Deuteronomy 12
12
The Proper Place to Worship
1Here are the laws and rules you must faithfully obey in the land that the Lord God of your ancestors is giving you as your own. You must obey them as long as you live in the land.
2Completely destroy all the worship sites on the high mountains, on the hills, and under every large tree. The people you’re forcing out worship their gods in these places. 3Tear down their altars, crush their sacred stones, burn their poles dedicated to the goddess Asherah, cut down their idols, and wipe out the names of their gods from those places.
4Never worship the Lord your God in the way they worship their gods. 5The Lord your God will choose a place out of all your tribes to live and put his name. Go there and worship him. 6Bring him your burnt offerings, your sacrifices, one-tenth of your income, your contributions, the offerings you vow to bring, your freewill offerings, and the firstborn of your cattle, sheep, and goats. 7There, in the presence of the Lord your God, you and your families will eat and enjoy everything you’ve worked for, because the Lord your God has blessed you.
8Never worship in the way that it’s being done here today, where everyone does whatever he considers right. 9Up until now you haven’t come to your place of rest, the property the Lord your God is giving you. 10But you will cross the Jordan River and settle in the land the Lord your God is giving you as your own property. He will give you peace from all your enemies around you so that you will live securely. 11Then the Lord your God will choose a place where his name will live. You must bring everything I command you to that place. Bring your burnt offerings, your sacrifices, one-tenth of your income, your contributions, and all the best offerings you vow to bring to the Lord. 12Enjoy yourselves in the presence of the Lord your God along with your sons, daughters, male and female slaves, and the Levites. (The Levites live in your cities because they have no land of their own as you have.) 13Be careful that you don’t sacrifice your burnt offerings wherever you want. 14Instead, sacrifice them ⌞only⌟ at the place that the Lord will choose in one of your tribes. There you must do everything I command you.
15In whatever city you live, you may slaughter and eat as much meat as you want from what the Lord your God has blessed you with. Clean and unclean #12:15 “Clean” refers to anything that is presentable to God. “Unclean” refers to anything that is not presentable to God. people may eat it as if they were eating a gazelle or a deer. 16But never eat the blood. Pour it on the ground like water. 17You may not eat ⌞the Lord’s offerings⌟ in your cities. Those offerings are: one-tenth of your grain, new wine, and olive oil; the firstborn of your cattle, sheep, or goats; the offerings you vow to bring; your freewill offerings; and your contributions. 18Instead, you, your sons and daughters, male and female slaves, and the Levites who live in your cities must eat these in the presence of the Lord your God at the place he will choose. There in the presence of the Lord your God enjoy everything you’ve worked for. 19Don’t forget to take care of the Levites as long as you live in your land.
20The Lord your God will expand your ⌞country’s⌟ borders as he promised. You will say, “I’m hungry for meat.” Then eat as much meat as you want. 21If the place the Lord your God chooses to put his name is too far away from you, you may slaughter an animal from the herds or flocks that the Lord has given you. Eat as much as you want in your city. I have commanded you to do this. 22Eat it as you would eat a gazelle or a deer: Clean and unclean people may eat it together. 23However, be sure you never eat blood, because blood contains life. Never eat the life with the meat. 24Never eat blood. Pour it on the ground like water. 25If you don’t eat blood, things will go well for you and your descendants. You will be doing what the Lord considers right.
26Take the holy things and the offerings you have vowed to bring, and go to the place the Lord will choose. 27Sacrifice the meat and the blood of your burnt offerings on the altar of the Lord your God. The blood of your sacrifices is to be poured out beside the altar of the Lord your God, but you may eat the meat. 28Be sure you obey all these instructions I’m giving you. Then things will always go well for you and your descendants because you will be doing what the Lord your God considers good and right.
29The Lord your God will destroy the nations where you’re going and force them out of your way. You will take possession of their land and live there. 30After they’ve been destroyed, be careful you aren’t tempted to follow their customs. Don’t even ask about their gods and say, “How did these people worship their gods? We want to do what they did.” 31Never worship the Lord your God in the way they worship their gods, because everything they do for their gods is disgusting to the Lord. He hates it! They even burn their sons and daughters as sacrifices to their gods.#12:31 Deuteronomy 12:32 in English Bibles is Deuteronomy 13:1 in the Hebrew Bible.
32Be sure to do everything I command you. Never add anything to it or take anything away from it.
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Deuteronomy 12: GW
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GOD'S WORD® Translation ©1995, 2003, 2013, 2014, 2019, 2020 by God's Word to the Nations Mission Society. All rights reserved.
