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
A Prescribed Place of Worship
1“These #Deut. 6:1are the statutes and judgments which you shall be careful to observe in the land which the Lord God of your fathers is giving you to possess, #Deut. 4:9, 10; 1 Kin. 8:40all the days that you live on the earth. 2#Ex. 34:13You shall utterly destroy all the places where the nations which you shall dispossess served their gods, #2 Kin. 16:4; 17:10, 11on the high mountains and on the hills and under every green tree. 3And #Num. 33:52; Deut. 7:5; Judg. 2:2you shall destroy their altars, break their sacred pillars, and burn their wooden images with fire; you shall cut down the carved images of their gods and destroy their names from that place. 4You shall not #Deut. 12:31worship the Lord your God with such things.
5“But you shall seek the #Ex. 20:24place where the Lord your God chooses, out of all your tribes, to put His name for His #Ex. 15:13; 1 Sam. 2:29dwelling place; and there you shall go. 6#Lev. 17:3, 4There you shall take your burnt offerings, your sacrifices, your tithes, the heave offerings of your hand, your vowed offerings, your freewill offerings, and the #Deut. 14:23firstborn of your herds and flocks. 7And #Deut. 14:26there you shall eat before the Lord your God, and #Deut. 12:12, 18you shall rejoice in all to which you have put your hand, you and your households, in which the Lord your God has blessed you.
8“You shall not at all do as we are doing here today—#Judg. 17:6; 21:25every man doing whatever is right in his own eyes— 9for as yet you have not come to the #Deut. 3:20; 25:19; Ps. 95:11rest and the inheritance which the Lord your God is giving you. 10But when you cross over the Jordan and dwell in the land which the Lord your God is giving you to inherit, and He gives you #Josh. 11:23rest from all your enemies round about, so that you dwell in safety, 11then there will be the place where the Lord your God chooses to make His name abide. There you shall bring all that I command you: your burnt offerings, your sacrifices, your tithes, the heave offerings of your hand, and all your choice offerings which you vow to the Lord. 12And #Deut. 12:18; 26:11you shall rejoice before the Lord your God, you and your sons and your daughters, your male and female servants, and the #Deut. 10:9; 14:29Levite who is within your gates, since he has no portion nor inheritance with you. 13Take heed to yourself that you do not offer your burnt offerings in every place that you see; 14but in the place which the Lord chooses, in one of your tribes, there you shall offer your burnt offerings, and there you shall do all that I command you.
15“However, #Deut. 12:21you may slaughter and eat meat within all your gates, whatever your heart desires, according to the blessing of the Lord your God which He has given you; #Deut. 12:22the unclean and the clean may eat of it, #Deut. 14:5of the gazelle and the deer alike. 16#Gen. 9:4; Lev. 7:26; 17:10–12; 1 Sam. 14:33; Acts 15:20, 29Only you shall not eat the blood; you shall pour it on the earth like water. 17You may not eat within your gates the tithe of your grain or your new wine or your oil, of the firstborn of your herd or your flock, of any of your offerings which you vow, of your freewill offerings, or of the heave offering of your hand. 18But you must eat them before the Lord your God in the place which the Lord your God chooses, you and your son and your daughter, your male servant and your female servant, and the Levite who is within your gates; and you shall rejoice before the Lord your God in all to which you put your hands. 19Take heed to yourself that you do not forsake the Levite as long as you live in your land.
20“When the Lord your God #Gen. 15:18; Ex. 34:24; Deut. 11:24; 19:8enlarges your border as He has promised you, and you say, ‘Let me eat meat,’ because you long to eat meat, you may eat as much meat as your heart desires. 21If the place where the Lord your God chooses to put His name is too far from #Deut. 14:24you, then you may slaughter from your herd and from your flock which the Lord has given you, just as I have commanded you, and you may eat within your gates as much as your heart desires. 22Just as the gazelle and the deer are eaten, so you may eat them; the unclean and the clean alike may eat them. 23Only be sure that you do not eat the blood, #Gen. 9:4; Lev. 17:10–14; Deut. 12:16for the blood is the life; you may not eat the life with the meat. 24You shall not eat it; you shall pour it on the earth like water. 25You shall not eat it, #Deut. 4:40; 6:18; Is. 3:10that it may go well with you and your children after you, #Ex. 15:26; 1 Kin. 11:38when you do what is right in the sight of the Lord. 26Only the #Num. 5:9, 10; 18:19holy things which you have, and your vowed offerings, you shall take and go to the place which the Lord chooses. 27And #Lev. 1:5, 9, 13, 17you shall offer your burnt offerings, the meat and the blood, on 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 shall eat the meat. 28Observe and obey all these words which I command you, #Deut. 12:25that it may go well with you and your children after you forever, when you do what is good and right in the sight of the Lord your God.
Beware of False Gods
29“When #Ex. 23:23; Deut. 19:1; Josh. 23:4the Lord your God cuts off from before you the nations which you go to dispossess, and you displace them and dwell in their land, 30take heed to yourself that you are not ensnared to follow them, after they are destroyed from before you, and that you do not inquire after their gods, saying, ‘How did these nations serve their gods? I also will do likewise.’ 31#Lev. 18:3, 26, 30; 20:1, 2You shall not worship the Lord your God in that way; for every abomination to the Lord which He hates they have done to their gods; for #Deut. 18:10; Ps. 106:37; Jer. 32:35they burn even their sons and daughters in the fire to their gods.
32“Whatever I command you, be careful to observe it; #Deut. 4:2; 13:18; Josh. 1:7; Prov. 30:6; Rev. 22:18, 19you shall not add to it nor take away from it.
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The Holy Bible, New King James Version, Copyright © 1982 Thomas Nelson. All rights reserved.