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Deuteronomy 12:1-14:21
English Standard Version
Deuteronomy 12:1-14:21
English Standard Version
The Lord's Chosen Place of Worship
12 (A)“These are the statutes and rules that you shall be careful to do in the land that the Lord, the God of your fathers, has given you to possess, (B)all the days that you live on the earth. 2 (C)You shall surely destroy all the places where the nations whom you shall dispossess served their gods, (D)on the high mountains and on the hills and under every green tree. 3 You shall tear down their altars and dash in pieces (E)their pillars and burn their (F)Asherim with fire. You shall chop down the carved images of their gods and (G)destroy their name out of that place. 4 (H)You shall not worship the Lord your God in that way. 5 But you shall seek (I)the place that the Lord your God will choose out of all your tribes to put his name and make his habitation[a] there. There you shall go, 6 and there you shall bring your burnt offerings and your sacrifices, (J)your tithes and the contribution that you present, your vow offerings, your freewill offerings, and the (K)firstborn of your herd and of your flock. 7 And (L)there you shall eat before the Lord your God, and (M)you shall rejoice, you and your households, in all that you undertake, in which the Lord your God has blessed you.
8 “You shall not do according to all that we are doing here today, (N)everyone doing whatever is right in his own eyes, 9 for you have not as yet come to (O)the rest and to the inheritance that the Lord your God is giving you. 10 But when (P)you go over the Jordan and live in the land that the Lord your God is giving you to inherit, (Q)and when he gives you rest from all your enemies around, so that you live in safety, 11 then to (R)the place that the Lord your God will choose, to make his name dwell there, there you shall bring all that I command you: your burnt offerings and your sacrifices, (S)your tithes and the contribution that you present, and all your finest vow offerings that you vow to the Lord. 12 And (T)you shall rejoice before the Lord your God, you and your sons and your daughters, your male servants and your female servants, and the Levite that is within your towns, since (U)he has no portion or inheritance with you. 13 (V)Take care that you do not offer your burnt offerings at any place that you see, 14 but at (W)the place that the Lord will choose in one of your tribes, there you shall offer your burnt offerings, and there you shall do all that I am commanding you.
15 “However, you may slaughter and eat meat within any of your towns, as much as you desire, (X)according to the blessing of the Lord your God that he has given you. (Y)The unclean and the clean may eat of it, as of the gazelle and as of the deer. 16 (Z)Only you shall not eat the blood; you shall pour it out on the earth like water. 17 You may not eat within your towns (AA)the tithe of your grain or of your wine or of your oil, or the firstborn of your herd or of your flock, or any of your vow offerings that you vow, or your freewill offerings or the contribution that you present, 18 but (AB)you shall eat them before the Lord your God in (AC)the place that the Lord your God will choose, you and your son and your daughter, your male servant and your female servant, and the Levite who is within your towns. And (AD)you shall rejoice before the Lord your God in all that you undertake. 19 (AE)Take care that you do not neglect the Levite as long as you live in your land.
20 “When the Lord your God (AF)enlarges your territory, (AG)as he has promised you, and you say, ‘I will eat meat,’ because you crave meat, you may eat meat whenever you desire. 21 If (AH)the place that the Lord your God will choose to put his name there is too far from you, (AI)then you may kill any of your herd or your flock, which the Lord has given you, as I have commanded you, and you may eat within your towns whenever you desire. 22 Just (AJ)as the gazelle or the deer is eaten, so you may eat of it. (AK)The unclean and the clean alike may eat of it. 23 (AL)Only be sure that you do not eat the blood, (AM)for the blood is the life, and you shall not eat the life with the flesh. 24 You shall not eat it; you shall pour it out on the earth like water. 25 You shall not eat it, (AN)that all may go well with you and with your children after you, (AO)when you do what is right in the sight of the Lord. 26 But the (AP)holy things that are due from you, and (AQ)your vow offerings, you shall take, and you shall go to (AR)the place that the Lord will choose, 27 and (AS)offer your burnt offerings, the flesh and the blood, on the altar of the Lord your God. The blood of your sacrifices shall be poured out on the altar of the Lord your God, but the flesh you may eat. 28 Be careful to obey all these words that I command you, (AT)that it may go well with you and with your children after you forever, when you do what is good and right in the sight of the Lord your God.
