Deuteronomy 18

New Living Translation

Gifts for the Priests and Levites

18 “Remember that the Levitical priests—that is, the whole of the tribe of Levi—will receive no allotment of land among the other tribes in Israel. Instead, the priests and Levites will eat from the special gifts given to the Lord, for that is their share. ²They will have no land of their own among the Israelites. The Lord himself is their special possession, just as he promised them.

³“These are the parts the priests may claim as their share from the cattle, sheep, and goats that the people bring as offerings: the shoulder, the cheeks, and the stomach. ⁴You must also give to the priests the first share of the grain, the new wine, the olive oil, and the wool at shearing time. ⁵For the Lord your God chose the tribe of Levi out of all your tribes to minister in the Lord’s name forever.

⁶“Suppose a Levite chooses to move from his town in Israel, wherever he is living, to the place the Lord chooses for worship. ⁷He may minister there in the name of the Lord his God, just like all his fellow Levites who are serving the Lord there. ⁸He may eat his share of the sacrifices and offerings, even if he also receives support from his family.

A Call to Holy Living

⁹“When you enter the land the Lord your God is giving you, be very careful not to imitate the detestable customs of the nations living there. ¹⁰For example, never sacrifice your son or daughter as a burnt offering.^[a] And do not let your people practice fortune-telling, or use sorcery, or interpret omens, or engage in witchcraft, ¹¹or cast spells, or function as mediums or psychics, or call forth the spirits of the dead. ¹²Anyone who does these things is detestable to the Lord. It is because the other nations have done these detestable things that the Lord your God will drive them out ahead of you. ¹³But you must be blameless before the Lord your God. ¹⁴The nations you are about to displace consult sorcerers and fortune-tellers, but the Lord your God forbids you to do such things.”

True and False Prophets

¹⁵Moses continued, “The Lord your God will raise up for you a prophet like me from among your fellow Israelites. You must listen to him. ¹⁶For this is what you yourselves requested of the Lord your God when you were assembled at Mount Sinai.^[b] You said, ‘Don’t let us hear the voice of the Lord our God anymore or see this blazing fire, for we will die.’

¹⁷“Then the Lord said to me, ‘What they have said is right. ¹⁸I will raise up a prophet like you from among their fellow Israelites. I will put my words in his mouth, and he will tell the people everything I command him. ¹⁹I will personally deal with anyone who will not listen to the messages the prophet proclaims on my behalf. ²⁰But any prophet who falsely claims to speak in my name or who speaks in the name of another god must die.’

²¹“But you may wonder, ‘How will we know whether or not a prophecy is from the Lord?’ ²²If the prophet speaks in the Lord’s name but his prediction does not happen or come true, you will know that the Lord did not give that message. That prophet has spoken without my authority and need not be feared.

Footnotes

18:10 Or never make your son or daughter pass through the fire.
18:16 Hebrew Horeb, another name for Sinai.

Deuteronomy 18

International Standard Version

Provision for the Descendants of Levi

18 “The Levitical priests—the whole tribe of Levi—will not have a portion or an inheritance within Israel. Instead, they will eat the burnt offerings of the Lord, because that is their inheritance. ²But they will not have an inheritance among their relatives, because the Lord alone is their inheritance—as he promised them.”

Provision for the Priests

³“A portion of what the people offer in sacrifice, whether cattle or sheep, is to be due the priests. They must set aside the shoulder, jowls, and stomach for the priest. ⁴Give them the first gatherings of your grain, wine, and oil, as well as wool from the shearing of your flock. ⁵For the Lord your God has chosen them and their descendants^[a] from among your tribes to stand and serve in the name of the Lord all their lives.”^[b]

Provision for the Itinerant Levite

⁶“Any descendant of Levi who wishes to do so may come from any city or part of Israel where he resides to the place that the Lord will choose. ⁷There he may serve in the name of the Lord his God. Like his fellow descendants of Levi who stand there in the Lord’s presence, ⁸he may eat the same share as they do regardless of what he receives from his ancestral estate.”

Detestable Practices

⁹“When you enter the land that the Lord your God is about to give you, don’t learn the detestable practices of those nations there. ¹⁰There must never be found among you anyone who sacrifices^[c] his son or daughter in fire, practices divination, interprets omens, practices sorcery, ¹¹casts spells, or who is a medium, an occultist, or a necromancer. ¹²Whoever practices these things is detestable to the Lord, and the Lord your God will expel them before you because of these things. ¹³You must be completely faithful to the Lord your God, ¹⁴because those nations that you are about to dispossess listen to those who practice witchcraft and divination. But the Lord does not allow you to act this way.”

Discerning the True Prophet

¹⁵“The Lord your God will raise up a prophet like me for you from among your relatives. You must listen to him, ¹⁶because this is what you asked from the Lord your God at Horeb when you were assembled together: ‘Don’t let us^[d] hear the voice of the Lord our God again, or even see this great fire—otherwise, we^[e] will die.’

¹⁷“Then the Lord told me: ‘What they have suggested is good. ¹⁸I will raise up a prophet like you from among their relatives, and I will place my words in his mouth so that he may expound everything that I have commanded to them. ¹⁹But if someone will not listen to those words that the prophet^[f] speaks in my name, I will hold him accountable. ²⁰Even then, if the prophet speaks presumptuously in my name, which I didn’t authorize him to speak, or if he speaks in the name of other gods, that prophet must die.’ ²¹Now you may ask yourselves, ‘How will we be able to discern that the Lord has not spoken?’ ²²Whenever a prophet speaks in the name of the Lord and the oracle does not come about or the word is not fulfilled, then the Lord has not spoken it. The prophet will have spoken presumptuously, so you need not fear him.”