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.