5 Mose 18

1 Asɔfoɔ a wɔyɛ Lewifoɔ, nokorɛm Lewi abusuakuo nyinaa nni kyɛfa ne agyapadeɛ biara wɔ Israel ɔman mu te sɛ mmusuakuo a aka no. Mmom, asɔfoɔ no ne Lewifoɔ no bɛdi ogya afɔdeɛ a wɔbɔ ma Awurade no bi sɛ wɔn agyapadeɛ.

“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 Israelfoɔ mu deɛ, wɔrennya agyapadeɛ biara sɛ wɔn ankasa kyɛfa. Awurade ankasa bɛyɛ wɔn kyɛfa sɛdeɛ ɔhyɛɛ wɔn bɔ no ara.

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 Yei ne kyɛfa a asɔfoɔ no bɛnya afiri anantwie ne odwan a nnipa no de bɛbɔ afɔdeɛ no mu: nʼabati, nʼapantan ne nʼayamdeɛ.

“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 Afei, momma wɔn mo aburookan mu adeɛ, nsã foforɔ ne ngo ne nwi a ɛdi ɛkan a wɔtwitwa firi odwan ho.

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 Ɛfiri sɛ, Awurade, mo Onyankopɔn, ayi Lewifoɔ afiri mo mmusuakuo nyinaa mu sɛ wɔnnyina, nsom daa wɔ Awurade din mu.

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 Sɛ Lewini bi pɛ na ɔfiri mo nkuro no mu biara a ɔte so mu wɔ Israel kɔ baabi a Awurade ayi a,

“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 ɔtumi som wɔ Awurade, ne Onyankopɔn, din mu te sɛ deɛ ne nkurɔfoɔ Lewifoɔ a wɔsom wɔ hɔ wɔ Awurade anim no yɛ no ara.

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 Sɛ mpo wanya sika bi afiri abusua agyapadeɛ bi tɔn mu a, wɔde ne kyɛfa a ɛwɔ afɔrebɔdeɛ no mu sɛ Lewini no bɛma no sɛ asɛdeɛ.

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 Sɛ monya duru asase a Awurade, mo Onyankopɔn, de rema mo no so a, monhwɛ yie na moansua amanaman a ɛwɔ hɔ no amanneɛ a ɛyɛ akyiwadeɛ.

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 Mommma wɔnnhunu sɛ mo mu bi de ne babarima anaa ne babaa abɔ ɔhyeɛ afɔdeɛ. Na mommma mo nnipa no nnyɛ akɔmfoɔ a wɔhyɛ abosom nkɔm, abayifoɔ ne abisakorɔfoɔ, ne ntafowayifoɔ

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 ne nkaberɛkyerefoɔ ne asamanfrɛfoɔ, adutofoɔ a ɔbisa afunu.

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

12 Obiara a ɔyɛ saa adeɛ yi bi no yɛ Awurade akyiwadeɛ na saa akyiwadeɛ yi enti, Awurade, mo Onyankopɔn, bɛpamo saa aman no afiri mo anim.

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 Na wɔmmfa so bi nto mo so wɔ Awurade, mo Onyankopɔn, anim.

But you must always avoid doing any of those things.

14 Aman a morekɔtu wɔn yi tie wɔn a wɔpɛ abayisɛm ne nkɔmhyɛsɛm. Nanso mo deɛ, Awurade, mo Onyankopɔn, mma mo kwan sɛ monyɛ saa.

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 Awurade, mo Onyankopɔn, bɛyi odiyifoɔ a ɔte sɛ me afiri mo Israelfoɔ yi ara mu. Ɛsɛ sɛ moyɛ ɔsetie ma no.

[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 Saa na mo ankasa mobisaa Awurade, mo Onyankopɔn, ɛberɛ a mohyiaa wɔ Horeb no. Mosrɛɛ sɛ mompɛ sɛ mote Awurade, mo Onyankopɔn, nne anaa mohunu egyadɛreɛ bio, ɛfiri sɛ, mosuro sɛ anhwɛ a, mobɛwuwu.

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 Na Awurade buaa sɛ, “Mɛyɛ wɔn abisadeɛ ama wɔn.

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

18 Mɛda odiyifoɔ te sɛ wo adi afiri wɔn nkurɔfoɔ Israelfoɔ mu. Mɛkyerɛ saa odiyifoɔ no asɛm a mɛhyɛ no sɛ ɔnka nkyerɛ nnipa no, na ɔbɛka akyerɛ wɔn.

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 Obiara a wantie asɛm a odiyifoɔ no bɛka wɔ me din mu no, mʼankasa me ne ɔsoɔdenfoɔ no bɛdi.

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

20 Na odiyifoɔ biara a ɔnam onyame foforɔ bi so ka asɛm anaa ɔdi atorɔ wɔ me din mu no bɛwu.”

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 Mobɛbisa mo ho sɛ, “Ɛbɛyɛ dɛn na yɛahunu sɛ adiyisɛm no firi Awurade anaasɛ ɛmfiri no?”

But if you say to yourself, ‘How can we know if a message [that someone tells us] does not come from Yahweh?’

22 Sɛ odiyifoɔ no hyɛ nkɔm wɔ Awurade din mu na amma mu a, na ɛnyɛ Awurade na ɔde asɛm no maeɛ. Na ɛkyerɛ sɛ, saa odiyifoɔ no ara kaa ɔno ankasa nʼasɛm bi kwa enti ɛnsɛ sɛ wɔsuro no.

[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].”