Deuteronomy 12

1 These are the laws and the decisions which you are to keep with care in the land which the Lord, the God of your fathers, has given you to be your heritage all the days of your life on earth.

These are the statutes and ordinances, which ye shall observe to do, in the land which the Lord, the God of thy fathers, giveth unto thee to possess it, and all the days that ye live upon the earth.

2 You are to give up to the curse all those places where the nations, whom you are driving out, gave worship to their gods, on the high mountains and the hills and under every green tree:

Ye shall utterly destroy all the places whereon the nations which ye are about to drive out served their gods, upon the high mountains, and upon the hills, and under every green tree;

3 Their altars and their pillars are to be broken down, and their holy trees burned with fire, and the images of their gods cut down; you are to take away their names out of that place.

And ye shall overthrow their altars, and break their statues, and their groves shall ye burn with fire; and the graven images of their gods shall ye hew down; and ye shall destroy their name out of the same place.

4 Do not so to the Lord your God.

Ye shall not do so unto the Lord your God;

5 But let your hearts be turned to the place which will be marked out by the Lord your God, among your tribes, to put his name there;

But unto the place which the Lord your God may choose out of all your tribes to put his name there, even unto his habitation shall ye repair, and thither shalt thou come;

6 And there you are to take your burned offerings and other offerings, and the tenth part of your goods, and the offerings to be lifted up to the Lord, and the offerings of your oaths, and those which you give freely from the impulse of your hearts, and the first births among your herds and your flocks;

And ye shall bring thither your burnt-offerings, and your sacrifices, and your tithes, and the heave-offering of your hand, and your vows, and your freewill-offerings, and the first-born of your herds and of your flocks;

7 There you and all your families are to make a feast before the Lord your God, with joy in everything to which you put your hand, because the Lord has given you his blessing.

And ye shall eat there before the Lord your God, and ye shall rejoice with all the acquisition of your hand, ye and your households, wherewith the Lord thy God may have blessed thee.

8 You are not to do things then in the way in which we now do them here, every man as it seems right to him:

Ye shall not do after all the manner that we do here this day, every one whatsoever is right in his own eyes.

9 For you have not come to the rest and the heritage which the Lord your God is giving you.

For ye are not as yet come to the rest and to the inheritance, which the Lord thy God giveth thee.

10 But when you have gone over Jordan and are living in the land which the Lord your God is giving you as your heritage, and when he has given you rest from all those on every side who are fighting against you, and you are living there safely;

But ye will go over the Jordan, and dwell in the land which the Lord your God causeth you to inherit, and he will give you rest from all your enemies round about, so that ye may dwell in safety.

11 Then there will be a place marked out by the Lord your God as the resting-place for his name, and there you will take all the things which I give you orders to take: your burned offerings and other offerings, and the tenth part of your goods, and the offerings to be lifted up, and the offerings of your oaths which you make to the Lord;

And then shall it be, that the place which the Lord your God will choose to cause his name to dwell there, —[even] thither shall ye bring all that I command you: your burnt-offerings, and your sacrifices, your tithes, and the heave-offering of your hand, and all your choice vows which ye may vow unto the Lord;

12 And you will be glad before the Lord your God, you and your sons and your daughters, and your men-servants and your women-servants, and the Levite who is with you in your house, because he has no part or heritage among you.

And ye shall rejoice before the Lord your God, ye, and your sons, and your daughters, and your men-servants, and your maid-servants, and the Levite who is within your gates; because he hath not any portion nor inheritance with you.

13 Take care that you do not make your burned offerings in any place you see:

Take heed to thyself that thou offer not thy burnt-offerings in every place which thou mayest see;

14 But in the place marked out by the Lord in one of your tribes, there let your burned offerings be offered, and there do what I have given you orders to do.

But in the place which the Lord will choose in one of thy tribes, there shalt thou offer thy burnt-offerings, and there shalt thou do all that I command thee.

15 Only you may put to death animals, such as the gazelle or the roe, for your food in any of your towns, at the desire of your soul, in keeping with the blessing of the Lord your God which he has given you: the unclean and the clean may take of it.

Notwithstanding, according to all the longing of thy soul, mayest thou kill and eat flesh, according to the blessing of the Lord thy God which he hath given thee, in all thy gates: the unclean and the clean may eat thereof, as of the roebuck, and as of the hart.

16 But you may not take the blood for food, it is to be drained out on the earth like water.

Only the blood shall ye not eat: upon the earth shall ye pour it out as water.

