Deuteronomy 12
Lexham English Bible
Detailed Stipulations: Purity and Unity
12 “These are the rules and the regulations that you must diligently observe[a] in the land that Yahweh, the God of your ancestors,[b] has given to you to take possession of it, during all the days that you are living on the land.
2 You must completely demolish all of the places there where they served their gods, that is, the nations whom you are about to dispossess, on the high mountains, and on the hills and under each leafy green tree.[c] 3 And you shall break down their altars, and you shall smash their stone pillars, and their Asherah poles you must burn with fire, and the images of their gods you shall hew down, and you shall blot out their names from that place. 4 You shall not worship Yahweh your God like this. 5 But only[d] to the place that Yahweh your God will choose from all of your tribes to place his name there as his dwelling shall you seek, and there you shall go. 6 And you shall bring there your burnt offerings and your sacrifices and your tithes and your donations[e] and your votive gifts and your freewill offerings and the firstling of your herd and your flock. 7 And you shall eat there before[f] Yahweh your God, and you shall rejoice in all your endeavors,[g] you and your family in which Yahweh your God has blessed you.
8 “You must not do just as we are doing here today,[h] each according to all that is right in his eyes.[i] 9 For you have not come up to now to the resting place and to the inheritance that Yahweh your God is giving to you. 10 But you will cross the Jordan, and you will settle in the land that Yahweh your God is giving you as an inheritance, and he will give rest to you from all your enemies from all around, and you will live securely, 11 and then[j] at the place that Yahweh your God will choose, to let his name dwell there, there you shall bring all the things I am commanding you, your burnt offerings and your sacrifices, your tithes and your donations,[k] and all of the choice things, your votive gifts that you vow to Yahweh. 12 And you shall rejoice before[l] Yahweh your God, you and your sons and your daughters and your slaves and your slave women and the Levite who is in your towns,[m] because there is not for him a plot of ground and an inheritance with you.
13 “Take care for yourself so that you do not offer your burnt offerings at just any place that you happen to see, 14 but only[n] at the place that Yahweh will choose among one of your tribes; there you shall offer your burnt offerings, and there you shall do all the things that I am commanding you.
15 “But whenever you desire[o] you may slaughter, and you may eat meat according to the blessing of Yahweh your God that he has given to you in all of your towns;[p] the unclean and the clean may eat it just as they would the gazelle and as the deer. 16 Only the blood you must not eat, but on the ground you must pour it like water. 17 You are not allowed to eat in your towns[q] the tithe of your grain and your wine and your olive oil and the firstborn of your herd and your flock and all of your votive gifts that you vowed and your freewill offering and your donations.[r] 18 But only before[s] Yahweh your God you shall eat it, at the place that Yahweh your God will choose,[t] you and your son and your daughter and your slave and your slave woman and the Levite who is in your towns,[u] and you must rejoice before[v] your God in all your undertakings.[w] 19 Take care[x] so that you do not neglect the Levite all of your days on your land.
20 “When Yahweh your God enlarges your territory just as he has promised[y] to you, and you say ‘I want to eat some meat,’ because you want it,[z] whenever you desire[aa] you may eat meat. 21 If the place that[ab] Yahweh your God will choose to put his name there is too far from you, and you slaughter any of your herd and any of your flock that Yahweh has given to you just as I have commanded you, then you may eat whenever you desire in your towns.[ac] 22 Surely just as the gazelle and the deer is eaten, so both the unclean and the clean together may eat it. 23 Only, be sure not to eat the blood, because the blood is the life, and you shall not eat the life with the meat. 24 You shall not eat it, but on the ground you shall pour it out like water. 25 You shall not eat it, so that it will go well[ad] for you and your children after you, because then you will be doing what is[ae] right in the eyes of Yahweh. 26 Only your holy objects that are yours[af] and your votive gifts you must carry and you must bring to the place that Yahweh will choose. 27 And you shall offer your burnt offerings, the flesh and the blood on the altar of Yahweh your God, and the blood of your sacrifices you shall pour out on the altar of Yahweh your God, but the meat you may eat. 28 Be careful to obey[ag] all these things that I am commanding you, so that it will go well[ah] for you and for your children after you forever,[ai] because then you will be doing what is[aj] good and right[ak] in the eyes of Yahweh your God.
