Deuteronomy 12
12
Only One Place of Worship
1These are the statutes and judgments, which ye shall observe to do in the land, which the Lord God of thy fathers giveth thee to possess it, all the days that ye live upon the earth. 2Ye shall utterly destroy all the places, wherein the nations which ye shall possess served their gods, upon the high mountains, and upon the hills, and under every green tree: 3#Deut 7.5. and ye shall overthrow their altars, and break their pillars, and burn their groves with fire; and ye shall hew down the graven images of their gods, and destroy the names of them out of that place. 4Ye shall not do so unto the Lord your God. 5But unto the place which the Lord your God shall choose out of all your tribes to put his name there, even unto his habitation shall ye seek, and thither thou shalt come: 6and thither ye shall bring your burnt offerings, and your sacrifices, and your tithes, and heave offerings of your hand, and your vows, and your freewill offerings, and the firstlings of your herds and of your flocks: 7and there ye shall eat before the Lord your God, and ye shall rejoice in all that ye put your hand unto, ye and your households, wherein the Lord thy God hath blessed thee. 8Ye shall not do after all the things that we do here this day, every man whatsoever is right in his own eyes. 9For ye are not as yet come to the rest and to the inheritance, which the Lord your God giveth you. 10But when ye go over Jordan, and dwell in the land which the Lord your God giveth you to inherit, and when he giveth you rest from all your enemies round about, so that ye dwell in safety; 11then there shall be a place which the Lord your God shall choose to cause his name to dwell there; 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 vow unto the Lord: 12and ye shall rejoice before the Lord your God, ye, and your sons, and your daughters, and your menservants, and your maidservants, and the Levite that is within your gates; forasmuch as he hath no part nor inheritance with you. 13Take heed to thyself that thou offer not thy burnt offerings in every place that thou seest: 14but in the place which the Lord shall choose in one of thy tribes, there thou shalt offer thy burnt offerings, and there thou shalt do all that I command thee.
15Notwithstanding, thou mayest kill and eat flesh in all thy gates, whatsoever thy soul lusteth after, according to the blessing of the Lord thy God which he hath given thee: the unclean and the clean may eat thereof, as of the roebuck, and as of the hart. 16#Gen 9.4; Lev 7.26,27; 17.10-14; 19.26; Deut 15.23. Only ye shall not eat the blood; ye shall pour it upon the earth as water. 17Thou mayest not eat within thy gates the tithe of thy corn, or of thy wine, or of thy oil, or the firstlings of thy herds or of thy flock, nor any of thy vows which thou vowest, nor thy freewill offerings, or heave offering of thine hand: 18but thou must eat them before the Lord thy God in the place which the Lord thy God shall choose, thou, and thy son, and thy daughter, and thy manservant, and thy maidservant, and the Levite that is within thy gates: and thou shalt rejoice before the Lord thy God in all that thou puttest thine hands unto. 19Take heed to thyself that thou forsake not the Levite as long as thou livest upon the earth.
20When the Lord thy God shall enlarge thy border, as he hath promised thee, and thou shalt say, I will eat flesh, because thy soul longeth to eat flesh; thou mayest eat flesh, whatsoever thy soul lusteth after. 21If the place which the Lord thy God hath chosen to put his name there be too far from thee, then thou shalt kill of thy herd and of thy flock, which the Lord hath given thee, as I have commanded thee, and thou shalt eat in thy gates whatsoever thy soul lusteth after. 22Even as the roebuck and the hart is eaten, so thou shalt eat them: the unclean and the clean shall eat of them alike. 23#Lev 17.10-14. Only be sure that thou eat not the blood: for the blood is the life; and thou mayest not eat the life with the flesh. 24Thou shalt not eat it; thou shalt pour it upon the earth as water. 25Thou shalt not eat it; that it may go well with thee, and with thy children after thee, when thou shalt do that which is right in the sight of the Lord. 26Only thy holy things which thou hast, and thy vows, thou shalt take, and go unto the place which the Lord shall choose: 27and 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 thou shalt eat the flesh. 28Observe and hear all these words which I command thee, that it may go well with thee, and with thy children after thee for ever, when thou doest that which is good and right in the sight of the Lord thy God.
Warning against Idolatry
29When the Lord thy God shall cut off the nations from before thee, whither thou goest to possess them, and thou succeedest them, and dwellest in their land; 30take heed to thyself that thou be not snared by following them, after that they be 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. 31Thou 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 they have burnt in the fire to their gods.
32 #
Deut 4.2; Rev 22.18,19. What thing soever I command you, observe to do it: thou shalt not add thereto, nor diminish from it.
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Deuteronomy 12: KJVAE
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King James Version 1611, spelling, punctuation and text formatting modernized by ABS in 1962; typesetting © 2010 American Bible Society.
