Deuteronomy 12

1 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.

These are the statutes and ordinances, which ye shall observe to do, in the land which the Lord, the God of thy fathers, giveth unto thee to possess it, and all the days that ye live upon the earth.

2 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.

Ye shall utterly destroy all the places whereon the nations which ye are about to drive out served their gods, upon the high mountains, and upon the hills, and under every green tree;

3 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.

And ye shall overthrow their altars, and break their statues, and their groves shall ye burn with fire; and the graven images of their gods shall ye hew down; and ye shall destroy their name out of the same place.

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

Ye shall not do so unto the Lord your God;

5 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.

But unto the place which the Lord your God may choose out of all your tribes to put his name there, even unto his habitation shall ye repair, and thither shalt thou come;

6 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.

And ye shall bring thither your burnt-offerings, and your sacrifices, and your tithes, and the heave-offering of your hand, and your vows, and your freewill-offerings, and the first-born of your herds and of your flocks;

7 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.

And ye shall eat there before the Lord your God, and ye shall rejoice with all the acquisition of your hand, ye and your households, wherewith the Lord thy God may have blessed thee.

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

Ye shall not do after all the manner that we do here this day, every one whatsoever is right in his own eyes.

9 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.

For ye are not as yet come to the rest and to the inheritance, which the Lord thy God giveth thee.

10 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,

But ye will go over the Jordan, and dwell in the land which the Lord your God causeth you to inherit, and he will give you rest from all your enemies round about, so that ye may dwell in safety.

11 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.

And then shall it be, that the place which the Lord your God will choose to cause his name to dwell there, —[even] thither shall ye bring all that I command you: your burnt-offerings, and your sacrifices, your tithes, and the heave-offering of your hand, and all your choice vows which ye may vow unto the Lord;

12 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.

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 who is within your gates; because he hath not any portion nor inheritance with you.

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

Take heed to thyself that thou offer not thy burnt-offerings in every place which thou mayest see;

14 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.

But in the place which the Lord will choose in one of thy tribes, there shalt thou offer thy burnt-offerings, and there shalt thou do all that I command thee.

15 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,

Notwithstanding, according to all the longing of thy soul, mayest thou kill and eat flesh, according to the blessing of the Lord thy God which he hath given thee, in all thy gates: the unclean and the clean may eat thereof, as of the roebuck, and as of the hart.

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

Only the blood shall ye not eat: upon the earth shall ye pour it out as water.

17 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.

Thou mayest not eat within thy gates the tithe of thy corn, or of thy wine, or of thy oil, nor the first-born of thy herds or of thy flocks, nor any of thy vows which thou mayest vow, nor thy freewill-offerings, and the heave-offering of thy hand;

18 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,

But before the Lord thy God must thou eat them in the place which the Lord thy God may choose, thou, and thy son, and thy daughter, and thy man-servant, and thy maid-servant, and the Levite who is within thy gates; and thou shalt rejoice before the Lord thy God with all the acquisition of thy hand.

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

Take heed to thyself that thou forsake not the Levite as long as thou livest upon thy land.

20 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.

When the Lord thy God will enlarge thy border, as he hath spoken unto thee, and thou dost say, I wish to eat flesh, because thy soul longeth to eat flesh: then mayest thou, according to all the longing of thy soul, eat flesh.

21 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.

If the place which the Lord thy God may choose to put his name there be too far for thee: then mayest thou kill of thy herds and of thy flocks, which the Lord hath given thee, as I have commanded thee; and thou shalt eat in thy gates according to all the longing of thy soul.

22 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.

But as the roebuck and the hart are eaten, so shalt thou eat the same: the unclean and the clean may eat thereof together.

23 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.

Only be firm so as not to eat the blood; for the blood is the life; and thou shalt not eat the life with the flesh.

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

Thou shalt not eat it: upon the earth shalt thou pour it out like water.

25 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.

Thou shalt not eat it; in order that it may go well with thee, and with thy children after thee, when thou wilt do what is right in the eyes of the Lord.

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

Nevertheless thy holy things which thou mayest have, and thy vows, shalt thou take, and go unto the place which the Lord may choose:

27 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.

And thou shalt offer thy burnt-offerings, the flesh and the blood, upon the altar of the Lord thy God; and the blood of thy sacrifices shall be poured out upon the altar of the Lord thy God, and the flesh shalt thou eat.

28 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.

Observe and hear all these words which I command thee; in order that it may go well with thee, and with thy children after thee for ever, when thou wilt do what is good and right in the eyes of the Lord thy God.

29 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,

When the Lord thy God will cut off the nations, whither thou goest to drive them out from before thee, and thou succeedest them, and dwellest in their land:

30 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.”

Then take heed to thyself that thou be not snared by following them, after they have been destroyed from before thee; and that thou inquire not after their gods, saying, How did these nations serve their gods? even so will I do likewise.

31 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!

Thou shalt not do so unto the Lord thy God; for every abomination to the Lord, which he hateth, have they done unto their gods; for even their sons and their daughters have they burnt in the fire to their gods.

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

What thing soever I command you, even that shall ye observe to do: thou shalt not add thereto, and thou shalt not diminish therefrom.