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.
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The Holy Bible, English Standard Version® (ESV®), copyright © 2001 by Crossway, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers.
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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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