Deuteronomy 12

1 “(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.

These are the statutes and the ordinances which ye shall observe to do in the land which Jehovah, the God of thy fathers, has given thee to possess it all the days that ye live upon the earth.

2 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.

Ye shall surely destroy all the places in which the nations that ye shall dispossess served their gods, upon the high mountains, and upon the hills, and under every green tree.

3 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.

And ye shall break down their altars, and dash in pieces their pillars, and burn their Asherim with fire. And ye shall hew down the graven images of their gods, and ye shall destroy their name out of that place.

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

Ye shall not do so to Jehovah your God.

5 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.

But to the place which Jehovah your God shall choose out of all your tribes, to put his name there, even to his habitation ye shall seek, and there thou shall come.

6 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.

And there ye shall bring your burnt offerings, and your sacrifices, and your tithes, and the heave offering of your hand, and your vows, and your freewill offerings, and the firstlings of your herd and of your flock.

7 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.

And there ye shall eat before Jehovah your God, and ye shall rejoice in all that ye put your hand to, ye and your households, in which Jehovah thy God has blessed thee.

8 “[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,

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

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

For ye are not as yet come to the rest and to the inheritance, which Jehovah thy God gives thee.

10 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.

But when ye go over the Jordan, and dwell in the land which Jehovah your God causes you to inherit, and he gives you rest from all your enemies round about, so that ye dwell in safety,

11 “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.

then it shall come to pass that to the place which Jehovah your God shall choose to cause his name to dwell there, there ye shall bring all that I command you: your burnt offerings, and your sacrifices, your tithes, and the heave offering of your hand, and all your choice vows which ye vow to Jehovah.

12 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.

And ye shall rejoice before Jehovah your God, ye, and your sons, and your daughters, and your men-servants, and your maid-servants, and the Levite who is within your gates-inasmuch as he has no portion nor inheritance with you.

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

Take heed to thyself that thou offer not thy burnt offerings in every place that thou see,

14 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].

but in the place which Jehovah shall choose in one of thy tribes. There thou shall offer thy burnt offerings, and there thou shall do all that I command thee.

15 “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.

Notwithstanding, thou may kill and eat flesh within all thy gates, after all the desire of thy soul, according to the blessing of Jehovah thy God which he has given thee, the unclean and the clean may eat of it, as of the gazelle, and as of the hart.

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

Only ye shall not eat the blood. Thou shall pour it out upon the ground as water.

17 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.

Thou may not eat within thy gates the tithe of thy grain, or of thy new wine, or of thine oil, or the firstlings of thy herd or of thy flock, nor any of thy vows which thou vow, nor thy freewill offerings, nor the heave offering of thy hand.

18 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.

But thou shall eat them before Jehovah thy God in the place which Jehovah thy God shall choose, thou, and thy son, and thy daughter, and thy man-servant, and thy maid-servant, and the Levite who is within thy gates. And thou shall rejoice before Jehovah thy God in all that thou put thy hand to.

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

Take heed to thyself that thou not forsake the Levite as long as thou live in thy land.

20 “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.

When Jehovah thy God shall enlarge thy border, as he has promised thee, and thou shall say, I will eat flesh, because thy soul desires to eat flesh, thou may eat flesh, after all the desire of thy soul.

21 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.

If the place which Jehovah thy God shall choose, to put his name there, be too far from thee, then thou shall kill of thy herd and of thy flock, which Jehovah has given thee, as I have commanded thee, and thou may eat within thy gates, according to all the desire of thy soul.

22 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.

Even as the gazelle and as the hart is eaten, so thou shall eat of it. The unclean and the clean may eat of it alike.

23 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.

Only be sure that thou not eat the blood. For the blood is the life, and thou shall not eat the life with the flesh.

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

Thou shall not eat it. Thou shall pour it out upon the ground as water.

25 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.

Thou shall not eat it, that it may go well with thee, and with thy sons after thee, when thou shall do that which is right in the eyes of Jehovah.

26 “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.

Only thy holy things which thou have, and thy vows, thou shall take, and go to the place which Jehovah shall choose.

27 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.

And thou shall offer thy burnt offerings, the flesh and the blood, upon the altar of Jehovah thy God, and the blood of thy sacrifices shall be poured out upon the altar of Jehovah thy God, and thou shall eat the flesh.

28 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.

Observe and hear all these words which I command thee, that it may go well with thee, and with thy sons after thee forever, when thou do that which is good and right in the eyes of Jehovah thy God.

29 “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.

When Jehovah thy God shall cut off the nations from before thee, where thou go in to dispossess them, and thou dispossess them, and dwell in their land,

30 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.’

take heed to thyself that thou be not ensnared to follow them, after they are destroyed from before thee, and that thou not inquire after their gods, saying, How do these nations serve their gods? Even so I will do likewise.

31 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].

Thou shall not do so to Jehovah thy God. For every abomination to Jehovah, which he hates, they have done to their gods, for they even burn their sons and their daughters in the fire to their gods.

32 “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.”

Whatever thing I command you, that shall ye observe to do. Thou shall not add to it, nor diminish from it.