Deuteronomy 12
12
The Lord’s Chosen Place of Worship
1 # ch. 6:1 “These are the statutes and rules that you shall be careful to do in the land that the Lord, the God of your fathers, has given you to possess, #ch. 4:10all the days that you live on the earth. 2#ch. 7:5; Ex. 34:13 You shall surely destroy all the places where the nations whom you shall dispossess served their gods, #1 Kgs. 14:23; 2 Kgs. 16:4; 17:10; Jer. 3:6on the high mountains and on the hills and under every green tree. 3You shall tear down their altars and dash in pieces #See ch. 16:22 their pillars and burn their #See ch. 16:21 Asherim with fire. You shall chop down the carved images of their gods and #[Zeph. 1:4; Zech. 13:2]destroy their name out of that place. 4#ver. 31You shall not worship the Lord your God in that way. 5But you shall seek #ch. 16:2; 26:2; 1 Kgs. 8:29; 2 Chr. 7:12; [Josh. 18:1]the place that the Lord your God will choose out of all your tribes to put his name and make his habitation#12:5 Or name as its habitation there. There you shall go, 6and there you shall bring your burnt offerings and your sacrifices, #ch. 14:22, 23; 15:19, 20 your tithes and the contribution that you present, your vow offerings, your freewill offerings, and the #ch. 14:23firstborn of your herd and of your flock. 7And #ch. 14:23, 26; 15:20 there you shall eat before the Lord your God, and #ch. 14:26; 16:11, 14, 15; 26:11; 27:7; 28:8; Lev. 23:40you shall rejoice, you and your households, in all that you undertake, in which the Lord your God has blessed you.
8“You shall not do according to all that we are doing here today, #Judg. 17:6; 21:25everyone doing whatever is right in his own eyes, 9for you have not as yet come to #1 Kgs. 8:56; Ps. 95:11; [Heb. 4:8]the rest and to the inheritance that the Lord your God is giving you. 10But when #See ch. 11:31 you go over the Jordan and live in the land that the Lord your God is giving you to inherit, #ch. 25:19; Josh. 23:1; [2 Sam. 7:1; 1 Kgs. 5:4]and when he gives you rest from all your enemies around, so that you live in safety, 11then to #[See ver. 5 above] the place that the Lord your God will choose, to make his name dwell there, there you shall bring all that I command you: your burnt offerings and your sacrifices, #[See ver. 6 above]your tithes and the contribution that you present, and all your finest vow offerings that you vow to the Lord. 12And #[See ver. 7 above] you shall rejoice before the Lord your God, you and your sons and your daughters, your male servants and your female servants, and the Levite that is within your towns, since #See Num. 18:20he has no portion or inheritance with you. 13#Lev. 17:3, 4; [1 Kgs. 12:28, 33]Take care that you do not offer your burnt offerings at any place that you see, 14but at #[See ver. 5 above]the place that the Lord will choose in one of your tribes, there you shall offer your burnt offerings, and there you shall do all that I am commanding you.
15“However, you may slaughter and eat meat within any of your towns, as much as you desire, #ch. 16:17 according to the blessing of the Lord your God that he has given you. #ch. 14:5; 15:22The unclean and the clean may eat of it, as of the gazelle and as of the deer. 16#See Lev. 3:17Only you shall not eat the blood; you shall pour it out on the earth like water. 17You may not eat within your towns #[See ver. 6 above]the tithe of your grain or of your wine or of your oil, or the firstborn of your herd or of your flock, or any of your vow offerings that you vow, or your freewill offerings or the contribution that you present, 18but #[See ver. 7 above] you shall eat them before the Lord your God in #[See ver. 5 above] the place that the Lord your God will choose, you and your son and your daughter, your male servant and your female servant, and the Levite who is within your towns. And #[See ver. 7 above]you shall rejoice before the Lord your God in all that you undertake. 19#ch. 14:27; [2 Chr. 31:4]Take care that you do not neglect the Levite as long as you live in your land.
20“When the Lord your God #ch. 19:8 enlarges your territory, #ch. 11:24; 19:8, 9; Gen. 28:14; Ex. 34:24as he has promised you, and you say, ‘I will eat meat,’ because you crave meat, you may eat meat whenever you desire. 21If #See ver. 5 the place that the Lord your God will choose to put his name there is too far from you, #ver. 15then you may kill any of your herd or your flock, which the Lord has given you, as I have commanded you, and you may eat within your towns whenever you desire. 22Just #ch. 14:5; 15:22as the gazelle or the deer is eaten, so you may eat of it. #ch. 14:5; 15:22The unclean and the clean alike may eat of it. 23#See Lev. 3:17 Only be sure that you do not eat the blood, #See Gen. 9:4for the blood is the life, and you shall not eat the life with the flesh. 24You shall not eat it; you shall pour it out on the earth like water. 25You shall not eat it, #ch. 4:40; [Eccles. 8:12; Isa. 3:10] that all may go well with you and with your children after you, #ch. 6:18; 13:18; Ex. 15:26; 1 Kgs. 11:38when you do what is right in the sight of the Lord. 26But the #[Num. 5:9, 10; 18:19] holy things that are due from you, and #[1 Sam. 1:21] your vow offerings, you shall take, and you shall go to #[See ver. 21 above]the place that the Lord will choose, 27and #Lev. 1:5, 9, 13; 17:11offer your burnt offerings, the flesh and the blood, on the altar of the Lord your God. The blood of your sacrifices shall be poured out on the altar of the Lord your God, but the flesh you may eat. 28Be careful to obey all these words that I command you, #[See ver. 25 above]that it may go well with you and with your children after you forever, when you do what is good and right in the sight of the Lord your God.