Warning Against Idolatry
29 “When (AU)the Lord your God cuts off before you the nations whom you go in to dispossess, and you dispossess them and dwell in their land, 30 take care (AV)that you be not ensnared to follow them, after they have been destroyed before you, and that you do not inquire about their gods, saying, ‘How did these nations serve their gods?—that I also may do the same.’ 31 (AW)You shall not worship the Lord your God in that way, for every (AX)abominable thing that the Lord hates they have done for their gods, for (AY)they even burn their sons and their daughters in the fire to their gods.
32 [b] “Everything that I command you, you shall be careful to do. (AZ)You shall not add to it or take from it.
13 “If a prophet or (BA)a dreamer of dreams arises among you and gives you a sign or a wonder, 2 and (BB)the sign or wonder that he tells you comes to pass, and if he says, ‘Let us go after other gods,’ which you have not known, ‘and let us serve them,’ 3 you shall not listen to the words of that prophet or that dreamer of dreams. For the Lord your God (BC)is testing you, to know whether you love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul. 4 You shall (BD)walk after the Lord your God and fear him and keep his commandments and obey his voice, and you shall serve him and (BE)hold fast to him. 5 But (BF)that prophet or that dreamer of dreams shall be put to death, because he has taught rebellion against the Lord your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt and redeemed you out of the house of slavery, to make you leave the way in which the Lord your God commanded you to walk. (BG)So you shall purge the evil[c] from your midst.
6 (BH)“If your brother, the son of your mother, or your son or your daughter or (BI)the wife you embrace[d] or your friend (BJ)who is as your own soul entices you secretly, saying, ‘Let us go and serve other gods,’ (BK)which neither you nor your fathers have known, 7 some (BL)of the gods of the peoples who are around you, whether near you or far off from you, from the one end of the earth to the other, 8 you shall (BM)not yield to him or listen to him, nor (BN)shall your eye pity him, nor shall you spare him, nor shall you conceal him. 9 But you shall kill him. (BO)Your hand shall be first against him to put him to death, and afterward the hand of all the people. 10 (BP)You shall stone him to death with stones, because he sought to draw you away from the Lord your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of slavery. 11 And (BQ)all Israel shall hear and fear and never again do any such wickedness as this among you.
12 “If you hear in one of your cities, which the Lord your God is giving you to dwell there, 13 that certain (BR)worthless fellows have gone out among you and have drawn away the inhabitants of their city, saying, ‘Let us go and serve other gods,’ which you have not known, 14 then you shall inquire and make search and ask (BS)diligently. And behold, if it be true and certain that such an abomination has been done among you, 15 you shall surely put the inhabitants of that city to the sword, devoting it to destruction,[e] all who are in it and its cattle, with the edge of the sword. 16 You shall gather all its spoil into the midst of its open square and (BT)burn the city and all its spoil with fire, as a whole burnt offering to the Lord your God. It shall be a (BU)heap forever. It shall not be built again. 17 (BV)None of the devoted things shall stick to your hand, (BW)that the Lord may turn from the fierceness of his anger and show you mercy and have compassion on you and multiply you, (BX)as he swore to your fathers, 18 if you obey the voice of the Lord your God, (BY)keeping all his commandments that I am commanding you today, and doing what is right in the sight of the Lord your God.
Clean and Unclean Food
14 “You are (BZ)the sons of the Lord your God. (CA)You shall not cut yourselves or make any (CB)baldness on your foreheads for the dead. 2 For (CC)you are a people holy to the Lord your God, and the Lord has chosen you to be a people for his treasured possession, out of all the peoples who are on the face of the earth.
