Deuteronomii 18
1 Non habebunt sacerdotes et Levitæ, et omnes qui de eadem tribu sunt, partem et hæreditatem cum reliquo Israël, quia sacrificia Domini, et oblationes ejus comedent,
“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 et nihil aliud accipient de possessione fratrum suorum: Dominus enim ipse est hæreditas eorum, sicut locutus est illis.
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 Hoc erit judicium sacerdotum a populo, et ab his qui offerunt victimas: sive bovem, sive ovem immolaverint, dabunt sacerdoti armum ac ventriculum:
“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 primitias frumenti, vini, et olei, et lanarum partem ex ovium tonsione.
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 Ipsum enim elegit Dominus Deus tuus de cunctis tribubus tuis, ut stet, et ministret nomini Domini, ipse, et filii ejus in sempiternum.
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 Si exierit Levites ex una urbium tuarum ex omni Israël in qua habitat, et voluerit venire, desiderans locum quem elegerit Dominus,
“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 ministrabit in nomine Domini Dei sui, sicut omnes fratres ejus Levitæ, qui stabunt eo tempore coram Domino.
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 Partem ciborum eamdem accipiet, quam et ceteri: excepto eo, quod in urbe sua ex paterna ei successione debetur.
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 Quando ingressus fueris terram, quam Dominus Deus tuus dabit tibi, cave ne imitari velis abominationes illarum gentium.
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 Nec inveniatur in te qui lustret filium suum, aut filiam, ducens per ignem: aut qui ariolos sciscitetur, et observet somnia atque auguria, nec sit maleficus,
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 nec incantator, nec qui pythones consulat, nec divinos, aut quærat a mortuis veritatem.
Do not try to talk with spirits of dead people. Do not do/practice magic.
12 Omnia enim hæc abominatur Dominus, et propter istiusmodi scelera delebit eos in introitu tuo.
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 Perfectus eris, et absque macula cum Domino Deo tuo.
But you must always avoid doing any of those things.
14 Gentes istæ, quarum possidebis terram, augures et divinos audiunt: tu autem a Domino Deo tuo aliter institutus es.
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 Prophetam de gente tua et de fratribus tuis, sicut me, suscitabit tibi Dominus Deus tuus: ipsum audies,
[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 ut petisti a Domino Deo tuo in Horeb, quando concio congregata est, atque dixisti: Ultra non audiam vocem Domini Dei mei, et ignem hunc maximum amplius non videbo, ne moriar.
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 Et ait Dominus mihi: Bene omnia sunt locuti.
Then Yahweh said to me, ‘What they have said is true/wise.
18 Prophetam suscitabo eis de medio fratrum suorum similem tui: et ponam verba mea in ore ejus, loqueturque ad eos omnia quæ præcepero illi.
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 Qui autem verba ejus, quæ loquetur in nomine meo, audire noluerit, ego ultor existam.
He will speak for me. And I will punish anyone who does not heed what he says.
20 Propheta autem qui arrogantia depravatus voluerit loqui in nomine meo, quæ ego non præcepi illi ut diceret, aut ex nomine alienorum deorum, interficietur.
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 Quod si tacita cogitatione responderis: Quomodo possum intelligere verbum, quod Dominus non est locutus?
But if you say to yourself, ‘How can we know if a message [that someone tells us] does not come from Yahweh?’
22 hoc habebis signum: quod in nomine Domini propheta ille prædixerit, et non evenerit: hoc Dominus non est locutus, sed per tumorem animi sui propheta confinxit: et idcirco non timebis eum.
[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].”
