Deuteronomy 18

1 “There is not for the priests, the Levites—all the tribe of Levi—a portion and inheritance with Israel; they eat fire-offerings of YHWH, even His inheritance,

“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 he has no inheritance in the midst of his brothers; YHWH Himself [is] his inheritance, as He has spoken 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 priest’s right from the people, from those sacrificing a sacrifice, whether ox or sheep, he has even given to the priest the leg, and the two cheeks, and the stomach;

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 you give to him the first of your grain, of your new wine, and of your oil, and the first of the fleece of your flock;

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

5 for your God YHWH has fixed on him, out of all your tribes, to stand to serve in the Name of YHWH—him and his sons continually.

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 when the Levite comes from one of your cities, out of all Israel where he has sojourned, and has come with all the desire of his soul to the place which YHWH chooses,

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 then he has ministered in the Name of his God YHWH like all his brothers, the Levites, who are standing there before YHWH.

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 They eat portion like portion, apart from his sold things from the fathers.

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 When you are coming into the land which your God YHWH is giving to you, you do 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 is not found in you one causing his son and his daughter to pass over into fire, a user of divinations, an observer of clouds, and an enchanter, and a sorcerer,

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 and a charmer, and one inquiring from a familiar spirit, and a wizard, and one seeking to 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 everyone doing these [is] an abomination [to] YHWH, and because of these abominations your God YHWH is dispossessing them from your presence.

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

13 You must be perfect with your God YHWH,

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

14 for these nations whom you are possessing listen to observers of clouds and to diviners; but you—your God YHWH has not permitted you so.

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 Your God YHWH raises up for you a Prophet like me out of your midst, out of your brothers—you must listen to Him,

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 that you asked from your God YHWH in Horeb, in the day of the assembly, saying, Do not let me add to hear the voice of my God YHWH, and do not let me see this great fire anymore, and I do 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 YHWH says to me, They have done well [in] what they have spoken;

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

18 I raise up for them a Prophet like you out of the midst of their brothers, and I have given My words in His mouth, and He has spoken to them all that which I 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 it has been [that] the man who does not listen to My words which He speaks in My Name, I require [it] of 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 Only, the prophet who presumes to speak a word in My Name, which I have not commanded him to speak, and who speaks in the name of other gods, indeed, that prophet has died.

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 And when you say in your heart, How do we know the word which YHWH 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 That which the prophet speaks in the Name of YHWH, and the thing is not, and does not come—it [is] the word which YHWH has not spoken; the prophet has spoken it in presumption; you are not afraid of 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.’”