Deuteronomy 12

1 These are the precepts and judgments, that you must do in the land, which the Lord the God of thy fathers will give thee, to possess it all the days that thou shalt walk upon the earth.

“These [are] the statutes and the judgments which you observe to do in the land which YHWH, God of your fathers, has given to you to possess it, all the days that you are living on the ground.

2 Destroy all the places in which the nations, that you shall possess, worshipped their gods upon high mountains, and hills, and under every shady tree:

You utterly destroy all the places where the nations which you are dispossessing served their gods, on the high mountains, and on the heights, and under every green tree;

3 Overthrow their altars, and break down their statues, burn their groves with fire, and break their idols in pieces: destroy their names out of those places.

and you have broken down their altars, and shattered their standing pillars, and you burn their Asherim with fire, and you cut down carved images of their gods, and have destroyed their name out of that place.

4 You shall not do so to the Lord your God:

You do not do so to your God YHWH;

5 But you shall come to the place, which the Lord your God shall choose out of all your tribes, to put his name there, and to dwell in it:

rather—that you seek after the place which your God YHWH chooses out of all your tribes to put His Name there, for His Dwelling Place, and you have entered there,

6 And you shall offer in that place your holocausts and victims, the tithes and firstfruits of your hands and your vows and gifts, the firstborn of your herds and your sheep.

and have brought in there your burnt-offerings, and your sacrifices, and your tithes, and the raised-offering of your hand, and your vows, and your free-will offerings, and the firstlings of your herd and of your flock;

7 And you shall eat there in the sight of the Lord your God: and you shall rejoice in all things, whereunto you shall put your hand, you and your houses wherein the Lord your God hath blessed you.

and you have eaten there before your God YHWH, and have rejoiced in every putting forth of your hand, you and your households, with which your God YHWH has blessed you.

8 You shall not do there the things we do here this day, every man that which seemeth good to himself.

You do not do according to all that we are doing here today—each [doing] anything that is right in his own eyes—

9 For until this present time you are not come to refit, and to the possession, which the Lord your God will give you.

for until now you have not come to the rest and to the inheritance which your God YHWH is giving to you.

10 You shall pass over the Jordan, and shall dwell in the land which the Lord your God will give you, that you may have rest from all enemies round about: and may dwell without any fear,

When you have passed over the Jordan, and have dwelt in the land which your God YHWH is causing you to inherit, and He has given rest to you from all your surrounding enemies, and you have dwelt confidently,

11 In the place, which the Lord your God shall choose, that his name may be therein. Thither shall you bring all the things that I command you, holocausts, and victims, and tithes, and the firstfruits of your hands: and whatsoever is the choicest in the gifts which you shall vow to the Lord.

then it has been, the place on which your God YHWH fixes to cause His Name to dwell there, there you bring in all that which I am commanding you: your burnt-offerings, and your sacrifices, your tithes, and the raised-offering of your hand, and all the choice of your vows which you vow to YHWH.

12 There shall you feast before the Lord your God, you and your sons and your daughters, your menservants and maid-servants, and the Levite that dwelleth in your cities. For he hath no other part and possession among you.

And you have rejoiced before your God YHWH, you, and your sons, and your daughters, and your menservants, and your handmaids, and the Levite who [is] within your gates, for he has no part and inheritance with you.

13 Beware lest thou offer thy holocausts in every place that thou shalt see:

Take heed to yourself lest you cause your burnt-offerings to ascend in any place which you see;

14 But in the place which the Lord shall choose in one of thy tribes shalt thou offer sacrifices. and shalt do all that I command thee.

rather—that in the place which YHWH chooses in one of your tribes, there you cause your burnt-offerings to ascend, and there you do all that which I am commanding you.

15 But if thou desirest to eat, and the eating of flesh delight thee, kill, and eat according to the blessing of the Lord thy God, which he hath given thee, in thy cities: whether it be unclean, that is to say, having blemish or defect: or clean, that is to say, sound and without blemish, such as may be offered, as the roe, and the hart, shalt thou eat it:

Nevertheless, you slaughter anything of the desire of your soul, and have eaten [its] flesh according to the blessing of your God YHWH which He has given to you in all your gates; the unclean and the clean eat it, as [if] the roe and as [if] the deer.

