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.

⁶ If your father misses me at all, then say, ‘David earnestly requested leave of me to run to ^(A)Bethlehem, his city, because it is ^(B)the yearly sacrifice there for the whole family.’