Deuteronomy 18
The full text of Deuteronomy 18 in the Trinity Bible Version — clear modern English, translated from the original Hebrew. Free to read.
1 The Levitical priests—indeed, the whole tribe of Levi—are to have no allotment or inheritance with Israel. They shall live on the food offerings presented to the LORD, for that is their inheritance.
2 They shall have no inheritance among their fellow Israelites; the LORD is their inheritance, as he promised them.
3 This is the share due the priests from the people who sacrifice an ox or a sheep: the shoulder, the jaws and the stomach.
4 You are to give them the firstfruits of your grain, new wine and olive oil, and the first wool from the shearing of your sheep,
5 for the LORD your God has chosen them and their descendants out of all your tribes to stand and minister in the LORD's name always.
6 If a Levite moves from one of your towns anywhere in Israel where he is living, and comes in all earnestness to the place the LORD will choose,
7 he may minister in the name of the LORD his God like all his fellow Levites who serve there in the presence of the LORD.
8 He is to share equally in their benefits, even though he has received money from the sale of family possessions.
9 When you enter the land the LORD your God is giving you, do not learn to imitate the detestable ways of the nations there.
10 Let no one be found among you who sacrifices their son or daughter in the fire, who practices divination or sorcery, interprets omens, engages in witchcraft,
11 casts spells, or who is a medium or spiritist or who consults the dead.
12 Anyone who does these things is detestable to the LORD; because of these detestable practices the LORD your God will drive out those nations before you.
13 You must be blameless before the LORD your God.
14 The nations you will dispossess listen to those who practice sorcery or divination. But as for you, the LORD your God has not permitted you to do so.
15 The LORD your God will raise up for you a prophet like me from among you, from your fellow Israelites. You must listen to him.
16 For this 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 nor see this great fire anymore, or we will die."
17 The LORD said to me: "What they say is good.
18 I will raise up for them a prophet like you from among their fellow Israelites, and I will put my words in his mouth. He will tell them everything I command him.
19 I myself will call to account anyone who does not listen to my words that the prophet speaks in my name.
20 But a prophet who presumes to speak in my name anything I have not commanded, or a prophet who speaks in the name of other gods, is to be put to death.
21 You may say to yourselves, "How can we know when a message has not been spoken by the LORD?"
22 If what a prophet proclaims in the name of the LORD does not take place or come true, that is a message the LORD has not spoken. That prophet has spoken presumptuously, so do not be alarmed.
Translation notes (8)
- Deuteronomy 18:1a The phrase "food offerings" translates the Hebrew 'ishei YHWH, which refers to offerings made by fire to the LORD. The tribe of Levi has no land inheritance because the LORD himself is their portion; they live from these offerings (compare Numbers 18:20-24).
- Deuteronomy 18:8a The Hebrew of the second part of this verse, 'al ha'avot, is unclear. It is usually understood to mean that, even if a Levite sells his inherited property, he still receives an equal share of the priestly dues. This translation is provisional.
- Deuteronomy 18:10a The phrase "sacrifices their son or daughter in the fire" translates the Hebrew ma'avir beno uvitto ba'esh, which refers to the Canaanite rite of child sacrifice, named first and plainly here. The terms that follow cover a range of forbidden occult practices; because several are technical and overlap, the translations provided are conventional equivalents.
- Deuteronomy 18:13a The Hebrew word tamim, translated "blameless," means having whole-hearted and undivided loyalty to the LORD. This stands in deliberate contrast to the occult practices just forbidden, and it is not a claim of sinless perfection.
- Deuteronomy 18:15a The Hebrew phrase navi... kamoni, translated "a prophet like me," in this context promises an ongoing line of true prophets whom the LORD will raise up in Israel, in contrast to the forbidden diviners. The New Testament understands this verse as fulfilled in Jesus (Acts 3:22-23; 7:37). The full interpretive and theological meaning—whether it refers to a succession of prophets or a single prophet at the end of time—is not decided in this draft and is reserved for review by a group of scholars.
- Deuteronomy 18:18a This verse is the LORD's own restatement of verse 15, where the phrase "I will put my words in his mouth" defines a true prophet as one who speaks only what the LORD commands. This is understood in the New Testament as referring to Jesus (compare John 12:49), and the full scope of this meaning is reserved for review by a group of scholars (see the note at verse 15).
- Deuteronomy 18:20a A prophet could be put to death for two capital offenses: speaking presumptuously in the LORD's name what He did not command, or prophesying in the name of other gods. The death penalty is stated plainly here; its ethics and theology are reserved for further review.
- Deuteronomy 18:22a The test of a true prophecy is its fulfillment. The Hebrew phrase lo' tagur mimmennu, translated 'Do not be alarmed,' means do not stand in fear of the false prophet or his unfulfilled word.
About this translation
The Trinity Bible Version (TBV) is Trinity Bible's own translation of Scripture, made directly from the original Hebrew rather than revised from an older English Bible. Completed in 2026, it is the most modern English Bible translation available, and it is exclusive to Trinity Bible. Reading the TBV here on the web is free — the full study edition, with original-language tools and notes on every verse, lives in the Trinity Bible app.
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