Deuteronomy 18:9-22

Spiritism Forbidden

9 "When you enter the land which the LORD your God gives you, you shall not learn to ¹imitate the detestable things of those nations.

10 "There shall not be found among you anyone ²who makes his son or his daughter pass through the fire, one who uses divination, one ³who practices witchcraft, or one who interprets omens, or a sorcerer,

11 or one who casts a spell, ⁴or a medium *, or a spiritist, or one who calls up the dead.

12 "For whoever does these things is detestable to the LORD; and ⁵because of these detestable things the LORD your God will drive them out before * you.

13 "⁶You shall be blameless before the LORD your God.

14 "For those nations, which you shall dispossess, listen to those who ⁷practice witchcraft and to diviners, but as for you, the LORD your God has not allowed you to do so.

15 "⁸The LORD your God will raise up for you a prophet like me from among you, from your countrymen, you shall listen to him.

16 "This is ⁹according to all that you asked of the LORD your God in Horeb on the day of the assembly, saying, 'Let me not hear again the voice of the LORD my God, let me not see this great fire anymore, or I will die.'

17 "¹⁰The LORD said to me, 'They have spoken well.

18 'I will raise up a prophet from among their countrymen like you, and ¹¹I will put My words in his mouth, and ¹²he shall speak to them all that I command him.

19 '¹³It shall come about that whoever * will not listen to My words which he shall speak in My name, I Myself will require it of him.

20 'But the prophet who speaks a word ¹⁴presumptuously in My name which I have not commanded him to speak, or ¹⁵which he speaks in the name of other gods, that prophet shall die.'

21 "You may say in your heart, 'How will we know the word which the LORD has not spoken?'

22 "¹⁶When a prophet speaks in the name of the LORD, if the thing does not come about or come true, that is the thing which the LORD has not spoken. The prophet has spoken it ¹⁷presumptuously; you shall not be afraid of him.

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Deuteronomy 18:9-22 Meaning and Commentary

INTRODUCTION TO DEUTERONOMY 18

This chapter gives an account of the provision made for the priests and Levites, with the reason of it, De 18:1-5, of allowance of a country Levite to minister at Jerusalem, and take his portion with the rest, De 18:6-8, and of several persons of bad practices not to be suffered among the people of Israel, De 18:9-14, and of an extraordinary prophet that should be raised up among them, to whom they should hearken, or it would be the worse for them, De 18:15-19, but a false prophet was to be put to death, of whom a sign is given by which he might be known, De 18:20-22.

Taken from John Gill's Exposition of the Bible

Cross References 17

1. Deuteronomy 9:5
2. Deuteronomy 12:31
3. Exodus 22:18; Leviticus 19:26, 31; Leviticus 20:6; Jeremiah 27:9, 10; Malachi 3:5
4. Leviticus 19:31
5. Leviticus 18:24
6. Genesis 6:9; Genesis 17:1; Matthew 5:48
7. 2 Kings 21:6
8. Matthew 21:11; Luke 2:25-34; Luke 7:16; Luke 24:19; John 1:21, 25; John 4:19; Acts 3:22; Acts 7:37
9. Exodus 20:18, 19; Deuteronomy 5:23-27
10. Deuteronomy 5:28
11. Isaiah 51:16; John 17:8
12. John 4:25; John 8:28; John 12:49, 50
13. Acts 3:23; Hebrews 12:25
14. Deuteronomy 13:5; Deuteronomy 17:12
15. Deuteronomy 13:1, 2; Jeremiah 14:14; Zechariah 13:3
16. Jeremiah 28:9
17. Deuteronomy 18:20

Footnotes 7

[a]. Lit "do according to"
[b]. Lit "complete, perfect;" or "having integrity"
[c]. Lit "brothers"
[d]. Lit "done well what they have spoken"
[e]. Lit "brothers"
[f]. Lit "and that"
[g]. Lit "if you say"