1.
The priests the Levites, and all the tribe of Levi, shall have no part nor inheritance with Israel: they shall eat the offerings of the LORD made by fire, and his inheritance.
2.
Therefore shall they have no inheritance among their brethren: the LORD is their inheritance, as he hath said unto them.
3.
And this shall be the priest's due from the people, from them that offer a sacrifice, whether it be ox or sheep; and they shall give unto the priest the shoulder, and the two cheeks, and the maw.
4.
The firstfruit also of thy corn, of thy wine, and of thine oil, and the first of the fleece of thy sheep, shalt thou give him.
5.
For the LORD thy God hath chosen him out of all thy tribes, to stand to minister in the name of the LORD, him and his sons for ever.
6.
And if a Levite come from any of thy gates out of all Israel, where he sojourned, and come with all the desire of his mind unto the place which the LORD shall choose;
7.
Then he shall minister in the name of the LORD his God, as all his brethren the Levites do, which stand there before the LORD.
8.
They shall have like portions to eat, beside that which cometh of the sale of his patrimony.
(8) They shall have like portions to eat, beside that.—The Levite thus dedicated was to have the same allowance from tithes as the rest who served at the tabernacle, beside the proceeds of the patrimony which he would have had in his own Levitical city.
9.
When thou art come into the land which the LORD thy God giveth thee, thou shalt not learn to do after the abominations of those nations.
10.
There shall not be found among you any one that maketh his son or his daughter to pass through the fire, or that useth divination, or an observer of times, or an enchanter, or a witch,
(10) To pass through the fire.—See Leviticus 18:21.
Useth divination—(Numbers 22:7), possibly by sacrifices.
Observer of times.—This is the Rabbinical explanation of the word. In Hebrew the idea of “time” is not so clear. It seems to mean practising hidden arts. (See Leviticus 19:26.)
Enchanter.—Whisperer, or serpent charmer. (See Genesis 44:5.)
Witch.—One who uses charms or spells (Exodus 7:11).
11.
Or a charmer, or a consulter with familiar spirits, or a wizard, or a necromancer.
(11) Charmer.—Literally one who ties knots, used here for the first time in Old Testament.
Consulter with familiar spirits.—Literally, one who consulteth ôb (see Leviticus 19:31).
A Wizard.—One who knows or pretends to know the secrets of the unseen world. (See Leviticus 19:31.)
Necromancer.—One who inquires of the dead. Four of the above practices are ascribed to king Manasseh in 2 Chronicles 33:6. It is hardly possible that all of them were mere imposture and deceit.
12.
For all that do these things are an abomination unto the LORD: and because of these abominations the LORD thy God doth drive them out from before thee.
13.
Thou shalt be perfect with the LORD thy God.
(13) Thou shalt be perfect with the Lord thy God.—Rashi’s note on this is worth preserving: “Thou shalt walk with Him in sincerity, and wait for Him. And thou shalt not pry into the future. But whatsoever cometh upon thee, take it with simplicity, and then thou shalt be with Him, and be His portion.”
14.
For these nations, which thou shalt possess, hearkened unto observers of times, and unto diviners: but as for thee, the LORD thy God hath not suffered thee so to do.
(14) The Lord thy God hath not suffered thee so to do.—More literally, As for thee, not so hath Jehovah thy God given unto thee. A prophet from the midst of thee, of thy brethren, like unto me, will Jehovah thy God raise up unto thee. Him shall ye hear. The contrast between the miserable resources of idolatrous nations in their anxiety, and the light and comfort promised to Israel and to us, in the One Mediator, is very marked here. Even Israel was better off than the heathen. As Rashi says upon the words “not so,” &c., “He hath not left thee to hearken to observers of times and enchanters; for behold He hath given Shechinah to rest upon the prophets, and Urim and Thummim.”
15.
The LORD thy God will raise up unto thee a Prophet from the midst of thee, of thy brethren, like unto me; unto him ye shall hearken;
16.
According to all that thou desiredst of the LORD thy God in Horeb in the day of the assembly, saying, Let me not hear again the voice of the LORD my God, neither let me see this great fire any more, that I die not.
17.
And the LORD said unto me, They have well spoken that which they have spoken.
18.
I will raise them up a Prophet from among their brethren, like unto thee, and will put my words in his mouth; and he shall speak unto them all that I shall command him.
19.
And it shall come to pass, that whosoever will not hearken unto my words which he shall speak in my name, I will require it of him.
20.
But the prophet, which shall presume to speak a word in my name, which I have not commanded him to speak, or that shall speak in the name of other gods, even that prophet shall die.
21.
And if thou say in thine heart, How shall we know the word which the LORD hath not spoken?
22.
When a prophet speaketh in the name of the LORD, if the thing follow not, nor come to pass, that is the thing which the LORD hath not spoken, but the prophet hath spoken it presumptuously: thou shalt not be afraid of him.
(22) If the thing follow not, nor come to pass.—This is one form of our Lord’s test for all prophets, “By their fruits (i.e., the ‘results,’ of their teaching, not its first impressions) ye shall know them.”