Deuteronomy 12
12
1 THESE ARE the statutes and ordinances which you shall be watchful to do in the land which the Lord, the God of your fathers, gives you to possess all the days you live on the earth.
2 You shall surely destroy all the places where the nations you dispossess served their gods, upon the high mountains and the hills and under every green tree.
3 You shall break down their altars and dash in pieces their pillars and burn their Asherim with fire; you shall hew down the graven images of their gods and destroy their name out of that place.
4 You shall not behave so toward the Lord your God.
5 But you shall seek the place which the Lord your God shall choose out of all your tribes to put His Name and make His dwelling place, and there shall you come;
6 And there you shall bring your burnt offerings and your sacrifices, your tithes and the offering of your hands, and your vows and your freewill offerings, and the firstlings of your herd and of your flock.
7 And there you shall eat before the Lord your God, and you shall rejoice in all to which you put your hand, you and your households, in which the Lord your God has blessed you.
8 You shall not do according to all we do here [in the camp] this day, every man doing whatever looks right in his own eyes.
9 For you have not yet come to the rest and to the inheritance which the Lord your God gives you.
10 But when you go over the Jordan and dwell in the land which the Lord your God causes you to inherit, and He gives you rest from all your enemies round about so that you dwell in safety,
11 Then there shall be a place which the Lord your God shall choose to cause His Name [and His Presence] to dwell there; to it you shall bring all that I command you: your burnt offerings, your sacrifices, your tithes and what the hand presents [as a first gift from the fruits of the ground], and all your choicest offerings which you vow to the Lord.
12 And you shall rejoice before the Lord your God, you and your sons and your daughters, and your menservants and your maidservants, and the Levite that is within your towns, since he has no part or inheritance with you.
13 Be watchful not to offer your burnt offerings in every place you see.
14 But in the place which the Lord shall choose in one of your tribes, there you shall offer your burnt offerings, and there you shall do all I command you.
15 However, you may kill and eat flesh in any of your towns whenever you desire, according to the provision for the support of life with which the Lord your God has blessed you; those [ceremonially] unclean and the clean may eat of it, as of the gazelle and the hart.
16 Only you shall not eat the blood; you shall pour it upon the ground as water.
17 You may not eat within your towns the tithe of your grain or of your new wine or of your oil, or the firstlings of your herd or flock, or anything you have vowed, or your freewill offerings, or the offerings from your hand [of garden products].
18 But you shall eat them before the Lord your God in the place which the Lord your God shall choose, you and your son and your daughter, your manservant and your maidservant, and the Levite that is within your towns; and you shall rejoice before the Lord your God in all that you undertake.
19 Take heed not to forsake or neglect the Levite [God's minister] as long as you live in your land.
20 When the Lord your God enlarges your territory, as He promised you, and you say, I will eat flesh, because you crave flesh, you may eat flesh whenever you desire.
21 If the place where the Lord your God has chosen to put His Name [and Presence] is too far from you, then you shall kill from your herd or flock which the Lord has given you, as I [Moses] have commanded you; eat in your towns as much as you desire.
22 Just as the roebuck and the hart is eaten, so you may eat of it [but not offer it]; the unclean and the clean alike may eat of it.
23 Only be sure that you do not eat the blood, for the blood is the life, and you may not eat the life with the flesh.
24 You shall not eat it; you shall pour it out on the earth like water.
25 You shall not eat it, that all may go well with you and with your children after you, when you do what is right in the sight of the Lord.
26 Only your holy things which you have [to offer] and what you have vowed you shall take, and go to the place [before the sanctuary] which the Lord shall choose.
27 And offer your burnt offerings, the flesh and the blood, upon the altar of the Lord your God; and the blood of your sacrifices shall be poured out on the altar of the Lord your God, and you may eat the flesh.
28 Be watchful and obey all these words which I command you, 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.
29 When the Lord your God cuts off before you the nations whom you go to dispossess, and you dispossess them and live in their land,
30 Be watchful that you are not ensnared into following them after they have been destroyed before you and that you do not inquire after their gods, saying, How did these nations serve their gods? We will do likewise.
31 You shall not do so to the Lord your God, for every abominable thing which the Lord hates they have done for their gods. For even their sons and their daughters they have burned in the fire to their gods.
32 Whatever I command you, be watchful to do it; you shall not add to it or diminish it.
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Deuteronomy 12: AMPC
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1954, 1958, 1962, 1964, 1965, 1987 by The Lockman Foundation
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
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