3 (CD)“You shall not eat any abomination. 4 (CE)These are the animals you may eat: the ox, the sheep, the goat, 5 the deer, the gazelle, the roebuck, the wild goat, the ibex,[f] the antelope, and the mountain sheep. 6 Every animal that parts the hoof and has the hoof cloven in two and chews the cud, among the animals, you may eat. 7 Yet of those that chew the cud or have the hoof cloven you shall not eat these: the camel, the hare, and the (CF)rock badger, because they chew the cud but do not part the hoof, are unclean for you. 8 And the pig, because it parts the hoof but does not chew the cud, is unclean for you. Their flesh you shall not eat, and (CG)their carcasses you shall not touch.
9 “Of all that are in the waters you may eat these: whatever has fins and scales you may eat. 10 And whatever does not have fins and scales you shall not eat; it is unclean for you.
11 “You may eat all clean birds. 12 But these are the ones that you shall not eat: the eagle,[g] the bearded vulture, the black vulture, 13 the kite, the falcon of any kind; 14 every raven of any kind; 15 the ostrich, the nighthawk, the sea gull, the hawk of any kind; 16 the little owl and the short-eared owl, the barn owl 17 and the tawny owl, the carrion vulture and the cormorant, 18 the stork, the heron of any kind; the hoopoe and the bat. 19 And all winged insects are unclean for you; they shall not be eaten. 20 All clean winged things you may eat.
21 (CH)“You shall not eat anything that has died naturally. You may give it to the sojourner who is within your towns, that he may eat it, or you may sell it to a foreigner. For (CI)you are a people holy to the Lord your God.
(CJ)“You shall not boil a young goat in its mother's milk.
Footnotes
- Deuteronomy 12:5 Or name as its habitation
- Deuteronomy 12:32 Ch 13:1 in Hebrew
- Deuteronomy 13:5 Or evil person
- Deuteronomy 13:6 Hebrew the wife of your bosom
- Deuteronomy 13:15 That is, setting apart (devoting) as an offering to the Lord (for destruction)
- Deuteronomy 14:5 Or addax
- Deuteronomy 14:12 The identity of many of these birds is uncertain
Deuteronomy 12:1-14:21
New International Version
Deuteronomy 12:1-14:21
New International Version
The One Place of Worship
12 These are the decrees(A) and laws you must be careful to follow in the land that the Lord, the God of your ancestors, has given you to possess—as long as you live in the land.(B) 2 Destroy completely all the places on the high mountains,(C) on the hills and under every spreading tree,(D) where the nations you are dispossessing worship their gods. 3 Break down their altars, smash(E) their sacred stones and burn(F) their Asherah(G) poles in the fire; cut down the idols of their gods and wipe out their names(H) from those places.
4 You must not worship the Lord your God in their way.(I) 5 But you are to seek the place the Lord your God will choose from among all your tribes to put his Name(J) there for his dwelling.(K) To that place you must go; 6 there bring your burnt offerings and sacrifices, your tithes(L) and special gifts, what you have vowed(M) to give and your freewill offerings, and the firstborn of your herds and flocks.(N) 7 There, in the presence(O) of the Lord your God, you and your families shall eat and shall rejoice(P) in everything you have put your hand to, because the Lord your God has blessed you.
8 You are not to do as we do here today, everyone doing as they see fit,(Q) 9 since you have not yet reached the resting place(R) and the inheritance(S) the Lord your God is giving you. 10 But you will cross the Jordan and settle in the land the Lord your God is giving(T) you as an inheritance, and he will give you rest(U) from all your enemies around you so that you will live in safety. 11 Then to the place the Lord your God will choose as a dwelling for his Name(V)—there you are to bring everything I command you: your burnt offerings and sacrifices, your tithes and special gifts, and all the choice possessions you have vowed to the Lord.(W) 12 And there rejoice(X) before the Lord your God—you, your sons and daughters, your male and female servants, and the Levites(Y) from your towns who have no allotment or inheritance(Z) of their own. 13 Be careful not to sacrifice your burnt offerings anywhere you please.(AA) 14 Offer them only at the place the Lord will choose(AB) in one of your tribes, and there observe everything I command you.
