Deuteronomy 12:5–21

⁵“But you shall seek the ^gplace where the Lord your God chooses, out of all your tribes, to put His name for His ^hdwelling ³place; and there you shall go. ⁶ⁱThere you shall take your burnt offerings, your sacrifices, your tithes, the heave offerings of your hand, your vowed offerings, your freewill offerings, and the ^jfirstborn of your herds and flocks. ⁷And ^kthere you shall eat before the Lord your God, and ^lyou shall rejoice in ⁴all to which you have put your hand, you and your households, in which the Lord your God has blessed you.

⁸“You shall not at all do as we are doing here today—^mevery man doing whatever is right in his own eyes—⁹for as yet you have not come to the ⁿrest ⁵and the inheritance which the Lord your God is giving you. ¹⁰But when you cross over the Jordan and dwell in the land which the Lord your God is giving you to inherit, and He gives you ^orest from all your enemies round about, so that you dwell in safety, ¹¹then there will be the place where the Lord your God chooses to make His name abide. There you shall bring all that I command you: your burnt offerings, your sacrifices, your tithes, the heave offerings of your hand, and all your choice offerings which you vow to the Lord. ¹²And ^pyou shall rejoice before the Lord your God, you and your sons and your daughters, your male and female servants, and the ^qLevite who is within your gates, since he has no portion nor inheritance with you. ¹³Take heed to yourself that you do not offer your burnt offerings in every place that you see; ¹⁴but in the place which the Lord chooses, in one of your tribes, there you shall offer your burnt offerings, and there you shall do all that I command you.

¹⁵“However, ^ryou may slaughter and eat meat within all your gates, whatever your heart desires, according to the blessing of the Lord your God which He has given you; ^sthe unclean and the clean may eat of it, ^tof the gazelle and the deer alike. ^16uOnly you shall not eat the blood; you shall pour it on the earth like water. ¹⁷You may not eat within your gates the tithe of your grain or your new wine or your oil, of the firstborn of your herd or your flock, of any of your offerings which you vow, of your freewill offerings, or of the ⁶heave offering of your hand. ¹⁸But you must eat them before the Lord your God in the place which the Lord your God chooses, you and your son and your daughter, your male servant and your female servant, and the Levite who is within your gates; and you shall rejoice before the Lord your God in ⁷all to which you put your hands. ¹⁹⁸Take heed to yourself that you do not forsake the Levite as long as you live in your land.

²⁰“When the Lord your God ^venlarges your border as He has promised you, and you say, ‘Let me eat meat,’ because you long to eat meat, you may eat as much meat as your heart desires. ²¹If the place where the Lord your God chooses to put His name is too far from ^wyou, then you may slaughter from your herd and from your flock which the Lord has given you, just as I have commanded you, and you may eat within your gates as much as your heart desires.