Deuteronomy 12

1 These are the statutes and the regulations which ye must observe to do, in the land which Yahweh the God of thy fathers hath given unto thee, to possess it, —all the days that ye are living upon the soil:

These are the laws and the decisions which you are to keep with care in the land which the Lord, the God of your fathers, has given you to be your heritage all the days of your life on earth.

2 Ye must utterly destroy, all the places where the nations whom ye are dispossessing have served their gods, —Upon the high mountains And upon the hills, And under every green tree;

You are to give up to the curse all those places where the nations, whom you are driving out, gave worship to their gods, on the high mountains and the hills and under every green tree:

3 And ye must tear down their altars And break in pieces their pillars, And, their sacred stems, must ye consume with fire, And the carved images of their gods, must ye fell to the ground, —And destroy their name out of that place.

Their altars and their pillars are to be broken down, and their holy trees burned with fire, and the images of their gods cut down; you are to take away their names out of that place.

4 Ye must not do thus unto Yahweh your God;

Do not so to the Lord your God.

5 but, unto the place which Yahweh your God shall choose out of all your tribes, to put his name there, —as his habitation, shall ye ask your way, and come in thither;

But let your hearts be turned to the place which will be marked out by the Lord your God, among your tribes, to put his name there;

6 and bring in thither your ascending-offerings and your sacrifices, and your tithes, and the heave-offering of your hand, —and your vow-offerings and your freewill-offerings, and the firstlings of your herd and of your flock;

And there you are to take your burned offerings and other offerings, and the tenth part of your goods, and the offerings to be lifted up to the Lord, and the offerings of your oaths, and those which you give freely from the impulse of your hearts, and the first births among your herds and your flocks;

7 and shall eat there before Yahweh your God, and rejoice in all whereunto ye are putting your hand, Ye, and your households, —wherewith Yahweh thy God hath blessed thee.

There you and all your families are to make a feast before the Lord your God, with joy in everything to which you put your hand, because the Lord has given you his blessing.

8 Ye must not do according to all that we are doing here to-day, —every man, whatsoever is right in his own eyes.

You are not to do things then in the way in which we now do them here, every man as it seems right to him:

9 Because ye have not entered as yet, —into the resting-place and into the inheritance which Yahweh thy God is giving unto thee.

For you have not come to the rest and the heritage which the Lord your God is giving you.

10 But, when ye shall pass over the Jordan, and settle down in the land which, Yahweh your God, is causing you to inherit, —and he shall give you rest from all your enemies round about, and ye shall dwell securely,

But when you have gone over Jordan and are living in the land which the Lord your God is giving you as your heritage, and when he has given you rest from all those on every side who are fighting against you, and you are living there safely;

11 then shall it be, that unto the place which Yahweh your God shall choose to make a habitation for his name there, thither, shall ye bring in all that I am commanding you, —your ascending-offerings and your sacrifices your tithes and the heave-offering of your hand, and all your chosen vow-offerings which ye shall vow unto Yahweh.

Then there will be a place marked out by the Lord your God as the resting-place for his name, and there you will take all the things which I give you orders to take: your burned offerings and other offerings, and the tenth part of your goods, and the offerings to be lifted up, and the offerings of your oaths which you make to the Lord;

12 So shall ye rejoice before Yahweh your God, Ye, and your sons, and your daughters, and your servants and your handmaids, —and the Levite that is within your gates, forasmuch as he hath neither portion nor inheritance with you.

And you will be glad before the Lord your God, you and your sons and your daughters, and your men-servants and your women-servants, and the Levite who is with you in your house, because he has no part or heritage among you.

13 Take heed to thyself, lest thou cause thine ascending-sacrifice to go up in just any place which thou shalt see;

Take care that you do not make your burned offerings in any place you see:

14 but, in the place which Yahweh shall choose in one of thy tribes, there, shalt thou cause thine ascending-sacrifice to go up, and, there, shalt thou do all that I am commanding thee.

But in the place marked out by the Lord in one of your tribes, there let your burned offerings be offered, and there do what I have given you orders to do.

15 Howbeit of anything thy soul desireth, mayest thou sacrifice and so eat flesh—according to the blessing of Yahweh thy God which he hath bestowed upon thee, in all thy gates, the unclean and the clean may eat thereof, —as the gazelle and as the hart,

Only you may put to death animals, such as the gazelle or the roe, for your food in any of your towns, at the desire of your soul, in keeping with the blessing of the Lord your God which he has given you: the unclean and the clean may take of it.

16 Howbeit, the blood, shall ye not eat, —upon the earth, shalt thou pour it out, like water.

But you may not take the blood for food, it is to be drained out on the earth like water.

