Deuteronomy 18

1 The priests and the Levites—all the tribe of Levi—shall have no portion nor inheritance with Israel. They shall eat the offerings of the LORD made by fire and his portion.

2 They shall have no inheritance among their brothers. The LORD is their inheritance, as he has spoken to them.

3 This shall be the priests’ due from the people, from those who offer a sacrifice, whether it be ox or sheep, that they shall give to the priest: the shoulder, the two cheeks, and the inner parts.

4 You shall give him the first fruits of your grain, of your new wine, and of your oil, and the first of the fleece of your sheep.

5 For the LORD your God has chosen him out of all your tribes to stand to minister in the LORD’s name, him and his sons forever.

6 If a Levite comes from any of your gates out of all Israel where he lives, and comes with all the desire of his soul to the place which the LORD shall choose,

7 then he shall minister in the name of the LORD his God, as all his brothers the Levites do, who stand there before the LORD.

8 They shall have like portions to eat, in addition to that which comes from the sale of his family possessions.

9 When you have come into the land which the LORD your God gives you, you shall not learn to imitate the abominations of those nations.

10 There shall not be found with you anyone who makes his son or his daughter to pass through the fire, one who uses divination, one who tells fortunes, or an enchanter, or a sorcerer,

11 or a charmer, or someone who consults with a familiar spirit, or a wizard, or a necromancer.

12 For whoever does these things is an abomination to the LORD. Because of these abominations, the LORD your God drives them out from before you.

13 You shall be blameless with the LORD your God.

14 For these nations that you shall dispossess listen to those who practice sorcery and to diviners; but as for you, the LORD your God has not allowed you so to do.

15 The LORD your God will raise up to you a prophet from among you, of your brothers, like me. You shall listen to him.

16 This is according to all that you desired of the LORD your God in Horeb in the day of the assembly, saying, “Let me not hear again the LORD my God’s voice, neither let me see this great fire any more, that I not die.”

17 The LORD said to me, “They have well said that which they have spoken.

18 I will raise them up a prophet from among their brothers, like you. I will put my words in his mouth, and he shall speak to them all that I shall command him.

19 It shall happen, that whoever will not listen to my words which he shall speak in my name, I will require it of him.

20 But the prophet who speaks a word presumptuously in my name, which I have not commanded him to speak, or who speaks in the name of other gods, that same prophet shall die.”

21 You may say in your heart, “How shall we know the word which the LORD has not spoken?”

22 When a prophet speaks in the LORD’s name, if the thing doesn’t follow, nor happen, that is the thing which the LORD has not spoken. The prophet has spoken it presumptuously. You shall not be afraid of him.

Around Deuteronomy 18

Context

Context for this book is being written. A note appears here only once it names its sources.

AI explanation

Deuteronomy 18 · Written by an AI model · Not reviewed by a theological reader

This explanation was written by an AI model to help you get started. It names no sources and can contain mistakes. Scripture comes first, and context with sources is shown separately on this page.

What this chapter says

The Levites have no land. Moses says it plainly: the LORD is their inheritance. They live from the offerings of the people, a share of the sacrifices and the first fruits of grain, wine, oil and fleece.

Then he warns about the land they are about to enter. The nations there burn their children in fire, and they use divination, fortune telling, sorcery, charms, mediums and the calling up of the dead. All of this is an abomination to the LORD, and Israel is to be blameless.

In its place the LORD will raise up a prophet from among their brothers, like Moses. It goes back to Horeb, where the people begged never to hear the voice or see the fire again, and the LORD said they had spoken well. He will put his words in the prophet's mouth. The chapter ends with a test: if what a prophet says in the LORD's name does not come to pass, the LORD has not spoken it, and the people need not fear him.

Background

Verse 15 is among the best known passages of Deuteronomy. Jewish tradition has often read the promised prophet as the line of prophets that followed Moses. The New Testament applies it to Jesus in Acts 3 and Acts 7, and many Christians read it both ways. The test in verses 21 and 22 is balanced by chapter 13, where a true sign is not enough if the message turns people from the LORD. The ban on child sacrifice is repeated in Leviticus 18.

About this explanation

Written by Claude Sonnet 5.5, an AI model, on 26 October 2026. It draws on the WEB text and general knowledge and was not checked against sources by a person. Every quotation from Scripture is checked automatically against the WEB text.

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World English Bible. Public-domain source and edition notes