Deuteronomy 12

THE CHOSEN PLACE OF WORSHIP
“Be careful to follow these statutes and ordinances in the land that the Lord, the God of your ancestors, has given you to possess all the days you live on the earth.
2 Destroy completely all the places where the nations that you are driving out worship their gods ​— ​on the high mountains, on the hills, and under every green tree. 3 Tear down their altars, smash their sacred pillars, burn their Asherah poles, cut down the carved images of their gods, and wipe out their names from every place. 4 Don’t worship the Lord your God this way. 5 Instead, turn to the place the Lord your God chooses from all your tribes to put his name for his dwelling and go there. 6 You are to bring there your burnt offerings and sacrifices, your tenths and personal contributions, your vow offerings and freewill offerings, and the firstborn of your herds and flocks. 7 You will eat there in the presence of the Lord your God and rejoice with your household in everything you do, because the Lord your God has blessed you.

8 “You are not to do as we are doing here today; everyone is doing whatever seems right in his own sight. 9 Indeed, you have not yet come into the resting place and the inheritance the Lord your God is giving you. 10 When you cross the Jordan and live in the land the Lord your God is giving you to inherit, and he gives you rest from all the enemies around you and you live in security, 11 then the Lord your God will choose the place to have his name dwell. Bring there everything I command you: your burnt offerings, sacrifices, offerings of the tenth, personal contributions, and all your choice offerings you vow to the Lord. 12 You will rejoice before the Lord your God ​— ​you, your sons and daughters, your male and female slaves, and the Levite who is within your city gates, since he has no portion or inheritance among you. 13 Be careful not to offer your burnt offerings in all the sacred places you see. 14 You must offer your burnt offerings only in the place the Lord chooses in one of your tribes, and there you must do everything I command you.

SLAUGHTERING ANIMALS TO EAT
15“But whenever you want, you may slaughter and eat meat within any of your city gates, according to the blessing the Lord your God has given you. Those who are clean or unclean may eat it, as they would a gazelle or deer, 16 but you must not eat the blood; pour it on the ground like water. 17 Within your city gates you may not eat the tenth of your grain, new wine, or fresh oil; the firstborn of your herd or flock; any of your vow offerings that you pledge; your freewill offerings; or your personal contributions. 18 You are to eat them in the presence of the Lord your God at the place the Lord your God chooses ​— ​you, your son and daughter, your male and female slave, and the Levite who is within your city gates. Rejoice before the Lord your God in everything you do, 19 and be careful not to neglect the Levite, as long as you live in your land.

20“When the Lord your God enlarges your territory as he has promised you, and you say, ‘I want to eat meat’ because you have a strong desire to eat meat, you may eat it whenever you want. 21 If the place where the Lord your God chooses to put his name is too far from you, you may slaughter any of your herd or flock he has given you, as I have commanded you, and you may eat it within your city gates whenever you want. 22 Indeed, you may eat it as the gazelle and deer are eaten; both the clean and the unclean may eat it. 23 But don’t eat the blood, since the blood is the life, and you must not eat the life with the meat. 24 Do not eat blood; pour it on the ground like water. 25 Do not eat it, so that you and your children after you will prosper, because you will be doing what is right in the Lord’s sight.

26“But you are to take the holy offerings you have and your vow offerings and go to the place the Lord chooses. 27 Present the meat and blood of your burnt offerings on the altar of the Lord your God. The blood of your other sacrifices is to be poured out beside the altar of the Lord your God, but you may eat the meat. 28 Be careful to obey all these things I command you, so that you and your children after you may prosper forever, because you will be doing what is good and right in the sight of the Lord your God.

29“When the Lord your God annihilates the nations before you, which you are entering to take possession of, and you drive them out and live in their land, 30 be careful not to be ensnared by their ways after they have been destroyed before you. Do not inquire about their gods, asking, ‘How did these nations worship their gods? I’ll also do the same.’ 31 You must not do the same to the Lord your God, because they practice every detestable act, which the Lord hates, for their gods. They even burn their sons and daughters in the fire to their gods. 32 Be careful to do everything I command you; do not add anything to it or take anything away from it.

