Deuteronomy Chapter 12

Deuteronomy Chapter 12
1 These are the ordinances and the laws,
which ye shall observe and do in the
land (which the Lord God of thy fathers
giveth thee to possess it) as long as ye
live upon the earth.
2 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 Also ye shall overthrow their altars,
and break down their pillars, and burn
their 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 not do so unto the Lord your
God,
5 But ye shall seek the place which the
Lord your God shall choose out of all
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 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 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 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 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 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: 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
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 blessing
of the Lord thy God which he hath given
thee: both the unclean and the clean may
eat thereof, 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 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 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 Even 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 sure that thou eat not
the blood: for the blood 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 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
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 a 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 burned both their
sons and their daughters with fire to their
gods.
32 Therefore whatsoever I command
you, take heed you do it: thou shalt put
nothing thereto, nor take ought there
from.