12Here are the rules and laws you must obey. Be careful to follow them in the land the Lord has given you to take as your own. He’s the God of your people who lived long ago. Obey these rules and laws as long as you live in the land.

²You will soon drive the nations out of it. Completely destroy all of the places where they worship their gods. Destroy them on the high mountains, on the hills, and under every green tree. ³Break down their altars. Smash their sacred stones. Burn up the poles they use to worship the goddess Asherah. Cut down the statues of their gods. Wipe out the names of their gods from those places.

⁴You must not worship the Lord your God the way those nations worship their gods. ⁵Instead, go to the special place he will choose from among all of your tribes. He will put his Name there. That’s where you must go.

⁶Take your burnt offerings and sacrifices to that place. Bring your special gifts and a tenth of everything you produce. Take with you what you have promised to give. Bring any other offerings you choose to give. And bring the male animals among your livestock that were born first to their mothers.

⁷You and your families will eat at the place the Lord your God will choose. He will be with you there. You will find joy in everything you have done. That’s because he has blessed you.

⁸You must not do as we’re doing here today. All of us are doing only what we think is right. ⁹That’s because you haven’t yet reached the place the Lord is giving you. Your God will give you peace and rest there.

¹⁰But first you will go across the Jordan River. You will settle in the land he’s giving you. It will belong to you as your share. He will give you peace and rest from all of your enemies around you. You will live in safety.

¹¹The Lord your God will choose a special place. He will put his Name there. That’s where you must bring everything I command you to bring. That includes your burnt offerings and sacrifices. It includes your special gifts and a tenth of everything you produce. It also includes all of the things of value that you promised to give to the Lord.

¹²Be filled with joy there in the sight of the Lord your God. Your children should also be joyful. So should your male and female servants. And so should the Levites from your towns. The Levites won’t receive any part of the land as their share.

¹³Be careful not to sacrifice your burnt offerings anywhere you want to. ¹⁴Offer them only at the place the Lord will choose in one of your tribes. There obey everything I command you.

¹⁵But you can kill your animals in any of your towns. You can eat as much of the meat as you want to. You can eat it as if it were antelope or deer meat. That’s in keeping with the blessing the Lord your God is giving you. Those who are “clean” and those who are not can eat it.

¹⁶But you must not eat meat that still has blood in it. Pour the blood out on the ground like water.

¹⁷Here are the things you must not eat in your own towns. You must not eat the tenth part of your grain, olive oil and fresh wine. It belongs to the Lord. You must not eat the male animals among your livestock that were born first to their mothers. Don’t eat anything you have promised to give. Don’t eat any offerings you have chosen to give. And you must not eat any of your special gifts.

¹⁸Instead, you must eat all of those things in the sight of the Lord your God. Do it at the place he will choose. You, your children, your male and female servants and the Levites from your towns can eat them.

Be filled with joy in the sight of the Lord your God. Be joyful in everything you do.

¹⁹Don’t forget to take care of the Levites as long as you live in your land.

²⁰The Lord your God will increase your territory, just as he has promised you. When he does, you might get hungry for meat. You might say, “I’d really like some meat.” Then you can eat as much of it as you want to.

²¹The Lord your God will choose a special place. He will put his Name there. But suppose it’s too far away for you to go to it. Then you can kill animals from the herds and flocks the Lord has given you. Do it just as I have commanded you. In your own towns you can eat as much of the meat as you want to. ²²Eat it as you would eat antelope or deer meat. Those who are “clean” and those who are not can eat it.

²³But be sure you don’t eat meat that still has blood in it. The blood is the animal’s life. So you must not eat the life along with the meat. ²⁴You must not eat the blood. Pour it out on the ground like water. ²⁵Don’t eat it. Then things will go well with you and your children after you. You will be doing what is right in the eyes of the Lord.