15 Nevertheless, you may slaughter your animals in any of your towns and eat as much of the meat as you want, as if it were gazelle or deer,(AC) according to the blessing the Lord your God gives you. Both the ceremonially unclean and the clean may eat it. 16 But you must not eat the blood;(AD) pour(AE) it out on the ground like water.(AF) 17 You must not eat in your own towns the tithe(AG) of your grain and new wine and olive oil,(AH) or the firstborn of your herds and flocks, or whatever you have vowed to give,(AI) or your freewill offerings or special gifts.(AJ) 18 Instead, you are to eat(AK) them in the presence of the Lord your God at the place the Lord your God will choose(AL)—you, your sons and daughters, your male and female servants, and the Levites from your towns—and you are to rejoice(AM) before the Lord your God in everything you put your hand to. 19 Be careful not to neglect the Levites(AN) as long as you live in your land.(AO)
20 When the Lord your God has enlarged your territory(AP) as he promised(AQ) you, and you crave meat(AR) and say, “I would like some meat,” then you may eat as much of it as you want. 21 If the place where the Lord your God chooses to put his Name(AS) is too far away from you, you may slaughter animals from the herds and flocks the Lord has given you, as I have commanded you, and in your own towns you may eat as much of them as you want.(AT) 22 Eat them as you would gazelle or deer.(AU) Both the ceremonially unclean and the clean may eat. 23 But be sure you do not eat the blood,(AV) because the blood is the life, and you must not eat the life with the meat.(AW) 24 You must not eat the blood; pour it out on the ground like water.(AX) 25 Do not eat it, so that it may go well(AY) with you and your children after you, because you will be doing what is right(AZ) in the eyes of the Lord.
26 But take your consecrated things and whatever you have vowed to give,(BA) and go to the place the Lord will choose. 27 Present your burnt offerings(BB) on the altar of the Lord your God, both the meat and the blood. The blood of your sacrifices must be poured beside the altar of the Lord your God, but you may eat(BC) the meat. 28 Be careful to obey all these regulations I am giving you, so that it may always go well(BD) 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 The Lord your God will cut off(BE) before you the nations you are about to invade and dispossess. But when you have driven them out and settled in their land,(BF) 30 and after they have been destroyed before you, be careful not to be ensnared(BG) by inquiring about their gods, saying, “How do these nations serve their gods? We will do the same.”(BH) 31 You must not worship the Lord your God in their way, because in worshiping their gods, they do all kinds of detestable things the Lord hates.(BI) They even burn their sons(BJ) and daughters in the fire as sacrifices to their gods.(BK)
32 See that you do all I command you; do not add(BL) to it or take away from it.[a]
Worshiping Other Gods
13 [b]If a prophet,(BM) or one who foretells by dreams,(BN) appears among you and announces to you a sign or wonder, 2 and if the sign(BO) or wonder spoken of takes place, and the prophet says, “Let us follow other gods”(BP) (gods you have not known) “and let us worship them,” 3 you must not listen to the words of that prophet(BQ) or dreamer.(BR) The Lord your God is testing(BS) you to find out whether you love(BT) him with all your heart and with all your soul. 4 It is the Lord your God you must follow,(BU) and him you must revere.(BV) Keep his commands and obey him; serve him and hold fast(BW) to him. 5 That prophet or dreamer must be put to death(BX) for inciting rebellion against the Lord your God, who brought you out of Egypt and redeemed you from the land of slavery. That prophet or dreamer tried to turn(BY) you from the way the Lord your God commanded you to follow. You must purge the evil(BZ) from among you.
6 If your very own brother, or your son or daughter, or the wife you love, or your closest friend secretly entices(CA) you, saying, “Let us go and worship other gods”(CB) (gods that neither you nor your ancestors have known, 7 gods of the peoples around you, whether near or far, from one end of the land to the other), 8 do not yield(CC) to them or listen to them. Show them no pity.(CD) Do not spare them or shield them. 9 You must certainly put them to death.(CE) Your hand(CF) must be the first in putting them to death, and then the hands of all the people. 10 Stone them to death, because they tried to turn you away(CG) from the Lord your God, who brought you out of Egypt, out of the land of slavery. 11 Then all Israel will hear and be afraid,(CH) and no one among you will do such an evil thing again.
