For if the trumpet give an uncertain sound, who shall prepare himself to the battle?
Parallel translations
- WEB For if the trumpet gave an uncertain sound, who would prepare himself for war?
- BSB Again, if the trumpet sounds a muffled call, who will prepare for battle?
- NKJV For if the trumpet makes an uncertain sound, who will prepare for battle?
- NASB For if the trumpet produces an indistinct sound, who will prepare himself for battle?
- NLT And if the bugler doesn’t sound a clear call, how will the soldiers know they are being called to battle?
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
Scripture quotations taken from the (NASB®) New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995, 2020 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. All rights reserved. lockman.org
Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.
Quick answer
If a trumpet gives an unclear sound, no one prepares for battle. Unclear communication leaves people unready to respond.
Overview
Paul adds a second illustration: a war trumpet must sound a clear call for soldiers to act. An indistinct signal produces confusion and inaction. Applied to the church, this shows that unintelligible speech cannot summon believers to faith and obedience, so the gifts must be used clearly for the good of all.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 11
- Num 10:9And if ye go to war in your land against the enemy that oppresseth you, then ye shall blow an alarm with the trumpets; and ye shall be remembered before the LORD your God, and ye shall be saved from your enemies.
- Ezek 33:3–6If when he seeth the sword come upon the land, he blow the trumpet, and warn the people;
- Jer 4:19My bowels, my bowels! I am pained at my very heart; my heart maketh a noise in me; I cannot hold my peace, because thou hast heard, O my soul, the sound of the trumpet, the alarm of war.
- Isa 27:13And it shall come to pass in that day, that the great trumpet shall be blown, and they shall come which were ready to perish in the land of Assyria, and the outcasts in the land of Egypt, and shall worship the LORD in the holy mount at Jerusalem.
- Job 39:24–25He swalloweth the ground with fierceness and rage: neither believeth he that it is the sound of the trumpet.
- Amos 3:6Shall a trumpet be blown in the city, and the people not be afraid? shall there be evil in a city, and the LORD hath not done it?
- Joel 2:1Blow ye the trumpet in Zion, and sound an alarm in my holy mountain: let all the inhabitants of the land tremble: for the day of the LORD cometh, for it is nigh at hand;
- Neh 4:18–21For the builders, every one had his sword girded by his side, and so builded. And he that sounded the trumpet was by me.
- Eph 6:11–18Put on the whole armour of God, that ye may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil.
- Judg 7:16–18And he divided the three hundred men into three companies, and he put a trumpet in every man’s hand, with empty pitchers, and lamps within the pitchers.
- Josh 6:4–20And seven priests shall bear before the ark seven trumpets of rams’ horns: and the seventh day ye shall compass the city seven times, and the priests shall blow with the trumpets.
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Christ crucified is the wisdom and power of God; he is our Passover sacrificed for us, the firstfruits of resurrection, the foundation on which everything is built.
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