Deuteronomy 12

1 These are the statutes and the regulations which ye must observe to do, in the land which Yahweh the God of thy fathers hath given unto thee, to possess it, —all the days that ye are living upon the soil:

These are the statutes and ordinances you must be careful to follow all the days you live in the land that the LORD, the God of your fathers, has given you to possess.

2 Ye must utterly destroy, all the places where the nations whom ye are dispossessing have served their gods, —Upon the high mountains And upon the hills, And under every green tree;

Destroy completely all the places where the nations you are dispossessing have served their gods—atop the high mountains, on the hills, and under every green tree.

3 And ye must tear down their altars And break in pieces their pillars, And, their sacred stems, must ye consume with fire, And the carved images of their gods, must ye fell to the ground, —And destroy their name out of that place.

Tear down their altars, smash their sacred pillars, burn up their Asherah poles, cut down the idols of their gods, and wipe out their names from every place.

4 Ye must not do thus unto Yahweh your God;

You shall not worship the LORD your God in this way.

5 but, unto the place which Yahweh your God shall choose out of all your tribes, to put his name there, —as his habitation, shall ye ask your way, and come in thither;

Instead, you must seek the place the LORD your God will choose from among all your tribes to establish as a dwelling for His Name, and there you must go.

6 and bring in thither your ascending-offerings and your sacrifices, and your tithes, and the heave-offering of your hand, —and your vow-offerings and your freewill-offerings, and the firstlings of your herd and of your flock;

To that place you are to bring your burnt offerings and sacrifices, your tithes and heave offerings, your vow offerings and freewill offerings, as well as the firstborn of your herds and flocks.

7 and shall eat there before Yahweh your God, and rejoice in all whereunto ye are putting your hand, Ye, and your households, —wherewith Yahweh thy God hath blessed thee.

There, in the presence of the LORD your God, you and your households shall eat and rejoice in all you do, because the LORD your God has blessed you.

8 Ye must not do according to all that we are doing here to-day, —every man, whatsoever is right in his own eyes.

You are not to do as we are doing here today, where everyone does what seems right in his own eyes.

9 Because ye have not entered as yet, —into the resting-place and into the inheritance which Yahweh thy God is giving unto thee.

For you have not yet come to the resting place and the inheritance that the LORD your God is giving you.

10 But, when ye shall pass over the Jordan, and settle down in the land which, Yahweh your God, is causing you to inherit, —and he shall give you rest from all your enemies round about, and ye shall dwell securely,

When you cross the Jordan and live in the land that the LORD your God is giving you as an inheritance, and He gives you rest from all the enemies around you and you dwell securely,

11 then shall it be, that unto the place which Yahweh your God shall choose to make a habitation for his name there, thither, shall ye bring in all that I am commanding you, —your ascending-offerings and your sacrifices your tithes and the heave-offering of your hand, and all your chosen vow-offerings which ye shall vow unto Yahweh.

then the LORD your God will choose a dwelling for His Name. And there you are to bring everything I command you: your burnt offerings and sacrifices, your tithes and special gifts, and all the choice offerings you vow to the LORD.

12 So shall ye rejoice before Yahweh your God, Ye, and your sons, and your daughters, and your servants and your handmaids, —and the Levite that is within your gates, forasmuch as he hath neither portion nor inheritance with you.

And you shall rejoice before the LORD your God—you, your sons and daughters, your menservants and maidservants, and the Levite within your gates, since he has no portion or inheritance among you.

13 Take heed to thyself, lest thou cause thine ascending-sacrifice to go up in just any place which thou shalt see;

Be careful not to offer your burnt offerings in just any place you see;

14 but, in the place which Yahweh shall choose in one of thy tribes, there, shalt thou cause thine ascending-sacrifice to go up, and, there, shalt thou do all that I am commanding thee.

you must offer them only in the place the LORD will choose in one of your tribal territories, and there you shall do all that I command you.

15 Howbeit of anything thy soul desireth, mayest thou sacrifice and so eat flesh—according to the blessing of Yahweh thy God which he hath bestowed upon thee, in all thy gates, the unclean and the clean may eat thereof, —as the gazelle and as the hart,

But whenever you want, you may slaughter and eat meat within any of your gates, according to the blessing the LORD your God has given you. Both the ceremonially clean and unclean may eat it as they would a gazelle or deer,

16 Howbeit, the blood, shall ye not eat, —upon the earth, shalt thou pour it out, like water.

but you must not eat the blood; pour it on the ground like water.