Deuteronomy 13

THE FALSE PROPHET
“If a prophet or someone who has dreams arises among you and proclaims a sign or wonder to you,
2 and that sign or wonder he has promised you comes about, but he says, ‘Let’s follow other gods,’ which you have not known, ‘and let’s worship them,’ 3 do not listen to that prophet’s words or to that dreamer. For the Lord your God is testing you to know whether you love the Lord your God with all your heart and all your soul. 4 You must follow the Lord your God and fear him. You must keep his commands and listen to him; you must worship him and remain faithful to him. 5 That prophet or dreamer must be put to death, because he has urged rebellion against the Lord your God who brought you out of the land of Egypt and redeemed you from the place of slavery, to turn you from the way the Lord your God has commanded you to walk. You must purge the evil from you.

DON’T TOLERATE IDOLATRY
6 “If your brother, the son of your mother, or your son or daughter, or the wife you embrace, or your closest friend secretly entices you, saying, ‘Let’s go and worship other gods’ ​— ​which neither you nor your ancestors have known, 7 any of the gods of the peoples around you, near you or far from you, from one end of the earth to the other ​— ​8 do not yield to him or listen to him. Show him no pity, and do not spare him or shield him. 9 Instead, you must kill him. Your hand is to be the first against him to put him to death, and then the hands of all the people. 10 Stone him to death for trying to turn you away from the Lord your God who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the place of slavery. 11 All Israel will hear and be afraid, and they will no longer do anything evil like this among you.

12“If you hear it said about one of your cities the Lord your God is giving you to live in, 13 that wicked men have sprung up among you, led the inhabitants of their city astray, and said, ‘Let’s go and worship other gods,’ which you have not known, 14 you are to inquire, investigate, and interrogate thoroughly. If the report turns out to be true that this detestable act has been done among you, 15 you must strike down the inhabitants of that city with the sword. Completely destroy everyone in it as well as its livestock with the sword. 16 You are to gather all its spoil in the middle of the city square and completely burn the city and all its spoil for the Lord your God. The city is to remain a mound of ruins forever; it is not to be rebuilt. 17 Nothing set apart for destruction is to remain in your hand, so that the Lord will turn from his burning anger and grant you mercy, show you compassion, and multiply you as he swore to your ancestors. 18 This will occur if you obey the Lord your God, keeping all his commands I am giving you today, doing what is right in the sight of the Lord your God.

Deuteronomy 14

FORBIDDEN PRACTICES
“You are sons of the Lord your God; do not cut yourselves or make a bald spot on your head on behalf of the dead,
2 for you are a holy people belonging to the Lord your God. The Lord has chosen you to be his own possession out of all the peoples on the face of the earth.

CLEAN AND UNCLEAN FOODS
3 “You must not eat any detestable thing. 4 These are the animals you may eat:

oxen, sheep, goats,
5 deer, gazelles, roe deer,
wild goats, ibexes, antelopes,
and mountain sheep.
6 You may eat any animal that has hooves divided in two and chews the cud. 7 But among the ones that chew the cud or have divided hooves, you are not to eat these:

camels, hares, and hyraxes,
though they chew the cud, they do not have hooves —
they are unclean for you;
8 and pigs, though they have hooves, they do not chew the cud —
they are unclean for you.
Do not eat their meat or touch their carcasses.

9 “You may eat everything from the water that has fins and scales, 10 but you may not eat anything that does not have fins and scales ​— ​it is unclean for you.

11 “You may eat every clean bird, 12 but these are the ones you may not eat:

eagles, bearded vultures,
black vultures, 13 the kites,
any kind of falcon,
14 every kind of raven, 15 ostriches,
short-eared owls, gulls,
any kind of hawk,
16 little owls, long-eared owls,
barn owls, 17 eagle owls,
ospreys, cormorants, 18 storks,
any kind of heron,
hoopoes, and bats.
19 All winged insects are unclean for you; they may not be eaten. 20 But you may eat every clean flying creature.

21 “You are not to eat any carcass; you may give it to a resident alien within your city gates, and he may eat it, or you may sell it to a foreigner. For you are a holy people belonging to the Lord your God. Do not boil a young goat in its mother’s milk.

