Deuteronomy 12–13

The One Place of Worship

12These are the decrees^m and laws you must be careful to follow in the land that the Lord, the God of your ancestors, has given you to possess—as long as you live in the land.^{n 2}Destroy completely all the places on the high mountains,^o on the hills and under every spreading tree,^p where the nations you are dispossessing worship their gods. ³Break down their altars, smash^q their sacred stones and burn^r their Asherah^s poles in the fire; cut down the idols of their gods and wipe out their names^t from those places.

⁴You must not worship the Lord your God in their way.^{u 5}But you are to seek the place the Lord your God will choose from among all your tribes to put his Name^v there for his dwelling.^w To that place you must go; ⁶there bring your burnt offerings and sacrifices, your tithes^x and special gifts, what you have vowed^y to give and your freewill offerings, and the firstborn of your herds and flocks.^{z 7}There, in the presence^a of the Lord your God, you and your families shall eat and shall rejoice^b in everything you have put your hand to, because the Lord your God has blessed you.

⁸You are not to do as we do here today, everyone doing as they see fit,^{c 9}since you have not yet reached the resting place^d and the inheritance^e the Lord your God is giving you. ¹⁰But you will cross the Jordan and settle in the land the Lord your God is giving^f you as an inheritance, and he will give you rest^g from all your enemies around you so that you will live in safety. ¹¹Then to the place the Lord your God will choose as a dwelling for his Name^h—there you are to bring everything I command you: your burnt offerings and sacrifices, your tithes and special gifts, and all the choice possessions you have vowed to the Lord.^{i 12}And there rejoice^j before the Lord your God—you, your sons and daughters, your male and female servants, and the Levites^k from your towns who have no allotment or inheritance^l of their own. ¹³Be careful not to sacrifice your burnt offerings anywhere you please.^{m 14}Offer them only at the place the Lord will chooseⁿ in one of your tribes, and there observe everything I command you.

¹⁵Nevertheless, you may slaughter your animals in any of your towns and eat as much of the meat as you want, as if it were gazelle or deer,^o according to the blessing the Lord your God gives you. Both the ceremonially unclean and the clean may eat it. ¹⁶But you must not eat the blood;^p pour^q it out on the ground like water.^{r 17}You must not eat in your own towns the tithe^s of your grain and new wine and olive oil,^t or the firstborn of your herds and flocks, or whatever you have vowed to give,^u or your freewill offerings or special gifts.^{v 18}Instead, you are to eat^w them in the presence of the Lord your God at the place the Lord your God will choose^x—you, your sons and daughters, your male and female servants, and the Levites from your towns—and you are to rejoice^y before the Lord your God in everything you put your hand to. ¹⁹Be careful not to neglect the Levites^z as long as you live in your land.^a

²⁰When the Lord your God has enlarged your territory^b as he promised^c you, and you crave meat^d and say, “I would like some meat,” then you may eat as much of it as you want. ²¹If the place where the Lord your God chooses to put his Name^e is too far away from you, you may slaughter animals from the herds and flocks the Lord has given you, as I have commanded you, and in your own towns you may eat as much of them as you want.^{f 22}Eat them as you would gazelle or deer.^g Both the ceremonially unclean and the clean may eat. ²³But be sure you do not eat the blood,^h because the blood is the life, and you must not eat the life with the meat.^{i 24}You must not eat the blood; pour it out on the ground like water.^{j 25}Do not eat it, so that it may go well^k with you and your children after you, because you will be doing what is right^l in the eyes of the Lord.

²⁶But take your consecrated things and whatever you have vowed to give,^m and go to the place the Lord will choose. ²⁷Present your burnt offeringsⁿ on the altar of the Lord your God, both the meat and the blood. The blood of your sacrifices must be poured beside the altar of the Lord your God, but you may eat^o the meat. ²⁸Be careful to obey all these regulations I am giving you, so that it may always go well^p with you and your children after you, because you will be doing what is good and right in the eyes of the Lord your God.

²⁹The Lord your God will cut off^q before you the nations you are about to invade and dispossess. But when you have driven them out and settled in their land,^{r 30}and after they have been destroyed before you, be careful not to be ensnared^s by inquiring about their gods, saying, “How do these nations serve their gods? We will do the same.”^{t 31}You must not worship the Lord your God in their way, because in worshiping their gods, they do all kinds of detestable things the Lord hates.^u They even burn their sons^v and daughters in the fire as sacrifices to their gods.^w

³²See that you do all I command you; do not add^x to it or take away from it.^a

Worshiping Other Gods

13^aIf a prophet,^y or one who foretells by dreams,^z appears among you and announces to you a sign or wonder, ²and if the sign^a or wonder spoken of takes place, and the prophet says, “Let us follow other gods”^b (gods you have not known) “and let us worship them,” ³you must not listen to the words of that prophet^c or dreamer.^d The Lord your God is testing^e you to find out whether you love^f him with all your heart and with all your soul. ⁴It is the Lord your God you must follow,^g and him you must revere.^h Keep his commands and obey him; serve him and hold fastⁱ to him. ⁵That prophet or dreamer must be put to death^j for inciting rebellion against the Lord your God, who brought you out of Egypt and redeemed you from the land of slavery. That prophet or dreamer tried to turn^k you from the way the Lord your God commanded you to follow. You must purge the evil^l from among you.

⁶If your very own brother, or your son or daughter, or the wife you love, or your closest friend secretly entices^m you, saying, “Let us go and worship other gods”ⁿ (gods that neither you nor your ancestors have known, ⁷gods of the peoples around you, whether near or far, from one end of the land to the other), ⁸do not yield^o to them or listen to them. Show them no pity.^p Do not spare them or shield them. ⁹You must certainly put them to death.^q Your hand^r must be the first in putting them to death, and then the hands of all the people. ¹⁰Stone them to death, because they tried to turn you away^s from the Lord your God, who brought you out of Egypt, out of the land of slavery. ¹¹Then all Israel will hear and be afraid,^t and no one among you will do such an evil thing again.

¹²If you hear it said about one of the towns the Lord your God is giving you to live in ¹³that troublemakers^u have arisen among you and have led the people of their town astray, saying, “Let us go and worship other gods” (gods you have not known), ¹⁴then you must inquire, probe and investigate it thoroughly.^v And if it is true and it has been proved that this detestable thing has been done among you,^{w 15}you must certainly put to the sword all who live in that town. You must destroy it completely,^bx both its people and its livestock.^{y 16}You are to gather all the plunder of the town into the middle of the public square and completely burn the town^z and all its plunder as a whole burnt offering to the Lord your God.^a That town is to remain a ruin^b forever, never to be rebuilt, ¹⁷and none of the condemned things^c are to be found in your hands. Then the Lord will turn from his fierce anger,^c will show you mercy,^d and will have compassion^e on you. He will increase your numbers,^f as he promised^g on oath to your ancestors—¹⁸because you obey the Lord your God by keeping all his commands that I am giving you today and doing what is right^h in his eyes.