Deuteronomy 12

12^aThese are the statutes and judgments, which ye shall observe to do in the land, which the Lord God of thy fathers giveth thee to possess it, ^ball the days that ye live upon the earth. ²Ye shall utterly destroy all the places, wherein the nations which ye shall ^||possess served their gods, ^cupon the high mountains, and upon the hills, and under every green tree: ³And ye shall ^†overthrow their altars, and break ^dtheir pillars, and burn their groves with fire; and ^eye shall hew down the graven images of their gods, and destroy the names of them out of that place. ^4fYe shall not do so unto the Lord your God. ⁵But ^gunto the place which the Lord your God shall choose out of all your tribes to put his name there, even unto his habitation shall ye seek, and thither thou shalt come: ⁶And thither ye shall bring your burnt offerings, and your sacrifices, and your ^htithes, and heave offerings of your hand, and your vows, and your freewill offerings, and ⁱthe firstlings of your herds and of your flocks: ⁷And ^jthere ye shall eat before the Lord your God, and ^kye shall rejoice in all ^lthat ye put your hand unto, ye and your households, wherein the Lord thy God hath blessed thee. ⁸Ye shall not do after all the things that we do here this day, ^mevery man whatsoever is right in his own eyes. ⁹For ye are not as yet come to the rest and to the inheritance, which the Lord your God giveth you. ¹⁰But when ⁿye go over Jordan, and dwell in the land which the Lord your God giveth you to inherit, and when he giveth you rest from all your enemies round about, so that ye dwell in safety; ¹¹Then there shall be ^oa 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 heave offering of your hand, and all ^†your choice vows which ye vow unto the Lord: ¹²And ^pye shall rejoice before the Lord your God, ye, and your sons, and your daughters, and your menservants, and your maidservants, and the Levite that is within your gates; forasmuch as ^qhe hath no part nor inheritance with you. ^13rTake heed to thyself that thou offer not thy burnt offerings in every place that thou seest: ^14sBut 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. ¹⁵Notwithstanding ^tthou mayest kill and eat flesh in all thy gates, whatsoever thy soul lusteth after, according to the blessing of the Lord thy God which he hath given thee: ^uthe unclean and the clean may eat thereof, ^xas of the roebuck, and as of the hart. ^16yOnly ye shall not eat the blood; ye shall pour it upon the earth as water. ¹⁷Thou mayest not eat within thy gates the tithe of thy corn, or of thy wine, or of thy oil, or the firstlings of thy herds or of thy flock, nor any of thy vows which thou vowest, nor thy freewill offerings, or heave offering of thine hand: ^18zBut thou must eat them before the Lord thy God in the place which the Lord thy God shall choose, thou, and thy son, and thy daughter, and thy manservant, and thy maidservant, and the Levite that is within thy gates: and thou shalt rejoice before the Lord thy God in all ^lthat thou puttest thine hands unto. ^19aTake heed to thyself that thou forsake not the Levite ^†as long as thou livest upon the earth. ²⁰When the Lord thy God shall enlarge thy border, ^bas he hath promised thee, and thou shalt say, I will eat flesh, because thy soul longeth to eat flesh; thou mayest eat flesh, ^cwhatsoever thy soul lusteth after. ²¹If the place which the Lord thy God hath chosen to put his name there be too far from thee, then thou shalt kill of thy herd and of thy flock, which the Lord hath given thee, as I have commanded thee, and thou shalt eat in thy gates ^cwhatsoever thy soul lusteth after. ^22cEven as the roebuck and the hart is eaten, so thou shalt eat them: the unclean and the clean shall eat of them alike. ^23dOnly ^†be sure that thou eat not the blood: ^efor the blood is the life; and thou mayest not eat the life with the flesh. ²⁴Thou shalt not eat it; thou shalt pour it upon the earth as water. ²⁵Thou shalt not eat it; ^fthat it may go well with thee, and with thy children after thee, ^gwhen thou shalt do that which is right in the sight of the Lord. ²⁶Only thy ^hholy things which thou hast, and ⁱthy vows, thou shalt take, and go unto the place which the Lord shall choose: ²⁷And ^kthou shalt offer thy burnt offerings, the flesh and the blood, upon the altar of the Lord thy God: and the blood of thy sacrifices shall be poured out upon the altar of the Lord thy God, and thou shalt eat the flesh. ²⁸Observe and hear all these words which I command thee, ^lthat it may go well with thee, and with thy children after thee for ever, when thou doest that which is good and right in the sight of the Lord thy God. ²⁹When ^mthe Lord thy God shall cut off the nations from before thee, whither thou goest to possess them, and thou ^†succeedest them, and dwellest in their land; ³⁰Take heed to thyself ⁿthat thou be not snared ^†by following them, after that they be destroyed from before thee; and that thou inquire not after their gods, saying, How did these nations serve their gods? even so will I do likewise. ^31oThou shalt not do so unto the Lord thy God: for every ^†abomination to the Lord, which he hateth, have they done unto their gods; for ^peven their sons and their daughters they have burnt in the fire to their gods. ³²What thing soever I command you, observe to do it: ^qthou shalt not add thereto, nor diminish from it.