Deuteronomy 18
1 Neither the priests the Levites [nor] any of the tribe of Levi, shall have either portion or inheritance with Israel, —the altar-flames of Yahweh and his inheritance, shall they eat.
“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 But inheritance, shall he not have, in the midst of his brethren, —Yahweh, is his inheritance, as he spake unto 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 This, therefore shall be the due of the priests from the people from them who offer the sacrifice whether ox or lamb, —there shall be given unto the priest, the shoulder and the two cheeks and the maw:
“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 the firstfruit of thy corn thy new wine and thine oil and the first of the fleece of thy flock, shalt thou give unto him.
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 of him, hath Yahweh thy God made choice out of all thy tribes, —to stand to minister in the name of Yahweh of him and his sons all the days.
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 shall come in out of any of thy gates out of any part of Israel, where he is sojourning, —yea shall come in with all the desire of his soul, into the place which Yahweh shall 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 may he minister in the name of Yahweh his God, —like any of his brethren the Levites who are standing there before Yahweh.
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 Portion for portion, shall they eat, —apart from his possessions upon his patrimony.
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 thou art coming into the land which Yahweh thy God is giving unto thee, thou shalt not learn to do according to the abominable doings 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 shall not be found in thy midst—One who causeth his son or his daughter to pass through fire, —Or who useth divination, hidden arts or enchantments Or who muttereth incantations;
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 Or who bindeth with spells, —Or who asketh of a familiar spirit or an oracle, Or who seeketh unto the dead.
Do not try to talk with spirits of dead people. Do not do/practice magic.
12 For, an abomination unto Yahweh, is everyone who doeth these things, —and on account of these abominations, is Yahweh thy God dispossessing them from before thee.
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 Blameless, shalt thou be with, Yahweh thy God;
But you must always avoid doing any of those things.
14 for, these nations whom thou art dispossessing, unto them who use hidden arts and unto diviners, do hearken, but as for thee, not so, doth Yahweh thy God suffer thee.
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 A prophet out of thy midst of thy brethren like unto me, will Yahweh thy God, raise up unto thee—unto him, shall ye hearken:
[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 which thou didst ask of Yahweh thy God, in Horeb, in the day of the convocation saying, —Let me no further hearken unto the voice of Yahweh my God, and this great fire, let me not see any more lest I 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 Yahweh said unto me: They have well said what they have spoken.
Then Yahweh said to me, ‘What they have said is true/wise.
18 A prophet, will I raise up unto them, out of the midst of their brethren, like unto thee, —and I will put my words in his mouth, so shall he speak unto them whatsoever I shall 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 shall come to pass, that, the man who will not hearken unto my words which he shall speak in my name, I, myself will require it of him.
He will speak for me. And I will punish anyone who does not heed what he says.
20 Howbeit the prophet who shall presume to speak a word in my name which I have not commanded him to speak, or who shall speak in the name of other gods, that prophet shall die.
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 thou shalt say in thy heart, —In what manner shall we know the word which Yahweh hath 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 the prophet shall speak in the name of Yahweh and the word shall not come to pass, neither shall come in, that, is the word which Yahweh, hath not spoken, —presumptuously, hath the prophet spoken it, thou shall not be in dread 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].”
