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 ben the heestis and domes, whiche ye owen to do, in the lond which the Lord God of thi fadrys schal yyue to thee, that thou welde it, in alle daies in whiche thou schalt go on erthe.

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.

Distrie ye alle the places wherynne hethen men whiche ye schulen welde, worschipiden her goddis, on hiy mounteyns, and litle hillis, and vndur ech tre ful of bowis.

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.

Distrie ye `the auteris of hem, and `breke ye the ymagis; brenne ye the wodis with fier, and al to breke ye the idolis; destrie ye `the names of hem fro the places.

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

Ye schulen not do so to youre Lord 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 ye schulen come to the place which youre Lord God chees of alle youre lynagis, that he putte his name there, and dwelle therynne;

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 ye schulen come, and schulen offre in that place youre brent sacrifices, and slayn sacrifices, the dymes, and firste fruytis of youre hondis, and avowis and yiftis, the firste gendrid thingis of oxun, and of scheep.

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 ye and youre housis schulen ete there in the siyt of youre Lord God; and ye schulen be glad in alle thingis to whiche ye putten hond, in whiche youre Lord God blesside you.

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 schulen not do there tho thingis whiche we don here to dai, ech man that semeth riytful to `hym silf.

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 `til in to present tyme ye camen not to reste and possessioun, which the Lord God schal yyue to you.

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.

Ye schulen passe Jordan, and ye schulen dwelle in the lond which youre Lord God schal yyue to you, that ye reste fro alle enemyes `bi cumpas, and dwelle without ony drede.

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.

In the place which youre Lord God chees that his name be therynne. Thidur ye schulen bere alle thingis, whiche Y comaunde, brent sacrifices, and sacrifices, and the dymes, and firste fruytis of youre hondis, and what euere is the beste in yiftis, whiche ye auowiden to the Lord.

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.

Ther ye schulen ete bifor youre Lord God, ye, and youre sones and douytris, youre seruauntis, and seruauntessis, and the dekenes, that dwellen in youre citees; for thei han not other part and possessioun among you.

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

Be thou war lest thou offre thi brent sacrifices in ech place which thou seest,

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 that place which the Lord chees in oon of thi lynagis thou schalt offre sacrifices, and schalt do what euer thingis Y comaunde to 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.

Forsothe if thou wolt ete, and the etyng of fleischis delitith thee, sle thou, and ete, bi the blessyng of thi Lord God, which he yaf to thee in thi citees, whether it is vnclene, `that is, spottid ether wemmed and feble, ether clene, `that is, hool in membris and with out wem, which is leueful to be offrid, thou schalt ete as a capret and hert; oneli without etyng of blood,

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].

which thou schalt schede out as watir on the erthe.

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 schalt not mowe ete in thi citees the tithis of thi wheete, wyn, and oile, the firste gendrid thingis of droues, and of scheep, and alle thingis whiche thou hast avowid and wolt offre bi fre wille, and the firste fruytis of thin hondis;

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 schalt ete tho bifor thi Lord God, in the place which thi Lord God chees, thou, and thi sone, and douyter, seruaunt, and seruauntesse, and the dekene that dwellith in thi citees; and thou schalt be glad, and schalt be fillid bifor thi Lord God in alle thingis to whiche thou holdist forth thin hond.

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

Be thou war lest thou forsake the dekene in al tyme, `in which thou lyuest in erthe.

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.

Whanne thi Lord God hath alargid thi termes, as he spak to thee, and thou wolt ete fleischis, whiche thi soule desirith,

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.

forsothe if the place is fer, which thi Lord God chees, that his name be there, thou schalt sle of thin oxun, and scheep, whiche thou hast, as `the Lord comaundide to thee; and thou schalt ete in thi citees as it plesith thee.

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.

As a capret and hert is etun, so thou schalt ete tho; bothe a cleene man and vncleene schulen ete therof in comyn.

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.

Oneli eschewe thou this, that thou ete not blood; for the blood `of tho beestis is for the lijf, and therfor thou owist not ete the lijf with fleischis,

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

but thou schalt schede as watir `the blood on the erthe,

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.

that it be wel to thee, and to thi sones after thee, whanne thou hast do that, that plesith in the siyt of the Lord.

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.

Sotheli thou schalt take that that thou `auowidist, and halewidist to the Lord, and thou schalt come to the place which the Lord chees;

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 schalt offre thin offryngis, fleischis, and blood, on the auter of thi Lord God; thou schalt schede in the auter the blood of sacrifices; forsothe thou schalt ete the fleischis.

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.

Kepe thou and here alle thingis whiche Y comaunde to thee, that it be wel to thee, and to thi sones after thee, with outen ende, whanne thou hast do that, that is good and plesaunt in the siyt of thi Lord 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.

Whanne thi Lord God hath distryed bifor thi face folkis, to whiche thou schalt entre to welde, and thou hast weldid tho folkis, and hast dwellid in `the lond of hem,

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.’

be thou war lest thou sue hem, aftir that thei ben distried, whanne thou entrist, and thou seke `the cerymonyes of hem, and seie, As these folkis worschipyden her goddis, so and Y schal worschipe.

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 schalt not do in lijk manere to thi Lord God; for thei diden to her goddis alle abhomynaciouns whiche the Lord wlatith, and offriden her sones and douytris, and brenten with fier.

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.”

Do thou to the Lord this thing oneli which Y comaunde to thee, nethir adde thou ony thing, nether abate.