Deuteronomy 18

1 The Levitical priests—indeed the whole tribe of Levi—shall have no portion or inheritance with Israel. They are to eat the offerings made by fire to the LORD; that is their inheritance.

The priests and Levites, and all that are of the same tribe, shall have no part nor inheritance with the rest of Israel, because they shall eat the sacrifices of the Lord, and his oblations,

2 Although they have no inheritance among their brothers, the LORD is their inheritance, as He promised them.

And they shall receive nothing else. of the possession of their brethren: for the Lord himself is their inheritance, as he hath said to them.

3 This shall be the priests’ share from the people who offer a sacrifice, whether a bull or a sheep: the priests are to be given the shoulder, the jowls, and the stomach.

This shall be the priest’s due from the people, and from them that offer victims: whether they sacrifice an ox, or a sheep, they shall give to the priest the shoulder and the breast:

4 You are to give them the firstfruits of your grain, new wine, and oil, and the first wool sheared from your flock.

The firstfruits also of corn, of wine, and of oil, and a part of the wool from the shearing of their sheep.

5 For the LORD your God has chosen Levi and his sons out of all your tribes to stand and minister in His name for all time.

For the Lord thy God hath chosen him of all thy tribes, to stand and to minister to the name of the Lord, him and his sons for ever.

6 Now if a Levite moves from any town of residence throughout Israel and comes in all earnestness to the place the LORD will choose,

If a Levite go out of any one of the cities throughout all Israel, in which he dwelleth, and have a longing mind to come to the place which the Lord shall choose,

7 then he shall serve in the name of the LORD his God like all his fellow Levites who stand there before the LORD.

He shall minister in the name of the Lord his God, as all his brethren the Levites do, that shall stand at that time before the Lord.

8 They shall eat equal portions, even though he has received money from the sale of his father’s estate.

He shall receive the same portion of food that the rest do: besides that which is due to him in his own city, by succession from his fathers.

9 When you enter the land that the LORD your God is giving you, do not imitate the detestable ways of the nations there.

When thou art come into the land which the Lord thy God shall give thee, beware lest thou have a mind to imitate the abominations of those nations.

10 Let no one be found among you who sacrifices his son or daughter in the fire, practices divination or conjury, interprets omens, practices sorcery,

Neither let there be found among you any one that shall expiate his son or daughter, making them to pass through the fire: or that consulteth soothsayers, or observeth dreams and omens, neither let there be any wizard,

11 casts spells, consults a medium or spiritist, or inquires of the dead.

Nor charmer, nor any one that consulteth pythonic spirits, or fortune tellers, or that seeketh the truth from the dead.

12 For whoever does these things is detestable to the LORD. And because of these detestable things, the LORD your God is driving out the nations before you.

For the Lord abhorreth all these things, and for these abominations he will destroy them at thy coming.

13 You must be blameless before the LORD your God.

Thou shalt be perfect, and without spot before the Lord thy God.

14 Though these nations, which you will dispossess, listen to conjurers and diviners, the LORD your God has not permitted you to do so.

These nations, whose land thou shalt possess, hearken to soothsayers and diviners: but thou art otherwise instructed by the Lord thy God.

15 The LORD your God will raise up for you a prophet like me from among your brothers. You must listen to him.

The Lord thy God will raise up to thee a PROPHET of thy nation and of thy brethren like unto me: him thou shalt hear:

16 This is what you asked of the LORD your God at Horeb on the day of the assembly, when you said, “Let us not hear the voice of the LORD our God or see this great fire anymore, so that we will not die!”

As thou desiredst of the Lord thy God in Horeb, when the assembly was gathered together, and saidst: Let me not hear any more the voice of the Lord my God, neither let me see any more this exceeding great fire, lest I die.

17 Then the LORD said to me, “They have spoken well.

And the Lord said to me: They have spoken all things well.

18 I will raise up for them a prophet like you from among their brothers. I will put My words in his mouth, and he will tell them everything I command him.

I will raise them up a prophet out of the midst of their brethren like to thee: and I will put my words in his mouth, and he shall speak to them all that I shall command him.

19 And I will hold accountable anyone who does not listen to My words that the prophet speaks in My name.

And he that will not hear his words, which he shall speak in my name, I will be the revenger.

20 But if any prophet dares to speak a message in My name that I have not commanded him to speak, or to speak in the name of other gods, that prophet must be put to death.”

But the prophet, who being corrupted with pride, shall speak in my name things that I did not command him to say, or in the name of strange gods, shall be slain.

21 You may ask in your heart, “How can we recognize a message that the LORD has not spoken?”

And if in silent thought thou answer: How shall I know the word that the Lord hath not spoken?

22 When a prophet speaks in the name of the LORD and the message does not come to pass or come true, that is a message the LORD has not spoken. The prophet has spoken presumptuously. Do not be afraid of him.

Thou shalt have this sign: Whatsoever that same prophet foretelleth in the name of the Lord, and it cometh not to pass: that thing the Lord hath not spoken, but the prophet hath forged it by the pride of his mind: and therefore thou shalt not fear him.