17 Thou mayest not eat within thy gates, the tithe of thy corn or of thy new wine or of thine oil, or the firstlings of thy herd, or of thy flock, —nor any of thy vow-offerings which thou shalt vow, nor thy freewill, offerings, nor the heave-offering of thy hand;

In your towns you are not to take as food the tenth part of your grain, or of your wine or your oil, or the first births of your herds or of your flocks, or anything offered under an oath, or freely offered to the Lord, or given as a lifted offering;

18 but before Yahweh thy God, shalt thou eat it in the place which Yahweh thy God shall choose, thou and thy son and thy daughter, and thy servant and thy handmaid, and the Levite who is within thy gates, —so shalt thou rejoice before Yahweh thy God, in all whereunto thou puttest thy hand.

But they will be your food before the Lord your God in the place of his selection, where you may make a feast of them, with your son and your daughter, and your man-servant and your woman-servant, and the Levite who is living with you: and you will have joy before the Lord your God in everything to which you put your hand.

19 Take heed to thyself, lest thou forsake the Levite, —all thy days upon thy soil.

See that you do not give up caring for the Levite as long as you are living in your land.

20 When Yahweh thy God shall enlarge thy boundary—as he hath spoken unto thee—and thou shalt say. I would eat flesh because thy soul desireth to eat flesh, of whatsoever thy soul desireth, mayest thou eat flesh.

When the Lord your God makes wide the limit of your land, as he has said, and you say, I will take flesh for my food, because you have a desire for it; then you may take whatever flesh you have a desire for.

21 When the place which Yahweh thy God shall choose to put his name there, shall be, too far for thee, then shalt thou sacrifice of thy herd or of thy flock which Yahweh hath given unto thee, as I have commanded thee, —and shalt eat, within thine own gates, of whatsoever thy soul desireth.

If the place marked out by the Lord your God as the resting-place for his name is far away from you, then take from your herds and from your flocks which the Lord has given you, as I have said, and have a meal of it in the towns where you may be living.

22 Even as the gazelle and the hart is eaten, so, shalt thou eat it, —the unclean and the clean, alike shall eat it.

It will be your food, like the gazelle and the roe; the unclean and the clean may take of it.

23 Howbeit firmly refrain from eating the blood; for the blood, is the life, —therefore must thou not eat the life with the flesh.

But see that you do not take the blood for food; for the blood is the life; and you may not make use of the life as food with the flesh.

24 Thou shalt not eat it, —upon the earth, shalt thou pour it out, like water.

Do not take it for food but let it be drained out on the earth like water.

25 Thou shalt not eat it, —that it may be well with thee and with thy children after thee when thou shalt do that which is right in the eyes of Yahweh.

Do not take it for food; so that it may be well for you and for your children after you, while you do what is right in the eyes of the Lord.

26 Howbeit, thy holy things which thou shalt have and thy vow-offerings, shalt thou take and come in, unto the place which Yahweh shall choose;

But the holy things which you have, and the offerings of your oaths, you are to take to the place which will be marked out by the Lord:

27 and shalt offer thine ascending-sacrifices, the flesh and the blood, upon the altar of Yahweh thy God, —and the blood of thine [other] sacrifices, shall be poured out upon the altar of Yahweh thy God, and then the flesh, shalt thou eat.

Offering the flesh and the blood of your burned offerings on the altar of the Lord your God; and the blood of your offerings is to be drained out on the altar of the Lord your God, and the flesh will be your food.

28 Observe and hear all these things which I am commanding thee, —that it may be well with thee and with thy children after thee, —unto times age-abiding, so long as thou shalt do that which is pleasing and right in the eyes of Yahweh thy God.

Take note of all these orders I am giving you and give attention to them, so that it may be well for you and for your children after you for ever, while you do what is good and right in the eyes of the Lord your God.

29 When Yahweh thy God shall cut off from before thee, the nations Whom thou art going in to dispossess, —and thou do dispossess them, and dwell in their land,

When the people of the land where you are going have been cut off before you by the Lord your God, and you have taken their land and are living in it;

30 take heed to thyself lest thou be thrust after them, after they have been destroyed from before thee, —and lest thou enquire after their gods, saying—In what manner, did these nations serve their gods, that, I too, may do likewise?

After their destruction take care that you do not go in their ways, and that you do not give thought to their gods, saying, How did these nations give worship to their gods? I will do as they did.

31 Thou shalt not do likewise unto Yahweh thy God, —for everything that is an abomination unto Yahweh which he doth hate, have they done unto their gods, for even their sons and their daughters, do they consume with fire unto their gods.

Do not so to the Lord your God: for everything which is disgusting to the Lord and hated by him they have done in honour of their gods: even burning their sons and daughters in the fire to their gods.

32 Whatsoever be the thing which I am commanding you, the same, shall ye observe to do, —thou shalt neither add thereunto, nor take away therefrom.

You are to keep with care all the words I give you, making no addition to them and taking nothing from them.