similitude: Deuteronomy 4:15, Numbers 12:8, Isaiah 40:18, Colossians 1:15

only ye heard a voice: Heb. save a voice, Deuteronomy 4:33, Deuteronomy 4:36, Exodus 20:22, 1 Kings 19:12, 1 Kings 19:13, Isaiah 30:21, Isaiah 40:3, Isaiah 40:6, Matthew 3:3, Matthew 3:17, Matthew 17:5, John 12:28-30, 2 Peter 1:17, 2 Peter 1:18

Reciprocal: Exodus 19:9 - that the Exodus 19:18 - mount Sinai Judges 5:5 - that Sinai Job 38:1 - General Psalms 97:2 - Clouds Psalms 147:19 - word Ezekiel 1:4 - a great Ezekiel 10:5 - the voice John 1:18 - seen John 5:37 - Ye have Hebrews 12:19 - and the voice

Cross-References

Genesis 4:3
When it was time for the harvest, Cain presented some of his crops as a gift to the Lord .
Genesis 4:4
Abel also brought a gift—the best portions of the firstborn lambs from his flock. The Lord accepted Abel and his gift,
Genesis 4:14
You have banished me from the land and from your presence; you have made me a homeless wanderer. Anyone who finds me will kill me!"
Genesis 4:17
Cain had sexual relations with his wife, and she became pregnant and gave birth to Enoch. Then Cain founded a city, which he named Enoch, after his son.
Genesis 4:18
Enoch had a son named Irad. Irad became the father of Mehujael. Mehujael became the father of Methushael. Methushael became the father of Lamech.
Genesis 4:23
One day Lamech said to his wives, "Adah and Zillah, hear my voice; listen to me, you wives of Lamech. I have killed a man who attacked me, a young man who wounded me.
Genesis 4:24
If someone who kills Cain is punished seven times, then the one who kills me will be punished seventy-seven times!"
Leviticus 26:20
All your work will be for nothing, for your land will yield no crops, and your trees will bear no fruit.
Leviticus 26:36
"And for those of you who survive, I will demoralize you in the land of your enemies. You will live in such fear that the sound of a leaf driven by the wind will send you fleeing. You will run as though fleeing from a sword, and you will fall even when no one pursues you.
Psalms 109:10
May his children wander as beggars and be driven from their ruined homes.

Gill's Notes on the Bible

And the Lord spake unto you out of the midst of the fire,.... For the Lord descended on Mount Sinai in a cloud, in fire, and was in the thick darkness, from whence he delivered out the ten commands:

ye heard the voice of the words; distinctly and plainly, not only the sound of them, but the words themselves, and so as to understand what was meant by them;

but saw no similitude; not any likeness of the person speaking, by which they could form any idea of him in their minds, which was purposely done to prevent idolatry:

only ye heard a voice; that was all.

Barnes' Notes on the Bible

Hero worship exhibited itself in the practice of setting up images of human form as household gods (Penates, compare Genesis 31:19; Genesis 35:2), or as local and civic divinities: a practice forbidden by Deuteronomy 4:16. Nature worship in its baser shapes is seen in the Egyptian idolatry of animals and animal figures, and is condemned in Deuteronomy 4:17-18 : while its less ignoble flight, the worship of the sun, moon, and stars, is forbidden in Deuteronomy 4:19. The great legislator may be regarded as taking in the passage before us a complete and comprehensive survey of the various forms of idolatrous and corrupt worship practiced by the surrounding Oriental nations, and as particularly and successively forbidding them every one.


 
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