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, who are all from the tribe of Levi, will not receive any land in Israel. Instead, they will receive some of the food that other people offer to be burned [on the altar to be sacrificed] to Yahweh and some of the other sacrifices that will be offered to Yahweh.

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

They will not be allotted any land like the other tribes will be. What they will receive is the work/privilege of being Yahweh’s [priests], which is what he said that they should have.

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.

“When the people bring an ox or a sheep to be sacrificed, they must give to the priests the shoulder, the cheeks/jaws, and the stomach of those animals.

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

You must also give to them the first part of the grain that you [harvest], and the first part of the wine [that you make], and the first part of the [olive] oil [that you make], and the first part of the wool that you shear from your 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.

You must do this because Yahweh our God has chosen the tribe of Levi from all of your tribes, in order that men [from that tribe] would always be the priests who would serve him.

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 any man from the tribe of Levi [who has been living] in one of the towns in Israel wants to come from there to the place of worship that Yahweh has chosen, [and start living there],

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 is permitted to serve Yahweh there as a priest, just like the other men from the tribe of Levi who have been serving there.

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

He must be given the same amount of food [that the other priests receive]. He is permitted to keep the money [that his relatives give him] for selling some of their possessions.

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 you enter the land that Yahweh our God is giving you, you must not imitate the disgusting things that the people-groups who are there now do.

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,

You must not sacrifice any of your children by burning them [on your altars]. Do not practice (divination/using supernatural power to reveal [what will happen in] the future). Do not do/practice (soothsaying/magic to find out what will happen in the future). Do not (interpret omens/say that because of something that you have seen you know what will happen). Do not practice sorcery/witchcraft. Do not practice (putting spells on people/saying things to cause bad things to happen to others).

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

Do not try to talk with spirits of dead people. Do not do/practice magic.

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.

Yahweh hates people who do any of those disgusting things. And as you advance through that land, he is going to expel the people-groups because they do/practice those disgusting things.

13 You must be blameless before the LORD your God.

But you must always avoid doing any of those things.

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

The people-groups that you are about to expel [from the land that you will occupy] (consult/seek advice from) soothsayers and those who practice divination. But as for you, Yahweh our God does not allow you to do that.

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

[Some day] he will send from among you a prophet like me. [He is the one who will tell you what will happen in the future], and he is the one whom you must heed.

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!”

On the day that your ancestors were gathered at the bottom of Sinai Mountain, they pleaded with me saying, ‘We do not want Yahweh to speak [MTY] to us again, and we do not want to see this huge fire [that is burning on the mountain]!’ [Your ancestors said that because they were afraid] that they would die [if Yahweh spoke to them again].

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

Then Yahweh said to me, ‘What they have said is true/wise.

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.

So I will send from among them a prophet who will be like you. I will tell him what to say, and then he will tell people everything that I tell him to say.

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

He will speak for me. And I will punish anyone who does not heed what he says.

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 if any other [person says that he is a] prophet [and] dares to speak a message which he falsely says comes from me but which I did not tell him to speak, or if anyone who speaks a message that he says other gods [MTY] have revealed to him, he must be executed [for doing that].’

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

But if you say to yourself, ‘How can we know if a message [that someone tells us] does not come from Yahweh?’

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.

[The answer is that] when someone speaks a message [about what will happen in the future], a message that he says was revealed by Yahweh, if what he says does not happen, [you will know that] the message did not come from Yahweh. That person has wrongly claimed that it was revealed to him by Yahweh. So you do not need to be afraid of [anything that] he [says].”