Deuteronomy 12

1 These are the statutes and the ordinances which you shall observe to do in the land which YHWH, the God of your fathers, has given you to possess it, all the days that you live on the earth.

“(I will now tell you again/These, [again], are) the rules and regulations that you must faithfully obey in the land that Yahweh, the God whom our ancestors [worshiped], is giving to you to occupy. You must obey these laws all the time that you are alive.

2 You shall surely destroy all the places in which the nations that you shall dispossess served their gods, on the high mountains, and on the hills, and under every green tree:

You must destroy all the places where the people-groups that you will expel worship their gods, on the tops of mountains and hills and under big green trees.

3 and you shall break down their altars, and dash in pieces their pillars, and burn their Asherim with fire; and you shall cut down the engraved images of their gods; and you shall destroy their name out of that place.

You must tear down their altars and smash their sacred pillars. Completely burn the statues of their goddess Asherah in fires, and chop down their wooden idols, in order that no one will ever worship them [MTY] in those places again.

4 You shall not do so to YHWH your God.

“Do not worship Yahweh like [the people in Canaan worship their gods].

5 But to the place which YHWH your God shall choose out of all your tribes, to put his name there, even to his habitation you shall seek, and there you shall come;

Instead, you must go to the place that Yahweh will choose. It will be in the area where one of your tribes will live. That is where you must go to worship Yahweh.

6 and there you shall bring your burnt offerings, and your sacrifices, and your tithes, and the wave offering of your hand, and your vows, and your freewill offerings, and the firstborn of your herd and of your flock:

That is the place where you must bring your sacrifices that will be completely burned on the altar, and your other sacrifices, (your tithes/ten percent of all of your crops), other offerings that you decide to give, and the firstborn animals from your cattle and sheep.

7 and there you shall eat before YHWH your God, and you shall rejoice in all that you put your hand to, you and your households, in which YHWH your God has blessed you.

There, in the presence of Yahweh our God, who has [greatly] blessed you, you and your families will eat the good things that you have worked to produce, and you will be happy.

8 You shall not do after all the things that we do here this day, every man whatever is right in his own eyes;

“[When you are in that land], you must not do some of the things that we have been doing. Until now, you have all been worshiping [Yahweh] the way you wanted to,

9 for you haven't yet come to the rest and to the inheritance, which YHWH your God gives you.

because you have not yet arrived in the land which Yahweh is giving to you, where you will be able to live peacefully.

10 But when you go over the Jordan, and dwell in the land which YHWH your God causes you to inherit, and he gives you rest from all your enemies around you, so that you dwell in safety;

But when you cross the Jordan [River], you will start to live in the land that Yahweh our God is giving to you. He will protect you from all your enemies that will surround you, and you will live peacefully/safely.

11 then it shall happen that to the place which YHWH your God shall choose, to cause his name to dwell there, there you shall bring all that I command you: your burnt offerings, and your sacrifices, your tithes, and the wave offering of your hand, and all your choice vows which you vow to your God.

“Yahweh will choose one place where he wants you to worship him. That is the place to which you must bring all the offerings that I command you to bring: The sacrifices that must be completely burned [on the altar], your other sacrifices, other offerings that you yourselves decide to give, (your tithes/ten percent of all your crops), and all the special offerings that you will solemnly promise to give to Yahweh.

12 You shall rejoice before YHWH your God, you, and your sons, and your daughters, and your male servants, and your female servants, and the Levite who is within your gates, because he has no portion nor inheritance with you.

Rejoice there in the presence of Yahweh, along with your children, your male and female servants, and the descendants of Levi who live in your towns. Do not forget that the descendants of Levi will not have their own land, like you will have.

13 Be careful that you do not offer your burnt offerings in every place that you see;

Be sure that you do not offer sacrifices anywhere you want to.

14 but in the place which YHWH shall choose in one of your tribes, there you shall offer your burnt offerings, and there you shall do all that I command you.

You must offer them only in the place that Yahweh will choose for you, in an area that belongs to one of your tribes. That is the only place where he wants you to offer sacrifices that will be completely burned [on the altar], and to do the other things that I am commanding you to do [when you worship him].

15 Notwithstanding, you may kill and eat flesh within all your gates, after all the desire of your soul, according to the blessing of YHWH your God which he has given you: the unclean and the clean may eat of it, as of the gazelle, and as of the deer.

“However, you will be permitted to kill and eat the meat of your animals in the places where you live. As often as you want to, you may eat the meat of the animals that Yahweh our God will bless you by giving them to you. Those who have done things that cause them to become unacceptable to God and those who have not done things like that may all eat that meat, just like you would eat the meat of a deer or an antelope.

16 Only you shall not eat the blood; you shall pour it out on the earth as water.

But you must not eat the blood [of any animals]; you must let the blood drain onto the ground [before you cook the meat].

