Deuteronomy 12-15

New American Standard Bible

Laws of the Sanctuary

12 “These are the statutes and the judgments which you shall carefully ^[a]follow in the land which the Lord, the God of your fathers, has given you to possess ^[b](A)as long as you live on the ^[c]earth. ² You shall utterly destroy all the places where the nations whom you are going to dispossess serve their gods, on the ^(B)high mountains, on the hills, and under every leafy tree. ³ And ^(C)you shall tear down their altars and smash their memorial stones to pieces, and burn their ^[d]Asherim in the fire, and cut to pieces the carved images of their gods; and you shall ^(D)eliminate their name from that place. ⁴ You shall not act this way toward the Lord your God. ^5 (E)But you shall seek the Lord at the place which the Lord your God will choose from all your tribes, to establish His name there for His dwelling, and you shall come there. ⁶ You shall bring there your burnt offerings, your sacrifices, ^(F)your tithes, the ^[e]contribution of your hand, your vowed offerings, your ^[f]voluntary offerings, and the firstborn of your herd and of your flock. ⁷ There you and your households shall eat before the Lord your God, and ^(G)rejoice in all ^[g]your undertakings in which the Lord your God has blessed you.

⁸ “You shall not do at all what we are doing here today, ^(H)everyone doing whatever is right in his own eyes; ⁹ for you have not as yet come to ^(I)the resting place and the ^(J)inheritance which the Lord your God is giving you. ¹⁰ When you cross the Jordan and live in the land which the Lord your God is giving you as an inheritance, and ^(K)He gives you rest from all your enemies around you so that you live in security, ^11 (L)then it shall come about that the place in which the Lord your God will choose for His name to dwell, there you shall bring everything that I command you: your burnt offerings and your sacrifices, your tithes and the ^[h]contribution of your hand, and all your choice vowed offerings which you will vow to the Lord. ¹² And you shall ^(M)rejoice before the Lord your God, you and your sons and daughters, your male and female slaves, and the ^(N)Levite who is within your gates, since ^(O)he has no portion or inheritance with you.

¹³ “^(P)Be careful that you do not offer your burnt offerings in any cultic place that you see, ¹⁴ but only in the place which the Lord chooses in one of your tribes: there you shall offer your burnt offerings, and there you shall do everything that I command you.

¹⁵ “^(Q)However, you may slaughter and eat meat within any of your gates, ^[i]whatever you desire, according to the blessing of the Lord your God which He has given you; the unclean and the clean alike may eat it, as ^(R)the gazelle and the deer. ^16 (S)Only you shall not eat the blood; ^(T)you are to pour it out on the ground like water. ^17 (U)You are not allowed to eat within your gates the tithe of your grain, new wine, or oil, or the firstborn of your herd or flock, or any of your vowed offerings which you vow, or your ^[j]voluntary offerings, or the ^[k]contribution of your hand. ¹⁸ But ^(V)you shall eat them before the Lord your God in ^(W)the place which the Lord your God will choose, you and your son and daughter, and your male and female slaves, and the ^(X)Levite who is within your gates; and you shall ^(Y)rejoice before the Lord your God in all ^[l]your undertakings. ^19 (Z)Be careful that you do not abandon the Levite ^[m]as long as you live in your land.

²⁰ “When the Lord your God extends your border ^(AA)as He has ^[n]promised you, and you say, ‘I will eat meat,’ because ^[o]you desire to eat meat, then you may eat meat, ^[p]whatever you desire. ²¹ If the place where the Lord your God chooses to put His name is too far from you, then you may slaughter animals from your herd and flock which the Lord has given you, as I have commanded you; and you may eat within your gates ^[q]whatever you desire. ²² Just as a gazelle or a deer is eaten, so you may eat it; the unclean and the clean alike may eat it. ²³ Only be sure ^(AB)not to eat the blood, for the blood is the ^[r]life, and you shall not eat the ^[s]life with the flesh. ²⁴ You shall not eat it; you shall pour it out on the ground like water. ²⁵ You shall not eat it, so that ^(AC)it may go well for you and your sons after you, since ^(AD)you will be doing what is right in the sight of the Lord. ^26 (AE)Only your holy things which you may have and your vowed offerings, you shall take and go to the place which the Lord chooses. ²⁷ And ^(AF)you shall offer your burnt offerings, the flesh and the blood, on the altar of the Lord your God; and the blood of your sacrifices shall be poured out on the altar of the Lord your God, and ^(AG)you shall eat the flesh.

