Deuteronomy 18
1 The Levitical priests, in fact the whole tribe of Levi, will not have a share in the land allotment with the other Israelites. They are to eat from the food offerings presented to the Lord—that is what they are entitled to receive.
The priests, the Levites, [and] the whole tribe of Levi, shall have no portion nor inheritance with Israel: Jehovah's offerings by fire, and his inheritance shall they eat,
2 While they don't own land among the other tribes, the Lord takes care of them, as he promised.
but they shall have no inheritance among their brethren: Jehovah, he is their inheritance, as he hath said unto them.
3 The priests' share of a sacrifice of a bull or a sheep that is brought by the people is as follows. The priests are to be given the shoulder, the jaw, and the insides.
And this shall be the priest's due from the people, from them that sacrifice a sacrifice, whether ox, or sheep: they shall give unto the priest the shoulder, and the jawbones, and the maw.
4 You are to provide them with the firstfruits of your grain, new wine, and olive oil, as well as the first wool sheared from your flock.
The firstfruits [also] of thy corn, of thy new wine, and of thine oil, and the firstfruits of the shearing of thy sheep, shalt thou give him;
5 For the Lord your God has chosen Levi and his descendants from all your tribes to stand before him and serve in his name forever.
for Jehovah thy God hath chosen him out of all thy tribes, that he may stand to serve in the name of Jehovah, he and his sons continually.
6 If a Levite is convinced he should move from any Israelite town and goes to the place the Lord will choose,
And if the Levite shall come from one of thy gates out of all Israel, where he sojourneth, and shall come according to all the desire of his soul unto the place which Jehovah will choose,
7 then he shall be allowed to serve in the name of the Lord his God like all his fellow Levites who stand there in service before the Lord.
and shall serve in the name of Jehovah his God, as all his brethren the Levites that stand there before Jehovah,
8 They will all receive the same food allowances, despite him having received money from the sale of his father's property.
— they shall have like portions to eat, besides that which he hath sold of his patrimony.
9 Once you enter the country the Lord your God is giving you, don't copy the offensive ways of the nations there.
When thou art come into the land which Jehovah thy God giveth thee, thou shalt not learn to do according to the abominations of those nations.
10 There should be no one who sacrifices their son or daughter in the fire, practices divination or fortune-telling, uses magic or sorcery,
There shall not be found among you he that maketh his son or his daughter to pass through the fire, that useth divination, that useth auguries, or an enchanter, or a sorcerer,
11 practices witchcraft, visits a medium or spiritist, or communicates with the dead. Anyone does such things offends the Lord.
or a charmer, or one that inquireth of a spirit of Python, or a soothsayer, or one that consulteth the dead.
12 It's because of these offensive things that the Lord your God is driving out the nations before you.
For every one that doeth these things is an abomination to Jehovah, and because of these abominations Jehovah thy God doth dispossess them from before thee.
13 You are to be innocent of such things in the presence of the Lord your God.
Thou shalt be perfect with Jehovah thy God.
14 Even though these nations, whose land you will occupy, listen to magicians and fortune-tellers, the Lord your God forbids you to do so.
For these nations, which thou shalt dispossess, hearkened unto those that use auguries, and that use divination; but as for thee, Jehovah thy God hath not suffered thee [to do] so.
15 The Lord your God will send you a prophet like me from your people. You must listen to him.
Jehovah thy God will raise up unto thee a prophet from the midst of thee, of thy brethren, like unto me; unto him shall ye hearken;
16 Remember what you told the Lord your God at Horeb when you were all assembled there. You said, “Please don't let us go on hearing the Lord our God speak to us, or see this terrifying fire anymore! Otherwise we're going to die!”
according to all that thou desiredst of Jehovah thy God at Horeb on the day of the assembly, saying, Let me not hear again the voice of Jehovah my God, neither let me see this great fire any more, that I die not.
17 Then the Lord told me, “They are right in what they're saying.
And Jehovah said unto me, They have well spoken that which they have spoken.
18 I'm going to send them a prophet like you from their people. I will give him my messages, and he will tell them everything I order him to say.
A prophet will I raise up unto them from among their brethren, like unto thee, and will put my words in his mouth, and he shall speak unto them all that I shall command him.
19 I will deal with anyone who does not listen to my message that the prophet speaks in my name.
And it shall come to pass that the man who hearkeneth not unto my words which he shall speak in my name, I will require it of him.
20 However, if any prophet claims to be delivering a message in my name that I have not ordered him to give, or speaks in the name of other gods, that prophet must be executed.”
But the prophet who shall presume to speak a word in my name that I have not commanded him to speak, or that shall speak in the name of other gods, that prophet shall die.
21 You may be wondering, “How can we be sure that a message hasn't come from the Lord?”
And if thou say in thy heart, How shall we know the word that Jehovah hath not spoken?
22 When a prophet speaks in the Lord's name and what he says doesn't happen or come true, then that is a not a message from the Lord. The prophet has spoken with contempt for the Lord. Don't be intimidated by him.
When a prophet speaketh in the name of Jehovah, and the thing followeth not, nor cometh to pass, that is the word which Jehovah hath not spoken; the prophet hath spoken it presumptuously: be not afraid of him.
