Deuteronomy 18

1 The priests, the Levites, even the whole tribe of Levi, shall have no part nor inheritance with Israel; the burnt offerings of the Lord [are] their inheritance, they shall eat them.

“The priests and the Levites, and all who are from the same tribe, shall have no portion or inheritance with the rest of Israel. For they shall eat the sacrifices of the Lord and his oblations.

2 And they shall have no inheritance among their brethren; the Lord himself [is] his portion, as he said to him.

And they shall receive nothing else from the possession of their brothers. For the Lord himself is their inheritance, just as he said to them.

3 And this [is] the due of the priests in the things coming from the people from those who offer sacrifices, whether it be a calf or a sheep; and you shall give the shoulder to the priest, and the cheeks, and the great intestine:

This shall be the recompense for the priests from the people, and from those who offer victims, whether they will immolate an ox or a sheep. They shall give to the priest the shoulder and the breast,

4 and the first fruits of your corn, and of your wine, and of your oil; and you shall give to him the first fruits of the fleeces of your sheep:

the first-fruits of grain, wine, and oil, and a portion of the wool from the shearing of the sheep.

5 because the Lord has chosen him out of all your tribes, to stand before the Lord your God, to minister and bless in his name, himself and his sons among the children of Israel.

For the Lord your God himself has chosen him out of all your tribes, so that he may stand and minister to the name of the Lord, him and his sons, forever.

6 And if a Levite come from one of the cities of all the children of Israel, where he himself dwells, accordingly as his mind desires, to the place which he shall have chosen,

If a Levite departs from one of the cities, throughout all of Israel, in which he lives, and if he wills and desires to go to the place which the Lord will choose,

7 he shall minister to the name of the Lord his God, as all his brethren the Levites, who stand there present before the Lord your God.

he shall minister in the name of the Lord his God, as do all his brothers, the Levites, who will be standing at that time in the sight of the Lord.

8 He shall eat an allotted portion, besides the sale of his hereditary property.

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

9 And when you shall have entered into the land which the Lord your God gives you, you shall not learn to do according to the abominations of those nations.

When you will have entered into the land which the Lord your God will give to you, be careful that you are not willing to imitate the abominations of those nations.

10 There shall not be found in you one who purges his son or his daughter with fire, one who uses divination, who deals with omens, and augury,

Do not let there be found among you one who would purify his son or daughter by leading them through fire, nor one who consults seers, nor one who observes dreams or omens. Do not let there be found among you one who practices the occult,

11 a sorcerer employing incantation, one who has in him a divining spirit, and observer of signs, questioning the dead.

nor one who uses spells, nor one who consults demonic spirits, nor a diviner, nor one who seeks the truth from the dead.

12 For every one that does these things is an abomination to the Lord your God; for because of these abominations the Lord will destroy them from before your face.

For the Lord abominates all these things. And, because of these wicked ways, he will destroy them at your arrival.

13 You shall be perfect before the Lord your God.

You shall be perfect and without blemish with the Lord your God.

14 For all these nations whose [land] you shall inherit, they will listen to omens and divinations; but the Lord your God has not permitted you so [to do].

These nations, whose land you shall possess, they listen to soothsayers and diviners. But you have been otherwise instructed by the Lord your God.

15 The Lord your God shall raise up to you a prophet of your brethren, like me; him shall you hear:

The Lord your God will raise up for you a PROPHET from your nation and from your brothers, similar to me. You shall listen to him,

16 according to all things which you did desire of the Lord your God in Choreb in the day of the assembly, saying, We will not again hear the voice of the Lord your God, and we will not any more see this great fire, and [so] we shall not die.

just as you petitioned of the Lord your God at Horeb, when the assembly was gathered together, and you said: ‘Let me no longer hear the voice of the Lord my God, and let me no longer see this very great fire, lest I die.’

17 And the Lord said to me, They have spoken rightly all that they have said to you.

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

18 I will raise up to them a prophet of their brethren, like you; and I will put my words in his mouth, and he shall speak to them as I shall command him.

I will raise up a prophet for them, from the midst of their brothers, similar to you. And I will place my words in his mouth, and he will speak to them all the things that I will instruct him.

19 And whatever man shall not listen to whatever words that prophet shall speak in my name, I will take vengeance on him.

But against anyone who is not willing to listen to his words, which he will speak in my name, I will stand forth as the avenger.

20 But the prophet whoever shall impiously speak in my name a word which I have not commanded him to speak, and whoever shall speak in the name of other gods, that prophet shall die.

But if a prophet, having been corrupted by arrogance, chooses to speak, in my name, things which I did not instruct him to say, or to speak in the name of foreign gods, he shall be put to death.

21 But if you shall say in your heart, How shall we know the word which the Lord has not spoken?

But if, in silent thought, you respond: “How will I be able to recognize a word which the Lord has not spoken?”

22 Whatsoever words that prophet shall speak in the name of the Lord, and they shall not come true, and not come to pass, this [is] the thing which the Lord has not spoken; that prophet has spoken wickedly: you shall not spare him.

you shall have this sign. If whatever that prophet predicts in the name of the Lord does not happen, then the Lord has not spoken it. Instead, the prophet has formed it through the swelling of his own mind. And for this reason, you shall not fear him.’”