Deuteronomy 18

⁸Then the Lord said to Aaron, “Behold, I have put you in charge of My offerings. As for all the sacred offerings of the Israelites, I have given them to you and your sons as a portion and a permanent statute.

⁹A portion of the most holy offerings reserved from the fire will be yours. From all the offerings they render to Me as most holy offerings, whether grain offerings or sin offerings or guilt offerings, that part belongs to you and your sons.

⁹That is why Levi has no portion or inheritance among his brothers; the Lord is his inheritance, as the Lord your God promised him.

¹³Do you not know that those who work in the temple eat of its food, and those who serve at the altar partake of its offerings?

¹⁴In the same way, the Lord has prescribed that those who preach the gospel should receive their living from the gospel.

¹⁹and be careful not to neglect the Levites as long as you live in your land.

¹⁴To the tribe of Levi, however, Moses had given no inheritance. The food offerings to the Lord, the God of Israel, are their inheritance, just as He had promised them.

²⁰Then the Lord said to Aaron, “You will have no inheritance in their land, nor will you have any portion among them. I am your portion and your inheritance among the Israelites.

⁶But you will be called the priests of the Lord; they will speak of you as ministers of our God; you will feed on the wealth of nations, and you will boast in their riches.

²⁴“The Lord is my portion,” says my soul, “therefore I will hope in Him.”

²⁴You guide me with Your counsel, and later receive me in glory.

²⁵Whom have I in heaven but You? And on earth I desire no one besides You.

¹After these events, the word of the Lord came to Abram in a vision: “Do not be afraid, Abram. I am your shield, your very great reward.”

⁹But you are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for God’s own possession, to proclaim the virtues of Him who called you out of darkness into His marvelous light.

¹¹For the Lord God is a sun and a shield; the Lord gives grace and glory; He withholds no good thing from those who walk with integrity.

³⁰With his own hands he is to bring the food offerings to the Lord; he shall bring the fat, together with the breast, and wave the breast as a wave offering before the Lord.

³¹The priest is to burn the fat on the altar, but the breast belongs to Aaron and his sons.

²⁷Present the meat and blood of your burnt offerings on the altar of the Lord your God. The blood of your other sacrifices must be poured out beside the altar of the Lord your God, but you may eat the meat.

⁴⁴And on that same day men were appointed over the rooms that housed the supplies, contributions, firstfruits, and tithes. The portions specified by the Law for the priests and Levites were gathered into these storerooms from the fields of the villages, because Judah rejoiced over the priests and Levites who were serving.

⁴⁵They performed the service of their God and the service of purification, along with the singers and gatekeepers, as David and his son Solomon had prescribed.

¹⁹Bring the best of the firstfruits of your soil to the house of the Lord your God. You must not cook a young goat in its mother’s milk.

¹⁷Bring two loaves of bread from your dwellings as a wave offering, each made from two-tenths of an ephah of fine flour, baked with leaven, as the firstfruits to the Lord.

¹²I give you all the freshest olive oil and all the finest new wine and grain that the Israelites give to the Lord as their firstfruits.

¹³The firstfruits of everything in their land that they bring to the Lord will belong to you. Every ceremonially clean person in your household may eat them.

⁴Moreover, he commanded the people living in Jerusalem to make a contribution for the priests and Levites so that they could devote themselves to the Law of the Lord.

⁵As soon as the order went out, the Israelites generously provided the firstfruits of the grain, new wine, oil, and honey, and of all the produce of the field, and they brought in an abundance—a tithe of everything.

²⁹You must not hold back offerings from your granaries or vats. You are to give Me the firstborn of your sons.

⁸At that time the Lord set apart the tribe of Levi to carry the ark of the covenant of the Lord, to stand before the Lord to serve Him, and to pronounce blessings in His name, as they do to this day.

¹⁰So you shall appoint Aaron and his sons to carry out the duties of the priesthood; but any outsider who approaches the tabernacle must be put to death.”

¹“Next, have your brother Aaron brought to you from among the Israelites, along with his sons Nadab, Abihu, Eleazar, and Ithamar, to serve Me as priests.

