Deuteronomy 12

1 “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.

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 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;

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 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.

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 You do not do so to your God YHWH;

Do not so to the Lord your God.

5 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,

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 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;

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 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.

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 You do not do according to all that we are doing here today—each [doing] anything that 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 for until now you have not come to the rest and to the inheritance which your God YHWH is giving to you.

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

10 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,

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 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.

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 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.

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

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

14 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.

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 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.

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

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

17 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;

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 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;

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

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

20 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.

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 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;

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

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

23 Only, be sure not to eat the blood, for the blood [is] the life, and you do 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 you do not eat it—you pour it on the earth as water;

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

25 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.

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

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 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.

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 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.

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 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—

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 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?

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 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.

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

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