Deuteronomy 18
Legacy Standard Bible
The Portion of the Levites
18 “(A)The Levitical priests, the whole tribe of Levi, shall have no portion or inheritance with Israel; they shall eat of the offerings to Yahweh by fire and of His inheritance. 2 (B)And they shall have no inheritance among their brothers; Yahweh is their inheritance, as He [a]promised them.
3 “(C)Now this shall be the legal judgment for the priests taken from the people, from those who offer a sacrifice, either an ox or a sheep: they shall give to the priest the shoulder and the two cheeks and the stomach. 4 You shall give him the (D)first fruits of your grain, your new wine and your oil and the first shearing of your sheep. 5 (E)For Yahweh your God has chosen him and his sons from all your tribes, to (F)stand to minister in the name of Yahweh all the days.
6 “Now if a Levite comes from any of your gates of the towns throughout Israel where he (G)sojourns and comes [b]whenever he desires to the place which Yahweh chooses, 7 then he shall minister in the name of Yahweh his God like all his brothers the Levites who stand there before Yahweh. 8 (H)They shall eat [c]equal portions, except what they receive from the sale of their fathers’ estates.
Do Not Imitate Abominations
9 “When you enter the land which Yahweh your God gives you, you shall not learn to [d](I)imitate the abominations of those nations. 10 There shall not be found among you anyone (J)who makes his son or his daughter pass through the fire, one who uses divination, one (K)who practices soothsaying or one who interprets omens or a sorcerer, 11 or one who is an enchanter (L)or a medium or a spiritist or one who inquires of the dead. 12 For whoever does these things is an abomination to Yahweh; and (M)because of these abominations Yahweh your God will dispossess them from before you. 13 (N)You shall be [e]blameless before Yahweh your God. 14 For those nations, which you shall dispossess, listen to those who (O)practice soothsaying and to diviners, but as for you, Yahweh your God has not allowed you to do so.
Yahweh Will Raise Up a Prophet
15 “(P)Yahweh your God will raise up for you a prophet like me from among you, from your brothers; you shall listen to him. 16 This is (Q)according to all that you asked of Yahweh your God in Horeb on the day of the assembly, saying, ‘Let me not hear again the voice of Yahweh my God; let me not see this great fire anymore, or I will die.’ 17 (R)And Yahweh said to me, ‘They have [f]spoken well. 18 I will raise up a prophet from among their brothers like you, and (S)I will put My words in his mouth, and (T)he shall speak to them all that I command him. 19 (U)And it will be that whoever will not listen to My words which he shall speak in My name, I Myself will require it of him. 20 But the prophet who speaks a word (V)presumptuously in My name which I have not commanded him to speak, or (W)which he speaks in the name of other gods, [g]that prophet shall die.’ 21 Now [h]you may say in your heart, ‘How will we know the word which Yahweh has not spoken?’ 22 (X)When a prophet speaks in the name of Yahweh, if the thing does not come about or come true, that is the thing which Yahweh has not spoken. The prophet has spoken it (Y)presumptuously; you shall not be afraid of him.
Footnotes
- Deuteronomy 18:2 Lit spoke to
- Deuteronomy 18:6 Lit with all the desire of his soul
- Deuteronomy 18:8 Lit portion like portion
- Deuteronomy 18:9 Lit do according to
- Deuteronomy 18:13 Or having integrity; lit complete, perfect
- Deuteronomy 18:17 Lit done well what they have spoken
- Deuteronomy 18:20 Lit and that
- Deuteronomy 18:21 Lit if you say
Deuteronomy 18
Christian Standard Bible
Provisions for the Levites
18 “The Levitical priests, the whole tribe of Levi, will have no portion or inheritance with Israel. They will eat the Lord’s food offerings; that is their[a][b] inheritance. 2 Although Levi has no inheritance among his brothers, the Lord is his inheritance, as he promised him.(A) 3 This is the priests’ share from the people who offer a sacrifice, whether it is an ox, a sheep, or a goat; the priests are to be given the shoulder, jaws, and stomach. 4 You are to give him the firstfruits of your grain, new wine, and fresh oil,(B) and the first sheared wool of your flock. 5 For the Lord your God has chosen him and his sons from all your tribes to stand and minister in his name from now on.[c] 6 When a Levite leaves one of your towns in Israel where he was staying and wants to go to the place the Lord chooses, 7 he may serve in the name of the Lord his God like all his fellow Levites who minister there in the presence of the Lord. 8 They will eat equal portions besides what he has received from the sale of the family estate.[d](C)
Occult Practices versus Prophetic Revelation
9 “When you enter the land the Lord your God is giving you, do not imitate the detestable customs of those nations.(D) 10 No one among you is to sacrifice his son or daughter in the fire,[e](E) practice divination, tell fortunes, interpret omens, practice sorcery, 11 cast spells, consult a medium or a spiritist, or inquire of the dead.(F) 12 Everyone who does these acts is detestable to the Lord, and the Lord your God is driving out the nations before you because of these detestable acts. 13 You must be blameless before the Lord your God. 14 Though these nations you are about to drive out listen to fortune-tellers and diviners, the Lord your God has not permitted you to do this.
15 “The Lord your God will raise up for you a prophet like me from among your own brothers.(G) You must listen to him. 16 This is what you requested from the Lord your God at Horeb on the day of the assembly when you said, ‘Let us not continue to hear the voice of the Lord our God or see this great fire any longer, so that we will not die!’ (H) 17 Then the Lord said to me, ‘They have spoken well. 18 I will raise up for them a prophet like you from among their brothers. I will put my words in his mouth, and he will tell them everything I command him. 19 I will hold accountable whoever does not listen to my words that he speaks in my name.(I) 20 But the prophet who presumes to speak a message in my name that I have not commanded him to speak, or who speaks in the name of other gods—that prophet must die.’ 21 You may say to yourself, ‘How can we recognize a message the Lord has not spoken?’ 22 When a prophet speaks in the Lord’s name, and the message does not come true or is not fulfilled, that is a message the Lord has not spoken. The prophet has spoken it presumptuously. Do not be afraid of him.
Legacy Standard Bible Copyright ©2021 by The Lockman Foundation. All rights reserved. Managed in partnership with Three Sixteen Publishing Inc. LSBible.org For Permission to Quote Information visit https://www.LSBible.org.
The Christian Standard Bible. Copyright © 2017 by Holman Bible Publishers. Used by permission. Christian Standard Bible®, and CSB® are federally registered trademarks of Holman Bible Publishers, all rights reserved.