Deuteronomy 12

These are the rules and decisions you must be careful to obey in the land the LORD, the God of your ancestors, is giving you to own, for as long as you live there.

1These are the statutes and judgments, which ye shall observe to do in the land, which the LORD God of thy fathers giveth thee to possess it, all the days that ye live upon the earth.

2Completely destroy all the places where the nations you are driving out served their gods, on the high mountains, on the hills, and under every green tree.

2Ye shall utterly destroy all the places, wherein the nations which ye shall possess served their gods, upon the high mountains, and upon the hills, and under every green tree:

NoteHilltops, hills, and large shady trees were the standard locations for Canaanite worship sites. Such a site is usually called a "high place" elsewhere in the Bible: an open-air shrine with an altar, often on raised ground or beside a prominent tree.

3Tear down their altars, smash their sacred stone pillars, burn their Asherah poles, cut down the carved images of their gods, and wipe out their names from those places.

3And ye shall overthrow their altars, and break their pillars, and burn their groves with fire; and ye shall hew down the graven images of their gods, and destroy the names of them out of that place.

NoteThe furnishings listed are the standard equipment of a Canaanite shrine. An altar was a raised stone platform on which animals were slaughtered and burned. "Sacred pillars" were upright standing stones marking the presence of a god. Asherah poles were wooden poles or stylized trees representing the goddess Asherah. "Wipe out their names" means erasing the god's name from the site, so the place is no longer known as belonging to that god.

4Do not worship the LORD your God the way those nations worship.

4Ye shall not do so unto the LORD your God.

5Instead, look for the place the LORD your God will choose out of all your tribes to put his name there. That place will be his dwelling, and that is where you must go.

5But unto the place which the LORD your God shall choose out of all your tribes to put his name there, even unto his habitation shall ye seek, and thither thou shalt come:

Note"To put his name there" is an ancient idiom for taking public possession of a place, much as a king would set up an inscription bearing his name over territory he claimed. The place is not named here; later texts identify it differently at different periods.

6Bring to that place your burnt offerings and your sacrifices, your tithes and the special gifts you present, the offerings you promised, your freely given gifts, and the firstborn of your cattle and sheep.

6And thither ye shall bring your burnt offerings, and your sacrifices, and your tithes, and heave offerings of your hand, and your vows, and your freewill offerings, and the firstlings of your herds and of your flocks:

NoteSix categories of gift are listed. A burnt offering was consumed entirely by fire on the altar. "Sacrifices" here means the shared kind, where part was burned and the rest eaten by the worshiper. A tithe was a tenth of the year's crops and livestock. The "special gifts you present" translate a Hebrew term for a portion lifted or set aside from a larger amount for the priests. Vow offerings were promised in advance in return for something asked; freewill gifts were given with no obligation at all. The firstborn of herds and flocks belonged to God by standing rule.

7There, in front of the LORD your God, you and your families will eat and be glad about everything you have worked at, because the LORD your God has blessed you.

7And there ye shall eat before the LORD your God, and ye shall rejoice in all that ye put your hand unto, ye and your households, wherein the LORD thy God hath blessed thee.

NoteEating "in front of the LORD" refers to the shared sacrificial meal: the worshiper's family ate their portion of the animal at the sanctuary, treating the occasion as a feast rather than only a solemn rite.

8Do not do as we are doing here today, where each person does whatever seems right to him.

8Ye shall not do after all the things that we do here this day, every man whatsoever is right in his own eyes.

9You have not yet come to the resting place and the land the LORD your God is giving you.

9For ye are not as yet come to the rest and to the inheritance, which the LORD your God giveth you.

Note"Rest" means settled security in the land once the fighting is over. "Inheritance" is a legal term for an allotted family land-holding that passed from generation to generation and was not supposed to be sold off permanently.

10But you will cross the Jordan River and settle in the land the LORD your God is giving you to own. He will give you rest from all the enemies around you, and you will live in safety.

10But when ye go over Jordan, and dwell in the land which the LORD your God giveth you to inherit, and when he giveth you rest from all your enemies round about, so that ye dwell in safety;

11Then the LORD your God will choose a place for his name to live. Bring everything I command you there: your burnt offerings and sacrifices, your tithes and special gifts, and all the best offerings you promised the LORD.

