Deuteronomy 12

1 These are the statutes and the ordinances which you shall observe to do in the land which Yahweh, the God of your fathers, has given you to possess all the days that you live on the earth.

And these [are] the ordinances and the judgments, which ye shall observe to do in the land, which the Lord God of your fathers gives you for an inheritance, all the days which ye live upon the land.

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.

Ye shall utterly destroy all the places in which they served their gods, whose [land] ye inherit, on the high mountains and on the hills, and under the thick 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.

And ye shall destroy their altars, and break in pieces their pillars, and ye shall cut down their groves, and ye shall burn with fire the graven images of their gods, and ye shall abolish their name out of that place.

4 You shall not do so to Yahweh your God.

Ye shall not do so to the Lord your God.

5 But to the place which Yahweh your God shall choose out of all your tribes, to put his name there, you shall seek his habitation, and you shall come there.

But in the place which the Lord thy God shall choose in one of your cities to name his name there, and to be called upon, ye shall even seek [him] out and go thither.

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.

And ye shall carry thither your whole-burnt-offerings, and your sacrifices, and your first-fruits, and your vowed-offerings, and your freewill-offerings, and your offerings of thanksgiving, the first-born of your herds, and of your flocks.

7 There you shall eat before Yahweh your God, and you shall rejoice in all that you put your hand to, you and your households, in which Yahweh your God has blessed you.

And ye shall eat there before the Lord your God, and ye shall rejoice in all the things on which ye shall lay your hand, ye and your houses, as 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;

Ye shall not do altogether as we do here to-day, every man that which is pleasing in his own sight.

9 for you haven’t yet come to the rest and to the inheritance which Yahweh your God gives you.

For hitherto ye have not arrived at the rest and the inheritance, which the Lord our God gives you.

10 But when you go over the Jordan and dwell in the land which Yahweh your God causes you to inherit, and he gives you rest from all your enemies around you, so that you dwell in safety,

And ye shall go over Jordan, and shall dwell in the land, which the Lord our God takes as an inheritance for you; and he shall give you rest from all your enemies round about, and ye shall dwell safely.

11 then it shall happen that to the place which Yahweh 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 Yahweh.

And there shall be a place which the Lord thy God shall choose for his name to be called there, thither shall ye bring all things that I order you to-day; your whole-burnt-offerings, and your sacrifices, and your tithes, and the first-fruits of your hands, and every choice gift of yours, whatsoever ye shall vow to the Lord your God.

12 You shall rejoice before Yahweh 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.

And ye shall rejoice before the Lord your God, ye and your sons, and your daughters, and your men-servants and your maid-servants, and the Levite that is at your gates; because he has no portion or inheritance with you.

13 Be careful that you don’t offer your burnt offerings in every place that you see;

Take heed to thyself that thou offer not thy whole-burnt-offerings in any place which thou shalt see;

14 but in the place which Yahweh chooses in one of your tribes, there you shall offer your burnt offerings, and there you shall do all that I command you.

save in the place which the Lord thy God shall choose, in one of thy tribes, there shall ye offer your whole-burnt-offerings, and there shalt thou do all things whatsoever I charge thee this day.

15 Yet you may kill and eat meat within all your gates, after all the desire of your soul, according to Yahweh 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.

But thou shalt kill according to all thy desire, and shalt eat flesh according to the blessing of the Lord thy God, which he has given thee in every city; the unclean that is within thee and the clean shall eat it on equal terms, as the doe or the stag.

16 Only you shall not eat the blood. You shall pour it out on the earth like water.

Only ye shall not eat the blood; ye shall pour it out on the ground as 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;

Thou shalt not be able to eat in thy cities the tithe of thy corn, and of thy wine, and of thine oil, the first-born of thine herd and of thy flock, and all [your] vows as many as ye shall have vowed, and your thank-offerings, and the first-fruits of thine hands.

18 but you shall eat them before Yahweh your God in the place which Yahweh 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 Yahweh your God in all that you put your hand to.

But before the Lord thy God thou shalt eat it, in the place which the Lord thy God shall choose for himself, thou, and thy son, and thy daughter, thy man-servant, and thy maid-servant, and the stranger that is within thy gates; and thou shalt rejoice before the Lord thy God, on whatsoever thou shalt lay thine hand.

19 Be careful that you don’t forsake the Levite as long as you live in your land.

Take heed to thyself that thou do not desert the Levite all the time that thou livest upon the earth.

20 When Yahweh 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.

And if the Lord thy God shall enlarge thy borders, as he said to thee, and thou shalt say, I will eat flesh; if thy soul should desire to eat flesh, thou shalt eat flesh according to all the desire of thy soul.

21 If the place which Yahweh 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 Yahweh has given you, as I have commanded you; and you may eat within your gates, after all the desire of your soul.

And if the place be far from thee, which the Lord thy God shall choose for himself, that his name be called upon it, then thou shalt kill of thy herd and of thy flock which God shall have given thee, even as I commanded thee, and thou shalt eat in thy cities according to the desire of thy 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.

As the doe and the stag are eaten, so shalt thou eat it; the unclean in thee and the clean shall eat it in like manner.

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.

Take diligent heed that thou eat no blood, for blood [is] the life of it; the life shall not be eaten with the flesh.

24 You shall not eat it. You shall pour it out on the earth like water.

Ye shall not eat [it]; ye shall pour it out on the ground as 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 Yahweh’s eyes.

Thou shalt not eat it, that it may be well with thee and with thy sons after thee, if thou shalt do that which is good and pleasing before the Lord thy God.

26 Only your holy things which you have, and your vows, you shall take and go to the place which Yahweh shall choose.

But thou shalt take thy holy things, if thou hast any, and thy vowed-offerings, and come to the place which the Lord thy God shall choose to have his name named upon it.

27 You shall offer your burnt offerings, the meat and the blood, on Yahweh your God’s altar. The blood of your sacrifices shall be poured out on Yahweh your God’s altar, and you shall eat the meat.

And thou shalt sacrifice thy whole-burnt-offerings, thou shalt offer the flesh upon the altar of the Lord thy God; but the blood of thy sacrifices thou shalt pour out at the foot of the altar of the Lord thy God, but the flesh thou shalt eat.

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 Yahweh your God’s eyes.

Beware and hearken, and thou shalt do all the commands which I charge thee, that it may be well with thee and with thy sons for ever, if thou shalt do that which is pleasing and good before the Lord thy God.

29 When Yahweh 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,

And if the Lord thy God shall utterly destroy the nations, to whom thou goest in thither to inherit their land, from before thee, and thou shalt inherit it, 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.”

take heed to thyself that thou seek not to follow them after they are destroyed before thee, saying, How do these nations act towards their gods? I will do likewise.

31 You shall not do so to Yahweh your God; for every abomination to Yahweh, which he hates, they have done to their gods; for they even burn their sons and their daughters in the fire to their gods.

Thou shalt not do so to thy God; for they have sacrificed to their gods the abominations of the Lord which he hates, for they burn their sons and their daughters in 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.

Every word that I command you this day, it shalt thou observe to do: thou shalt not add to it, nor diminish from it.