Deuteronomy 12-15
Laws of the Sanctuary
“These are the statutes and the judgments which you shall carefully observe in the land which the Lord, the God of your fathers, has given you to possess aas long as you live on the earth. 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 aYou shall tear down their altars and smash their sacred pillars and burn their Asherim with fire, and you shall cut down the engraved images of their gods and bobliterate their name from that place. 4 You shall not act like this toward the Lord your God. 5 aBut you shall seek the Lord at the place which the Lord your God will choose from all your tribes, to establish His name there for His dwelling, and there you shall come. 6 There you shall bring your burnt offerings, your sacrifices, ayour tithes, the contribution 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 the Lord your God, and arejoice in all your undertakings in which the Lord your God has blessed you.
8 “You shall not do at all what we are doing here today, every man doing whatever is right in his own eyes; 9 for you have not as yet come to athe resting place and the binheritance which the Lord your God is giving you. 10 When you cross the Jordan and live in the land which the Lord your God is giving you to inherit, and aHe gives you rest from all your enemies around you so that you live in security, 11 athen it shall come about that the place in which the Lord your God will choose for His name to dwell, there you shall bring all that I command you: your burnt offerings and your sacrifices, your tithes and the contribution of your hand, and all your choice votive offerings which you will vow to the Lord. 12 And you shall arejoice before the Lord your God, you and your sons and daughters, your male and female servants, and the bLevite who is within your gates, since che has no portion or inheritance with you.
13 “aBe careful that you do not offer your burnt offerings in every cultic place you see, 14 but 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 “aHowever, you may slaughter and eat meat within any of your gates, whatever you desire, according to the blessing of the Lord 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 contribution of your hand. 18 But ayou shall eat them before the Lord your God in bthe place which the Lord your God will choose, you and your son and daughter, and your male and female servants, and the cLevite who is within your gates; and you shall drejoice before the Lord your God in all your undertakings. 19 aBe careful that you do not forsake the Levite as long as you live in your land.
20 “When the Lord your God extends your border aas He has promised you, and you say, ‘I will eat meat,’ because you desire to eat meat, then you may eat meat, whatever you desire. 21 If the place which the Lord your God chooses to put His name is too far from you, then you may slaughter of your herd and flock which the Lord has given you, as I have commanded you; and you may eat within your gates whatever 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 sure anot to eat the blood, for the blood is the life, and you shall not eat the life 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 the Lord. 26 aOnly your holy things which you may have and your votive offerings, you shall take and go to the place which the Lord chooses. 27 And ayou shall offer your burnt offerings, the flesh and the blood, on the altar of the Lord your God; and the blood of your sacrifices shall be poured out on the altar of the Lord 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 the Lord your God.
29 “When athe Lord your God cuts off before you the nations which you are going in to dispossess, and you dispossess them and dwell in their land, 30 beware that you are not ensnared to follow them, after they are destroyed before you, and that you do not inquire after their gods, saying, ‘How do these nations serve their gods, that I also may do likewise?’ 31 aYou shall not behave thus toward the Lord your God, for every abominable act which the Lord hates they have done for their gods; for bthey even burn their sons and daughters in the fire to their gods.
32 “aWhatever I command you, you shall be careful to do; byou shall not add to nor take away from it.
Shun Idolatry
“aIf a prophet or a dreamer of dreams arises among you and gives you a sign or a wonder, 2 and the sign or the wonder comes true, concerning which he spoke to you, saying, ‘aLet us go after other gods (whom you have not known) and let us serve them,’ 3 you shall not listen to the words of that prophet or that dreamer of dreams; for the Lord your God is atesting you to find out if byou love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul. 4 aYou shall follow the Lord 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 counseled rebellion against the Lord your God who brought you from the land of Egypt and redeemed you from the house of slavery, bto seduce you from the way in which the Lord 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 you cherish, or your friend who is as your own soul, entice you secretly, saying, ‘bLet us go and serve other gods’ (whom neither you nor your fathers have known, 7 of 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), 8 ayou shall not yield to him or listen to him; band your eye shall not pity him, nor shall you spare 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 to death because he has sought ato seduce you from the Lord your God who brought you out from the land of Egypt, out of the house of slavery. 11 Then aall Israel will hear and be afraid, and will never again do such a wicked thing among you.
12 “If you hear in one of your cities, which the Lord your God is giving you to live in, anyone saying that 13 some worthless men have gone out from among you and have seduced the inhabitants of their city, saying, ‘aLet us go and serve other gods’ (whom you have not known), 14 then you shall investigate and search out and inquire thoroughly. If it is true and the matter established that this abomination has been done among you, 15 ayou shall surely strike the inhabitants of that city with the edge of the sword, utterly destroying it and all that is in it and its cattle with the edge of the sword. 16 aThen you shall gather all its booty into the middle of its open square and burn the city and all its booty with fire as a whole burnt offering to the Lord your God; and it shall be a bruin forever. It shall never be rebuilt. 17 Nothing from that which is put under the ban shall cling to your hand, in order that the Lord may turn from aHis burning anger and bshow mercy to you, and have compassion on you and cmake you increase, just das He has sworn to your fathers, 18 if you will listen to the voice of the Lord your God, keeping all His commandments which I am commanding you today, and doing what is right in the sight of the Lord your God.
Clean and Unclean Animals
“You are athe sons of the Lord your God; byou shall not cut yourselves nor shave your forehead for the sake of the dead. 2 For you are aa holy people to the Lord your God, and the Lord has chosen you to be a bpeople for His own possession out of all the peoples who are on the face of the earth.
