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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Deuteronomy 18
18
Special Privileges for Priests and Levites
(Numbers 18.8-32)
Moses said to Israel:
1The people of the Levi tribe, including the priests, will not receive any land. Instead, they will receive part of the sacrifices that are offered to the Lord, 2#Nu 18.20. because he has promised to provide for them in this way.
3When you sacrifice a bull or sheep, the priests will be given the shoulder, the jaws, and the stomach.#18.3 stomach: Certain portions of the stomach were considered a delicacy. 4In addition, they will receive the first part of your grain harvest and part of your first batches of wine and olive oil.#18.4 grain … olive oil: An Israelite was supposed to offer the first part of the harvest as a gift to the Lord (see Leviticus 23.10,11). You must also give them the first wool that is cut from your sheep each year. 5Give these gifts to the priests, because the Lord has chosen them and their descendants out of all the tribes of Israel to be his special servants at the place of worship.
6Any Levite can leave his hometown, and go to the place where the Lord chooses to be worshiped, 7and then be a special servant of the Lord#18.7 a special servant of the Lord: Or “one of the Lord's priests.” there, just like all the other Levites. 8Some Levites may have money from selling family possessions, and others may not. But all Levites serving at the place of worship will receive the same amount of food from the sacrifices and gifts brought by the people.
Don't Do Disgusting Things
Moses said to Israel:
9Soon you will go into the land that the Lord your God is giving you. The nations that live there do things that are disgusting to the Lord, and you must not follow their example. 10-11#Lv 19.26; Ex 22.18; Lv 19.31. Don't sacrifice your son or daughter. And don't try to use any kind of magic or witchcraft to tell fortunes#18.10,11 tell fortunes: Fortunetellers thought they could learn secrets or learn about the future by watching the flight of birds or looking at the livers of animals or in many other ways. or to cast spells or to talk with spirits of the dead.
12The Lord is disgusted with anyone who does these things, and that's why he will help you destroy the nations that are in the land. 13#Mt 5.48. Never be guilty of doing any of these disgusting things!
A Prophet like Moses
Moses said to Israel:
14You will go in and take the land from nations that practice magic and witchcraft. But the Lord your God won't allow you to do those things. 15#Ac 3.22; 7.37. Instead, he will choose one of your own people to be a prophet just like me, and you must do what that prophet says. 16You were asking for a prophet the day you were gathered at Mount Sinai#18.16 Mount Sinai: See the note at 1.1-5. and said to the Lord, “Please don't let us hear your voice or see this terrible fire again—if we do, we will die!”
17Then the Lord told me:
Moses, they have said the right thing. 18So when I want to speak to them, I will choose one of them to be a prophet like you. I will give my message to that prophet, who will tell the people exactly what I have said. 19#Ac 3.23. Since the message comes from me, anyone who doesn't obey the message will have to answer to me.
20But if I haven't spoken, and a prophet claims to have a message from me, you must kill that prophet, and you must also kill any prophet who claims to have a message from another god.
Moses said to Israel:
21You may be asking yourselves, “How can we tell if a prophet's message really comes from the Lord?” 22You will know, because if the Lord says something will happen, it will happen. And if it doesn't, you will know that the prophet was falsely claiming to speak for the Lord. Don't be afraid of any prophet whose message doesn't come from the Lord.
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