²Make holy garments for your brother Aaron, to give him glory and splendor.

¹²But the man who acts presumptuously, refusing to listen either to the priest who stands there to serve the Lord your God, or to the judge, must be put to death. You must purge the evil from Israel.

⁵Then he said to Korah and all his followers, “Tomorrow morning the Lord will reveal who belongs to Him and who is holy, and He will bring that person near to Himself. The one He chooses He will bring near to Himself.

⁹Is it not enough for you that the God of Israel has separated you from the congregation of Israel and brought you near to Himself to perform the work at the Lord’s tabernacle, and to stand before the congregation to minister to them?

¹⁰He has brought you near, you and all your fellow Levites, but you are seeking the priesthood as well.

²“Command the Israelites to give, from the inheritance they will possess, cities for the Levites to live in and pasturelands around the cities.

³The cities will be for them to live in, and the pasturelands will be for their herds, their flocks, and all their other livestock.

⁵Instead, you must seek the place the Lord your God will choose from among all your tribes to establish as a dwelling for His Name, and there you must go.

¹This is a trustworthy saying: If anyone aspires to be an overseer, he desires a noble task.

⁸O Lord, I love the house where You dwell, the place where Your glory resides.

²Be shepherds of God’s flock that is among you, watching over them not out of compulsion, but willingly, as God would have you; not out of greed, but out of eagerness;

²You are to offer to the Lord your God the Passover sacrifice from the herd or flock in the place the Lord will choose as a dwelling for His Name.

²Hezekiah reestablished the divisions of the priests and Levites—each of them according to their duties as priests or Levites—for the burnt offerings and peace offerings, for ministry, for giving thanks, and for singing praises at the gates of the Lord’s dwelling.

³The king contributed from his own possessions for the regular morning and evening burnt offerings and for the burnt offerings on the Sabbaths, New Moons, and appointed feasts, as written in the Law of the Lord.

⁴⁴And on that same day men were appointed over the rooms that housed the supplies, contributions, firstfruits, and tithes. The portions specified by the Law for the priests and Levites were gathered into these storerooms from the fields of the villages, because Judah rejoiced over the priests and Levites who were serving.

⁴⁷So in the days of Zerubbabel and Nehemiah, all Israel contributed the daily portions for the singers and gatekeepers. They also set aside daily portions for the Levites, and the Levites set aside daily portions for the descendants of Aaron.

⁴Moreover, he commanded the people living in Jerusalem to make a contribution for the priests and Levites so that they could devote themselves to the Law of the Lord.

⁷Stay at the same house, eating and drinking whatever you are offered. For the worker is worthy of his wages. Do not move around from house to house.

¹⁴From the cakes he must present one portion of each offering as a contribution to the Lord. It belongs to the priest who sprinkles the blood of the peace offering.

⁷Who serves as a soldier at his own expense? Who plants a vineyard and does not eat of its fruit? Who tends a flock and does not drink of its milk?

⁸Do I say this from a human perspective? Doesn’t the Law say the same thing?

²⁹When the Lord your God cuts off before you the nations you are entering to dispossess, and you drive them out and live in their land,

³⁰be careful not to be ensnared by their ways after they have been destroyed before you. Do not inquire about their gods, asking, “How do these nations serve their gods? I will do likewise.”

²⁶But you are to keep My statutes and ordinances, and you must not commit any of these abominations—neither your native-born nor the foreigner who lives among you.

²⁷For the men who were in the land before you committed all these abominations, and the land has become defiled.

³⁰You must keep My charge not to practice any of the abominable customs that were practiced before you, so that you do not defile yourselves by them. I am the Lord your God.”

³¹You must not turn to mediums or spiritists; do not seek them out, or you will be defiled by them. I am the Lord your God.

¹⁸You must not allow a sorceress to live.

²⁶You must not eat anything with blood still in it. You must not practice divination or sorcery.

³¹You must not worship the Lord your God in this way, because they practice for their gods every abomination which the Lord hates. They even burn their sons and daughters in the fire as sacrifices to their gods.

¹⁹And a number of those who had practiced magic arts brought their books and burned them in front of everyone. When the value of the books was calculated, the total came to fifty thousand drachmas.