29 “When Yahweh your God has cut off the nations whom you are about to go to,[al] to dispossess them before you,[am] and you have dispossessed them, and you live in their land, 30 take care[an] so that you are not ensnared into imitating them[ao] after their being destroyed from before you,[ap] and so that you not enquire concerning their gods, saying,[aq] ‘How did these nations serve their gods, and thus I myself[ar] want to do also.’ 31 You must not do so toward Yahweh your God, because of every detestable thing they have done for their gods Yahweh hates, for even their sons and their daughters they would burn in the fire to their gods. 32 [as] All of the things[at] that I am commanding you, you must diligently observe;[au] you shall not add to it, and you shall not take away from it.”
Footnotes
- Deuteronomy 12:1 Literally “that you must observe to do”
- Deuteronomy 12:1 Or “fathers”
- Deuteronomy 12:2 Or “spreading tree”
- Deuteronomy 12:5 Literally “But if”
- Deuteronomy 12:6 Literally “the contributions of your hand”
- Deuteronomy 12:7 Literally “before the faces of”
- Deuteronomy 12:7 Literally “in all of the sending of your hand”
- Deuteronomy 12:8 Literally “the day”
- Deuteronomy 12:8 Literally “each man all of the right in his eyes”
- Deuteronomy 12:11 Literally “and it will happen”
- Deuteronomy 12:11 Literally “the contribution of your hand”
- Deuteronomy 12:12 Literally “the face of”
- Deuteronomy 12:12 Literally “gates”
- Deuteronomy 12:14 Literally “but only if”
- Deuteronomy 12:15 Literally “in all the wanting of your soul/inner self”
- Deuteronomy 12:15 Literally “gates”
- Deuteronomy 12:17 Literally “gates”
- Deuteronomy 12:17 Literally “the contribution of your hand”
- Deuteronomy 12:18 Literally “before the face of”
- Deuteronomy 12:18 Hebrew “choose it”
- Deuteronomy 12:18 Literally “gate”
- Deuteronomy 12:18 Literally “before the face of”
- Deuteronomy 12:18 Literally “in all of the sending of your hand”
- Deuteronomy 12:19 Literally “Watch for yourself”
- Deuteronomy 12:20 Literally “spoken”
- Deuteronomy 12:20 Literally “because your soul/inner self desires it”
- Deuteronomy 12:20 Literally “at/in all the wanting of your soul/inner self”
- Deuteronomy 12:21 Or “where”
- Deuteronomy 12:21 Literally “gates”
- Deuteronomy 12:25 Literally “it/he is good”
- Deuteronomy 12:25 Hebrew “the”
- Deuteronomy 12:26 Literally “that are for you”
- Deuteronomy 12:28 Literally “Watch carefully and listen”
- Deuteronomy 12:28 Literally “he/it is good”
- Deuteronomy 12:28 Literally “until ever”
- Deuteronomy 12:28 Hebrew “the”
- Deuteronomy 12:28 Hebrew “the right”
- Deuteronomy 12:29 Literally “about to go to there”
- Deuteronomy 12:29 Literally “from the face of you”
- Deuteronomy 12:30 Literally “Watch for yourself”
- Deuteronomy 12:30 Literally “after them”
- Deuteronomy 12:30 Literally “from the face of you”
- Deuteronomy 12:30 Literally “to say”
- Deuteronomy 12:30 Emphatic use of the pronoun
- Deuteronomy 12:32 Deuteronomy 12:32–13:18 in the English Bible is 13:1–19 in the Hebrew Bible
- Deuteronomy 12:32 Hebrew “thing”
- Deuteronomy 12:32 Literally “you must observe to do it”
Deuteronomy 12
Common English Bible
Regulations and the case laws:
Worship at the location the Lord selects
12 These are the regulations and the case laws that you must carefully keep in the fertile land the Lord, your ancestors’ God, has given to you to possess for as long as you live on that land:
2 You must completely destroy every place where the nations that you are displacing worshipped their gods—whether on high mountains or hills or under leafy green trees. 3 Rip down their altars and shatter their sacred stones. Burn their sacred poles[a] with fire. Hack their gods’ idols into pieces. Wipe out their names from that place.