²⁶But go to the place the Lord will choose. Take with you the things you have set apart for him. Bring what you have promised to give him. ²⁷Sacrifice your burnt offerings on the altar of the Lord your God. Offer the meat and the blood there. The blood of your sacrifices must be poured out beside his altar. But you can eat the meat.

²⁸Make sure you obey all of the rules I’m giving you. Then things will always go well with you and your children after you. That’s because you will be doing what is good and right in the eyes of the Lord your God.

²⁹You are about to attack the land and take it over as your own. When you do, the Lord your God will cut off the nations who live there. He will do it to make room for you. You will drive them out. You will settle in their land. ³⁰They will be destroyed to make room for you. But when they are, be careful.

Don’t be trapped. Don’t ask questions about their gods. Don’t say, “How do these nations serve their gods? We’ll do it in the same way.” ³¹You must not worship the Lord your God the way they worship their gods. When they worship, they do all kinds of evil things the Lord hates. They even burn up their children in the fire as sacrifices to their gods.

³²Be sure you do everything I’m commanding you to do. Don’t add anything to my commands. And don’t take anything away from them.

Don’t Worship Other Gods

13Suppose a prophet appears among you. Or someone comes who uses dreams to tell what’s going to happen. He tells you that a miraculous sign or wonder is going to take place. ²The sign or wonder he has spoken about might really take place. And he might say, “Let’s follow other gods. Let’s worship them.” But you haven’t known anything about those gods before. ³So you must not listen to what that prophet or dreamer has said.

The Lord your God is putting you to the test. He wants to know whether you love him with all your heart and with all your soul. ⁴You must follow him. You must have respect for him. Keep his commands. Obey him. Serve him. Remain true to him.

⁵That prophet or dreamer must be put to death. He told you not to obey the Lord your God. The Lord brought you out of Egypt. He set you free from the land where you were slaves. He commanded you to live the way he wants you to. But that prophet or dreamer has tried to make you turn away from it. Get rid of that evil person.

⁶Suppose your very own brother or sister secretly tempts you to do something wrong. Or your child or the wife you love tempts you. Or your closest friend does it. Suppose one of them says, “Let’s go and worship other gods.” But you and your people long ago hadn’t known anything about those gods before. ⁷They are the gods of the nations that are around you. Those nations might be near or far away. In fact, they might reach from one end of the land to the other. ⁸Don’t give in to those who are tempting you. Don’t listen to them. Don’t feel sorry for them. Don’t spare them or save them.

⁹You must certainly put them to death. You must be the first to throw stones at them. Then all of the people must do the same thing. ¹⁰Put them to death by throwing stones at them. They tried to turn you away from the Lord your God. He brought you out of Egypt. That’s the land where you were slaves.

¹¹After you kill those who tempted you, all of the people of Israel will hear about it. And they will be too scared to do an evil thing like that again.

¹²The Lord your God is giving you towns to live in. But suppose you hear something bad about one of those towns. ¹³You hear that evil men have appeared among you. They’ve tried to get the people of their town to do something wrong. They’ve said, “Let’s go and worship other gods.” But you haven’t known anything about those gods before. ¹⁴So you must question people. You must check the matter out carefully.

If it’s true, an evil thing has really happened among you. It’s something the Lord hates. ¹⁵Then you must certainly kill with your swords everyone who lives in that town. Destroy it completely. Wipe out its people and livestock. ¹⁶Gather all of the goods of that town into the middle of the main street. Burn the town completely. Burn up everything in it.

It’s a whole burnt offering to the Lord your God. The town must remain a pile of stones forever. It must never be built again.

¹⁷Don’t keep anything that should be destroyed. Then the Lord will turn away from his burning anger. He will show you mercy. He’ll have deep concern for you. He’ll increase your numbers. That’s what he promised your people long ago. He took an oath when he made the promise.

¹⁸The Lord your God will do those things if you obey him. I’m giving you his commands today. And you must obey all of them. You must do what is right in his eyes.

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