12
1 These
are the statutes
and the ordinances
which you shall
observe to do
in the land which
the LORD, the
God of
your fathers, has
given you to
possess all the
days that you
live on the earth.
2 You
shall surely destroy
all the places
in which the
nations that you
shall dispossess
served their gods:
on the high
mountains, and on
the hills, and
under every green
tree.
3 You
shall break down
their altars, dash
their pillars in
pieces, and burn
their Asherah poles with fire.
You shall cut
down the engraved
images of
their gods. You
shall destroy
their name out
of that place.
4 You
shall not do
so to the
LORD your God.
5 But
to the place
which the LORD
your God
shall choose out
of all your
tribes, to put
his name there,
you shall seek
his habitation,
and you shall come
there.
6 You
shall bring your
burnt offerings,
your sacrifices,
your tithes,
the wave offering
of your hand,
your vows,
your free will
offerings, and the
firstborn of your
herd and of
your flock there.
7 There
you shall eat
before the LORD
your God, and
you shall rejoice
in all that
you put your
hand to, you
and your
households, in
which the LORD
your God has
blessed you.
8 You
shall not do
all the things
that we do
here today, every
man whatever is
right in his
own eyes;
9 for
you haven’t 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 around
you, so that
you dwell
in safety,
11 then
it shall happen
that to the
place which the
LORD your God
shall choose, to
cause his name
to dwell there,
there you shall
bring all that
I command you:
your burnt
offerings, your
sacrifices, your
tithes, the wave
offering of your
hand, and all
your choice vows
which you vow
to the LORD.
12 You
shall rejoice
before the LORD
your God—you,
and your sons,
your daughters,
your male servants,
your female
servants, and the
Levite who is
within your gates,
because he has
no portion nor
inheritance with
you.
13 Be
careful that
you don’t offer
your burnt
offerings in every
place that you
see;
14 but
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 Yet
you may kill
and eat meat
within all your
gates, after all
the desire of
your soul, according
to the LORD
your God’s
blessing which he
has given you.
The unclean and
the clean may eat
of it, as
of the gazelle
and the deer.
16 Only
you shall not eat
the blood. You
shall pour it
out on the earth
like water.
17 You
may not eat within
your gates the
tithe of your
grain, or of
your new wine,
or of your
oil, or the
firstborn of your
herd or of
your flock, nor
any of your
vows which you
vow, nor your free
will offerings,
nor the wave
offering of your
hand;
18 but
you shall eat them
before the LORD
your God in
the place which
the LORD your
God shall choose:
you, your son,
your daughter,
your male servant,
your female
servant, and the
Levite who is
within your gates.
You shall rejoice
before the LORD
your God in
all that you
put your hand
to.
19 Be
careful that
you don’t forsake
the Levite as
long as you
live in your land.
20 When
the LORD your
God enlarges your
border, as he
has promised you,
and you say, “I
want to eat meat,”
because your
soul desires to eat
meat, you may eat
meat, after all
the desire of
your soul.
21 If
the place which
the LORD your
God shall choose
to put his
name is too
far from you,
then you shall
kill of your
herd and of
your flock, which
the LORD has
given you, as
I have commanded
you; and you
may eat within
your gates, after
all the desire
of your soul.
22 Even
as the gazelle
and as the deer
is eaten, so you
shall eat of it.
The unclean and
the clean may eat
of it alike.
23 Only
be sure that
you don’t eat the
blood; for the
blood is the
life. You shall
not eat the life
with the meat.
24 You
shall not eat it.
You shall pour
it out on
the earth like
water.
25 You
shall not eat it,
that it may
go well with
you and with
your children
after you, when
you do that
which is right
in the LORD’s
eyes.
26 Only
your holy things
which you have,
and your vows,
you shall take
and go to
the place which
the LORD
shall choose.
27 You
shall offer your
burnt offerings,
the meat and
the blood, on
the LORD your
God’s altar. The
blood of your
sacrifices shall
be poured out
on the LORD
your God’s altar,
and you shall eat
the meat.
28 Observe
and hear all
these words which
I command you,
that it may
go well with
you and with
your children
after you forever,
when you do
that which is
good and right
in the LORD
your God’s eyes.
29 When
the LORD your
God cuts off
the nations from
before you where
you go in
to dispossess them,
and you dispossess
them and dwell
in their land,
30 be
careful that you
are not ensnared
to follow them
after they are
destroyed from
before you, and
that you not
inquire after
their gods, saying, “How
do these nations
serve their gods?
I will do
likewise.”
31 You
shall not do
so to the
LORD your God;
for every
abomination to the
LORD, which he
hates, they have
done to their gods;
for they even
burn their sons
and their
daughters in
the fire to
their gods.
32 Whatever thing I command you,
that you shall observe to do. You shall not add to it, nor take away
from it.