3 “aYou shall not eat any detestable thing. 4 aThese are the animals which you may eat: the ox, the sheep, the goat, 5 the deer, the gazelle, the roebuck, the wild goat, the ibex, the antelope and the mountain sheep. 6 Any animal that divides the hoof and has the hoof split in two and chews the cud, among the animals, that you may eat. 7 Nevertheless, you are not to eat of these among those which chew the cud, or among those that divide the hoof in two: the camel and the rabbit and the shaphan, for though they chew the cud, they do not divide the hoof; they are unclean for you. 8 The pig, because it divides the hoof but does not chew the cud, it is unclean for you. You shall not eat any of their flesh nor touch their carcasses.
9 “These you may eat of all that are in water: anything that has fins and scales you may eat, 10 but anything that does not have fins and scales you shall not eat; it is unclean for you.
11 “You may eat any clean bird. 12 But athese are the ones which you shall not eat: the eagle and the vulture and the buzzard, 13 and the red kite, the falcon, and the kite in their kinds, 14 and every raven in its kind, 15 and the ostrich, the owl, the sea gull, and the hawk in their kinds, 16 the little owl, the great owl, the white owl, 17 the pelican, the carrion vulture, the cormorant, 18 the stork, and the heron in their kinds, and the hoopoe and the bat. 19 And all the teeming life with wings are unclean to you; they shall not be eaten. 20 You may eat any clean bird.
21 “aYou shall not eat anything which dies of itself. You may give it to the alien who is in your town, so that he may eat it, or you may sell it to a foreigner, for you are ba holy people to the Lord your God. cYou shall not boil a young goat in its mother’s milk.
22 “You ashall surely tithe all the produce from what you sow, which comes out of the field every year. 23 You shall eat in the presence of the Lord your God, aat the place where He chooses to establish His name, the tithe of your grain, your new wine, your oil, and the firstborn of your herd and your flock, so that you may blearn to fear the Lord your God always. 24 If the distance is so great for you that you are not able to bring the tithe, since the place where the Lord your God chooses ato set His name is too far away from you when the Lord your God blesses you, 25 then you shall exchange it for money, and bind the money in your hand and go to the place which the Lord your God chooses. 26 You may spend the money for whatever your heart desires: for oxen, or sheep, or wine, or strong drink, or whatever your heart desires; and athere you shall eat in the presence of the Lord your God and rejoice, you and your household. 27 Also you shall not neglect athe Levite who is in your town, bfor he has no portion or inheritance among you.
28 “aAt the end of every third year you shall bring out all the tithe of your produce in that year, and shall deposit it in your town. 29 The Levite, abecause he has no portion or inheritance among you, and bthe alien, the orphan and the widow who are in your town, shall come and ceat and be satisfied, in order that dthe Lord your God may bless you in all the work of your hand which you do.
The Sabbatic Year
“aAt the end of every seven years you shall grant a remission of debts. 2 This is the manner of remission: every creditor shall release what he has loaned to his neighbor; he shall not exact it of his neighbor and his brother, because the Lord’s remission has been proclaimed. 3 aFrom a foreigner you may exact it, but your hand shall release whatever of yours is with your brother. 4 However, there will be no poor among you, since athe Lord will surely bless you in the land which the Lord your God is giving you as an inheritance to possess, 5 if only you listen obediently to the voice of the Lord your God, to observe carefully all this commandment which I am commanding you today. 6 aFor the Lord your God will bless you as He has promised you, and you will lend to many nations, but you will not borrow; and you will rule over many nations, but they will not rule over you.
7 “If there is aa poor man with you, one of your brothers, in any of your towns in your land which the Lord your God is giving you, byou shall not harden your heart, nor close your hand from your poor brother; 8 but ayou shall freely open your hand to him, and shall generously lend him sufficient for his need in whatever he lacks. 9 Beware that there is no base thought in your heart, saying, ‘aThe seventh year, the year of remission, is near,’ and byour eye is hostile toward your poor brother, and you give him nothing; then he cmay cry to the Lord against you, and it will be a sin in you. 10 You shall generously give to him, and your heart shall not be grieved when you give to him, because afor this thing the Lord your God will bless you in all your work and in all your undertakings. 11 aFor the poor will never cease to be in the land; therefore I command you, saying, ‘You shall freely open your hand to your brother, to your needy and poor in your land.’
12 “aIf your kinsman, a Hebrew man or woman, is sold to you, then he shall serve you six years, but in the seventh year you shall set him free. 13 When you set him free, you shall not send him away empty-handed. 14 You shall furnish him liberally from your flock and from your threshing floor and from your wine vat; you shall give to him as the Lord your God has blessed you. 15 You shall remember that you were a slave in the land of Egypt, and the Lord your God redeemed you; therefore I command you this today. 16 It shall come about aif he says to you, ‘I will not go out from you,’ because he loves you and your household, since he fares well with you; 17 then you shall take an awl and pierce it through his ear into the door, and he shall be your servant forever. Also you shall do likewise to your maidservant.
18 “It shall not seem hard to you when you set him free, for he has given you six years with double the service of a hired man; so the Lord your God will bless you in whatever you do.
19 “aYou shall consecrate to the Lord your God all the firstborn males that are born of your herd and of your flock; you shall not work with the firstborn of your herd, nor shear the firstborn of your flock. 20 aYou and your household shall eat it every year before the Lord your God in the place which the Lord chooses. 21 aBut if it has any defect, such as lameness or blindness, or any serious defect, you shall not sacrifice it to the Lord your God. 22 You shall eat it within your gates; athe unclean and the clean alike may eat it, as aa gazelle or a deer. 23 Only ayou shall not eat its blood; you are to pour it out on the ground like water.
New American Standard Bible Copyright © 1960, 1962, 1963, 1968, 1971, 1972, 1973, 1975, 1977, 1995
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