A TENTH FOR THE LORD
22 “Each year you are to set aside a tenth of all the produce grown in your fields. 23 You are to eat a tenth of your grain, new wine, and fresh oil, and the firstborn of your herd and flock, in the presence of the Lord your God at the place where he chooses to have his name dwell, so that you will always learn to fear the Lord your God. 24 But if the distance is too great for you to carry it, since the place where the Lord your God chooses to put his name is too far away from you and since the Lord your God has blessed you, 25 then exchange it for silver, take the silver in your hand, and go to the place the Lord your God chooses. 26 You may spend the silver on anything you want: cattle, sheep, goats, wine, beer, or anything you desire. You are to feast there in the presence of the Lord your God and rejoice with your family. 27 Do not neglect the Levite within your city gates, since he has no portion or inheritance among you.

28 “At the end of every three years, bring a tenth of all your produce for that year and store it within your city gates. 29 Then the Levite, who has no portion or inheritance among you, the resident alien, the fatherless, and the widow within your city gates may come, eat, and be satisfied. And the Lord your God will bless you in all the work of your hands that you do.

Deuteronomy 15

DEBTS CANCELED
“At the end of every seven years you must cancel debts.
2 This is how to cancel debt: Every creditor is to cancel what he has lent his neighbor. He is not to collect anything from his neighbor or brother, because the Lord’s release of debts has been proclaimed. 3 You may collect something from a foreigner, but you must forgive whatever your brother owes you.

4 “There will be no poor among you, however, because the Lord is certain to bless you in the land the Lord your God is giving you to possess as an inheritance ​— ​5 if only you obey the Lord your God and are careful to follow every one of these commands I am giving you today. 6 When the Lord your God blesses you as he has promised you, you will lend to many nations but not borrow; you will rule many nations, but they will not rule you.

LENDING TO THE POOR
7 “If there is a poor person among you, one of your brothers within any of your city gates in the land the Lord your God is giving you, do not be hardhearted or tightfisted toward your poor brother. 8 Instead, you are to open your hand to him and freely loan him enough for whatever need he has. 9 Be careful that there isn’t this wicked thought in your heart, ‘The seventh year, the year of canceling debts, is near,’ and you are stingy toward your poor brother and give him nothing. He will cry out to the Lord against you, and you will be guilty. 10 Give to him, and don’t have a stingy heart when you give, and because of this the Lord your God will bless you in all your work and in everything you do. 11 For there will never cease to be poor people in the land; that is why I am commanding you, ‘Open your hand willingly to your poor and needy brother in your land.’

RELEASE OF SLAVES
12 “If your fellow Hebrew, a man or woman, is sold to you and serves you six years, you must set him free in the seventh year. 13 When you set him free, do not send him away empty-handed. 14 Give generously to him from your flock, your threshing floor, and your winepress. You are to give him whatever the Lord your God has blessed you with. 15 Remember that you were a slave in the land of Egypt and the Lord your God redeemed you; that is why I am giving you this command today. 16 But if your slave says to you, ‘I don’t want to leave you,’ because he loves you and your family, and is well off with you, 17 take an awl and pierce through his ear into the door, and he will become your slave for life. Also treat your female slave the same way. 18 Do not regard it as a hardship when you set him free, because he worked for you six years ​— ​worth twice the wages of a hired worker. Then the Lord your God will bless you in everything you do.

CONSECRATION OF FIRSTBORN ANIMALS
19 “Consecrate to the Lord your God every firstborn male produced by your herd and flock. You are not to put the firstborn of your oxen to work or shear the firstborn of your flock. 20 Each year you and your family are to eat it before the Lord your God in the place the Lord chooses. 21 But if there is a defect in the animal, if it is lame or blind or has any serious defect, you may not sacrifice it to the Lord your God. 22 Eat it within your city gates; both the unclean person and the clean may eat it, as though it were a gazelle or deer. 23 But you must not eat its blood; pour it on the ground like water.

— Deuteronomy 12:1-15:23 (CSB)