Deuteronomy 12:4–28

⁴Never worship the Lord your God in the way they worship their gods. ⁵The Lord your God will choose a place out of all your tribes to live and put his name. Go there and worship him. ⁶Bring him your burnt offerings, your sacrifices, one-tenth of your income, your contributions, the offerings you vow to bring, your freewill offerings, and the firstborn of your cattle, sheep, and goats. ⁷There, in the presence of the Lord your God, you and your families will eat and enjoy everything you’ve worked for, because the Lord your God has blessed you. 

⁸Never worship in the way that it’s being done here today, where everyone does whatever he considers right. ⁹Up until now you haven’t come to your place of rest, the property the Lord your God is giving you. ¹⁰But you will cross the Jordan River and settle in the land the Lord your God is giving you as your own property. He will give you peace from all your enemies around you so that you will live securely. ¹¹Then the Lord your God will choose a place where his name will live. You must bring everything I command you to that place. Bring your burnt offerings, your sacrifices, one-tenth of your income, your contributions, and all the best offerings you vow to bring to the Lord. ¹²Enjoy yourselves in the presence of the Lord your God along with your sons, daughters, male and female slaves, and the Levites. (The Levites live in your cities because they have no land of their own as you have.) ¹³Be careful that you don’t sacrifice your burnt offerings wherever you want. ¹⁴Instead, sacrifice them ⸤only⸥ at the place that the Lord will choose in one of your tribes. There you must do everything I command you. 

¹⁵In whatever city you live, you may slaughter and eat as much meat as you want from what the Lord your God has blessed you with. Clean and unclean^apeople may eat it as if they were eating a gazelle or a deer. ¹⁶But never eat the blood. Pour it on the ground like water. ¹⁷You may not eat ⸤the Lord’s offerings⸥ in your cities. Those offerings are: one-tenth of your grain, new wine, and olive oil; the firstborn of your cattle, sheep, or goats; the offerings you vow to bring; your freewill offerings; and your contributions. ¹⁸Instead, you, your sons and daughters, male and female slaves, and the Levites who live in your cities must eat these in the presence of the Lord your God at the place he will choose. There in the presence of the Lord your God enjoy everything you’ve worked for. ¹⁹Don’t forget to take care of the Levites as long as you live in your land. 

²⁰The Lord your God will expand your ⸤country’s⸥ borders as he promised. You will say, “I’m hungry for meat.” Then eat as much meat as you want. ²¹If the place the Lord your God chooses to put his name is too far away from you, you may slaughter an animal from the herds or flocks that the Lord has given you. Eat as much as you want in your city. I have commanded you to do this. ²²Eat it as you would eat a gazelle or a deer: Clean and unclean people may eat it together. ²³However, be sure you never eat blood, because blood contains life. Never eat the life with the meat. ²⁴Never eat blood. Pour it on the ground like water. ²⁵If you don’t eat blood, things will go well for you and your descendants. You will be doing what the Lord considers right. 

²⁶Take the holy things and the offerings you have vowed to bring, and go to the place the Lord will choose. ²⁷Sacrifice the meat and the blood of your burnt offerings on the altar of the Lord your God. The blood of your sacrifices is to be poured out beside the altar of the Lord your God, but you may eat the meat. ²⁸Be sure you obey all these instructions I’m giving you. Then things will always go well for you and your descendants because you will be doing what the Lord your God considers good and right.