Deuteronomy 18
18
Priests. 1The levitical priests, the whole tribe of Levi, shall have no hereditary portion with Israel; they shall eat the fire offerings of the Lord and the portions due to him.#Nm 18:8–9, 20–24; Jos 13:14; 18:7; 2 Chr 31:2–19; 1 Cor 9:13. 2They shall have no heritage among their kindred; the Lord himself is their heritage, as he has told them.#Nm 18:20; Jos 13:33. 3This shall be the due of the priests from the people: those who are offering a sacrifice, whether an ox or a sheep, shall give the priest the shoulder, the jowls and the stomach. 4The first fruits of your grain, your wine, and your oil,#Dt 26:1–11; Nm 18:12; 2 Chr 31:5; Neh 13:10–13. as well as the first shearing of your flock, you shall also give him. 5For the Lord, your God, has chosen him out of all your tribes to be in attendance to minister in the name of the Lord, him and his descendants for all time.#Dt 10:8; Jer 33:18.
6When a Levite goes from one of your communities anywhere in Israel in which he has been residing, to visit, as his heart may desire, the place which the Lord will choose, 7and ministers there in the name of the Lord, his God, like all his fellow Levites who stand before the Lord there, 8he shall receive the same portions to eat, along with his stipends and patrimony.#His stipends and patrimony: meaning of the Hebrew is uncertain.
Prophets. 9When you come into the land which the Lord, your God, is giving you, you shall not learn to imitate the abominations of the nations there.#Dt 12:29–31; Lv 18:24–30. 10#Dt 12:31; Ex 22:18; Lv 18:21; 19:31; 20:6, 27; 1 Sm 28:7–19; 2 Kgs 17:17; 21:6; 23:10, 24; Is 8:19–20; Ez 21:21. Let there not be found among you anyone who causes their son or daughter to pass through the fire,#Causes their son or daughter to pass through the fire: to Molech. See note on Lv 18:21. Such human sacrifices are classed here with various occult and magical practices because they were believed to possess powers for averting a calamity; cf. 2 Kgs 3:27. Three other categories of magic are listed here: divination of the future (by a soothsayer or augur); black magic (by a sorcerer or one who casts spells); and necromancy (by one who consults ghosts and spirits, or seeks oracles from the dead to divine the future). or practices divination, or is a soothsayer, augur, or sorcerer, 11or who casts spells, consults ghosts and spirits, or seeks oracles from the dead. 12Anyone who does such things is an abomination to the Lord, and because of such abominations the Lord, your God, is dispossessing them before you.#Dt 9:4. 13You must be altogether sincere with the Lord, your God. 14Although these nations whom you are about to dispossess listen to their soothsayers and diviners, the Lord, your God, will not permit you to do so.
15A prophet like me#A prophet like me: from the context (opposition to the practices described in vv. 10–11) it seems that Moses is referring in general to all the true prophets who were to succeed him. This passage came to be understood in a quasi-Messianic sense in the New Testament (Mt 17:5; Jn 6:14; 7:40; Acts 3:22; 7:37). will the Lord, your God, raise up for you from among your own kindred; that is the one to whom you shall listen.#Mt 17:5; Mk 9:7; Lk 9:35; Jn 1:45; 6:14; 7:40; Acts 3:22; 7:37. 16This is exactly what you requested of the Lord, your God, at Horeb on the day of the assembly, when you said, “Let me not again hear the voice of the Lord, my God, nor see this great fire any more, or I will die.”#Ex 20:19. 17And the Lord said to me, What they have said is good. 18I will raise up for them a prophet like you from among their kindred, and will put my words into the mouth of the prophet; the prophet shall tell them all that I command.#Ex 4:10–16; Jer 1:9; 15:19; Ez 3:1–4. 19Anyone who will not listen to my words which the prophet speaks in my name, I myself will hold accountable for it.#Jer 11:21–23; Am 7:10–17; Acts 3:23. 20But if a prophet presumes to speak a word in my name#18:20, 22] Dt 13:2–6; 1 Kgs 22:1–40; Jer 14:13–16; 23:9–40; 28:1–17; Ez 13:1–23. that I have not commanded, or speaks in the name of other gods, that prophet shall die.
21Should you say to yourselves, “How can we recognize that a word is one the Lord has not spoken?”, 22if a prophet speaks in the name of the Lord but the word does not come true, it is a word the Lord did not speak. The prophet has spoken it presumptuously; do not fear him.
