Deuteronomy 18
18
Priests and Levites
1Neither the levitical priests nor any Levite tribe member will have a designated inheritance in Israel. They can eat the sacrifices offered to the LORD, which are the LORD’s portion,#18.1 Heb uncertain 2but they won’t share an inheritance with their fellow Israelites. The LORD alone is the Levites’ inheritance—just as God promised them.
3Now this is what the priests may keep from the people’s sacrifices of oxen or sheep: They must give the priest the shoulder, the jaws, and the stomach. 4You must also give the priest the first portions of your grain, wine, and oil, and the first of your sheep’s shearing 5because the LORD your God selected Levi from all of your tribes to stand and minister in the LORD’s name—both him and his descendants for all time.
6Now if a Levite leaves one of your cities or departs from any location in Israel where he’s been living and, because he wants to, comes to the location the LORD selects 7and ministers in the LORD his God’s name, just like his relatives—the other Levites serving there in the LORD’s presence— 8he is allowed to eat equal portions, despite the finances he has from his family.#18.8 Heb uncertain
Communicating with God
9Once you enter the land that the LORD your God is giving you, don’t try to imitate the detestable things those nations do. 10There must not be anyone among you who passes his son or daughter through fire; who practices divination, is a sign reader, fortune-teller, sorcerer, 11or spell caster; who converses with ghosts or spirits or communicates with the dead. 12All who do these things are detestable to the LORD! It is on account of these detestable practices that the LORD your God is driving these nations#18.12 Or them out before you.
13Instead, you must be perfect before the LORD your God. 14These nations you are displacing listened to sign readers and diviners, but the LORD your God doesn’t permit you to do the same! 15The LORD your God will raise up a prophet like me from your community, from your fellow Israelites. He’s the one you must listen to. 16That’s exactly what you requested from the LORD your God at Horeb, on the day of the assembly, when you said, “I can’t listen to the LORD my God’s voice anymore or look at this great fire any longer. I don’t want to die!”
17The LORD said to me: What they’ve said is right. 18I’ll raise up a prophet for them from among their fellow Israelites—one just like you. I’ll put my words in his mouth, and he will tell them everything I command him. 19I myself will hold accountable anyone who doesn’t listen to my words, which that prophet will speak in my name. 20However, any prophet who arrogantly speaks a word in my name that I haven’t commanded him to speak, or who speaks in the name of other gods—that prophet must die.
21Now, you might be wondering, How will we know which word God hasn’t spoken? 22Here’s the answer: The prophet who speaks in the LORD’s name and the thing doesn’t happen or come about—that’s the word the LORD hasn’t spoken. That prophet spoke arrogantly. Don’t be afraid of him.#18.22 Or bothered by it (the prophecy)
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Deuteronomy 18: CEB
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2011 Common English Bible. All rights reserved.
Deuteronomy 18
18
Portion of the Levites
1“The Levitical priests, the entire tribe of Levi, shall own [privately] no portion [of land] or inheritance with Israel; they shall eat the Lord’s offerings by fire and His portion. 2They shall have no inheritance [of land] among their countrymen (brothers, brethren); the Lord is their #18:2 Certain towns and grazing lands were designated for the Levites’ use, as well as portions of the tithes and sacrifices of the people.inheritance, as He promised them.
3“Now this shall be the priests’ portion from the people, from those offering a sacrifice, either an ox or a sheep: they shall give to the priest the shoulder and the two cheeks and the stomach. 4You shall also give him the first fruits of your grain, your new wine [the first of the season], and your [olive] oil, and the first sheared fleece of your sheep. 5For the Lord your God has chosen him, him and his sons from all your tribes, to stand and serve in the name of the Lord forever.
6“Now if a Levite comes from any of your cities throughout Israel where he resides, and comes whenever #18:6 Lit it pleases his soul.he wishes to [the sanctuary] the place which the Lord chooses; 7then he shall serve in the name of the Lord his God, like all his fellow Levites who #18:7 The literal Hebrew here is “stand before the face of,” and in this context it implies “stand ready to serve.”stand there before the Lord. 8They shall have #18:8 They were to share equally in the benefits of the priesthood.equal portions to eat, except what they receive from the sale of their fathers’ estates. [Jer 32:6-15]
Spiritism Forbidden
9“When you enter the land which the Lord your God is giving you, you shall not learn to imitate the detestable (repulsive) practices of those nations. 10There shall not be found among you anyone who makes his son or daughter pass through the fire [as a sacrifice], one who uses divination and fortune-telling, one who practices witchcraft, or one who interprets omens, or a sorcerer, 11or one who casts a charm or spell, or a medium, or a spiritist, or a necromancer [who seeks the dead]. 12For everyone who does these things is utterly repulsive to the Lord; and because of these detestable practices the Lord your God is driving them out before you. 13You shall be blameless (complete, perfect) before the Lord your God. 14For these nations which you shall dispossess listen to those who practice witchcraft and to diviners and fortune-tellers, but as for you, the Lord your God has not allowed you to do so.
15“The Lord your God will raise up for you a #18:15 Or Prophet, if this is a prophetic reference to Jesus.prophet like me [Moses] from among you, from your countrymen (brothers, brethren). You shall listen to him. [Matt 21:11; John 1:21] 16This is according to all that you asked of the Lord your God at Horeb (Mount Sinai) on the day of the assembly, saying, ‘Let me not hear the voice of the Lord my God again, nor see this great fire anymore, so that I will not die.’ 17The Lord said to me, ‘They have spoken well. 18I will raise up a prophet from among their countrymen like you, and I will put My words in his mouth, and he shall speak to them all that I command him. 19It shall come about that whoever will not listen to My words which he shall speak in My name, I Myself will require it of him [and there will be consequences]. 20But the prophet who presumes to speak a word in My name which I have not commanded him to speak, or which he speaks in the name of other gods—that prophet shall die.’ 21If you say in your heart, ‘How will we know and recognize the word which the Lord has not spoken?’ 22When a prophet speaks in the name of the Lord and the thing does not happen or come true, that is the thing which the Lord has not spoken. The prophet has spoken it presumptuously; you shall not be afraid of him.
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