Deuteronomy 12
12
Regulations and the case laws:
Worship at the location the LORD selects
1These are the regulations and the case laws that you must carefully keep in the fertile land the LORD, your ancestors’ God, has given to you to possess for as long as you live on that land:
2You must completely destroy every place where the nations that you are displacing worshipped their gods—whether on high mountains or hills or under leafy green trees. 3Rip down their altars and shatter their sacred stones. Burn their sacred poles#12.3 Heb asherim, perhaps objects devoted to the goddess Asherah with fire. Hack their gods’ idols into pieces. Wipe out their names from that place.
4Don’t act like they did toward the LORD your God!
5Instead, you must search for the location the LORD your God will select from all your tribes to put his name there, as his residence, and you must go there. 6You must bring your entirely burned offerings, your sacrifices, your tenth-part gifts, your contributions,#12.6 Or the contribution of your hands; also in 12:11, 17 your payments for solemn promises, your spontaneous gifts, and the oldest offspring of your herds and flocks to that place. 7You will have a feast there, each of you and your families, in the LORD your God’s presence, and you will celebrate all you have done because the LORD your God has blessed you. 8Don’t act like we’ve been acting here lately—everyone doing what seems right to them— 9because up to this point you haven’t yet reached the place of rest or the inheritance the LORD your God is giving you. 10But you are about to cross the Jordan River and will settle in the land the LORD your God is giving you as your inheritance. Then he will give you rest from all your enemies on every side so that you live safely and securely. 11At that point, you must bring all that I am commanding you, your entirely burned offerings, your sacrifices, your tenth-part gifts, your contributions, and all your best payments that you solemnly promised to the LORD, to the location the LORD your God selects for his name to reside. 12Then you will rejoice in the LORD your God’s presence: each of you, your sons and daughters, your male and female servants, and the Levites who dwell in your cities because they have no designated inheritance.
13But watch yourself! Make sure you don’t offer up your entirely burned offerings in just any place you see. 14No, only at the location the LORD selects from one of your tribal areas—that’s where you must offer up your entirely burned offerings and that’s where you must perform everything I’m telling you. 15However, whenever you wish, you may slaughter and eat meat, as the LORD your God sees fit to bless you with such in your cities. People who are polluted and people who are purified can join in the feast, as they would if they were eating gazelle or deer. 16But you must not consume any of the animals’ blood. Pour it out on the ground, just like water.
17Within your cities you are not allowed to eat any of the following: your tenth-part gifts of grain, wine, and oil; the oldest offspring of your herds and flocks; any of the payments you have solemnly promised; your spontaneous gifts or your contributions. 18Only in the presence of the LORD your God, at the location the LORD your God selects, can you eat these things—that holds true for you, your son and daughter, your male and female servant, and the Levite who lives in your city. Then celebrate all you have done in the LORD your God’s presence. 19But watch yourself: as long as you are on the land, don’t forget about the Levites.
20Once the LORD your God has enlarged your territory, as he promised you, and you think to yourself, I’d like to eat some meat (because you have the desire to do so), feel free to do so whenever you want. 21But if the location that the LORD your God will choose to put his name is far away from where you live, then slaughter an animal from your herd or flock that the LORD has given you, just as I have commanded you, and eat it in your cities whenever you wish. 22But be sure to eat it as if it were gazelle or deer. People who are polluted and people who are purified can feast on it together.
23Furthermore, make sure that you don’t consume any of the blood, because blood is life. You must not consume the life along with the meat. 24You must not consume any of it. Pour it out on the ground, just like water. 25You must not consume any of it so that things go well for you and for your children later because you did what was right in the LORD’s eyes.
26Note that you must bring your sacred offerings and your payments for solemn promises to the location the LORD selects, 27offering up your entirely burned sacrifices—both meat and blood—on the LORD your God’s altar. The blood from your sacrifices must be poured out on the LORD your God’s altar, but you are allowed to eat the meat. 28Observe and obey all these words that I am commanding you so that things always go well for you and your children later because you did what was good and right in the LORD your God’s eyes.
29Once the LORD your God has removed from before you all the nations that you are entering and taking possession of, and you have displaced them and are living in their land, 30then watch yourself! Don’t be trapped by following their practices after they’ve been wiped out before you. Don’t go investigating their gods, thinking, How did these nations worship their gods? I want to do the very same thing!
31Don’t act like they did toward the LORD your God because they did things for their gods that are detestable to the LORD, which he hates. They even burned their own sons and daughters with fire for their gods!
32 # 12.32 13:1 in Heb Everything I’m commanding you, you must do it with utmost care! Don’t add anything to it or take anything away from it.
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