⁶He sacrificed his sons in the fire in the Valley of Ben-hinnom. He practiced sorcery, divination, and witchcraft, and consulted mediums and spiritists. He did great evil in the sight of the Lord, provoking Him to anger.

¹¹“Whom shall I bring up for you?” the woman asked. “Bring up Samuel,” he replied.

¹²But when the woman saw Samuel, she cried out in a loud voice and said to Saul, “Why have you deceived me? You are Saul!”

³¹You must not turn to mediums or spiritists; do not seek them out, or you will be defiled by them. I am the Lord your God.

²⁴Do not defile yourselves by any of these practices, for by all these things the nations I am driving out before you have defiled themselves.

⁴When the Lord your God has driven them out before you, do not say in your heart, “Because of my righteousness the Lord has brought me in to possess this land.” Rather, the Lord is driving out these nations before you because of their wickedness.

²⁷For the men who were in the land before you committed all these abominations, and the land has become defiled.

¹When Abram was ninety-nine years old, the Lord appeared to him and said, “I am God Almighty. Walk before Me and be blameless.

⁴⁸Be perfect, therefore, as your heavenly Father is perfect.

⁹This is the account of Noah. Noah was a righteous man, blameless in his generation; Noah walked with God.

¹²Not that I have already obtained all this, or have already been made perfect, but I press on to take hold of that for which Christ Jesus took hold of me.

³⁷Consider the blameless and observe the upright, for posterity awaits the man of peace.

⁸Then the Lord said to Satan, “Have you considered My servant Job? For there is no one on earth like him, a man who is blameless and upright, who fears God and shuns evil.”

¹⁶In past generations, He let all nations go their own way.

⁶Then God said to Abimelech in the dream, “Yes, I know that you did this with a clear conscience, and so I have kept you from sinning against Me. That is why I did not let you touch her.

¹⁹He declares His word to Jacob, His statutes and judgments to Israel.

²⁰He has done this for no other nation; they do not know His judgments. Hallelujah!

¹⁰Let no one be found among you who sacrifices his son or daughter in the fire, practices divination or conjury, interprets omens, practices sorcery,

²²For Moses said, ‘The Lord your God will raise up for you a prophet like me from among your brothers. You must listen to Him in everything He tells you.

²³Everyone who does not listen to Him will be completely cut off from among his people.’

³⁷This is the same Moses who told the Israelites, ‘God will raise up for you a prophet like me from among your brothers.’

⁴⁵Philip found Nathanael and told him, “We have found the One Moses wrote about in the Law, the One the prophets foretold—Jesus of Nazareth, the son of Joseph.”

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.

¹⁹And I will hold accountable anyone who does not listen to My words that the prophet speaks in My name.

¹On many past occasions and in many different ways, God spoke to our fathers through the prophets.

²But in these last days He has spoken to us by His Son, whom He appointed heir of all things, and through whom He made the universe.

³⁵And a voice came from the cloud, saying, “This is My Son, whom I have chosen. Listen to Him!”

¹⁹“Speak to us yourself and we will listen,” they said to Moses. “But do not let God speak to us, or we will die.”

¹⁰Then the Lord gave me the two stone tablets, inscribed by the finger of God with the exact words that the Lord spoke to you out of the fire on the mountain on the day of the assembly.

²³And when you heard the voice out of the darkness while the mountain was blazing with fire, all the heads of your tribes and your elders approached me,

²⁴and you said, “Behold, the Lord our God has shown us His glory and greatness, and we have heard His voice out of the fire. Today we have seen that a man can live even if God speaks with him.

¹⁹to a trumpet blast or to a voice that made its hearers beg that no further word be spoken.

²⁸And the Lord heard the words you spoke to me, and He said to me, “I have heard the words that these people have spoken to you. They have done well in all that they have spoken.

²⁸So Jesus said, “When you have lifted up the Son of Man, then you will know that I am He, and that I do nothing on My own, but speak exactly what the Father has taught Me.

⁴⁹I have not spoken on My own, but the Father who sent Me has commanded Me what to say and how to say it.

