Deuteronomy 18
1 “The Levitical priests, the whole tribe of Levi, will have no share or inheritance with Israel. They will eat the offerings made by fire to the LORD and his inheritance.
2 Levi will have no inheritance among his brothers; the LORD is his inheritance, as the LORD told him.
3 This is the priests’ due from the people, from those who offer a sacrifice, whether an ox or a sheep: they are to give the priest the shoulder, the cheeks, and the stomach.
4 You are to give him the firstfruits of your grain, your new wine, and your oil, and the first fleece from your flock.
5 For the LORD your God chose him from all your tribes to stand and serve in the name of the LORD, him and his sons, for all time.
6 A Levite may come from any of your towns, from anywhere in Israel where he lives, and come with all his heart’s desire to the place the LORD chooses.
7 Then he may serve in the name of the LORD his God, like all his fellow Levites who stand there before the LORD.
8 They will eat equal portions, in addition to what he receives from the sale of his family property.
9 When you enter the land that the LORD your God is giving you, do not learn to do the abominations of those nations.
10 Let no one among you make his son or daughter pass through fire, practice divination, interpret omens, tell fortunes, or practice sorcery.
11 Let no one cast spells, consult a medium or a spirit, or seek the dead.”
12 “For everyone who does these things is detestable to the LORD. It is because of these detestable practices that the LORD your God is driving those nations out before you.
13 You must be blameless before the LORD your God.
14 For the nations you are driving out listen to fortune-tellers and diviners, but the LORD your God has not allowed you to do so.
15 The LORD your God will raise up for you a prophet from among you, from your brothers, like me. You must listen to him.
16 That is what you asked of the LORD your God at Horeb on the day of the assembly, when you said, ‘Let me not continue to hear the voice of the LORD my God or see this great fire anymore, so that I may not die.’
17 The LORD said to me, ‘They have spoken well.
18 I will raise up for them a prophet from among their brothers, like you. I will put my words in his mouth, and he will tell them everything I command him.
19 I will hold accountable anyone who does not listen to my words that he speaks in my name.
20 But a prophet who presumes to speak in my name a word I did not command him to speak, or who speaks in the name of other gods, that prophet must die.’
21 You may say in your heart, ‘How will we know that the LORD did not speak the word?’
22 When a prophet speaks in the name of the LORD and the word does not happen or come true, that is a word the LORD did not speak. The prophet spoke it presumptuously. Do not be afraid of him.”
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