---
title: Deuteronomy 13:2
url: https://jw-apologetics.app/verses/deuteronomy-13-2/
markdown: https://jw-apologetics.app/verses/deuteronomy-13-2.md
type: verse
perspective: Protestant (historic Nicene) response to Jehovah's Witness teaching
reference: Deuteronomy 13:2
testament: OT
section: Law
index: https://jw-apologetics.app/llms.txt
---

# Deuteronomy 13:2

## Text (Berean Standard Bible)

> and if the sign or wonder he has spoken to you comes about, but he says, “Let us follow other gods (which you have not known) and let us worship them,”

## NWT Wording of the Key Phrase

- NWT (2013 revision): "and the sign or the portent about which he spoke to you comes true while he is saying, "Let us walk after other gods," gods that you have not known, "and let us serve them,""

## JW Usage

The Watchtower applies the prophet tests of Deuteronomy vigorously to other religions, and to Christendom in particular. This half of the test — the prophet whose sign comes true but whose teaching leads elsewhere — is used against groups whose apparent spiritual power is said to accompany false doctrine.

## Protestant Usage

There are two prophet tests in Deuteronomy and they catch different failures. Chapter 18:22 catches the prophet whose prediction does not come true. Chapter 13:1-3 catches the prophet whose sign does come true but whose teaching leads people away from God. The pairing is deliberate: a true sign does not license false teaching, and true-sounding teaching does not excuse a failed prediction. Both tests have to be passed. What makes this worth raising is that the Watchtower applies both outward with confidence and neither inward. The 1914, 1918 and 1925 predictions were specific, published, and did not occur as stated; the organisation's answer is Proverbs 4:18 and "new light" rather than Deuteronomy 18:22. Ask the question as evenhandedly as you can: if these tests are the right way to assess a religious claim — and the Watchtower teaches that they are — are they available to be applied in both directions? A test that only ever points outward is not functioning as a test. Compare Deuteronomy 13:3, Daniel 12:4, Hebrews 2:4.

## Arguments Using This Verse

- [What Credential Did Russell Carry?](https://jw-apologetics.app/arguments/founder-miracle-credentials.md) — Apostolic attestation by signs and wonders — the missing piece of the Watchtower's authority claim [Authority]