Deḇarim (Deuteronomy) 12

Deut 12:1 “These are the laws and right-rulings which you guard to do in the
land which יהוה Elohim of your fathers is giving you to possess, all the days
that you live on the soil.
Deut 12:2 “Completely destroy all the places where the nations which you
are dispossessing served their mighty ones, on the high mountains and on the
hills and under every green tree.
Deut 12:3 “And you shall break down their altars, and smash their pillars,
and burn their Ashĕrim with fire. And you shall cut down the carved images
of their mighty ones and shall destroy their name out of that place.
Deut 12:4 “Do not do so to יהוה your Elohim,
Deut 12:5 but seek the place which יהוה your Elohim chooses, out of all your
tribes, to put His Name there, for His Dwelling Place, and there you shall
enter.
Deut 12:6 “And there you shall take your burnt offerings, and your offerings,
and your tithes, and the contributions of your hand, and your vowed offerings,
and your voluntary offerings, and the firstlings of your herd and of your flock.
Deut 12:7 “And there you shall eat before יהוה your Elohim, and shall
rejoice in all that you put your hand to, you and your households, in which
יהוה your Elohim has blessed you.
Deut 12:8 “Do not do as we are doing here today – each one doing whatever
is right in his own eyes.
Deut 12:9 “Because you have not yet entered the rest and the inheritance
which יהוה your Elohim is giving you.
Deut 12:10 “But you shall pass over the Yardĕn, and shall dwell in the land
which יהוה your Elohim is giving you to inherit, and He shall give you rest
from all your enemies round about, and you shall dwell in safety.
Deut 12:11 “And it shall be, that unto the place which יהוה your Elohim
chooses to make His Name dwell there, there you are to bring all that I
command you: your burnt offerings, and your offerings, and your tithes, and
the contributions of your hand, and all your choice offerings which you vow
.יהוה to
Deut 12:12 “And you shall rejoice before יהוה your Elohim, you and your
sons and your daughters, and your male servants and your female servants,
and the Lĕwite who is within your gates, since he has no portion nor
inheritance with you.
Deut 12:13 “Guard yourself that you do not offer your burnt offerings in
every place that you see,
Deut 12:14 except in the place which יהוה chooses, in one of your tribes,
there you are to offer your burnt offerings, and there you are to do all that I
command you.
Deut 12:15 “Only, whatever your being desires you shall slaughter and eat,
according to the blessing of יהוה your Elohim which He has given you, within
all your gates. The unclean and the clean do eat of it, of the gazelle and the
deer alike.
Deut 12:16 “Only, the blood you do not eat, pour it on the earth like water.
Deut 12:17 “You are not allowed to eat within your gates the tithe of your
grain, or of your new wine, or of your oil, or of the firstlings of your herd or
your flock, or of any of your offerings which you vow, or of your voluntary
offerings, or of the contribution of your hand.
Deut 12:18 “But eat them before יהוה your Elohim, in the place which יהוה
your Elohim chooses, you and your son and your daughter, and your male
servant and your female servant, and the Lĕwite who is within your gates.
And you shall rejoice before יהוה your Elohim in all that you put your hands
to.
Deut 12:19 “Guard yourself that you do not forsake the Lĕwite as long as
you live in your land.
Deut 12:20 “When יהוה your Elohim enlarges your border as He has
promised you, and you say, ‘Let me eat meat,’ because you long to eat meat,
you eat as much meat as your being desires.
Deut 12:21 “When the place where יהוה your Elohim chooses to put His
Name is too far from you, then you shall slaughter from your herd and from
your flock which יהוה has given you, as I have commanded you, and you shall
eat within your gates as much as your being desires.
Deut 12:22 “Only, as the gazelle and the deer are eaten, so you are to eat of
it. The unclean and the clean alike eat of it.
Deut 12:23 “Only, be firm not to eat the blood, for the blood is the life, do
not eat the life with the meat.
Deut 12:24 “Do not eat it, you pour it on the earth like water.
Deut 12:25 “Do not eat it, that it might be well with you and your children
after you, when you do what is right in the eyes of יהוה.
Deut 12:26 “Only, the set-apart gifts which you have, and your vowed
offerings, you are to take up and go to the place which יהוה chooses.
Deut 12:27 “And you shall make your burnt offerings, the meat and the
blood, on the altar of יהוה your Elohim. And the blood of your offerings is
poured out on the altar of יהוה your Elohim, and you eat the meat.
Deut 12:28 “Guard, and obey all these words which I command you, that it
might be well with you and your children after you forever, when you do
what is good and right in the eyes of יהוה your Elohim.
Deut 12:29 “When יהוה your Elohim does cut off from before you the nations
which you go to dispossess, and you dispossess them and dwell in their land,
Deut 12:30 guard yourself that you are not ensnared to follow them, after
they are destroyed from before you, and that you do not inquire about their
mighty ones, saying, ‘How did these nations serve their mighty ones? And let
me do so too.’
Deut 12:31 “Do not do so to יהוה your Elohim, for every abomination which
יהוה hates they have done to their mighty ones, for they even burn their sons
and daughters in the fire to their mighty ones.
Deut 12:32 “All the words I am commanding you, guard to do it – do not add
to it nor take away from it.