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 the judgments which ye observe to do in the land which Jehovah, God of thy fathers, hath given to thee to possess it, all the days that ye are living on the ground:

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 do utterly destroy all the places where the nations which ye are dispossessing served their gods, on the high mountains, and on the heights, 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 have broken down their altars, and shivered their standing pillars, and their shrines ye burn with fire, and graven images of their gods ye cut down, and have destroyed their name out of that place.

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

'Ye do not do so to Jehovah 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 Jehovah your God doth choose out of all your tribes to put His name there, to His tabernacle ye seek, and thou hast entered thither,

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 hast brought in thither your burnt-offerings, and your sacrifices, and your tithes, and the heave-offering of your hand, and your vows, and your free-will offerings, and the firstlings of your herd and of your flock;

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 have eaten there before Jehovah your God, and have rejoiced in every putting forth of your hand, ye and your households, with which Jehovah thy God hath 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 do not do according to all that we are doing here to-day, each anything that 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 have not come in hitherto unto the rest, and unto the inheritance, which Jehovah thy God is giving to 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,

and ye have passed over the Jordan, and have dwelt in the land which Jehovah your God is causing you to inherit, and He hath given rest to you from all your enemies round about, and ye have dwelt confidently:

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 it hath been, the place on which Jehovah your God doth fix to cause His name to tabernacle there, thither ye bring in all that which I am commanding you, your burnt-offerings, and your sacrifices, your tithes, and the heave-offering of your hand, and all the choice of your vows which ye vow to Jehovah;

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 have rejoiced before Jehovah your God, ye, and your sons, and your daughters, and your men-servants, and your handmaids, and the Levite who [is] within your gates, for he hath no part and inheritance with you.

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

'Take heed to thee, lest thou cause thy burnt-offerings to ascend in any place which thou seest,

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.

except in the place which Jehovah doth choose in one of thy tribes, there thou dost cause thy burnt-offerings to ascend, and there thou dost do all that which I am commanding 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,

'Only, with all the desire of thy soul thou dost sacrifice, and hast eaten flesh according to the blessing of Jehovah thy God which He hath given to thee, in all thy gates; the unclean and the clean do eat it, as of the roe, and as of the hart.

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

'Only, the blood ye do not eat — on the earth thou dost pour it 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 art not able to eat within thy gates the tithe of thy corn, and of thy new wine, and thine oil, and the firstlings of thy herd and of thy flock, and any of thy vows which thou vowest, and thy free-will offerings, and 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 Jehovah thy God thou dost eat it, in the place which Jehovah thy God doth fix on, thou, and thy son, and thy daughter, and thy man-servant, and thy handmaid, and the Levite who [is] within thy gates, and thou hast rejoiced before Jehovah thy God in every putting forth 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 thee lest thou forsake the Levite all thy days on thy ground.

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 Jehovah thy God doth enlarge thy border, as He hath spoken to thee, and thou hast said, Let me eat flesh — for thy soul desireth to eat flesh — of all the desire of thy soul thou dost 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.

'When the place is far from thee which Jehovah thy God doth choose to put His name there, then thou hast sacrificed of thy herd and of thy flock which Jehovah hath given to thee, as I have commanded thee, and hast eaten within thy gates, of all the desire 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.

only, as the roe and the hart is eaten, so dost thou eat it; the unclean and the clean doth alike eat it.

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 sure not to eat the blood, for the blood [is] the life, and thou dost not eat the life with the flesh;

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

thou dost not eat it, on the earth thou dost pour it as 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 dost not eat it, in order that it may be well with thee, and with thy sons after thee, when thou dost that which [is] right in the eyes of Jehovah.

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

'Only, thy holy things which thou hast, and thy vows, thou dost take up, and hast gone in unto the place which Jehovah doth 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 hast made thy burnt-offerings — the flesh and the blood — on the altar of Jehovah thy God; and the blood of thy sacrifices is poured out by the altar of Jehovah thy God, and the flesh thou dost 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 thou hast obeyed all these words which I am commanding thee, in order that it may be well with thee and with thy sons after thee — to the age, when thou dost that which [is] good and right in the eyes of Jehovah 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 Jehovah thy God doth cut off the nations — whither thou art going in to possess them — from thy presence, and thou hast possessed them, and hast dwelt 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.”

take heed to thee, lest thou be snared after them, after their being destroyed out of thy presence, and lest thou enquire about their gods, saying, How do these nations serve their gods, and I do so — even I?

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 dost not do so to Jehovah thy God; for every abomination of Jehovah which He is hating they have done to their gods, for even their sons and their daughters they burn with 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.

The whole thing which I am commanding you — it ye observe to do; thou dost not add unto it, nor diminish from it.