Deut 12
1
These are the statutes and the ordinances, which ye shall observe to do in the land
which the LORD, the God of thy fathers, hath given thee to possess it, all the days
that ye live upon the earth.
2
Ye shall surely destroy all the places, wherein the nations that ye are to dispossess
served their gods, upon the high mountains, and upon the hills, and under every leafy
tree.
3
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
Ye shall not do so unto the LORD your God.
5
But unto the place which the LORD your God shall choose out of all your tribes to
put His name there, even unto His habitation shall ye seek, and thither thou shalt
come;
6
and thither ye shall bring your burnt-offerings, and your sacrifices, and your tithes,
and the offering of your hand, and your vows, and your freewill-offerings, and the
firstlings of your herd and of your flock;
7
and there ye shall eat before the LORD your God, and ye shall rejoice in all that
ye put your hand unto, ye and your households, wherein the LORD thy God hath blessed
thee.
8
Ye shall not do after all that we do here this day, every man whatsoever is right
in his own eyes;
9
for ye are not as yet come to the rest and to the inheritance, which the LORD your
God giveth thee.
10
But when ye go over the Jordan, and dwell in the land which the LORD your God causeth
you to inherit, and He giveth you rest from all your enemies round about, so that
ye dwell in safety;
11
then it shall come to pass that the place which the LORD your God shall choose to
cause His name to dwell there, thither shall ye bring all that I command you: your
burnt-offerings, and your sacrifices, your tithes, and the offering of your hand,
and all your choice vows which ye vow unto the LORD.
12
And ye shall rejoice before the LORD your God, ye, and your sons, and your daughters,
and your men-servants, and your maid- servants, and the Levite that is within your
gates, forasmuch as he hath no portion nor inheritance with you.
13
Take heed to thyself that thou offer not thy burnt-offerings in every place that thou
seest;
14
but in the place which the LORD shall choose in one of thy tribes, there thou shalt
offer thy burnt-offerings, and there thou shalt do all that I command thee.
15
Notwithstanding thou mayest kill and eat flesh within all thy gates, after all the
desire of thy soul, according to the blessing of the LORD thy God which He hath given
thee; the unclean and the clean may eat thereof, as of the gazelle, and as of the
hart.
16
Only ye shall not eat the blood; 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 wine, or of
thine oil, or the firstlings of thy herd or of thy flock, nor any of thy vows which
thou vowest, nor thy freewill-offerings, nor the offering of thy hand;
18
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 man-servant, and thy maid-servant,
and the Levite that is within thy gates; and thou shalt rejoice before the LORD thy
God in all that thou puttest thy hand unto.
19
Take heed to thyself that thou forsake not the Levite as long as thou livest upon
thy land.
20
When the LORD thy God shall enlarge thy border, as He hath promised thee, and thou
shalt say: 'I will eat flesh', because thy soul desireth to eat flesh; thou mayest
eat flesh, after all the desire of thy soul.
21
If the place which the LORD thy God shall choose to put His name there be too far
from thee, then thou shalt kill of thy herd and of thy flock, which the LORD hath
given thee, as I have commanded thee, and thou shalt eat within thy gates, after all
the desire of thy soul.
22
Howbeit as the gazelle and as the hart is eaten, so thou shalt eat thereof; the unclean
and the clean may eat thereof alike.
23
Only be stedfast in not eating the blood; for the blood is the life; and thou shalt
not eat the life with the flesh.
24
Thou shalt not eat it; thou shalt pour it out upon the earth as water.
25
Thou shalt not eat it; that it may go well with thee, and with thy children after
thee, when thou shalt do that which is right in the eyes of the LORD.
26
Only thy holy things which thou hast, and thy vows, thou shalt take, and go unto the
place which the LORD shall choose;
27
and thou shalt offer thy burnt-offerings, the flesh and the blood, upon the altar
of the LORD thy God; and the blood of thy sacrifices shall be poured out against the
altar of the LORD thy God, and thou shalt eat the flesh.
28
Observe and hear all these words which I command thee, that it may go well with thee,
and with thy children after thee for ever, when thou doest that which is good and
right in the eyes of the LORD thy God.
29
When the LORD thy God shall cut off the nations from before thee, whither thou goest
in to dispossess them, and thou dispossessest them, and dwellest in their land;
30
take heed to thyself that thou be not ensnared to follow them, after that they are
destroyed from before thee; and that thou inquire not after their gods, saying: 'How
used these nations to serve their gods? even so will I do likewise.'
31
Thou shalt not do so unto the LORD thy God; for every abomination to the LORD, which
He hateth, have they done unto their gods; for even their sons and their daughters
do they burn in the fire to their gods.
32
All this word which I command you, that shall ye observe to do; thou shalt not add
thereto, nor diminish from it.