17 In your towns you are not to take as food the tenth part of your grain, or of your wine or your oil, or the first births of your herds or of your flocks, or anything offered under an oath, or freely offered to the Lord, or given as a lifted offering;

Thou mayest not eat within thy gates the tithe of thy corn, or of thy wine, or of thy oil, nor the first-born of thy herds or of thy flocks, nor any of thy vows which thou mayest vow, nor thy freewill-offerings, and the heave-offering of thy hand;

18 But they will be your food before the Lord your God in the place of his selection, where you may make a feast of them, with your son and your daughter, and your man-servant and your woman-servant, and the Levite who is living with you: and you will have joy before the Lord your God in everything to which you put your hand.

But before the Lord thy God must thou eat them in the place which the Lord thy God may choose, thou, and thy son, and thy daughter, and thy man-servant, and thy maid-servant, and the Levite who is within thy gates; and thou shalt rejoice before the Lord thy God with all the acquisition of thy hand.

19 See that you do not give up caring for the Levite as long as you are living in your land.

Take heed to thyself that thou forsake not the Levite as long as thou livest upon thy land.

20 When the Lord your God makes wide the limit of your land, as he has said, and you say, I will take flesh for my food, because you have a desire for it; then you may take whatever flesh you have a desire for.

When the Lord thy God will enlarge thy border, as he hath spoken unto thee, and thou dost say, I wish to eat flesh, because thy soul longeth to eat flesh: then mayest thou, according to all the longing of thy soul, eat flesh.

21 If the place marked out by the Lord your God as the resting-place for his name is far away from you, then take from your herds and from your flocks which the Lord has given you, as I have said, and have a meal of it in the towns where you may be living.

If the place which the Lord thy God may choose to put his name there be too far for thee: then mayest thou kill of thy herds and of thy flocks, which the Lord hath given thee, as I have commanded thee; and thou shalt eat in thy gates according to all the longing of thy soul.

22 It will be your food, like the gazelle and the roe; the unclean and the clean may take of it.

But as the roebuck and the hart are eaten, so shalt thou eat the same: the unclean and the clean may eat thereof together.

23 But see that you do not take the blood for food; for the blood is the life; and you may not make use of the life as food with the flesh.

Only be firm so as not to eat the blood; for the blood is the life; and thou shalt not eat the life with the flesh.

24 Do not take it for food but let it be drained out on the earth like water.

Thou shalt not eat it: upon the earth shalt thou pour it out like water.

25 Do not take it for food; so that it may be well for you and for your children after you, while you do what is right in the eyes of the Lord.

Thou shalt not eat it; in order that it may go well with thee, and with thy children after thee, when thou wilt do what is right in the eyes of the Lord.

26 But the holy things which you have, and the offerings of your oaths, you are to take to the place which will be marked out by the Lord:

Nevertheless thy holy things which thou mayest have, and thy vows, shalt thou take, and go unto the place which the Lord may choose:

27 Offering the flesh and the blood of your burned offerings on the altar of the Lord your God; and the blood of your offerings is to be drained out on the altar of the Lord your God, and the flesh will be your food.

And thou shalt offer thy burnt-offerings, the flesh and the blood, upon the altar of the Lord thy God; and the blood of thy sacrifices shall be poured out upon the altar of the Lord thy God, and the flesh shalt thou eat.

28 Take note of all these orders I am giving you and give attention to them, so that it may be well for you and for your children after you for ever, while you do what is good and right in the eyes of the Lord your God.

Observe and hear all these words which I command thee; in order that it may go well with thee, and with thy children after thee for ever, when thou wilt do what is good and right in the eyes of the Lord thy God.

29 When the people of the land where you are going have been cut off before you by the Lord your God, and you have taken their land and are living in it;

When the Lord thy God will cut off the nations, whither thou goest to drive them out from before thee, and thou succeedest them, and dwellest in their land:

30 After their destruction take care that you do not go in their ways, and that you do not give thought to their gods, saying, How did these nations give worship to their gods? I will do as they did.

Then take heed to thyself that thou be not snared by following them, after they have been destroyed from before thee; and that thou inquire not after their gods, saying, How did these nations serve their gods? even so will I do likewise.

31 Do not so to the Lord your God: for everything which is disgusting to the Lord and hated by him they have done in honour of their gods: even burning their sons and daughters in the fire to their gods.

Thou shalt not do so unto the Lord thy God; for every abomination to the Lord, which he hateth, have they done unto their gods; for even their sons and their daughters have they burnt in the fire to their gods.

32 You are to keep with care all the words I give you, making no addition to them and taking nothing from them.

What thing soever I command you, even that shall ye observe to do: thou shalt not add thereto, and thou shalt not diminish therefrom.