16 Only the blood thou shalt not eat, but thou shalt pour it out upon the earth as water.

Only, you do not eat the blood—you pour it on the earth as water;

17 Thou mayst not eat in thy towns the tithes of thy corn, and thy wine, and thy oil, the firstborn of thy herds and thy cattle, nor any thing that thou vowest, and that thou wilt offer voluntarily, and the firstfruits of thy hands:

you are not able to eat within your gates the tithe of your grain, and of your new wine, and your oil, and the firstlings of your herd and of your flock, and any of your vows which you vow, and your free-will offerings, and a raised-offering of your hand;

18 But thou shalt eat them before the Lord thy God in the place which the Lord thy God shall choose, thou and thy son and thy daughter, and thy manservant, and maidservant, and the Levite that dwelleth in thy cities: and thou shalt rejoice and be refreshed before the Lord thy God in all things, whereunto thou shalt put thy hand.

but you eat it before your God YHWH in the place which your God YHWH fixes on, you, and your son, and your daughter, and your manservant, and your handmaid, and the Levite who [is] within your gates, and you have rejoiced before your God YHWH in every putting forth of your hand;

19 Take heed thou forsake not the Levite all the time that thou livest in the land.

take heed to yourself lest you forsake the Levite [for] all your days on your ground.

20 When the Lord thy God shall have enlarged thy borders, as he hath spoken to thee, and thou wilt eat the flesh that thy soul desireth:

When your God YHWH enlarges your border, as He has spoken to you, and you have said, Let me eat flesh—for your soul desires to eat flesh—you eat flesh of all the desire of your soul.

21 And if the place which the Lord thy God shall choose, that his name should be there, be far off, thou shalt kill of thy herds and of thy flocks, as I have commanded thee, and shalt eat in thy towns, as it pleaseth thee.

When the place is far from you [in] which your God YHWH chooses to put His Name there, then you have sacrificed from your herd and from your flock which YHWH has given to you, as I have commanded you, and have eaten within your gates, of all the desire of your soul;

22 Even as the roe and the hart is eaten, so shalt thou eat them: both the clean and unclean shall eat of them alike.

only, as the roe and the deer is eaten, so do you eat it; the unclean and the clean alike eat it.

23 Only beware of this, that thou eat not the blood, for the blood is for the soul: and therefore thou must not eat the soul with the flesh:

Only, be sure not to eat the blood, for the blood [is] the life, and you do not eat the life with the flesh;

24 But thou shalt pour it upon the earth as water,

you do not eat it—you pour it on the earth as water;

25 That it may be well with thee and thy children after thee, when thou shalt do that which is pleasing in the sight of the Lord.

you do not eat it, in order that it may be well with you and with your sons after you when you do that which [is] right in the eyes of YHWH.

26 But the things which thou hast sanctified and vowed to the Lord, thou shalt take, and shalt come to the place which the Lord shall choose:

Only, your holy things which you have, and your vows, you take up, and have gone to the place which YHWH chooses,

27 And shalt offer thy oblations the flesh and the blood upon the altar of the Lord thy God: the blood of thy victims thou shalt pour on the altar: and the flesh thou thyself shalt eat.

and you have made your burnt-offerings—the flesh and the blood—on the altar of your God YHWH; and the blood of your sacrifices is poured out by the altar of your God YHWH, and you eat the flesh.

28 Observe and hear all the things that I command thee, that it may be well with thee and thy children after thee for ever, when thou shalt do what is good and pleasing in the sight of the Lord thy God.

Observe, and you have obeyed all these words which I am commanding you, in order that it may be well with you and with your sons after you for all time, when you do that which [is] good and right in the eyes of your God YHWH.

29 When the Lord thy God shall have destroyed before thy face the nations, which then shalt go in to possess, and when thou shalt possess them, and dwell in their land:

When your God YHWH cuts off the nations—to where you are going in to possess them—from your presence, and you have possessed them, and have dwelt in their land—

30 Beware lest thou imitate them, after they are destroyed at thy coming in, and lest thou seek after their ceremonies, saying: As these nations have worshipped their gods, so will I also worship.

take heed to yourself lest you are ensnared after them, after their being destroyed out of your presence, and lest you inquire about their gods, saying, How do these nations serve their gods, that I also do so?

31 Thou shalt not do in like manner to the Lord thy God. For they have done to their gods all the abominations which the Lord abhorreth, offering their sons and daughters, and burning them with fire.

You do not do so to your God YHWH; for every abomination that YHWH has hated they have done for their gods, for they even burn their sons and their daughters with fire for their gods.

32 What I command thee, that only do thou to the Lord: neither add any thing, nor diminish.

The whole thing which I am commanding you, you observe to do it; you do not add to it, nor diminish from it.”