Deuteronomy 12:20-28

International Standard Version

²⁰ When the Lord your God enlarges your territory—just as he told you—and you say ‘I want to eat meat’ since you desire to eat it,^[a] you may do so as much as you please.^[b]

²¹ “If the place where the Lord your God chooses to establish his name is distant from you, then you may slaughter from your herd and your flock what the Lord has provided for you, as he instructed you. You may consume them in your cities^[c] as much as you please. ²² You may eat them just as you would gazelle and deer. Ritually unqualified and qualified people may eat them. ²³ Only be sure to refrain from eating blood, because blood is the source of^[d] life and you are not to consume blood with the meat. ²⁴ You are not to eat it; instead, you are to pour it on the ground as you would water. ²⁵ You are not to eat it, so that life may go well for you and for your children after you. Then you’ll do what is right in the eyes of the Lord.

²⁶ “You may carry and bring only your consecrated gifts and offerings in fulfillment of promises to the place that the Lord will choose. ²⁷ You must offer your burnt offerings—both the meat and the blood—on the altar of the Lord your God. You are to offer the blood by pouring it on the altar of the Lord your God while you consume the meat. ²⁸ Be sure to observe all these words that I’m commanding you, in order that life may go well for you and your children after you forever, for this is good and right in the eyes of the Lord your God.”