Warning Against Idolatry
29“When #ch. 19:1; Josh. 23:4, 5the Lord your God cuts off before you the nations whom you go in to dispossess, and you dispossess them and dwell in their land, 30take care #ch. 7:16that you be not ensnared to follow them, after they have been destroyed before you, and that you do not inquire about their gods, saying, ‘How did these nations serve their gods?—that I also may do the same.’ 31#ver. 4; Lev. 18:3, 26, 30; [2 Kgs. 17:15] You shall not worship the Lord your God in that way, for every #ch. 7:25; 17:1; 18:12; 23:18; 25:16; 27:15 abominable thing that the Lord hates they have done for their gods, for #2 Kgs. 17:31; Jer. 7:31; 19:5they even burn their sons and their daughters in the fire to their gods.
32 # 12:32 Ch 13:1 in Hebrew “Everything that I command you, you shall be careful to do. #See ch. 4:2You shall not add to it or take from it.
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Deuteronomy 12
12
The one place of worship
1These are the decrees and laws you must be careful to follow in the land that the Lord, the God of your ancestors, has given you to possess – as long as you live in the land. 2Destroy completely all the places on the high mountains, on the hills and under every spreading tree, where the nations you are dispossessing worship their gods. 3Break down their altars, smash their sacred stones and burn their Asherah poles in the fire; cut down the idols of their gods and wipe out their names from those places.
4You must not worship the Lord your God in their way. 5But you are to seek the place the Lord your God will choose from among all your tribes to put his Name there for his dwelling. To that place you must go; 6there bring your burnt offerings and sacrifices, your tithes and special gifts, what you have vowed to give and your freewill offerings, and the firstborn of your herds and flocks. 7There, in the presence of the Lord your God, you and your families shall eat and shall rejoice in everything you have put your hand to, because the Lord your God has blessed you.
8You are not to do as we do here today, everyone doing as they see fit, 9since you have not yet reached the resting-place and the inheritance the Lord your God is giving you. 10But you will cross the Jordan and settle in the land the Lord your God is giving you as an inheritance, and he will give you rest from all your enemies around you so that you will live in safety. 11Then to the place the Lord your God will choose as a dwelling for his Name – there you are to bring everything I command you: your burnt offerings and sacrifices, your tithes and special gifts, and all the choice possessions you have vowed to the Lord. 12And there rejoice before the Lord your God – you, your sons and daughters, your male and female servants, and the Levites from your towns who have no land allotted to them or any inheritance of their own. 13Be careful not to sacrifice your burnt offerings anywhere you please. 14Offer them only at the place the Lord will choose in one of your tribes, and there observe everything I command you.
15Nevertheless, you may slaughter your animals in any of your towns and eat as much of the meat as you want, as if it were gazelle or deer, according to the blessing the Lord your God gives you. Both the ceremonially unclean and the clean may eat it. 16But you must not eat the blood; pour it out on the ground like water. 17You must not eat in your own towns the tithe of your corn and new wine and olive oil, or the firstborn of your herds and flocks, or whatever you have vowed to give, or your freewill offerings or special gifts. 18Instead, you are to eat them in the presence of the Lord your God at the place the Lord your God will choose – you, your sons and daughters, your male and female servants, and the Levites from your towns – and you are to rejoice before the Lord your God in everything you put your hand to. 19Be careful not to neglect the Levites as long as you live in your land.
20When the Lord your God has enlarged your territory as he promised you, and you crave meat and say, ‘I would like some meat,’ then you may eat as much of it as you want. 21If the place where the Lord your God chooses to put his Name is too far away from you, you may slaughter animals from the herds and flocks the Lord has given you, as I have commanded you, and in your own towns you may eat as much of them as you want. 22Eat them as you would gazelle or deer. Both the ceremonially unclean and the clean may eat. 23But be sure you do not eat the blood, because the blood is the life, and you must not eat the life with the meat. 24You must not eat the blood; pour it out on the ground like water. 25Do not eat it, so that it may go well with you and your children after you, because you will be doing what is right in the eyes of the Lord.
26But take your consecrated things and whatever you have vowed to give, and go to the place the Lord will choose. 27Present your burnt offerings on the altar of the Lord your God, both the meat and the blood. The blood of your sacrifices must be poured beside the altar of the Lord your God, but you may eat the meat. 28Be careful to obey all these regulations I am giving you, so that it may always go well with you and your children after you, because you will be doing what is good and right in the eyes of the Lord your God.
29The Lord your God will cut off before you the nations you are about to invade and dispossess. But when you have driven them out and settled in their land, 30and after they have been destroyed before you, be careful not to be ensnared by enquiring about their gods, saying, ‘How do these nations serve their gods? We will do the same.’ 31You must not worship the Lord your God in their way, because in worshipping their gods, they do all kinds of detestable things the Lord hates. They even burn their sons and daughters in the fire as sacrifices to their gods.
32See that you do all I command you; do not add to it or take away from it.#12:32 In Hebrew texts this verse (12:32) is numbered 13:1.
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