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Deuteronomy 18

Moses directs Israel to support God’s appointed servants, reject forbidden spiritual practices, and heed the words God commands his prophet to speak.

Moses instructs Israel about worship and whose voice to trust as the people prepare to enter the land. He sets out the support owed to priests and Levites, who have no tribal inheritance. He then forbids the practices of the nations, including divination and consulting the dead. Recalling Israel’s fear at Horeb, Moses promises that God will raise up a prophet like him and explains how Israel can recognize a word God has not spoken.

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1The 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.
2They shall have no inheritance among their brothers. The LORD is their inheritance, as he has spoken to them.
3This 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.
4You 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.
5For 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.
6If 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,
8They shall have like portions to eat, in addition to that which comes from the sale of his family possessions.
9When you have come into the land which the LORD your God gives you, you shall not learn to imitate the abominations of those nations.
10There 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,
11or a charmer, or someone who consults with a familiar spirit, or a wizard, or a necromancer.
12For whoever does these things is an abomination to the LORD. Because of these abominations, the LORD your God drives them out from before you.
13You shall be blameless with the LORD your God.
14For 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.
15The LORD your God will raise up to you a prophet from among you, of your brothers, like me. You shall listen to him.
16This 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.”
18I 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.
19It shall happen, that whoever will not listen to my words which he shall speak in my name, I will require it of him.
20But 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.”
21You may say in your heart, “How shall we know the word which the LORD has not spoken?”
22When 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.
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Key verses
Deuteronomy 18:15The promise of a prophet like Moses establishes whom Israel must hear amid the competing voices of surrounding nations.
Deuteronomy 18:18God’s promise to put his words in the prophet’s mouth makes divine command the source and limit of prophetic authority.
Deuteronomy 18:10The ban on passing children through fire and practicing divination marks practices Israel must reject upon entering the land.
Where this chapter reaches

Acts quotes the promise of a prophet like Moses and identifies Jesus as its fulfillment; Exodus recounts the people’s fear at God’s voice, recalled here as the reason for a mediator. Leviticus shares prohibitions against occult practices, while Jeremiah also confronts prophets who speak without God’s command.

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After reading the whole chapter

What connection do you see between Israel’s fear at Horeb and God’s promise of a prophet?

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How does this chapter shape the questions you would ask of someone claiming to speak for God?

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Questions people ask about Deuteronomy 18

Who is the prophet like Moses in Deuteronomy 18?

The promised prophet comes from among Israel and speaks the words God commands. Within the chapter, the promise answers Israel’s request for a mediator at Horeb and stands alongside rules for testing prophets. Acts applies this promise to Jesus, identifying him as the one the people must hear.

What does Deuteronomy 18 forbid?

Verses 9–14 forbid Israel from adopting the nations’ practices, including making children pass through fire, divination, sorcery, and consulting spirits or the dead. Some ancient terms are difficult to distinguish with precision. The passage’s main boundary is clear: Israel must reject these practices and listen to the prophet God appoints.

How does Deuteronomy 18 say to identify a false prophet?

Verses 20–22 condemn speaking in other gods’ names or claiming God’s authority for words he has not commanded. A prediction that fails to happen exposes a word God has not spoken. The chapter tells Israel not to fear that speaker and assigns death within Israel’s covenant law.

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What the Bible says about fear →

Cross-reference data from OpenBible.info (CC BY). Scripture from the World English Bible (public domain). Arc diagram after Chris Harrison and Christoph Römhild (2007).