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. 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. 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. You shall not act this way toward the Lord your God.

Read full chapter

Footnotes

  1. Deuteronomy 12:1 Lit perform
  2. Deuteronomy 12:1 Lit all the days
  3. Deuteronomy 12:1 Lit ground
  4. Deuteronomy 12:3 I.e., wooden symbols of a female deity (Asherah)

Pagan Shrines to Be Destroyed

12 “These are the statutes and ordinances that you must diligently observe in the land that the Lord, the God of your ancestors, has given you to occupy all the days that you live on the earth.(A)

“You must demolish completely all the places where the nations whom you are about to dispossess served their gods, on the mountain heights, on the hills, and under every leafy tree. Break down their altars, smash their pillars, burn their sacred poles[a] with fire, and cut down the idols of their gods, and thus blot out their name from their places.(B) You shall not serve the Lord your God in such ways.

Read full chapter

Footnotes

  1. 12.3 Or Asherahs