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 precepts and judgments, that you must do in the land, which the Lord the God of thy fathers will give thee, to possess it all the days that thou shalt walk upon the earth.

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 all the places in which the nations, that you shall possess, worshipped their gods upon high mountains, and hills, and under every shady 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.

Overthrow their altars, and break down their statues, burn their groves with fire, and break their idols in pieces: destroy their names out of those places.

4 Ye must not do thus unto Yahweh your God;

You shall not do so to the Lord your God:

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;

But you shall come to the place, which the Lord your God shall choose out of all your tribes, to put his name there, and to dwell in it:

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;

And you shall offer in that place your holocausts and victims, the tithes and firstfruits of your hands and your vows and gifts, the firstborn of your herds and your sheep.

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.

And you shall eat there in the sight of the Lord your God: and you shall rejoice in all things, whereunto you shall put your hand, you and your houses wherein the Lord your God hath 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 shall not do there the things we do here this day, every man that which seemeth good to himself.

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 until this present time you are not come to refit, and to the possession, which the Lord your God will give 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,

You shall pass over the Jordan, and shall dwell in the land which the Lord your God will give you, that you may have rest from all enemies round about: and may dwell without any fear,

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.

In the place, which the Lord your God shall choose, that his name may be therein. Thither shall you bring all the things that I command you, holocausts, and victims, and tithes, and the firstfruits of your hands: and whatsoever is the choicest in the gifts which you shall 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.

There shall you feast before the Lord your God, you and your sons and your daughters, your menservants and maid-servants, and the Levite that dwelleth in your cities. For he hath no other part and possession among you.

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

Beware lest thou offer thy holocausts in every place that thou shalt 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.

But in the place which the Lord shall choose in one of thy tribes shalt thou offer sacrifices. and shalt do all that I command thee.

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 if thou desirest to eat, and the eating of flesh delight thee, kill, and eat according to the blessing of the Lord thy God, which he hath given thee, in thy cities: whether it be unclean, that is to say, having blemish or defect: or clean, that is to say, sound and without blemish, such as may be offered, as the roe, and the hart, shalt thou eat it:

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

Only the blood thou shalt not eat, but thou shalt pour it out upon the earth as 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;

Thou mayst not eat in thy towns the tithes of thy corn, and thy wine, and thy oil, the firstborn of thy herds and thy cattle, nor any thing that thou vowest, and that thou wilt offer voluntarily, and the firstfruits of thy hands:

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.

But thou shalt eat them before the Lord thy God in the place which the Lord thy God shall choose, thou and thy son and thy daughter, and thy manservant, and maidservant, and the Levite that dwelleth in thy cities: and thou shalt rejoice and be refreshed before the Lord thy God in all things, whereunto thou shalt put thy hand.

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

Take heed thou forsake not the Levite all the time that thou livest in the 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 thy God shall have enlarged thy borders, as he hath spoken to thee, and thou wilt eat the flesh that thy soul desireth:

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.

And if the place which the Lord thy God shall choose, that his name should be there, be far off, thou shalt kill of thy herds and of thy flocks, as I have commanded thee, and shalt eat in thy towns, as it pleaseth thee.

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

Even as the roe and the hart is eaten, so shalt thou eat them: both the clean and unclean shall eat of them alike.

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 beware of this, that thou eat not the blood, for the blood is for the soul: and therefore thou must not eat the soul with the flesh:

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

But thou shalt pour it upon the earth as 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.

That it may be well with thee and thy children after thee, when thou shalt do that which is pleasing in the sight 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 the things which thou hast sanctified and vowed to the Lord, thou shalt take, and shalt come to the place which the Lord shall 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.

And shalt offer thy oblations the flesh and the blood upon the altar of the Lord thy God: the blood of thy victims thou shalt pour on the altar: and the flesh thou thyself shalt eat.

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.

Observe and hear all the things that I command thee, that it may be well with thee and thy children after thee for ever, when thou shalt do what is good and pleasing in the sight of the Lord thy 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 thy God shall have destroyed before thy face the nations, which then shalt go in to possess, and when thou shalt possess them, and dwell 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?

Beware lest thou imitate them, after they are destroyed at thy coming in, and lest thou seek after their ceremonies, saying: As these nations have worshipped their gods, so will I also worship.

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.

Thou shalt not do in like manner to the Lord thy God. For they have done to their gods all the abominations which the Lord abhorreth, offering their sons and daughters, and burning them with fire.

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.

What I command thee, that only do thou to the Lord: neither add any thing, nor diminish.