New International Reader's Version NIRV
New King James Version NKJV
1 The priests, who are Levites, won't receive any part of the land of Israel. That also applies to the whole tribe of Levi. They will eat the offerings that are made to the LORD with fire. That will be their share.
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"The priests, the Levites--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 portion.
2 They won't have any part of the land the LORD gave the other tribes in Israel. The LORD himself is their share, just as he promised them.
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Therefore they shall have no inheritance among their brethren; the Lord is their inheritance, as He said to them.
3 Anyone who sacrifices a bull or a sheep owes a share of it to the priests. Their share is the shoulder, jaws and inside parts.
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"And this shall be the priest's due from the people, from those who offer a sacrifice, whether it is bull or sheep: they shall give to the priest the shoulder, the cheeks, and the stomach.
4 You must give the priests the first share of the harvest of your grain, olive oil and fresh wine. You must also give them the first wool you clip from your sheep.
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The firstfruits of your grain and your new wine and your oil, and the first of the fleece of your sheep, you shall give him.
5 The LORD your God has chosen the Levites and their sons after them to serve him in his name always. He hasn't chosen priests from any of your other tribes.
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For the Lord your God has chosen him out of all your tribes to stand to minister in the name of the Lord, him and his sons forever.
6 Sometimes a Levite will move from the town in Israel where he's living. And he will come to the place the LORD will choose. He'll do it because he really wants to.
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"So if a Levite comes from any of your gates, from where he dwells among all Israel, and comes with all the desire of his mind to the place which the Lord chooses,
7 Then he can serve in the name of the LORD his God. He'll be like all of the other Levites who serve the LORD there.
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then he may serve in the name of the Lord his God as all his brethren the Levites do, who stand there before the Lord.
8 He must have an equal share of the good things they have. That applies even if he has already received money by selling things his family owned.
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They shall have equal portions to eat, besides what comes from the sale of his inheritance.
9 You will enter the land the LORD your God is giving you. When you do, don't copy the practices of the nations that are there. The LORD hates those practices.
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"When you come into the land which the Lord your God is giving you, you shall not learn to follow the abominations of those nations.
10 Here are things you must not do. Don't sacrifice your children in the fire to other gods. Don't practice any kind of evil magic at all. Don't use magic to try to explain the meaning of warnings in the sky or of any other signs. Don't take part in worshiping evil powers.
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There shall not be found among you anyone who makes his son or his daughter pass through the fire, or one who practices witchcraft, or a soothsayer, or one who interprets omens, or a sorcerer,
11 Don't put a spell on anyone. Don't get messages from those who have died. Don't talk to the spirits of the dead. Don't get advice from the dead.
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or one who conjures spells, or a medium, or a spiritist, or one who calls up the dead.
12 The LORD your God hates it when anyone does those things. The nations that are in the land he's giving you practice the things he hates. So he will drive out those nations to make room for you.
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For all who do these things are an abomination to the Lord, and because of these abominations the Lord your God drives them out from before you.
13 You must be without blame in the sight of the LORD your God.
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You shall be blameless before the Lord your God.
14 You will take over the nations that are in the land the LORD is giving you. They listen to those who practice all kinds of evil magic. But you belong to the LORD your God. He says you must not do those things.
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For these nations which you will dispossess listened to soothsayers and diviners; but as for you, the Lord your God has not appointed such for you.
15 The LORD your God will raise up for you a prophet like me. He will be one of your own people. You must listen to him.
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"The Lord your God will raise up for you a Prophet like me from your midst, from your brethren. Him you shall hear,
16 At Mount Horeb you asked the LORD your God for a prophet. You asked him on the day you gathered together. You said, "We don't want to hear the voice of the LORD our God. We don't want to see this great fire anymore. If we do, we'll die."
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according to all you desired of the Lord your God in Horeb in the day of the assembly, saying, 'Let me not hear again the voice of the Lord my God, nor let me see this great fire anymore, lest I die.'
17 The LORD said to me, "What they are saying is good.
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And the Lord said to me: 'What they have spoken is good.
18 I will raise up for them a prophet like you. He will be one of their own people. I will put my words in his mouth. He will tell them everything I command him to say.
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I will raise up for them a Prophet like you from among their brethren, and will put My words in His mouth, and He shall speak to them all that I command Him.
19 "The prophet will speak in my name. But someone might not listen to what I say through the prophet. Then that person will be accountable to me.
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And it shall be that whoever will not hear My words, which He speaks in My name, I will require it of him.
20 "But suppose a prophet dares to speak in my name something I have not commanded him to say. Or he speaks in the name of other gods. Then that prophet must be put to death."
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But the prophet who presumes to speak a word in My name, which I have not commanded him to speak, or who speaks in the name of other gods, that prophet shall die.'
21 You will say to yourselves, "How can we know when a message hasn't been spoken by the Lord?"
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And if you say in your heart, 'How shall we know the word which the Lord has not spoken?'--
22 Sometimes a prophet will announce something in the name of the Lord. And it won't take place or come true. Then that's a message the LORD hasn't told him to speak. That prophet has dared to speak on his own authority. So don't be afraid of him or what he says.
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when a prophet speaks in the name of the Lord, if the thing does not happen or come to pass, that is the thing which the Lord has not spoken; the prophet has spoken it presumptuously; you shall not be afraid of him.
Holy Bible, New International Reader's Version® Copyright © 1995, 1996, 1998 by Biblica. All rights reserved worldwide.
Scripture taken from the New King James Version. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson, Inc. Used by permission. All rights reserved.