4 Don’t act like they did toward the Lord your God!
5 Instead, you must search for the location the Lord your God will select from all your tribes to put his name there, as his residence, and you must go there. 6 You must bring your entirely burned offerings, your sacrifices, your tenth-part gifts, your contributions,[b] your payments for solemn promises, your spontaneous gifts, and the oldest offspring of your herds and flocks to that place. 7 You will have a feast there, each of you and your families, in the Lord your God’s presence, and you will celebrate all you have done because the Lord your God has blessed you. 8 Don’t act like we’ve been acting here lately—everyone doing what seems right to them— 9 because up to this point you haven’t yet reached the place of rest or the inheritance the Lord your God is giving you. 10 But you are about to cross the Jordan River and will settle in the land the Lord your God is giving you as your inheritance. Then he will give you rest from all your enemies on every side so that you live safely and securely. 11 At that point, you must bring all that I am commanding you, your entirely burned offerings, your sacrifices, your tenth-part gifts, your contributions, and all your best payments that you solemnly promised to the Lord, to the location the Lord your God selects for his name to reside. 12 Then you will rejoice in the Lord your God’s presence: each of you, your sons and daughters, your male and female servants, and the Levites who dwell in your cities because they have no designated inheritance.
13 But watch yourself! Make sure you don’t offer up your entirely burned offerings in just any place you see. 14 No, only at the location the Lord selects from one of your tribal areas—that’s where you must offer up your entirely burned offerings and that’s where you must perform everything I’m telling you. 15 However, whenever you wish, you may slaughter and eat meat, as the Lord your God sees fit to bless you with such in your cities. People who are polluted and people who are purified can join in the feast, as they would if they were eating gazelle or deer. 16 But you must not consume any of the animals’ blood. Pour it out on the ground, just like water.
17 Within your cities you are not allowed to eat any of the following: your tenth-part gifts of grain, wine, and oil; the oldest offspring of your herds and flocks; any of the payments you have solemnly promised; your spontaneous gifts or your contributions. 18 Only in the presence of the Lord your God, at the location the Lord your God selects, can you eat these things—that holds true for you, your son and daughter, your male and female servant, and the Levite who lives in your city. Then celebrate all you have done in the Lord your God’s presence. 19 But watch yourself: as long as you are on the land, don’t forget about the Levites.
20 Once the Lord your God has enlarged your territory, as he promised you, and you think to yourself, I’d like to eat some meat (because you have the desire to do so), feel free to do so whenever you want. 21 But if the location that the Lord your God will choose to put his name is far away from where you live, then slaughter an animal from your herd or flock that the Lord has given you, just as I have commanded you, and eat it in your cities whenever you wish. 22 But be sure to eat it as if it were gazelle or deer. People who are polluted and people who are purified can feast on it together.
23 Furthermore, make sure that you don’t consume any of the blood, because blood is life. You must not consume the life along with the meat. 24 You must not consume any of it. Pour it out on the ground, just like water. 25 You must not consume any of it so that things go well for you and for your children later because you did what was right in the Lord’s eyes.
26 Note that you must bring your sacred offerings and your payments for solemn promises to the location the Lord selects, 27 offering up your entirely burned sacrifices—both meat and blood—on the Lord your God’s altar. The blood from your sacrifices must be poured out on the Lord your God’s altar, but you are allowed to eat the meat. 28 Observe and obey all these words that I am commanding you so that things always go well for you and your children later because you did what was good and right in the Lord your God’s eyes.
29 Once the Lord your God has removed from before you all the nations that you are entering and taking possession of, and you have displaced them and are living in their land, 30 then watch yourself! Don’t be trapped by following their practices after they’ve been wiped out before you. Don’t go investigating their gods, thinking, How did these nations worship their gods? I want to do the very same thing!
31 Don’t act like they did toward the Lord your God because they did things for their gods that are detestable to the Lord, which he hates. They even burned their own sons and daughters with fire for their gods!
32 [c] Everything I’m commanding you, you must do it with utmost care! Don’t add anything to it or take anything away from it.
Footnotes
- Deuteronomy 12:3 Heb asherim, perhaps objects devoted to the goddess Asherah
- Deuteronomy 12:6 Or the contribution of your hands; also in 12:11, 17
- Deuteronomy 12:32 13:1 in Heb
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