²⁸ “Be careful and listen to all these words which I am commanding you, so that ^(AH)it may go well for you and your sons after you forever, for you will be doing what is good and right in the sight of the Lord your God.

²⁹ “When ^(AI)the Lord your God cuts off from you the nations which you are going in to dispossess, and you dispossess them and live in their land, ³⁰ be careful that you are not ensnared ^[t]to follow them, after they are destroyed from your presence, and that you do not inquire about their gods, saying, ‘How do these nations serve their gods, that I also may do likewise?’ ^31 (AJ)You shall not behave this way toward the Lord your God, because every abominable act which the Lord hates, they have done for their gods; for ^(AK)they even burn their sons and daughters in the fire for their gods.

³² “^[u](AL)Whatever I command you, you shall be careful to do; ^(AM)you shall not add to nor take anything away from it.

Reject Idolatry

13 “^[v](AN)If a prophet or a dreamer of dreams arises among you and gives you a sign or a wonder, ² and the sign or the wonder comes true, of which he spoke to you, saying, ‘^(AO)Let’s follow other gods (whom you have not known) and let’s serve them,’ ³ you shall not listen to the words of that prophet or dreamer of dreams; for the Lord your God is ^(AP)testing you to find out whether ^(AQ)you love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul. ^4 (AR)You shall follow the Lord your God and fear Him; and you shall keep His commandments, listen to His voice, serve Him, and ^(AS)cling to Him. ⁵ But that prophet or that dreamer of dreams shall be ^(AT)put to death, because he has spoken falsely against the Lord your God who brought you out of the land of Egypt and redeemed you from the house of ^[w]slavery, ^(AU)to drive you from the way in which the Lord your God commanded you to walk. ^(AV)So you shall eliminate the evil from among you.

⁶ “^(AW)If your brother, your mother’s son, or your son or daughter, or the wife ^[x]you cherish, or your friend who is like your own soul, entices you secretly, saying, ‘^(AX)Let’s go and serve other gods’ (whom neither you nor your fathers have known, ⁷ of the gods of the peoples who are around you, near you, or far from you, from one end of the earth to the other end), ^8 (AY)you shall not consent to him or listen to him; ^(AZ)and your eye shall not pity him, nor shall you spare or conceal him. ^9 (BA)Instead, you shall most certainly kill him; ^(BB)your hand shall be first against him to put him to death, and afterward the hand of all the people. ¹⁰ So you shall stone him ^[y]to death, because he has attempted ^(BC)to drive you away from the Lord your God who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of ^[z]slavery. ¹¹ Then ^(BD)all Israel will hear about it and be afraid, and will not do such a wicked thing among you again.

¹² “If you hear in one of your cities, which the Lord your God is giving you to live in, anyone saying that ¹³ some worthless men have gone out from among you and have seduced the inhabitants of their city, saying, ‘^(BE)Let’s go and serve other gods’ (whom you have not known), ¹⁴ then you shall investigate, search out, and inquire thoroughly. And if it is true and the matter is certain that this abomination has been committed among you, ^15 (BF)you shall most certainly strike the inhabitants of that city with the edge of the sword. ^[aa]Utterly destroy it and all who are in it and its cattle, with the edge of the sword. ^16 (BG)Then you shall gather all its plunder into the middle of its public square, and burn the city and all its plunder with fire as a whole burnt offering to the Lord your God; and it shall be a ^[ab](BH)ruin forever. It shall never be rebuilt. ¹⁷ Nothing at all from what is designated for destruction is to cling to your hand, in order that the Lord may turn from ^(BI)His burning anger and ^(BJ)show mercy to you, and have compassion on you and ^(BK)make you increase, just ^(BL)as He has sworn to your fathers, ^18 [ac]if you will listen to the voice of the Lord your God, ^[ad]keeping all His commandments which I am commanding you today, ^[ae]and doing what is right in the sight of the Lord your God.

Clean and Unclean Animals

14 “You are ^(BM)sons of the Lord your God; ^(BN)you shall not cut yourselves nor ^[af]shave a bald spot ^[ag]above your forehead for the dead. ² For you are ^(BO)a holy people to the Lord your God, and the Lord has chosen you to be a ^(BP)people for His personal possession out of all the peoples who are on the face of the earth.

³ “^(BQ)You shall not eat any detestable thing. ^4 (BR)These are the animals that you may eat: the ox, the sheep, the goat, ^5 [ah]the deer, the gazelle, the roebuck, the wild goat, the ibex, the antelope, and the mountain sheep. ⁶ And any animal that has a divided hoof and has its hoofs split in two, and ^[ai]chews the cud, among the animals, ^[aj]that animal you may eat. ⁷ However, you are not to eat these among the ones that ^[ak]chew the cud, or among those that have the hoof divided in ^[al]two: the camel, the ^[am]rabbit, and the rock hyrax, for though they ^[an]chew the cud, they do not have a divided hoof; they are unclean to you. ⁸ And the pig, because it has a divided hoof but does not chew the cud, it is unclean for you. You shall not eat any of their flesh, nor touch their carcasses.

⁹ “These you may eat of everything that is in the water: anything that has fins and scales you may eat, ¹⁰ but anything that does not have fins and scales, you shall not eat; it is unclean for you.

¹¹ “You may eat any clean bird. ¹² But ^(BS)these are the ones that you shall not eat: the ^[ao]eagle and the vulture and the ^[ap]buzzard, ¹³ and the red kite, the falcon, and the kite in their kinds, ¹⁴ and every raven in its kind, ¹⁵ and the ostrich, the owl, the seagull, and the hawk in their kinds, ¹⁶ the little owl, the ^[aq]great owl, the white owl, ¹⁷ the pelican, the carrion vulture, the cormorant, ¹⁸ the stork, and the heron in their kinds, and the hoopoe and the bat. ¹⁹ And all the swarming insects with wings are unclean to you; they shall not be eaten. ²⁰ You may eat any clean bird.

²¹ “^(BT)You shall not eat anything which dies of itself. You may give it to the stranger who is in your ^[ar]town, so that he may eat it, or you may sell it to a stranger; for you are ^(BU)a holy people to the Lord your God. ^(BV)You shall not boil a young goat in its mother’s milk.

²² “You ^(BW)shall certainly tithe all the produce from ^[as]what you sow, which comes from the field every year. ²³ You shall eat in the presence of the Lord your God, ^(BX)at the place where He chooses to establish His name, the tithe of your grain, your new wine, your oil, and the firstborn of your herd and your flock, so that you may ^(BY)learn to fear the Lord your God always. ²⁴ But if the ^[at]distance is so great for you that you are not able to ^[au]bring the tithe, since the place where the Lord your God chooses ^(BZ)to set His name is too far away from you when the Lord your God blesses you, ²⁵ then you shall ^[av]exchange it for money, and bind the money in your hand and go to the place which the Lord your God chooses. ²⁶ And you may spend the money on whatever your ^[aw]heart desires: on oxen, sheep, wine, other strong drink, or whatever your ^[ax]heart ^[ay]desires; and ^(CA)there you shall eat in the presence of the Lord your God and rejoice, you and your household. ²⁷ Also you shall not neglect ^(CB)the Levite who is in your ^[az]town, ^(CC)for he has no portion or inheritance among you.