17 You may not eat within your gates the tithe of your grain, or of your new wine, or of your oil, or the firstborn of your herd or of your flock, nor any of your vows which you vow, nor your freewill offerings, nor the wave offering of your hand;

In the places where you live, you must not eat the things that you are offering [to Yahweh]: You must not eat the (tithes/ten percent) of your grain or of your wine, or of your [olive] oil, or the firstborn of your cattle and sheep, or the offerings that you yourselves decide to give to Yahweh, or any other offerings.

18 but you shall eat them before YHWH your God in the place which YHWH your God shall choose, you, and your son, and your daughter, and your male servant, and your female servant, and the Levite who is within your gates: and you shall rejoice before YHWH your God in all that you put your hand to.

Instead, you and your children and your male and female servants and the descendants of Levi who live in your towns must go to the place that he has chosen and eat those things there in the presence of Yahweh. And you should rejoice in the presence of Yahweh about everything that you do.

19 Be careful that you do not forsake the Levite as long as you live in your land.

Be sure that you take care of the descendants of Levi all during the time that you live in your land.

20 When YHWH your God shall enlarge your border, as he has promised you, and you shall say, "I want to eat meat," because your soul desires to eat meat; you may eat meat, after all the desire of your soul.

“When Yahweh our God gives you much more land [than you will have when you first occupy it], which is what he has promised to do, and you say ‘I would like some meat to eat’ because you are craving/wanting some meat, you will be permitted to eat meat whenever you want to.

21 If the place which YHWH your God shall choose to put his name there is too far from you, then you shall kill of your herd and of your flock, which God has given you, as I have commanded you; and you may eat within your gates, after all the desire of your soul.

If the place that Yahweh our God chooses to be the place for you to worship him is far [from where you live], you are permitted to kill some of your cattle or sheep that Yahweh has given to you, and you may eat that meat at the places where you live, just like I have told you to do.

22 Even as the gazelle and as the deer is eaten, so you shall eat of it: the unclean and the clean may eat of it alike.

Those who have done things that cause them to become unacceptable to God, and those who have not done things like that, are all permitted to all eat that meat, just like you would eat the meat of a deer or an antelope.

23 Only be sure that you do not eat the blood: for the blood is the life; and you shall not eat the life with the flesh.

But be sure that you do not eat the blood [of any animal], because it is the blood that sustains life in living beings, and so you must not eat the life along with the meat.

24 You shall not eat it; you shall pour it out on the earth as water.

Do not eat the blood; instead, let it drain onto the ground.

25 You shall not eat it; that it may go well with you, and with your children after you, when you shall do that which is right in the eyes of YHWH.

If you obey this command and do what Yahweh says is right [for you to do], things will go well for you and for your descendants.

26 Only your holy things which you have, and your vows, you shall take, and go to the place which YHWH shall choose,

“But the sacred offerings that Yahweh has told you to give and the other offerings that you yourselves decide to give, you must take to the place that Yahweh will choose.

27 and you shall offer your burnt offerings, the flesh and the blood, on the altar of YHWH your God; and the blood of your sacrifices shall be poured out on the altar of YHWH your God; and you shall eat the flesh.

You must offer there the sacrifices that will be completely burned [on Yahweh’s altar]. You must also offer there the sacrifices from which you may eat some of meat after you [kill the animals and] drain out the blood and some of it is thrown on the [sides of the] altar.

28 Observe and hear and do all these words which I command you, that it may go well with you, and with your children after you forever, when you do that which is good and right in the eyes of YHWH your God.

Faithfully obey all these things that I have commanded you. If you do that, things will go well forever for you and your descendants, because you will be doing what Yahweh our God says is right [for you to do] and what pleases him.

29 When YHWH your God shall cut off the nations from before you, where you go in to dispossess them, and you dispossess them, and dwell in their land;

“When you enter the land that you will occupy, as you advance, Yahweh our God will get rid of the people-groups that live there.

30 take heed to yourself that you not be ensnared to follow them, after that they are destroyed from before you; and that you not inquire after their gods, saying, "How do these nations serve their gods? I will do likewise."

After he does that, be sure that you do not [worship the gods] that they have been worshiping, because if you do that, you will be caught in the same trap [that they were caught in] [MET]. Do not ask anyone about those gods, saying, ‘Tell me how they worshiped their gods, in order that I can [worship them] also.’

31 You shall not do so to YHWH your God: for every abomination to YHWH, which he hates, have they done to their gods; for even their sons and their daughters do they burn in the fire to their gods.

Do not try to worship Yahweh our God like they have worshiped their gods, because when they worship them, they do disgusting things, things that Yahweh hates. [The worst thing that they do is] that they sacrifice their own children and burn them [on their altars].

32 Whatever thing I command you, that you shall observe to do: you shall not add thereto, nor diminish from it.

“Be sure to do everything that I have commanded you to do. Do not add anything to these commands, and do not take anything away from them.”