Currently Selected:
Deuteronomy 18: NABRE
Highlight
Share
Copy
Want to have your highlights saved across all your devices? Sign up or sign in
Confraternity of Christian Doctrine, Inc
Deuteronomy 18
18
Provision for Priests and Levites
1“The Levitical priests, all the tribe of Levi, #See Num. 18:20 shall have no portion or inheritance with Israel. They #Num. 18:8, 9; Josh. 13:14; 1 Sam. 2:28; [1 Cor. 9:13]shall eat the Lord’s food offerings#18:1 Or the offerings by fire to the Lord as their#18:1 Hebrew his inheritance. 2They shall have no inheritance among their brothers; the Lord is their inheritance, as he promised them. 3And this shall be the priests’ due from the people, from those offering a sacrifice, whether an ox or a sheep: #See Lev. 7:30-34they shall give to the priest the shoulder and the two cheeks and the stomach. 4#Num. 18:12; 2 Chr. 31:5The firstfruits of your grain, of your wine and of your oil, and the first fleece of your sheep, you shall give him. 5For the Lord your God has chosen him out of all your tribes #ch. 17:12to stand and minister in the name of the Lord, him and his sons for all time.
6“And if a Levite comes from any of your towns out of all Israel, #Num. 35:2, 3; Judg. 17:7; 19:1 where he lives—and he may come when he desires#18:6 Or lives—if he comes enthusiastically—#See ch. 12:5to the place that the Lord will choose, 7and ministers in the name of the Lord his God, #[1 Chr. 23:6; 2 Chr. 31:2]like all his fellow Levites who stand to minister there before the Lord, 8then he may have equal #2 Chr. 31:4; Neh. 12:44, 47; 13:10portions to eat, besides what he receives from the sale of his patrimony.#18:8 The meaning of the Hebrew is uncertain
Abominable Practices
9“When you come into the land that the Lord your God is giving you, #ch. 12:29-31; See Lev. 18:26-30you shall not learn to follow the abominable practices of those nations. 10There shall not be found among you anyone #See Lev. 18:21 who burns his son or his daughter as an offering,#18:10 Hebrew makes his son or his daughter pass through the fire anyone who #2 Kgs. 17:17 practices divination or #See Lev. 19:26 tells fortunes or interprets omens, or #[Ex. 22:18]a sorcerer 11or a charmer or #See Lev. 19:31 a medium or a necromancer or #[1 Sam. 28:7]one who inquires of the dead, 12#ch. 22:5; 25:16 for whoever does these things is an abomination to the Lord. And #See ch. 9:4because of these abominations the Lord your God is driving them out before you. 13You shall be blameless before the Lord your God, 14for these nations, which you are about to dispossess, listen to fortune-tellers and to diviners. But as for you, the Lord your God has not allowed you to do this.
A New Prophet like Moses
15 #
John 1:21, 25, 45; Cited Acts 3:22; 7:37 “The Lord your God will raise up for you a prophet like me from among you, from your brothers—it is to him you shall listen— 16just as you desired of the Lord your God at Horeb #See ch. 9:10 on the day of the assembly, when you said, #See Ex. 20:19‘Let me not hear again the voice of the Lord my God or see this great fire any more, lest I die.’ 17And the Lord said to me, #ch. 5:28‘They are right in what they have spoken. 18#[See ver. 15 above] I will raise up for them a prophet like you from among their brothers. #Jer. 1:9; 5:14; [John 17:8] And I will put my words in his mouth, and #[John 4:25; 8:28; 12:49, 50]he shall speak to them all that I command him. 19#[Acts 3:23] And whoever will #Jer. 29:19; 35:13not listen to my words that he shall speak in my name, I myself will require it of him. 20#See ch. 13:5But the prophet who presumes to speak a word in my name that I have not commanded him to speak, or#18:20 Or and who speaks in the name of other gods, that same prophet shall die.’ 21And if you say in your heart, ‘How may we know the word that the Lord has not spoken?’— 22#[ch. 13:1-3; Jer. 28:9] when a prophet speaks in the name of the Lord, if the word does not come to pass or come true, that is a word that the Lord has not spoken; #[See ver. 20 above]the prophet has spoken it presumptuously. You need not be afraid of him.
Currently Selected:
:
Highlight
Share
Copy
Want to have your highlights saved across all your devices? Sign up or sign in
The Holy Bible, English Standard Version® (ESV®), copyright © 2001 by Crossway, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers.
Sign up to receive news and updates about the ESV: