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. (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. 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. (H)You shall not worship the Lord your God in that way.

Read full chapter

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.

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] 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. You shall not worship Yahweh your God like this.

Read full chapter

Notas al pie

  1. Deuteronomy 12:1 Literally “that you must observe to do”
  2. Deuteronomy 12:1 Or “fathers”
  3. Deuteronomy 12:2 Or “spreading tree”