| New Living Translation | Berean Study 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 whole tribe of Levi—shall have no portion or inheritance with Israel. They are to eat the offerings made by fire to the LORD; that is their inheritance. |
| 2They will have no land of their own among the Israelites. The LORD himself is their special possession, just as he promised them. | 2Although they have no inheritance among their brothers, the LORD is their inheritance, as He promised 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’ share from the people who offer a sacrifice, whether a bull or a sheep: the priests are to be given 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 are to give them the firstfruits of your grain, new wine, and oil, and the first wool sheared from your flock. |
| 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 Levi and his sons out of all your tribes to stand and minister in His name for all time. |
| 6“Suppose a Levite chooses to move from his town in Israel, wherever he is living, to the place the LORD chooses for worship. | 6Now if a Levite moves from any town of residence throughout Israel and comes in all earnestness to the place the LORD will choose, |
| 7He may minister there in the name of the LORD his God, just like all his fellow Levites who are serving the LORD there. | 7then he shall serve in the name of the LORD his God like all 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 | 8They shall eat equal portions, even though he has received money from the sale of his father’s estate. |
| 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 that the LORD your God is giving you, do not imitate the detestable ways of the nations there. |
| 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, | 10Let no one be found among you who sacrifices his son or daughter in the fire, practices divination or conjury, interprets omens, practices sorcery, |
| 11or cast spells, or function as mediums or psychics, or call forth the spirits of the dead. | 11casts spells, consults a medium or spiritist, or inquires of the dead. |
| 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. | 12For whoever does these things is detestable to the LORD. And because of these detestable things, the LORD your God is driving out the nations 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 | 14Though these nations, which you will dispossess, listen to conjurers and diviners, the LORD your God has not permitted you to do so. |
| 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 your brothers. 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 is what you asked of the LORD your God at Horeb on the day of the assembly, when you said, “Let us not hear the voice of the LORD our God or see this great fire anymore, so that we will not die!” |
| 17“Then the LORD said to me, ‘What they have said is right. | 17Then the LORD said to me, “They have spoken well. |
| 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 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. |
| 19I will personally deal with anyone who will not listen to the messages the prophet proclaims on my behalf. | 19And I will hold accountable anyone who does not listen to My words that the 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.’ | 20But if any prophet dares to speak a message in My name that I have not commanded him to speak, or to speak in the name of other gods, that prophet must be put to death.” |
| 21“But you may wonder, ‘How will we know whether or not a prophecy is from the LORD?’ | 21You may ask in your heart, “How can we recognize a message that the LORD has not spoken?” |
| 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. | 22When a prophet speaks in the name of the LORD and the message does not come to pass or come true, that is a message the LORD has not spoken. The prophet has spoken presumptuously. Do not be afraid of him. |
|
