New Living Translation | NET Bible |
1“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. | 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 land of their own among the Israelites. The LORD himself is their special possession, just as he promised 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. |
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. | 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 also give to the priests the first share of the grain, the new wine, the olive oil, and the wool at shearing time. | 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 chose the tribe of Levi out of all your tribes to minister in the LORD’s name forever. | 5For the LORD your God has chosen them and their sons from all your tribes to stand and serve in his name permanently. |
6“Suppose a Levite chooses to move from his town in Israel, wherever he is living, to the place the LORD chooses for worship. | 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 |
7He may minister there in the name of the LORD his God, just like all his fellow Levites who are serving the LORD there. | 7and serves in the name of the LORD his God like his fellow Levites who stand there before the LORD. |
8He may eat his share of the sacrifices and offerings, even if he also receives support from his family. A Call to Holy Living | 8He must eat the same share they do, despite any profits he may gain from the sale of his family's inheritance. |
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. | 9When you enter the land the LORD your God is giving you, you must not learn the abhorrent practices of those nations. |
10For example, never sacrifice your son or daughter as a burnt offering. And do not let your people practice fortune-telling, or use sorcery, or interpret omens, or engage in witchcraft, | 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, |
11or cast spells, or function as mediums or psychics, or call forth the spirits of the dead. | 11one who casts spells, one who conjures up spirits, a practitioner of the occult, or a necromancer. |
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. | 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. |
13But you must be blameless before the LORD your God. | 13You 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 | 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. |
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. | 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. |
16For this is what you yourselves requested of the LORD your God when you were assembled at Mount Sinai. You said, ‘Don’t let us hear the voice of the LORD our God anymore or see this blazing fire, for we will 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." |
17“Then the LORD said to me, ‘What they have said is right. | 17The LORD then said to me, "What they have said is good. |
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. | 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 deal with anyone who will not listen to the messages the prophet proclaims on my behalf. | 19I will personally hold responsible anyone who then pays no attention to the words that prophet speaks in my name. |
20But any prophet who falsely claims to speak in my name or who speaks in the name of another god 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. |
21“But you may wonder, ‘How will we know whether or not a prophecy is from the LORD?’ | 21Now if you say to yourselves, 'How can we tell that a message is not 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. | 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." |
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