God

In that event, you must appoint as king the one whom ADONAI your God will choose. He must be one of your kinsmen, this king you appoint over you - you are forbidden to appoint a foreigner over you who is not your kinsman.

However, he is not to acquire many horses for himself or have the people return to Egypt to obtain more horses, inasmuch as ADONAI told you never to go back that way again.

It is to remain with him, and he is to read in it every day, as long as he lives; so that he will learn to fear ADONAI his God and keep all the words of this Torah and these laws and obey them;

The cohanim, who are L'vi'im, and indeed the whole tribe of Levi, is not to have a share or an inheritance with Isra'el. Instead, their support will come from the food offered by fire to ADONAI and from whatever else becomes his.

They will have no inheritance with their brothers, because ADONAI is their inheritance - as he has said to them.

For ADONAI your God has chosen him from all your tribes to stand and serve in the name of ADONAI, him and his sons forever.

"If a Levi from one of your towns anywhere in Isra'el where he is living comes, highly motivated, to the place which ADONAI will choose,

then he will serve there in the name of ADONAI his God, just like his kinsmen the L'vi'im who stand and serve in the presence of ADONAI.

"When you enter the land ADONAI your God is giving you, you are not to learn how to follow the abominable practices of those nations.

For whoever does these things is detestable to ADONAI, and because of these abominations ADONAI your God is driving them out ahead of you.

You must be wholehearted with ADONAI your God.

For these nations, which you are about to dispossess, listen to soothsayers and diviners; but you, ADONAI your God does not allow you to do this.

"ADONAI will raise up for you a prophet like me from among yourselves, from your own kinsmen. You are to pay attention to him,

just as when you were assembled at Horev and requested ADONAI your God, 'Don't let me hear the voice of ADONAI my God any more, or let me see this great fire ever again; if I do, I will die!'

On that occasion ADONAI said to me, 'They are right in what they are saying.

I will raise up for them a prophet like you from among their kinsmen. I will put my words in his mouth, and he will tell them everything I order him.

Whoever doesn't listen to my words, which he will speak in my name, will have to account for himself to me.

"'But if a prophet presumptuously speaks a word in my name which I didn't order him to say, or if he speaks in the name of other gods, then that prophet must die.'

You may be wondering, 'How are we to know if a word has not been spoken by ADONAI?'

When a prophet speaks in the name of ADONAI, and the prediction does not come true -that is, the word is not fulfilled -then ADONAI did not speak that word. The prophet who said it spoke presumptuously; you have nothing to fear from him.

"When ADONAI your God cuts off the nations whose land ADONAI your God is giving you, and you take their place and settle in their cities and houses,

you are to set aside three cities for yourselves in your land that ADONAI your God is giving you to possess.

Divide the territory of your land, which ADONAI your God is having you inherit, into three parts; and prepare the roads, so that any killer can flee to these cities.

"If ADONAI your God expands your territory, as he swore to your ancestors that he would, and gives you all the land he promised to give to your ancestors -

provided you keep and observe all these mitzvot I am giving you today, loving ADONAI your God and always following his ways - then you are to add three more cities for yourselves, besides these three;