Deuteronomy 12:20–15:6
20 “When the Lord your God extends your border aas He has promised you, and you say, ‘I will eat meat,’ because 1you desire to eat meat, then you may eat meat, 2whatever you desire.
21 “If the place which the Lord your God chooses to put His name is too far from you, then you may slaughter of your herd and flock which the Lord has given you, as I have commanded you; and you may eat within your gates 1whatever you desire.
22 “Just as a gazelle or a deer is eaten, so you will eat it; the unclean and the clean alike may eat of it.
23 “Only be sure anot to eat the blood, for the blood is the 1life, and you shall not eat the 1life with the flesh.
24 “You shall not eat it; you shall pour it out on the ground like water.
25 “You shall not eat it, so that ait may be well with you and your sons after you, for byou will be doing what is right in the sight of the Lord.
26 “aOnly your holy things which you may have and your votive offerings, you shall take and go to the place which the Lord chooses.
27 “And ayou shall offer your burnt offerings, the flesh and the blood, on the altar of the Lord your God; and the blood of your sacrifices shall be poured out on the altar of the Lord your God, and byou shall eat the flesh.
28 “Be careful to listen to all these words which I command you, so that ait may be well with you and your sons after you forever, for you will be doing what is good and right in the sight of the Lord your God.
29 “When athe Lord your God cuts off before you the nations which you are going in to dispossess, and you dispossess them and dwell in their land,
30 beware that you are not ensnared 1to follow them, after they are destroyed before you, and that you do not inquire after their gods, saying, ‘How do these nations serve their gods, that I also may do likewise?’
31 “aYou shall not behave thus toward the Lord your God, for every abominable act which the Lord hates they have done for their gods; for bthey even burn their sons and daughters in the fire to their gods.
32 “1aWhatever I command you, you shall be careful to do; byou shall not add to nor take away from it.
1 “1aIf a prophet or a dreamer of dreams arises among you and gives you a sign or a wonder,
2 and the sign or the wonder comes true, concerning which he spoke to you, saying, ‘aLet us go after other gods (whom you have not known) and let us serve them,’
3 you shall not listen to the words of that prophet or that dreamer of dreams; for the Lord your God is atesting you to find out if byou love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul.
4 “aYou shall follow the Lord your God and fear Him; and you shall keep His commandments, listen to His voice, serve Him, and bcling to Him.
5 “But that prophet or that dreamer of dreams shall be aput to death, because he has 1counseled 2rebellion against the Lord your God who brought you from the land of Egypt and redeemed you from the house of 3slavery, bto seduce you from the way in which the Lord your God commanded you to walk. cSo you shall purge the evil from among you.
6 “aIf your brother, your mother’s son, or your son or daughter, or the wife 1you cherish, or your friend who is as your own soul, entice you secretly, saying, ‘bLet us go and serve other gods’ (whom neither you nor your fathers have known,
7 of the gods of the peoples who are around you, near you or far from you, from one end of the earth to the other end),
8 ayou shall not yield to him or listen to him; band your eye shall not pity him, nor shall you spare or conceal him.
9 “aBut you shall surely kill him; byour hand shall be first against him to put him to death, and afterwards the hand of all the people.
10 “So you shall stone him 1to death because he has sought ato seduce you from the Lord your God who brought you out from the land of Egypt, out of the house of 2slavery.
11 “Then aall Israel will hear and be afraid, and will never again do such a wicked thing among you.
12 “If you hear in one of your cities, which the Lord your God is giving you to live in, anyone saying that
13 some worthless men have gone out from among you and have seduced the inhabitants of their city, saying, ‘aLet us go and serve other gods’ (whom you have not known),
14 then you shall investigate and search out and inquire thoroughly. If it is true and the matter established that this abomination has been done among you,
15 ayou shall surely strike the inhabitants of that city with the edge of the sword, 1utterly destroying it and all that is in it and its cattle with the edge of the sword.
16 “aThen you shall gather all its booty into the middle of its open square and burn the city and all its booty with fire as a whole burnt offering to the Lord your God; and it shall be a 1bruin forever. It shall never be rebuilt.
