Deuteronômio 12

¹ These [are] the statutes and judgments, which ye shall observe to do in the land, which the LORD GodBy which they are admonished to seek no other God.of thy fathers giveth thee to possess it, all the days that ye live upon the earth.

² Yee shall vtterly destroy all the places wherein the nations which ye shal possesse, serued their gods vpon the hie mountaines and vpon the hilles, and vnder euery greene tree.

³ And ye shall overthrow their altars, and break their pillars, and burn theirIn which they sacrificed to their idols.groves with fire; and ye shall hew down the graven images of their gods, and destroy the names of them out of that place.

⁴ Ye shallYou shall not serve the Lord with superstitions.not do so unto the LORD your God.

⁵ But ye shal seeke the place which the Lord your God shall chose out of all your tribes, to put his Name there, and there to dwell, and thither thou shalt come,

⁶ And thither ye shall bring your burnt offerings, and your sacrifices, and your tithes, and heaveMeaning, the first fruits.offerings of your hand, and your vows, and your freewill offerings, and the firstlings of your herds and of your flocks:

⁷ And there ye shall eatWhere his Ark shall be.before the LORD your God, and ye shall rejoice in all that ye put your hand unto, ye and your households, wherein the LORD thy God hath blessed thee.

⁸ Ye shall not do after all [the things] that we doNot that they sacrificed after their fantasies, but that God would be served more purely in the land of Canaan.here this day, every man whatsoever [is] right in his own eyes.

⁹ For ye are not yet come to rest, and to the inheritance which the Lord thy God giueth thee.

¹⁰ But [when] ye go over Jordan, and dwell in the land which the LORD your God giveth you to inherit, and [when] he giveth youIt was not enough to conquer unless God maintained them in rest under his protection.rest from all your enemies round about, so that ye dwell in safety;

¹¹ When there shalbe a place which the Lord your God shall chose, to cause his name to dwell there, thither shall yee bring all that I commaund you: your burnt offrings, and your sacrifices, your tithes, and the offring of your hands, and all your speciall vowes which ye vowe vnto the Lord:

¹² And ye shall reioyce before the Lord your God, yee, and your sonnes & your daughters, and your seruaunts, and your maidens, and the Leuite that is within your gates: for hee hath no part nor inheritance with you.

¹³ Take heede that thou offer not thy burnt offrings in euery place that thou seest:

¹⁴ But in the place which the LORD shallAs was declared ever by the placing of the ark in Shiloh 243 years, or as some write more that 300 years, and in other places till the temple was built.choose in one of thy tribes, there thou shalt offer thy burnt offerings, and there thou shalt do all that I command thee.

¹⁵ Notwithstanding thou mayest kill and eat flesh in all thy gates, whatsoever thy soul lusteth after, according to theAs God has given you power and ability.blessing of the LORD thy God which he hath given thee: the unclean and the clean may eat thereof,Everyone may eat equally at home the beast appointed for sacrifice and the other.as of the roebuck, and as of the hart.

¹⁶ Onely ye shal not eat the blood, but powre it vpon the earth as water.

¹⁷ Thou mayest not eat within thy gates theMeaning, whatever was offered to the Lord, may not be eaten, except where he had appointed.tithe of thy corn, or of thy wine, or of thy oil, or the firstlings of thy herds or of thy flock, nor any of thy vows which thou vowest, nor thy freewill offerings, or heave offering of thine hand:

¹⁸ But thou shalt eate it before the Lorde thy God, in the place which the Lorde thy God shall chuse, thou, & thy sonne, & thy daughter, & thy seruat, and thy maid, and the Leuite that is within thy gates: and thou shalt reioyce before the Lord thy God, in all that thou puttest thine hand to.

¹⁹ Beware, that thou forsake not the Leuite, as long as thou liuest vpon the earth.

²⁰ When the Lorde thy God shall enlarge thy border, as hee hath promised thee, and thou shalt say, I wil eate flesh, (because thine heart longeth to eate flesh) thou maiest eate flesh, whatsoeuer thine heart desireth.

²¹ If the place which the Lord thy God hath chosen to put his Name there, be farre from thee, then thou shalt kill of thy bullockes, and of thy sheepe which the Lorde hath giuen thee, as I haue commanded thee, and thou shalt eat in thy gates, whatsoeuer thine heart desireth.

²² Euen as the roe bucke, and the hart is eaten, so shalt thou eat them. both the vncleane and the cleane shall eate of them alike.

²³ Only be sure that thou eat not the blood: for the bloodBecause the life of beasts is in their blood.[is] the life; and thou mayest not eat the life with the flesh.

²⁴ Therefore thou shalt not eat it, but powre it vpon the earth as water.

²⁵ Thou shalt not eat it, that it may go wel with thee; and with thy children after thee, when thou shalt doe that which is right in the sight of the Lord:

²⁶ Only thyThat which you will offer in sacrifice.holy things which thou hast, and thy vows, thou shalt take, and go unto the place which the LORD shall choose:

²⁷ And thou shalt make thy burnt offerings of the flesh, and of the blood vpon the altar of the Lorde thy God, and the blood of thine offerings shall bee powred vpon the altar of the Lorde thy God, and thou shalt eate the flesh.

²⁸ Observe and hear all these words which I command thee, that it may goGod by promise binds himself to do good to those who obey his word.well with thee, and with thy children after thee for ever, when thou doest [that which is] good and right in the sight of the LORD thy God.

²⁹ When the Lorde thy God shall destroy the nations before thee, whither thou goest to possesse them, and thou shalt possesse them and dwell in their lande,

³⁰ Take heed to thyself that thou be notBy following their superstitions and idolatries, and thinking to serve me by it.snared by following them, after that they be destroyed from before thee; and that thou enquire not after their gods, saying, How did these nations serve their gods? even so will I do likewise.

³¹ Thou shalt not do so unto the LORD thy God: for every abomination to the LORD, which he hateth, have they done unto their gods; for even their sons and their daughters they haveThey held nothing too dear to offer to their idols.burnt in the fire to their gods.

³² Therefore whatsoeuer I command you, take heede you doe it: thou shalt put nothing thereto, nor take ought therefrom.