Deuteronomy 12–13

CHAPTER 12

Yahweh’s Chosen Place of Worship

¹“These are the statutes and the judgments which you shall be careful to do in the land which Yahweh, the God of your fathers, has given you to possess ^aall the days you live on the ¹earth.

²“You shall utterly destroy all the places where the nations whom you shall dispossess serve their gods, on the ^ahigh mountains and on the hills and under every green tree.

³“^aAnd you shall tear down their altars and shatter their sacred pillars and burn their ¹Asherim with fire, and you shall cut the graven images of their gods in pieces and ^bdestroy their name from that place.

⁴“You shall not do thus toward Yahweh your God.

⁵“^aBut you shall seek Yahweh at the place which Yahweh your God will choose from all your tribes, to establish His name there for His dwelling, and there you shall come.

⁶“And there you shall bring your burnt offerings, your sacrifices, ^ayour tithes, the ¹contribution of your hand, your votive offerings, your freewill offerings, and the firstborn of your herd and of your flock.

⁷“There also you and your households shall eat before Yahweh your God, and ^abe glad in all that you send forth your hand to do, in which Yahweh your God has blessed you.

⁸“You shall not do at all what we are doing here today, ^aevery man doing whatever is right in his own eyes;

⁹for you have not as yet come to ^athe resting place and the ^binheritance which Yahweh your God is giving you.

¹⁰“Now you will cross the Jordan and live in the land which Yahweh your God is giving you to inherit. And ^aHe will give you rest from all your enemies around you so that you live in security.

^11aThen it will be that the place in which Yahweh your God will choose for His name to dwell, there you shall bring all that I am commanding you: your burnt offerings and your sacrifices, your tithes and the ¹contribution of your hand, and all your choice votive offerings which you will vow to Yahweh.

¹²“And you shall ^abe glad before Yahweh your God, you and your sons and daughters, your male and female slaves, and the ^bLevite who is within your gates, since ^che has no portion or inheritance with you.

¹³“^aBeware, lest you offer your burnt offerings in every cultic place you see,

¹⁴but in the place which Yahweh chooses in one of your tribes, there you shall offer your burnt offerings, and there you shall do all that I am commanding you.

¹⁵“^aHowever, you may sacrifice and eat meat within any of your gates, ¹whatever you desire, according to the blessing of Yahweh your God which He has given you; the unclean and the clean may eat of it, as of ^bthe gazelle and the deer.

¹⁶“^aOnly you shall not eat the blood; ^byou are to pour it out on the ground like water.

¹⁷“^aYou are not allowed to eat within your gates the tithe of your grain or new wine or oil, or the firstborn of your herd or flock, or any of your votive offerings which you vow, or your freewill offerings, or the ¹contribution of your hand.

¹⁸“But ^ayou shall eat them before Yahweh your God in ^bthe place which Yahweh your God will choose, you and your son and daughter, and your male and female slaves, and the ^cLevite who is within your gates; and you shall ^dbe glad before Yahweh your God in all that you send forth your hand to do.

¹⁹“^aBeware lest you forsake the Levite all your days upon your land.

²⁰“When Yahweh your God enlarges your territory ^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 where Yahweh your God chooses to set His name is too far away from you, then you may sacrifice of your herd and flock which Yahweh 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 strong in yourselves ^anot to eat the blood, for the blood is the ¹life, and you shall not eat the ²life 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 Yahweh.

²⁶“^aOnly your holy things which you may have and your votive offerings, you shall take and go to the place which Yahweh chooses.

²⁷“And ^ayou shall offer your burnt offerings, the flesh and the blood, on the altar of Yahweh your God; and the blood of your sacrifices shall be poured out on the altar of Yahweh 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 Yahweh your God.

²⁹“When ^aYahweh your God cuts off before you the nations which you are going in to dispossess, and you dispossess them and inhabit their land,

³⁰beware lest you be ensnared ¹to follow them, after they are destroyed before you, and lest you inquire after their gods, saying, ‘How do these nations serve their gods, that I also may do likewise?’

³¹“^aYou shall not do thus toward Yahweh your God, for every abominable act which Yahweh hates they have done for their gods; for ^bthey even burn their sons and daughters in the fire to their gods.

³²“^1aWhatever I am commanding you, you shall be careful to do; ^byou shall not add to nor take away from it.

CHAPTER 13

Stone Those Who Prophesy Against Yahweh

¹“^1aIf a prophet or a dreamer of dreams arises among you and gives you a sign or a wonder,

²and the sign or the wonder comes true, concerning which he spoke to you, saying, ‘^aLet us walk after other gods (whom you have not known) and let us serve them,’

³you shall not listen to the words of that prophet or that dreamer of dreams; for Yahweh your God is ^atesting you to find out if ^byou love Yahweh your God with all your heart and with all your soul.

⁴“^aYou shall walk after Yahweh 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 Yahweh your God who brought you from the land of Egypt and redeemed you from the house of ³slavery, ^bto drive you from the way in which Yahweh 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, entices you secretly, saying, ‘^bLet us go and serve other gods’ (whom neither you nor your fathers have known,

⁷of 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),

^8ayou shall not be willing to accept him or listen to him; ^band your eye shall not pity him; and you shall not spare him 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 drive you from Yahweh your God who brought you out from the land of Egypt, out of the house of ²slavery.

¹¹“Thus ^aall Israel will hear and be afraid and will never again do such an evil thing among you.

¹²“If you hear in one of your cities, which Yahweh your God is giving you to live in, anyone saying that

¹³some vile men have gone out from among you and have driven the inhabitants of their city astray, saying, ‘^aLet us go and serve other gods’ (whom you have not known),

¹⁴then you shall inquire and search out and ask thoroughly. Behold, if it is true and the matter is confirmed, that this abomination has been done among you,

^15ayou shall surely strike the inhabitants of that city with the edge of the sword, ¹devoting it to destruction and all that is in it and its cattle with the edge of the sword.

¹⁶“^aThen you shall gather all its spoil into the middle of its open square and burn the city and all its spoil with fire as a whole burnt offering to Yahweh your God; and it shall be a ^1bruin forever. It shall never be rebuilt.

¹⁷“Now nothing from that which is devoted to destruction shall cling to your hand, in order that Yahweh may turn from ^aHis burning anger and ^bgrant compassion to you and show compassion to you and ^cmake you multiply, just ^das He has sworn to your fathers,

¹⁸¹if you will listen to the voice of Yahweh your God, ²keeping all His commandments which I am commanding you today, ³and doing what is right in the sight of Yahweh your God.