11Then there shall be a place which the LORD your God shall choose to cause his name to dwell there; thither shall ye bring all that I command you; your burnt offerings, and your sacrifices, your tithes, and the heave offering of your hand, and all your choice vows which ye vow unto the LORD:

12Be glad in front of the LORD your God, you and your sons and daughters, your male and female servants, and the Levite who lives in your towns, since he has no share of land among you.

12And ye shall rejoice before the LORD your God, ye, and your sons, and your daughters, and your menservants, and your maidservants, and the Levite that is within your gates; forasmuch as he hath no part nor inheritance with you.

NoteThe Levites were the tribe set apart for duties at the sanctuary. Unlike the other tribes they received no block of territory of their own, so they lived scattered in the towns of the others and depended on tithes, offerings, and hospitality. "Who lives in your towns" renders a Hebrew phrase that is literally "within your gates": the gateway was the civic center of a walled town, so the expression simply means the town or its territory.

13Be careful not to offer your burnt offerings in just any place you happen to see.

13Take heed to thyself that thou offer not thy burnt offerings in every place that thou seest:

14Offer them only in the place the LORD will choose in one of your tribal areas. There you must do everything I command you.

14But in the place which the LORD shall choose in one of thy tribes, there thou shalt offer thy burnt offerings, and there thou shalt do all that I command thee.

15Even so, whenever you want, you may kill animals and eat the meat in any of your towns, as much as the LORD your God has blessed you with. Anyone may eat it, whether ceremonially clean or not, just as people eat gazelle and deer.

15Notwithstanding thou mayest kill and eat flesh in all thy gates, whatsoever thy soul lusteth after, according to the blessing of the LORD thy God which he hath given thee: the unclean and the clean may eat thereof, as of the roebuck, and as of the hart.

NoteThis grants something not previously permitted: ordinary butchering for food at home, anywhere in the country, without bringing the animal to the sanctuary. Gazelle and deer are the comparison because they were game animals that could never be offered in sacrifice, so they had always been eaten as plain food. "Ceremonially clean or not" refers to a temporary ritual condition, caused by things like contact with a corpse or certain illnesses, not to moral character; a person in that state was barred from the sanctuary but is here allowed to share ordinary meat.

16But you must not eat the blood. Pour it out on the ground like water.

16Only ye shall not eat the blood; ye shall pour it upon the earth as water.

NoteBlood was never to be eaten or collected for use. Pouring it out "like water" means disposing of it on the ground as one would any ordinary liquid.

17In your own towns you must not eat the tithe of your grain, new wine, or olive oil, or the firstborn of your cattle or sheep, or any offering you promised, or your freely given gifts, or the special gifts you present.

17Thou mayest not eat within thy gates the tithe of thy corn, or of thy wine, or of thy oil, or the firstlings of thy herds or of thy flock, nor any of thy vows which thou vowest, nor thy freewill offerings, or heave offering of thine hand:

Note"New wine" is freshly pressed grape juice at the start of fermentation, the form in which the harvest was measured. Grain, wine, and oil were the three staple crops of the region and stand for the whole agricultural yield.

18You must eat them in front of the LORD your God, in the place he will choose, along with your son and daughter, your male and female servants, and the Levite who lives in your towns. Be glad before the LORD your God in everything you do.

18But thou must eat them before the LORD thy God in the place which the LORD thy God shall choose, thou, and thy son, and thy daughter, and thy manservant, and thy maidservant, and the Levite that is within thy gates: and thou shalt rejoice before the LORD thy God in all that thou puttest thine hands unto.

19Be careful not to neglect the Levite as long as you live in your land.

19Take heed to thyself that thou forsake not the Levite as long as thou livest upon the earth.

20When the LORD your God makes your land larger, as he promised you, and you say, "I want to eat meat," because you are hungry for meat, you may eat as much of it as you want.

20When the LORD thy God shall enlarge thy border, as he hath promised thee, and thou shalt say, I will eat flesh, because thy soul longeth to eat flesh; thou mayest eat flesh, whatsoever thy soul lusteth after.

