| 1The Levitical priests--indeed, the entire tribe of Levi--will have no allotment or inheritance with Israel; they may eat the burnt offerings of the LORD and of his inheritance. | 1The Levitical priests--indeed, the entire tribe of Levi--will have no allotment or inheritance with Israel; they may eat the burnt offerings of the LORD and of his inheritance. |
| 2They will have no inheritance in the midst of their fellow Israelites; the LORD alone is their inheritance, just as he had told them. | 2They will have no inheritance in the midst of their fellow Israelites; the LORD alone is their inheritance, just as he had told them. |
| 3This shall be the priests' fair allotment from the people who offer sacrifices, whether bull or sheep--they must give to the priest the shoulder, the jowls, and the stomach. | 3This shall be the priests' fair allotment from the people who offer sacrifices, whether bull or sheep--they must give to the priest the shoulder, the jowls, and the stomach. |
| 4You must give them the best of your grain, new wine, and olive oil, as well as the best of your wool when you shear your flocks. | 4You must give them the best of your grain, new wine, and olive oil, as well as the best of your wool when you shear your flocks. |
| 5For the LORD your God has chosen them and their sons from all your tribes to stand and serve in his name permanently. | 5For the LORD your God has chosen them and their sons from all your tribes to stand and serve in his name permanently. |
| 6Suppose a Levite comes by his own free will from one of your villages, from any part of Israel where he is living, to the place the LORD chooses | 6Suppose a Levite comes by his own free will from one of your villages, from any part of Israel where he is living, to the place the LORD chooses |
| 7and serves in the name of the LORD his God like his fellow Levites who stand there before the LORD. | 7and serves in the name of the LORD his God like his fellow Levites who stand there before the LORD. |
| 8He must eat the same share they do, despite any profits he may gain from the sale of his family's inheritance. | 8He must eat the same share they do, despite any profits he may gain from the sale of his family's inheritance. |
| 9When you enter the land the LORD your God is giving you, you must not learn the abhorrent practices of those nations. | 9When you enter the land the LORD your God is giving you, you must not learn the abhorrent practices of those nations. |
| 10There must never be found among you anyone who sacrifices his son or daughter in the fire, anyone who practices divination, an omen reader, a soothsayer, a sorcerer, | 10There must never be found among you anyone who sacrifices his son or daughter in the fire, anyone who practices divination, an omen reader, a soothsayer, a sorcerer, |
| 11one who casts spells, one who conjures up spirits, a practitioner of the occult, or a necromancer. | 11one who casts spells, one who conjures up spirits, a practitioner of the occult, or a necromancer. |
| 12Whoever does these things is abhorrent to the LORD and because of these detestable things the LORD your God is about to drive them out from before you. | 12Whoever does these things is abhorrent to the LORD and because of these detestable things the LORD your God is about to drive them out from before you. |
| 13You must be blameless before the LORD your God. | 13You must be blameless before the LORD your God. |
| 14Those nations that you are about to dispossess listen to omen readers and diviners, but the LORD your God has not given you permission to do such things. | 14Those nations that you are about to dispossess listen to omen readers and diviners, but the LORD your God has not given you permission to do such things. |
| 15The LORD your God will raise up for you a prophet like me from among you--from your fellow Israelites; you must listen to him. | 15The LORD your God will raise up for you a prophet like me from among you--from your fellow Israelites; you must listen to him. |
| 16This accords with what happened at Horeb in the day of the assembly. You asked the LORD your God: "Please do not make us hear the voice of the LORD our God any more or see this great fire any more lest we die." | 16This accords with what happened at Horeb in the day of the assembly. You asked the LORD your God: "Please do not make us hear the voice of the LORD our God any more or see this great fire any more lest we die." |
| 17The LORD then said to me, "What they have said is good. | 17The LORD then said to me, "What they have said is good. |
| 18I will raise up a prophet like you for them from among their fellow Israelites. I will put my words in his mouth and he will speak to them whatever I command. | 18I will raise up a prophet like you for them from among their fellow Israelites. I will put my words in his mouth and he will speak to them whatever I command. |
| 19I will personally hold responsible anyone who then pays no attention to the words that prophet speaks in my name. | 19I will personally hold responsible anyone who then pays no attention to the words that prophet speaks in my name. |
| 20"But if any prophet presumes to speak anything in my name that I have not authorized him to speak, or speaks in the name of other gods, that prophet must die. | 20"But if any prophet presumes to speak anything in my name that I have not authorized him to speak, or speaks in the name of other gods, that prophet must die. |
| 21Now if you say to yourselves, 'How can we tell that a message is not from the LORD?'-- | 21Now if you say to yourselves, 'How can we tell that a message is not from the LORD?'-- |
| 22whenever a prophet speaks in my name and the prediction is not fulfilled, then I have not spoken it; the prophet has presumed to speak it, so you need not fear him." | 22whenever a prophet speaks in my name and the prediction is not fulfilled, then I have not spoken it; the prophet has presumed to speak it, so you need not fear him." |
|