²⁸ “^(CD)At the end of every third year you shall bring out all the tithe of your produce in that year, and you shall deposit it in your ^[ba]town. ²⁹ And the Levite, ^(CE)because he has no portion or inheritance among you, and ^(CF)the stranger, the ^[bb]orphan, and the widow who are in your ^[bc]town, shall come and ^(CG)eat and be satisfied, in order that ^(CH)the Lord your God may bless you in all the work of your hand which you do.

The Sabbatical Year

15 “^(CI)At the end of every seven years you shall ^[bd]grant a release of debts. ² And this is the regulation for the release of debts: every creditor is to forgive what he has loaned to his neighbor; he shall not require it of his neighbor and his brother, because the Lord’s release has been proclaimed. ^3 (CJ)From a foreigner you may require it, but your hand shall ^[be]forgive whatever of yours is with your brother. ⁴ However, there will be no poor among you, since ^(CK)the Lord will certainly bless you in the land which the Lord your God is giving you as an inheritance to possess, ⁵ if only you listen obediently to the voice of the Lord your God, to ^[bf]follow carefully all this commandment which I am commanding you today. ^6 (CL)For the Lord your God will have blessed you just as He has promised you, and you will lend to many nations, but you will not borrow; and you will rule over many nations, but they will not rule over you.

⁷ “If there is ^(CM)a poor person among you, one of your brothers, in any of your ^[bg]towns in your land which the Lord your God is giving you, ^(CN)you shall not harden your heart, nor close your hand from your poor brother; ⁸ but ^(CO)you shall fully open your hand to him, and generously lend him enough for his need in whatever he lacks. ⁹ Be careful that there is no mean-spirited ^[bh]thought in your heart, ^[bi]such as, ‘^(CP)The seventh year, the year of release of debts, is near,’ and ^(CQ)your eye is malicious toward your poor brother, and you give him nothing; then he ^(CR)may cry out to the Lord against you, and it will be a sin in you. ¹⁰ You shall generously give to him, and your heart shall not be ^[bj]grudging when you give to him, because ^(CS)for this thing the Lord your God will bless you in all your work, and in all ^[bk]your undertakings. ^11 (CT)For the poor will not cease ^[bl]to exist in the land; therefore I am commanding you, saying, ‘You shall fully open your hand to your brother, to your needy and poor in your land.’

¹² “^(CU)If your fellow countryman, a Hebrew man or woman, is sold to you, then he shall serve you for six years, but in the seventh year you shall set him ^[bm]free. ¹³ And when you set him ^[bn]free, you shall not send him away empty-handed. ¹⁴ You shall give generously to him from your flock, your threshing floor, and from your wine vat; you shall give to him as the Lord your God has blessed you. ¹⁵ And you are to remember that you were a slave in the land of Egypt, and the Lord your God redeemed you; therefore I am commanding ^[bo]this of you today. ¹⁶ But it shall come about, ^(CV)if he says to you, ‘I will not leave you,’ because he loves you and your household, since he is doing well with you, ¹⁷ then you shall take an ^[bp]awl and pierce it through his ear into the door, and he shall be your servant permanently. You shall also do the same to your female slave.

¹⁸ “It shall not seem difficult for you when you set him ^[bq]free, because he has given you six years with double the ^[br]service of a hired worker; so the Lord your God will bless you in whatever you do.

¹⁹ “^(CW)You shall consecrate to the Lord your God all the firstborn males that are born in your herd and in your flock; you shall not work with the firstborn of your herd, nor shear the firstborn of your flock. ^20 (CX)You and your household shall eat it every year before the Lord your God in the place which the Lord chooses. ^21 (CY)But if it has any impairment, such as a limp, or blindness, or any serious impairment, you shall not sacrifice it to the Lord your God. ²² You shall eat it within your gates; ^(CZ)the unclean and the clean alike may eat it, as ^(DA)a gazelle or a deer. ²³ Only ^(DB)you shall not eat its blood; you are to pour it out on the ground like water.