12 If you hear it said about one of the towns the Lord your God is giving you to live in 13 that troublemakers(CI) have arisen among you and have led the people of their town astray, saying, “Let us go and worship other gods” (gods you have not known), 14 then you must inquire, probe and investigate it thoroughly.(CJ) And if it is true and it has been proved that this detestable thing has been done among you,(CK) 15 you must certainly put to the sword all who live in that town. You must destroy it completely,[c](CL) both its people and its livestock.(CM) 16 You are to gather all the plunder of the town into the middle of the public square and completely burn the town(CN) and all its plunder as a whole burnt offering to the Lord your God.(CO) That town is to remain a ruin(CP) forever, never to be rebuilt, 17 and none of the condemned things[d] are to be found in your hands. Then the Lord will turn from his fierce anger,(CQ) will show you mercy,(CR) and will have compassion(CS) on you. He will increase your numbers,(CT) as he promised(CU) on oath to your ancestors— 18 because you obey the Lord your God by keeping all his commands that I am giving you today and doing what is right(CV) in his eyes.
Clean and Unclean Food(CW)
14 You are the children(CX) of the Lord your God. Do not cut yourselves or shave the front of your heads for the dead, 2 for you are a people holy(CY) to the Lord your God.(CZ) Out of all the peoples on the face of the earth, the Lord has chosen you to be his treasured possession.(DA)
3 Do not eat any detestable thing.(DB) 4 These are the animals you may eat:(DC) the ox, the sheep, the goat,(DD) 5 the deer,(DE) the gazelle, the roe deer, the wild goat,(DF) the ibex, the antelope and the mountain sheep.[e] 6 You may eat any animal that has a divided hoof and that chews the cud. 7 However, of those that chew the cud or that have a divided hoof you may not eat the camel, the rabbit or the hyrax. Although they chew the cud, they do not have a divided hoof; they are ceremonially unclean for you. 8 The pig is also unclean; although it has a divided hoof, it does not chew the cud. You are not to eat their meat or touch their carcasses.(DG)
9 Of all the creatures living in the water, you may eat any that has fins and scales. 10 But anything that does not have fins and scales you may not eat; for you it is unclean.
11 You may eat any clean bird. 12 But these you may not eat: the eagle, the vulture, the black vulture, 13 the red kite, the black kite, any kind(DH) of falcon,(DI) 14 any kind of raven,(DJ) 15 the horned owl, the screech owl, the gull, any kind of hawk, 16 the little owl, the great owl, the white owl, 17 the desert owl,(DK) the osprey, the cormorant, 18 the stork, any kind of heron, the hoopoe and the bat.
19 All flying insects are unclean to you; do not eat them. 20 But any winged creature that is clean you may eat.(DL)
21 Do not eat anything you find already dead.(DM) You may give it to the foreigner residing in any of your towns, and they may eat it, or you may sell it to any other foreigner. But you are a people holy to the Lord your God.(DN)
Do not cook a young goat in its mother’s milk.(DO)
Footnotes
- Deuteronomy 12:32 In Hebrew texts this verse (12:32) is numbered 13:1.
- Deuteronomy 13:1 In Hebrew texts 13:1-18 is numbered 13:2-19.
- Deuteronomy 13:15 The Hebrew term refers to the irrevocable giving over of things or persons to the Lord, often by totally destroying them.
- Deuteronomy 13:17 The Hebrew term refers to the irrevocable giving over of things or persons to the Lord, often by totally destroying them.
- Deuteronomy 14:5 The precise identification of some of the birds and animals in this chapter is uncertain.
English Standard Version (ESV) 
The Holy Bible, English Standard Version. ESV® Text Edition: 2016. Copyright © 2001 by Crossway Bibles, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers.
New International Version (NIV) 
Holy Bible, New International Version®, NIV® Copyright ©1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.® Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.
NIV Reverse Interlinear Bible: English to Hebrew and English to Greek. Copyright © 2019 by Zondervan.