Deuteronomy 12

1 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.

These are the rules and regulations you must make sure to follow the whole time you live in the land that the Lord, the God of your forefathers, has given you to own.

2 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:

You are to completely destroy all the pagan shrines where the nations you're driving out worshiped their gods: on the top of high mountains, on the hills, and under every green tree.

3 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.

Tear down their altars, knock down their idolatrous pillars, burn down their Asherah poles, and cut down the idols of their gods. Remove any trace of them from everywhere.

4 Do not so to the Lord your God.

You are not to worship the Lord your God in the way that they did.

5 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;

No, you must go to the place the Lord your God will choose from the territory of all your tribes to set up a place where he will live with you. That's where you must go.

6 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;

You'll take there your burnt offerings and sacrifices, your tithes and all your offerings—your freewill offerings and offerings to fulfill a promise, along with the firstborn of your herds and flocks.

7 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.

That's where, in the presence of the Lord your God, you and your families will eat and celebrate everything you've worked for, because the Lord your God has blessed you.

8 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:

You're not to do like we're doing here today. At the moment everyone does what they think is right,

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

because you haven't arrived in the land you will own that the Lord your God is giving you and where you will be at peace.

10 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;

After you cross the Jordan and settle down in the country that the Lord your God is giving you to possess, and he lets you rest from fighting all your enemies and you live in safety,

11 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;

then the Lord your God will choose a place where he will live with you. That's where you are to bring everything I've order you to do—your burnt offerings and sacrifices, your tithes and freewill offerings, and all the special gifts you promise to give to the Lord.

12 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.

You will celebrate there in the presence of the Lord your God—you, your sons and daughters, your male and female slaves, and the Levites living in your towns, because they don't have any share in the allotment of land.

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

Make sure you don't present your burnt offerings just anywhere you want.

14 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.

You are to offer them only in the place the Lord will choose in the territory of one of your tribes. That's where you are to do everything that I order you to do.

15 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.

Of course you can slaughter and eat meat wherever you are, anytime you want, depending on how much the Lord your God has blessed you. All of you, whether you're ceremonially clean or not, can it eat it just like you would a gazelle or a deer,

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

but you are not to eat the blood—pour that out on the ground.

17 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;

In your towns you must not eat the tithe of your grain or new wine or olive oil, the firstborn of your herds or flocks, any of the offerings that you give to fulfill a promise, your freewill offerings, or your special gifts.

18 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.

No, you must eat them in the presence of the Lord your God at the place the Lord your God will choose— you, your sons and daughters, your male and female slaves, and the Levites living in your towns. Celebrate in the presence of the Lord your God in everything you do,

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

and make sure you don't forget about the Levites as the whole time you live in your land.

20 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.

When the Lord your God gives you more land as he promised, and you feel like some meat, and say, “I want to have some meat,” you may can it whenever you want.

21 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.

If the place where the Lord your God chooses to live with you is a long way away, then you can slaughter any animal from the herd or flock he has given you, following the regulations I have given you, and you can eat it in your town whenever you want.

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

In fact you can eat it like you would eat a gazelle or deer—whether you're ceremonially clean or not, you can eat it.

23 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.

Just make sure you don't eat the blood, because the blood is the life, and you must not eat the life with the meat.

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

You must not eat the blood; pour it out on the ground.

25 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.

Don't eat it, so that all will go well with you and your children, because you will be doing what is right in the Lord's sight.

26 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:

Take your holy sacrifices and the offerings to fulfill your vows and go to the place the Lord will choose.

27 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.

Present your burnt offerings, the meat and blood, 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 are allowed to eat the meat.

28 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.

Make sure you obey everything I'm commanding you, so that it may always go well with you and your children, because you will be following what is good and right in the sight of the Lord your God.

29 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;

When the Lord your God destroys the nations ahead of you as you enter the country to possess, and you drive them out and settle down in their land,

30 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.

make sure you don't fall into the trap of following their ways after they have been destroyed right in front of you. Don't try and find out about their gods, asking, “I wonder how these people worship their gods? I'll do like they did.”

31 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.

You must not worship the Lord your God like this, because when they worship their gods they do every kind of abominable thing that the Lord hates. They even burn their sons and daughters as sacrifices to their gods!

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

Be careful to do everything I order you to do. Don't add or take away anything from these instructions.