17 Thou mayest not eat within thy gates, the tithe of thy corn or of thy new wine or of thine oil, or the firstlings of thy herd, or of thy flock, —nor any of thy vow-offerings which thou shalt vow, nor thy freewill, offerings, nor the heave-offering of thy hand;

Within your gates you must not eat the tithe of your grain or new wine or oil, the firstborn of your herds or flocks, any of the offerings that you have vowed to give, or your freewill offerings or special gifts.

18 but before Yahweh thy God, shalt thou eat it in the place which Yahweh thy God shall choose, thou and thy son and thy daughter, and thy servant and thy handmaid, and the Levite who is within thy gates, —so shalt thou rejoice before Yahweh thy God, in all whereunto thou puttest thy hand.

Instead, 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 menservants and maidservants, and the Levite within your gates. Rejoice before the LORD your God in all you do,

19 Take heed to thyself, lest thou forsake the Levite, —all thy days upon thy soil.

and be careful not to neglect the Levites as long as you live in your land.

20 When Yahweh thy God shall enlarge thy boundary—as he hath spoken unto thee—and thou shalt say. I would eat flesh because thy soul desireth to eat flesh, of whatsoever thy soul desireth, mayest thou eat flesh.

When the LORD your God expands your territory as He has promised, and you crave meat and say, “I want to eat meat,” you may eat it whenever you want.

21 When the place which Yahweh thy God shall choose to put his name there, shall be, too far for thee, then shalt thou sacrifice of thy herd or of thy flock which Yahweh hath given unto thee, as I have commanded thee, —and shalt eat, within thine own gates, of whatsoever thy soul desireth.

If the place where the LORD your God chooses to put His Name is too far from you, then you may slaughter any of the herd or flock He has given you, as I have commanded you, and you may eat it within your gates whenever you want.

22 Even as the gazelle and the hart is eaten, so, shalt thou eat it, —the unclean and the clean, alike shall eat it.

Indeed, you may eat it as you would eat a gazelle or deer; both the ceremonially unclean and the clean may eat it.

23 Howbeit firmly refrain from eating the blood; for the blood, is the life, —therefore must thou not eat the life with the flesh.

Only be sure not to eat the blood, because the blood is the life, and you must not eat the life with the meat.

24 Thou shalt not eat it, —upon the earth, shalt thou pour it out, like water.

You must not eat the blood; pour it on the ground like water.

25 Thou shalt not eat it, —that it may be well with thee and with thy children after thee when thou shalt do that which is right in the eyes of Yahweh.

Do not eat it, so that it may go well with you and your children after you, because you will be doing what is right in the eyes of the LORD.

26 Howbeit, thy holy things which thou shalt have and thy vow-offerings, shalt thou take and come in, unto the place which Yahweh shall choose;

But you are to take your holy things and your vow offerings and go to the place the LORD will choose.

27 and shalt offer thine ascending-sacrifices, the flesh and the blood, upon the altar of Yahweh thy God, —and the blood of thine [other] sacrifices, shall be poured out upon the altar of Yahweh thy God, and then the flesh, shalt thou eat.

Present the meat and blood of your burnt offerings on the altar of the LORD your God. The blood of your other sacrifices must be poured out beside the altar of the LORD your God, but you may eat the meat.

28 Observe and hear all these things which I am commanding thee, —that it may be well with thee and with thy children after thee, —unto times age-abiding, so long as thou shalt do that which is pleasing and right in the eyes of Yahweh thy God.

Be careful to obey all these things I command you, so that it may always go well with you and your children after you, because you will be doing what is good and right in the eyes of the LORD your God.

29 When Yahweh thy God shall cut off from before thee, the nations Whom thou art going in to dispossess, —and thou do dispossess them, and dwell in their land,

When the LORD your God cuts off before you the nations you are entering to dispossess, and you drive them out and live in their land,

30 take heed to thyself lest thou be thrust after them, after they have been destroyed from before thee, —and lest thou enquire after their gods, saying—In what manner, did these nations serve their gods, that, I too, may do likewise?

be careful not to be ensnared by their ways after they have been destroyed before you. Do not inquire about their gods, asking, “How do these nations serve their gods? I will do likewise.”

31 Thou shalt not do likewise unto Yahweh thy God, —for everything that is an abomination unto Yahweh which he doth hate, have they done unto their gods, for even their sons and their daughters, do they consume with fire unto their gods.

You must not worship the LORD your God in this way, because they practice for their gods every abomination which the LORD hates. They even burn their sons and daughters in the fire as sacrifices to their gods.

32 Whatsoever be the thing which I am commanding you, the same, shall ye observe to do, —thou shalt neither add thereunto, nor take away therefrom.

See that you do everything I command you; do not add to it or subtract from it.