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, 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 and he has no inheritance in the midst of his brothers; YHWH Himself [is] his inheritance, as He has spoken to him.

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 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;

“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 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;

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 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.

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

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

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 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 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 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,

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 and a charmer, and one inquiring from a familiar spirit, and a wizard, and one seeking to the dead.

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

12 For everyone doing these [is] an abomination [to] YHWH, and because of these abominations your God YHWH is dispossessing them from your presence.

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 perfect with your God YHWH,

But you must always avoid doing any of those things.

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.

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 Your God YHWH raises up for you a Prophet like me out of your midst, out of 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 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;

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 and YHWH says to me, They have done well [in] what they have spoken;

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

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;

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 it has been [that] the man who does not listen to My words which He speaks in My Name, I require [it] of him.

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

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 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 And when you say in your heart, How do we know the word which YHWH 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 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.”

[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].”