UST DEU Chapter 18

◄ DEU 18 ► ║ ©

18 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 Yahweh. 2 They will not receive any land like the other tribes will. What they will receive is the honor of being Yahweh’s priests, which is what he said that they should have.

3 When the people bring an ox or a sheep to be sacrificed, they must give to the priests the shoulder, the cheeks, and the stomach of those animals. 4 You must also give to them the first part of the grain that you harvest, the wine and olive oil that you make, and the wool that you shear from your sheep. 5 You must do this because Yahweh our God has chosen the tribe of Levi from all of your tribes. He did this so that they would always be the priests who would serve him.

6 Suppose that a man from the tribe of Levi who has been living in one of the towns in Israel wants to live in the place of worship that Yahweh has chosen. 7 In that case, 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 He must receive the same amount of food that the other priests receive. He may keep the money that his relatives receive for selling some of their possessions and send to him.

9 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 You must not sacrifice any of your children by burning them on your altars. Do not try to use magic or omens to discover what will happen in the future. Do not practice sorcery. 11 Do not put spells on people. Do not try to talk with spirits of dead people. 12 Yahweh hates people who do any of those disgusting things. And as you advance through that land, he is going to drive out the people groups because they do those disgusting things. 13 But you must be completely pure for Yahweh and avoid doing any of those disgusting things.

14 The people groups that you are about to expel from the land rely on magicians and psychics. But as for you, Yahweh our God does not allow you to do that. 15 Some day he will send from your people a prophet like me. You must obey him. 16 On the day that your ancestors were gathered at the bottom of Mount Sinai, they begged me for help. They told me that they did not want Yahweh to speak to them again. They did not want to see the huge fire that burned on the mountain. They were afraid that they would die if Yahweh spoke to them again.

17 Then Yahweh said to me, ‘I agree with them. 18 So I will send them a prophet from their people like you. I will tell him what to say, and then he will tell people everything that I tell him to say. 19 He will speak for me. And I will punish anyone who does not obey what he says. 20 There could be someone who pridefully says that he is a prophet and that his message comes from me, but I did not send him. Or, there could be someone who speaks a message that he says other gods have revealed to him. You must execute those people.’

21 Maybe you wonder how you can tell if a message that someone tells you does not come from Yahweh. 22 You will know that Yahweh did not send someone if what he said will happen in the future does not occur. That person spoke pridefully. Do not worry about what he said.

◄ DEU 18 ► ║ ©

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