21If the place the LORD your God chooses to put his name is too far from you, then kill animals from the herds and flocks the LORD has given you, as I commanded you. You may eat them in your own towns whenever you want.

21If the place which the LORD thy God hath chosen to put his name there be too far from thee, then thou shalt kill of thy herd and of thy flock, which the LORD hath given thee, as I have commanded thee, and thou shalt eat in thy gates whatsoever thy soul lusteth after.

22Eat them the way people eat gazelle and deer. Anyone may eat them, whether ceremonially clean or not.

22Even as the roebuck and the hart is eaten, so thou shalt eat them: the unclean and the clean shall eat of them alike.

23Only be sure you do not eat the blood, because the blood is the life. Do not eat the life along with the meat.

23Only be sure that thou eat not the blood: for the blood is the life; and thou mayest not eat the life with the flesh.

NoteThe Hebrew word translated "life" also means breath, throat, or the living self. Blood was understood as the physical seat of a creature's life, which is the stated reason for the prohibition here.

24Do not eat the blood. Pour it out on the ground like water.

24Thou shalt not eat it; thou shalt pour it upon the earth as water.

25Do not eat it, so that things will go well for you and for your children after you, because you will be doing what is right in the LORD's sight.

25Thou shalt not eat it; that it may go well with thee, and with thy children after thee, when thou shalt do that which is right in the sight of the LORD.

26But take the holy offerings you have and the offerings you promised, and go to the place the LORD will choose.

26Only thy holy things which thou hast, and thy vows, thou shalt take, and go unto the place which the LORD shall choose:

Note"Holy things" means animals, produce, or objects that had already been formally dedicated and so could no longer be treated as ordinary property.

27Present your burnt offerings there, both the meat and the blood, on the altar of the LORD your God. The blood of your other sacrifices must be poured out on the altar of the LORD your God, and you may eat the meat.

27And thou shalt offer thy burnt offerings, the flesh and the blood, upon the altar of the LORD thy God: and the blood of thy sacrifices shall be poured out upon the altar of the LORD thy God, and thou shalt eat the flesh.

NoteThe two kinds are handled differently. A burnt offering was placed on the altar whole and burned entirely. With other sacrifices, only the blood and certain fat portions went to the altar and the worshiper ate the meat. The Hebrew preposition for what is done with the blood can mean either on the altar or against its side, and translations differ.

28Be careful to listen to and obey all these words I command you, so it will always go well for you and your children after you, because you will be doing what is good and right in the sight of the LORD your God.

28Observe and hear all these words which I command thee, that it may go well with thee, and with thy children after thee for ever, when thou doest that which is good and right in the sight of the LORD thy God.

29The LORD your God will cut off the nations ahead of you as you go in to take their land. You will take their place and live in their land.

29When the LORD thy God shall cut off the nations from before thee, whither thou goest to possess them, and thou succeedest them, and dwellest in their land;

30After they have been destroyed in front of you, be careful not to be trapped into copying them. Do not ask about their gods, saying, "How did these nations serve their gods? I will do the same."

30Take heed to thyself that thou be not snared by following them, after that they be destroyed from before thee; and that thou enquire not after their gods, saying, How did these nations serve their gods? even so will I do likewise.

31Do not worship the LORD your God that way. In serving their gods they have done every disgusting thing the LORD hates. They even burn their sons and daughters in the fire for their gods.

31Thou shalt not do so unto the LORD thy God: for every abomination to the LORD, which he hateth, have they done unto their gods; for even their sons and their daughters they have burnt in the fire to their gods.

Note"Disgusting thing" renders a Hebrew word for something detestable, often used of foreign religious practice. Child sacrifice by fire is attested in the region and is condemned repeatedly elsewhere in the Hebrew Bible.

32Be careful to do everything I command you. Do not add anything to it, and do not take anything away from it.

32What thing soever I command you, observe to do it: thou shalt not add thereto, nor diminish from it.

NoteWarnings against adding to or subtracting from a text were a standard closing formula in ancient Near Eastern treaties and law collections, protecting the wording from later alteration. In Hebrew Bibles this sentence is numbered as the first verse of chapter 13.