Deuteronomy 12
12
Only One Place To Worship the Lord
Moses said to Israel:
1Now I'll tell you the laws and teachings that you have to obey as long as you live. Your ancestors worshiped the Lord, and he is giving you this land. 2But the nations that live there worship other gods. So after you capture the land, you must completely destroy their places of worship—on mountains and hills or in the shade of large trees. 3#Dt 7.5. Wherever these nations worship their gods, you must tear down their altars, break their sacred stones, burn the sacred poles#12.3 sacred poles: Or “trees,” used as symbols of Asherah, the goddess of fertility. used in worshiping the goddess Asherah, and smash their idols to pieces. Destroy these places of worship so completely that no one will remember they were ever there. 4Don't worship the Lord your God in the way those nations worship their gods.
5-19 #
Gn 9.4; Lv 7.26,27; 17.10-14; 19.26; Dt 15.23. Soon you will cross the Jordan, and the Lord will help you conquer your enemies and let you live in peace, there in the land he has given you. But after you are settled, life will be different. You must not offer sacrifices just anywhere you want to. Instead, the Lord will choose a place somewhere in Israel where you must go to worship him. All of your sacrifices and offerings must be taken there, including sacrifices to please the Lord#12.5-19 sacrifices to please the Lord: These sacrifices have traditionally been called “whole burnt offerings” because the whole animal was burned on the altar. A main purpose of such sacrifices was to please the Lord with the smell of the sacrifice, and so in the CEV they are often called “sacrifices to please the Lord.” and any gift you promise or voluntarily give him. That's where you must also take one tenth of your grain, wine, and olive oil,#12.5-19 one tenth of your grain, wine, and olive oil: The Israelites had to give one tenth of their harvest of these products to the Lord each year (see 14.22-29; 26.12,13; Leviticus 27.30-33). as well as the first-born of your cattle, sheep, and goats.#12.5-19 the first-born of your cattle, sheep, and goats: The Israelites had to sacrifice these to the Lord (see 15.19-22). You and your family and servants will eat your gifts and sacrifices#12.5-19 sacrifices: Some sacrifices were completely burned on the altar; in other sacrifices, part of the animal was burned and part was given to the priests, but most of the meat was eaten by the worshipers as a sacred meal. and celebrate there at the place of worship, because the Lord your God has made you successful in everything you have done. And since Levites will not have any land of their own, you must ask some of them to come along and celebrate with you.
Sometimes you may want to kill an animal for food and not as a sacrifice. If the Lord has blessed you and given you enough cows or sheep or goats, then you can butcher one of them where you live. You can eat it just like the meat from a deer or gazelle that you kill when you go hunting. And even those people who are unclean and unfit for worship can have some of the meat. But you must not eat the blood of any animal—let the blood drain out on the ground.
20-21The Lord has promised that later on he will give Israel more land, and some of you may not be able to travel all the way from your homes to the place of worship each time you are hungry for meat.#12.20,21 meat: Usually eaten only on special occasions, such as during a sacred meal when sacrifices were offered to the Lord. But the Lord will give you cattle, sheep, and goats, and you can butcher any of those animals at home and eat as much as you want. 22It is the same as eating the meat from a deer or a gazelle that you kill when you go hunting. And in this way, anyone who is unclean and unfit for worship can have some of the meat.#12.22 anyone … the meat: Only those who were properly prepared for worship, or “clean,” could eat a sacred meal, but anyone could eat this kind of meat.
23-24 #
Lv 17.10-14. But don't eat the blood. It is the life of the animal, so let it drain out on the ground before you eat the meat. 25Do you want the Lord to make you successful? Do you want your children to be successful even after you are gone? Then do what pleases the Lord and don't eat blood.
26-27All sacrifices and offerings to the Lord must be taken to the place where he chooses to be worshiped. If you offer a sacrifice to please the Lord, all of its meat must be burned on the altar. You can eat the meat from certain kinds of sacrifices, but you must always pour out the animal's blood on the altar.
28If you obey these laws, you will be doing what the Lord your God says is right and good. Then he will help you and your descendants be successful.
Worship the Lord in the Right Way
Moses said:
29Israel, as you go into the land and attack the nations that are there, the Lord will get rid of them, and you can have their land.
30But that's when you must be especially careful not to ask, “How did those nations worship their gods? Shouldn't we worship the Lord in the same way?” 31No, you should not! The Lord hates the disgusting way those nations worship their gods, because they even burn their sons and daughters as sacrifices.
32 #
Dt 4.2; Rev 22.18,19. Obey all the laws and teachings I am giving you. Don't add any, and don't take any away.
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Contemporary English Version, Second Edition (CEV®)
© 2006 American Bible Society. All rights reserved.