Reject divination · Listen · Test Every step opens the verse it rests on.
Step 1 of 6
BeginningDeuteronomy 18:9Israel enters a land where nations seek hidden knowledge through forbidden practices.When you have come into the land which Yahweh your God gives you, you shall not learn to imitate the abominations of those nations. v9 · WEB
In the commentaryYou Shall Be Blameless
Listen only to the word the LORD gives
1 Reject divination
Do not imitate the nationsDeuteronomy 18:9–14Do not seek guidance through divination, magic, mediums, or inquiry of the dead. The LORD calls Israel to covenant integrity.When you have come into the land which Yahweh your God gives you, you shall not learn to imitate the abominations of those nations. v9 · WEB
In the commentaryYou Shall Be Blameless
2 The LORD raises a prophet
Listen to the LORD’s messengerDeuteronomy 18:15–19The LORD will raise a prophet like Moses from among the people and put his words in that prophet’s mouth. Israel must listen.I 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… v18 · WEB
In the commentaryA Prophet Like Me
3 Reject presumptuous speech
Do not receive a false claimDeuteronomy 18:20A prophet who speaks what the LORD did not command, or speaks for other gods, has acted presumptuously.But 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… v20 · WEB
In the commentaryA Prophet Like Me
All Test the claimed word
Do not fear an empty claimDeuteronomy 18:21–22If a prediction spoken in the LORD’s name does not happen, the LORD did not speak it. The claim was presumptuous; do not fear it.When a prophet speaks in Yahweh’s name, if the thing doesn’t follow, nor happen, that is the thing which Yahweh has not spoken. The prophet has… v22 · WEB
In the commentaryA Prophet Like Me
Deuteronomy 18:15–22Hear the word the LORD truly sendsYou may say in your heart, “How shall we know the word which Yahweh has not spoken?” v21 · WEB
In the commentaryA Prophet Like Me
The order of these steps is adapted from the Torah flowcharts published by OpenBible.info, CC BY 4.0. The wording, the drawing and the illustrations are Biblion’s own.