⁵⁰And I know that His command leads to eternal life. So I speak exactly what the Father has told Me to say.”

¹⁵The Lord your God will raise up for you a prophet like me from among your brothers. You must listen to him.

²⁵The woman said, “I know that Messiah” (called Christ) “is coming. When He comes, He will explain everything to us.”

⁸For I have given them the words You gave Me, and they have received them. They knew with certainty that I came from You, and they believed that You sent Me.

⁴⁵Philip found Nathanael and told him, “We have found the One Moses wrote about in the Law, the One the prophets foretold—Jesus of Nazareth, the son of Joseph.”

²²For Moses said, ‘The Lord your God will raise up for you a prophet like me from among your brothers. You must listen to Him in everything He tells you.

²³Everyone who does not listen to Him will be completely cut off from among his people.’

³how shall we escape if we neglect such a great salvation? This salvation was first announced by the Lord, was confirmed to us by those who heard Him,

²⁵See to it that you do not refuse Him who speaks. For if the people did not escape when they refused Him who warned them on earth, how much less will we escape if we reject Him who warns us from heaven?

²⁶At that time His voice shook the earth, but now He has promised, “Once more I will shake not only the earth, but heaven as well.”

²⁶If we deliberately go on sinning after we have received the knowledge of the truth, no further sacrifice for sins remains,

⁷Therefore, as the Holy Spirit says: “Today, if you hear His voice,

¹⁶Whoever believes and is baptized will be saved, but whoever does not believe will be condemned.

¹If a prophet or dreamer of dreams arises among you and proclaims a sign or wonder to you,

²and if the sign or wonder he has spoken to you comes about, but he says, “Let us follow other gods (which you have not known) and let us worship them,”

¹⁵For I have not sent them, declares the Lord, and yet they are prophesying falsely in My name; therefore I will banish you, and you will perish—you and the prophets who prophesy to you.”

³¹“Yes,” declares the Lord, “I am against the prophets who wag their own tongues and proclaim, ‘The Lord declares it.’”

³And if anyone still prophesies, his father and mother who bore him will say to him, ‘You shall not remain alive, because you have spoken falsely in the name of the Lord.’ When he prophesies, his father and mother who bore him will pierce him through.

⁶They see false visions and speak lying divinations. They claim, ‘Thus declares the Lord,’ when the Lord did not send them; yet they wait for the fulfillment of their message.

¹⁵Beware of false prophets. They come to you in sheep’s clothing, but inwardly they are ravenous wolves.

¹Beloved, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits to see whether they are from God. For many false prophets have gone out into the world.

²By this you will know the Spirit of God: Every spirit that confesses that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh is from God,

²⁴The One who calls you is faithful, and He will do it.

²I know your deeds, your labor, and your perseverance. I know that you cannot tolerate those who are evil, and you have tested and exposed as liars those who falsely claim to be apostles.

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.”

¹In those days Hezekiah became mortally ill. The prophet Isaiah son of Amoz came to him and said, “This is what the Lord says: ‘Put your house in order, for you are about to die; you will not recover.’”

¹In the fifth month of that same year, the fourth year, near the beginning of the reign of King Zedekiah of Judah, the prophet Hananiah son of Azzur, who was from Gibeon, said to me in the house of the Lord in the presence of the priests and all the people:

²“This is what the Lord of Hosts, the God of Israel, says: ‘I have broken the yoke of the king of Babylon.

⁵Where are your fathers now? And the prophets, do they live forever?

⁶But did not My words and My statutes, which I commanded My servants the prophets, overtake your fathers? They repented and said, ‘Just as the Lord of Hosts purposed to do to us according to our ways and deeds, so He has done to us.’”

²So he prayed to the Lord, saying, “O Lord, is this not what I said while I was still in my own country? This is why I was so quick to flee toward Tarshish. I knew that You are a gracious and compassionate God, slow to anger, abounding in loving devotion—One who relents from sending disaster.

¹If a prophet or dreamer of dreams arises among you and proclaims a sign or wonder to you,

²and if the sign or wonder he has spoken to you comes about, but he says, “Let us follow other gods (which you have not known) and let us worship them,”