17 “Nothing from that which is put under the ban shall cling to your hand, in order that the Lord may turn from aHis burning anger and bshow mercy to you, and have compassion on you and cmake you increase, just das He has sworn to your fathers,
18 1if you will listen to the voice of the Lord your God, 2keeping all His commandments which I am commanding you today, 3and doing what is right in the sight of the Lord your God.
1 “You are athe sons of the Lord your God; byou shall not cut yourselves nor 1shave your forehead for the sake of the dead.
2 “For you are aa holy people to the Lord your God, and the Lord has chosen you to be a bpeople for His 1own possession out of all the peoples who are on the face of the earth.
3 “aYou shall not eat any detestable thing.
4 “aThese are the animals which you may eat: the ox, the sheep, the goat,
5 1the deer, the gazelle, the roebuck, the wild goat, the ibex, the antelope and the mountain sheep.
6 “Any animal that divides the hoof and has the hoof split in 1two and 2chews the cud, among the animals, that you may eat.
7 “Nevertheless, you are not to eat of these among those which 1chew the cud, or among those that divide the hoof in 2two: the camel and the 3rabbit and the 4shaphan, for though they 1chew the cud, they do not divide the hoof; they are unclean for you.
8 “The pig, because it divides the hoof but does not chew the cud, it is unclean for you. You shall not eat any of their flesh nor touch their carcasses.
9 “These you may eat of all that are in water: anything that has fins and scales you may eat,
10 but anything that does not have fins and scales you shall not eat; it is unclean for you.
11 “You may eat any clean bird.
12 “But athese are the ones which you shall not eat: the 1eagle and the vulture and the 2buzzard,
13 and the red kite, the falcon, and the kite in their kinds,
14 and every raven in its kind,
15 and the ostrich, the owl, the sea gull, and the hawk in their kinds,
16 the little owl, the 1great owl, the white owl,
17 the pelican, the carrion vulture, the cormorant,
18 the stork, and the heron in their kinds, and the hoopoe and the bat.
19 “And all the 1teeming life with wings are unclean to you; they shall not be eaten.
20 “You may eat any clean bird.
21 “aYou shall not eat anything which dies of itself. You may give it to the alien who is in your 1town, so that he may eat it, or you may sell it to a foreigner, for you are ba holy people to the Lord your God. cYou shall not boil a young goat in its mother’s milk.
22 “You ashall surely tithe all the produce from 1what you sow, which comes out of the field every year.
23 “You shall eat in the presence of the Lord your God, aat the place where He chooses to establish His name, the tithe of your grain, your new wine, your oil, and the firstborn of your herd and your flock, so that you may blearn to fear the Lord your God always.
24 “If the 1distance is so great for you that you are not able to 2bring the tithe, since the place where the Lord your God chooses ato set His name is too far away from you when the Lord your God blesses you,
25 then you shall 1exchange it for money, and bind the money in your hand and go to the place which the Lord your God chooses.
26 “You may spend the money for whatever your 1heart desires: for oxen, or sheep, or wine, or strong drink, or whatever your 1heart 2desires; and athere you shall eat in the presence of the Lord your God and rejoice, you and your household.
27 “Also you shall not neglect athe Levite who is in your 1town, bfor he has no portion or inheritance among you.
28 “aAt the end of every third year you shall bring out all the tithe of your produce in that year, and shall deposit it in your 1town.
29 “The Levite, abecause he has no portion or inheritance among you, and bthe alien, the 1orphan and the widow who are in your 2town, shall come and ceat and be satisfied, in order that dthe Lord your God may bless you in all the work of your hand which you do.
1 “aAt the end of every seven years you shall 1grant a remission of debts.
2 “This is the manner of remission: every creditor shall release what he has loaned to his neighbor; he shall not exact it of his neighbor and his brother, because the Lord’s remission has been proclaimed.
3 “aFrom a foreigner you may exact it, but your hand shall release whatever of yours is with your brother.
4 “However, there will be no poor among you, since athe Lord will surely bless you in the land which the Lord your God is giving you as an inheritance to possess,
5 if only you listen obediently to the voice of the Lord your God, to observe carefully all this commandment which I am commanding you today.
6 “aFor the Lord your God will bless you as He has promised you, and you will lend to many nations, but you will not borrow; and you will rule over many nations, but they will not rule over you.