Deuteronomy 18
1 “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.
'There is not to the priests the Levites — all the tribe of Levi — a portion and inheritance with Israel; fire-offerings of Jehovah, even His inheritance, they eat,
2 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.
and he hath no inheritance in the midst of his brethren; Jehovah Himself [is] his inheritance, as He hath spoken to him.
3 “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.
'And this is the priest's right from the people, from those sacrificing a sacrifice, whether ox or sheep, he hath even given to the priest the leg, and the two cheeks, and the stomach;
4 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.
the first of thy corn, of thy new wine, and of thine oil, and the first of the fleece of thy flock, thou dost give to him;
5 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.
for on him hath Jehovah thy God fixed, out of all thy tribes, to stand to serve in the name of Jehovah, He and his sons continually.
6 “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],
'And when the Levite cometh from one of thy cities out of all Israel, where he hath sojourned, and hath come with all the desire of his soul unto the place which Jehovah doth choose,
7 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.
then he hath ministered in the name of Jehovah his God, like all his brethren, the Levites, who are standing there before Jehovah,
8 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.
portion as portion they do eat, apart from his sold things, with the fathers.
9 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.
'When thou art coming in unto the land which Jehovah thy God is giving to thee, thou dost not learn to do according to the abominations of those nations:
10 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).
there is not found in thee 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,
11 Do not try to talk with spirits of dead people. Do not do/practice magic.
and a charmer, and one asking at a familiar spirit, and a wizard, and one seeking unto the dead.
12 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.
'For the abomination of Jehovah [is] every one doing these, and because of these abominations is Jehovah thy God dispossessing them from thy presence.
13 But you must always avoid doing any of those things.
Perfect thou art with Jehovah thy God,
14 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.
for these nations whom thou art possessing, unto observers of clouds, and unto diviners, do hearken; and thou — not so hath Jehovah thy God suffered thee.
15 [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.
'A prophet out of thy midst, out of thy brethren, like to me, doth Jehovah thy God raise up to thee — unto him ye hearken;
16 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].
according to all that thou didst ask from Jehovah thy God, in Horeb, in the day of the assembly, saying, Let me not add to hear the voice of Jehovah my God, and this great fire let me not see any more, and I die not;
17 Then Yahweh said to me, ‘What they have said is true/wise.
and Jehovah saith unto me, They have done well that they have spoken;
18 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.
a prophet I raise up to them, out of the midst of their brethren, like to thee; and I have given my words in his mouth, and he hath spoken unto them all that which I command him;
19 He will speak for me. And I will punish anyone who does not heed what he says.
and it hath been — the man who doth not hearken unto My words which he doth speak in My name, I require [it] of him.
20 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].’
'Only, the prophet who presumeth to speak a word in My name — that which I have not commanded him to speak — and who speaketh in the name of other gods — even that prophet hath died.
21 But if you say to yourself, ‘How can we know if a message [that someone tells us] does not come from Yahweh?’
'And when thou sayest in thy heart, How do we know the word which Jehovah hath not spoken? —
22 [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].”
that which the prophet speaketh in the name of Jehovah, and the thing is not, and cometh not — it [is] the word which Jehovah hath not spoken; in presumption hath the prophet spoken it; — thou art not afraid of him.
