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.
Currently Selected:
Deuteronomy 12: GW
Highlight
Share
Copy
Want to have your highlights saved across all your devices? Sign up or sign in
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
The Chosen Place of Worship
1“Be careful to follow these statutes and ordinances in the land that Yahweh, the God of your fathers, # Ex 3:13,15-16; Dt 1:11,21; 4:1; 6:3; 27:3; Jos 18:3; Ezr 10:11; Ac 7:32 has given you to possess all the days you live on the earth. 2Destroy completely all the places where the nations that you are driving out worship their gods # Ex 23:23-26; 34:13; Dt 7:1-5 — on the high mountains, on the hills, and under every green tree. # 1Kg 14:23; 2Kg 16:4; 17:10; 2Ch 28:4; Is 57:5; Jr 2:20; 3:6,13; Ezk 6:13 3Tear down their altars, smash their sacred pillars, burn up their Asherah poles, cut down the carved images of their gods, and wipe out their names from every # Lit that place. # Ex 34:13; Dt 7:5; 2Kg 23:14; 2Ch 14:3; 31:1; 34:4,7; Is 27:9 4Don’t worship the Lord your God this way. 5Instead, you must turn to the place Yahweh your God chooses # Dt 14:23-25; 15:20; 16:2,7,11,15-16; 17:8,10; 18:6; 26:2; 31:11; Jos 9:27 from all your tribes to put His name for His dwelling and go there. 6You are to bring there your burnt offerings and sacrifices, your tenths and personal contributions, # Lit and the contributions from your hands your vow offerings and freewill offerings, and the firstborn of your herds and flocks. 7You will eat there in the presence of the Lord your God and rejoice with your household in everything you do, # Lit you put your hand to because the Lord your God has blessed you.
8“You are not to do as we are doing here today; everyone is doing whatever seems right in his own eyes. # Ex 15:26; Jdg 17:6; 21:25 9Indeed, you have not yet come into the resting place # Dt 3:20; 5:14; 25:19; 28:65 and the inheritance # Dt 15:4 the Lord your God is giving you. 10When you cross the Jordan and live in the land the Lord your God is giving you to inherit, # Dt 15:4 and He gives you rest from all the enemies around you and you live in security, 11then Yahweh your God will choose the place to have His name dwell. # Dt 14:23; 16:2,6,11; 26:2 Bring there everything I command you: your burnt offerings, sacrifices, offerings of the tenth, personal contributions, # Lit tenth, the contributions from your hands and all your choice offerings you vow to the Lord. 12You will rejoice # Lv 23:40; Dt 14:26; 16:11-15; 26:11; 27:7 before the Lord your God — you, your sons and daughters, your male and female slaves, and the Levite who is within your gates, since he has no portion or inheritance among you. # Ex 20:10; Nm 18:20; Dt 5:14; 12:18; 14:21,27,29; 16:11,14; 23:16 13Be careful not to offer your burnt offerings in all the sacred places you see. 14You must offer your burnt offerings only in the place the Lord chooses in one of your tribes, and there you must do everything I command you.
Slaughtering Animals to Eat
15“But whenever you want, you may slaughter and eat meat within any of your gates, # Dt 15:22-23 according to the blessing the Lord your God has given you. Those who are clean or unclean may eat it, as they would a gazelle or deer, 16but you must not eat the blood; pour it on the ground like water. # Lv 17:10-14 17Within your gates you may not eat: the tenth of your grain, new wine, or oil; the firstborn of your herd or flock; any of your vow offerings that you pledge; your freewill offerings; or your personal contributions. # Lit or the contributions from your hands 18You must eat them in the presence of the Lord your God at the place the Lord your God chooses — you, your son and daughter, your male and female slave, and the Levite who is within your gates. Rejoice before the Lord your God in everything you do, # Lit you put your hand to 19and be careful not to neglect the Levite, as long as you live in your land.
20“When the Lord your God enlarges your territory as He has promised you, # Ex 34:24 and you say, ‘I want to eat meat’ because you have a strong desire to eat meat, you may eat it whenever you want. 21If the place where Yahweh your God chooses to put His name is too far from you, you may slaughter any of your herd or flock He has given you, as I have commanded you, and you may eat it within your gates whenever you want. 22Indeed, you may eat it as the gazelle and deer are eaten; both the clean and the unclean may eat it. 23But don’t eat the blood, since the blood is the life, and you must not eat the life with the meat. # Lv 17:11,14 24Do not eat blood; pour it on the ground like water. # Lv 3:17; 7:26; 17:14; 19:26; Dt 15:23; 1Sm 14:34; Ezk 33:25 25Do not eat it, so that you and your children after you will prosper, because you will be doing what is right in the Lord’s sight.
26“But you are to take the holy offerings you have and your vow offerings and go to the place the Lord chooses. 27Present the meat and blood of your burnt offerings on the altar of the Lord your God. The blood of your other sacrifices is to be poured out beside the altar of the Lord your God, but you may eat the meat. 28Be careful to obey all these things I command you, so that you and your children after you may prosper forever, because you will be doing what is good and right in the sight of the Lord your God.
29“When the Lord your God annihilates the nations before you, # Dt 19:1 which you are entering to take possession of, # Dt 3:12 and you drive them out and live in their land, 30be careful not to be ensnared by their ways # Ex 23:33; 34:12; Dt 7:16,25; Jos 23:13; Jdg 8:27; Ps 106:36; Heb 12:1 after they have been destroyed before you. Do not inquire about their gods, asking, ‘How did these nations worship their gods? I’ll also do the same.’ 31You must not do the same to the Lord your God, because they practice every detestable thing, which the Lord hates, for their gods. They even burn their sons and daughters in the fire to their gods. 32 # Dt 13:1 in HbYou must be careful to do everything I command you; do not add anything to it or take anything away from it. # Dt 4:2; Rv 22:18-19
Currently Selected:
:
Highlight
Share
Copy
Want to have your highlights saved across all your devices? Sign up or sign in
© 1999, 2000, 2002, 2003, 2009 by Holman Bible Publishers, Nashville, Tennessee. All rights reserved.