12 3 To destroy the idolatrous places. 5, 8 To serve God where he commandeth, and as he commandeth, and not as men fantasize. 19 The Levites must be nourished. 31 Idolaters burnt their children to their gods, to add nothing to God’s word.
1 These are the ordinances and the laws, which ye shall observe and do in the land, (which the Lord God [a]of thy fathers giveth thee to possess it) as long as ye live upon the earth.
2 (A)Ye 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.
3 (B)Also ye shall overthrow their altars, and break down their pillars, and burn their [b]groves with fire: and ye shall hew down the graven images of their gods, and abolish their names out of that place.
4 Ye shall [c]not do so unto the Lord your God,
5 But ye shall seek the place which the Lord your God shall (C)choose out of your tribes, to put his Name there, and there to dwell, and thither thou shalt come,
6 And ye shall bring thither your burnt offerings, and your sacrifices, and your tithes, and the [d]offering of your hands, and your vows, and your free offerings, and the firstborn of your kine and of your sheep.
7 And there ye shall eat [e]before the Lord your God, and ye shall rejoice in all that ye put your hand unto, both ye, and your households, because the Lord thy God hath blessed thee.
8 Ye shall not do after all these things that we do [f]here this day: that is, every man whatsoever seemeth him good in his own eyes.
9 For ye are not yet come to rest, and to the inheritance which the Lord thy God giveth thee.
10 But when ye go over Jordan, and dwell in the land, which the Lord your God hath given you to inherit, and when he hath given you [g]rest from all your enemies round about, and ye dwell in safety,
11 When 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 offering of your hands, and all your [h]special vows which ye vow unto the Lord:
12 And ye shall rejoice before the Lord your God, ye, and your sons and your daughters, and your servants, and your maidens, and the Levite that is within your gates: (D)for he hath no part nor inheritance with you.
13 Take heed that thou offer not thy burnt offerings in every place that thou seest:
14 But in the place which the Lord shall [i]choose in one of thy tribes, there thou shalt offer thy burnt offerings, and there thou shalt do all that I command thee.
15 Notwithstanding thou mayest kill and eat flesh in all thy gates, whatsoever thine heart desireth, according to the [j]blessing of the Lord thy God which he had given thee: both the unclean and the clean may eat thereof, [k]as of the roebuck, and of the hart.
16 Only ye shall not eat the blood, but pour it upon the earth as water.
17 ¶ Thou mayest not eat within thy gates the [l]tithe of thy corn, nor of thy wine, nor of thine oil, nor the firstborn of thy kine, nor of thy sheep, neither any of thy vows which thou vowest, nor thy free offerings, nor the offering of thine hands,
18 But thou shalt eat it before the Lord thy God, in the place which the Lord thy God shall choose, thou and thy son, and thy daughter, and thy servant, and thy maid, and the Levite that is within thy gates: and thou shalt rejoice before the Lord thy God, in all that thou puttest thine hand to.
19 Beware, that thou forsake not the Levite, as long as thou livest upon the earth.
20 ¶ When the Lord thy God shall enlarge thy border, as (E)he hath promised thee, and thou shalt say, I will eat flesh (because thine heart longeth to eat flesh) thou mayest eat flesh, whatsoever thine heart desireth.
21 If the place which the Lord thy God hath chosen to put his Name there, be far from thee, then thou shalt kill of thy bullocks, and of thy sheep which the Lord hath given thee, as I have commanded thee, and thou shalt eat in thy gates, whatsoever thine heart desireth.
22 But as the roebuck, and the hart is eaten, so shalt thou eat them: both the unclean and the clean shall eat of them alike.
23 Only be [m]sure that thou eat not the blood: for the blood [n]is the life, and thou mayest not eat the life with the flesh.
24 Therefore thou shalt not eat it, but pour it upon the earth as water.
25 Thou 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:
26 But thine [o]holy things which thou hast, and thy vows thou shalt take up, and come unto the place which the Lord shall choose.
27 And thou shalt make thy burnt offerings of the flesh, and of the blood upon the altar of the Lord thy God, and the blood of thine offerings shall be poured upon the altar of the Lord thy God, and thou shalt eat the flesh.
28 Take heed, and hear all these words which I command thee, that it may go [p]well with thee, and with thy children after thee forever, when thou doest that which is good and right in the sight of the Lord thy God.
29 ¶ When the Lord thy God shall destroy the nations before thee, whither thou goest to possess them, and thou shalt possess them and dwell in their land,
30 Beware, lest thou be taken in [q]snare after them, after that they be destroyed before thee, and lest thou ask after their gods, saying, How did these nations serve their gods, that I may do so likewise?
31 Thou shalt not do so unto the Lord thy God: for all abomination, which the Lord hateth, have they done unto their gods: for they have [r]burned both their sons and their daughters with fire to their gods.
32 Therefore whatsoever I command you, take heed you do it: (F)thou shalt put nothing thereto, nor take ought therefrom.
Footnotes
- Deuteronomy 12:1 Whereby they are admonished to seek none other God.
- Deuteronomy 12:3 Wherein they sacrificed to their idols.
- Deuteronomy 12:4 Ye shall not serve the Lord with superstitions.
- Deuteronomy 12:6 Meaning, the firstfruits.
- Deuteronomy 12:7 Where his Ark shall be.
- Deuteronomy 12:8 Not that they sacrificed after their fantasies, but that God would be served more purely in the land of Canaan.
- Deuteronomy 12:10 It had not been enough to conquer, except God had maintained them in rest under his protection.
- Deuteronomy 12:11 Or, that which ye choose out for your vows.
- Deuteronomy 12:14 As was declared ever by the placing of the Ark, as in Shiloh 243 years, or as some write more than 300 years, and in other places till the temple was built.
- Deuteronomy 12:15 As God hath given thee power and ability.
- Deuteronomy 12:15 Everyone might eat at home as well the beast appointed for sacrifice, as the other.
- Deuteronomy 12:17 Meaning, whatsoever was offered to the Lord, might not be eaten, but where he had appointed.
- Deuteronomy 12:23 Hebrew, be strong or constant.
- Deuteronomy 12:23 Because the life of beasts is in their blood.
- Deuteronomy 12:26 That which thou wilt offer in sacrifice.
- Deuteronomy 12:28 God by promise bindeth himself to do good to them that obey his word.
- Deuteronomy 12:30 By following their superstitions and idolatries, and thinking to serve me thereby.
- Deuteronomy 12:31 They thought nothing too dear to offer to their idols.