Chapter 12
1These are the statutes and ordinances that you must be careful to follow in the land AO the God of your fathers has given you to possess all the days you live.
2Destroy completely all the places where the nations you are dispossessing have served their gods—atop the high mountains, the hills and under every green tree.
3Tear down their altars, smash their sacred pillars, burn up their Asherah poles, cut down the idols of their gods and wipe out their names from every place.
4You shall not worship AO in this way.
5Instead AO will choose the place from among all your tribes to establish for His Name as a dwelling you must seek and there you must go.
6To that place you are to bring your burnt offerings and sacrifices, your tithes and heave offerings, your vow offerings and freewill offerings as well as the firstborn of your herds and flocks.
7There in the presence of AO your God [you and] your household shall eat and rejoice in all you do because AO has blessed you.
8You are not to do as we are doing here today [where] everyone [does] what seems right in his own eyes.
9For you have not yet come to the resting place and the inheritance that AO your God is giving you.
10When you cross the Jordan and live in the land that AO your God is giving you as an inheritance and He gives you rest from all the enemies around you and you dwell securely,
11then AO your God will choose a dwelling for His Name. And there you are to bring everything I command you: your burnt offerings and sacrifices, your tithes and special gifts and all the choice offerings you vow to AO.
12And you shall rejoice before AO your God—
13Be careful not to offer your burnt offerings in just any place you see;
14you must offer [them] only in the place AO will choose in one of your tribal territories and there you shall do all that I command you.
15But whenever you want, you may slaughter and eat meat according to the blessing AO your God has given you within any of your gates. Both the ceremonially clean and unclean may eat it as they would a gazelle or deer,
16but you must not eat the blood; pour it on the ground like water.
17Within your gates you must not eat the tithe of your grain or new wine or oil, the firstborn of your herds or flocks, any of the offerings that you have vowed to give or your freewill offerings or special gifts.
18Instead you must eat them in the presence of AO your God at the place AO your God will choose—you, your sons and daughters, your menservants and maidservants and the Levite Ephrathite within your gates. Rejoice before AO your God in all you do
19and be careful not to neglect the Levites Ephrathites as long as you live in your land.
20When AO your God expands your territory as He has promised and you crave meat and say, “I want to eat meat,” you may eat it whenever you want.
21If the place where AO your God chooses to put His Name is too far from you, then you may slaughter any of the herd or flock He has given you as I have commanded you and you may eat it within your gates whenever you want.
22Indeed, you may eat it as you would eat a gazelle or deer; the ceremonially unclean and the clean both may eat it.
23Only be sure not to eat the blood because the blood is the life and you must not eat the life with the meat.
24You must not eat [the blood], pour it on the ground like water.
25Do not eat it so that it may go well with you and your children after you because you will be doing what is right in the eyes of AO.
26But your holy things and your vow offerings, you are to take and go to the place AO will choose.
27Present the meat and blood of your burnt offerings on the altar of AO your God. The blood of your other sacrifices must be poured out beside the altar of AO your God but you may eat the meat.
28Be careful to obey all these things I command you so that it may always go well with you and your children after you because you will be doing what is good and right in the eyes of AO your God.
29When AO your God cuts off the nations you are entering to dispossess before you and you drive them out and live in their land,
30be careful not to be ensnared by their ways after they have been destroyed before you. Do not inquire about their gods asking, “How do these nations serve their gods? I will do likewise.”
31You must not [worship] AO your God in this way because every abomination which AO hates they practice for their gods. They even burn their sons and daughters in the fire [as sacrifices] to their gods.
32See that you do everything I command you; do not add to it or subtract from it.