Deuteronomy 12

I will now tell you the rules and decrees that you must faithfully obey in the land. God, the God whom our ancestors worshiped, is giving to you the land to occupy. You must obey these laws all the time that you are alive.

When you drive out those people groups, you must destroy all the places where they worshiped their gods. These places include places on the tops of mountains and hills and beside large trees. \*

Tear down their altars, demolish the stone pillars {that they have dedicated to their gods}, burn the poles {that they use when they worship the goddess Asherah}, and chop down their carved idols. This is so that no one will ever worship them in those places again.

Do not worship God as {the people in Canaan worship their gods}. \*

Instead, you must go to the place that God will choose for his presence to be. It will be in the area where one of your tribes will live. Look for his house, and go worship him there.

That is the place where you must bring all of your offerings. These include the wholly burned sacrifice, other sacrifices, one tenth of all your produce and animals, special contributions, sacrifices for promises, unprompted sacrifices, and the firstborn animals from your cattle and sheep. \*

There, in the presence of God our God, you and your families will eat the good things that you have worked to produce, and you will be happy, because he has blessed you {very much}. \*

{When you are in that land,} you must not do some of the things that we have been doing. Until now, you have all been worshiping God the way you want to.

This is because you have not yet arrived in the land that he will allow you to permanently possess. There, you will be able to live peacefully. \*

After you cross the Jordan River, you will start to live in the land that God our God is giving to you. He will protect you from all your enemies that will surround you. You will live peacefully.

God will choose one place where he wants you to worship him. That is the place to which you must bring all the offerings that I command you to bring. These include the wholly burned sacrifice, other sacrifices, one tenth of all your produce and animals, special contributions, and sacrifices for promises you make to God. \*

Celebrate there in the presence of God, with your children, your servants, and the Levites who live in your towns. Remember that the Levites will not have their own land, like you do. \*

Do not offer your wholly burnt sacrifice anywhere else.

Only offer them in the place that God will choose. The place will be in an area that belongs to one of your tribes. That is the only place where you may offer the wholly burnt sacrifice and do the other things that I am commanding you to do {when you worship him}. \*

However, you may kill and eat your animals wherever you live as much as you want. These animals are blessings from God your God. Impure and pure people may eat that meat, just like you would eat the meat of a gazelle or a deer.

But do not eat the blood {of any animal}. Let the blood drain onto the ground {before you cook the meat}. \*

Do not eat any offering for God where you live. Do not eat the one tenth of your produce and animals that you are set aside for God. Do not eat any of the offerings for promises, unprompted offerings, or special contributions. \*

Instead, you must eat those offerings in the presence of God in the place that he chooses. You must do this along with your children, your servants, and the Levites who live in your towns. You should rejoice in the presence of God in everything that you do.

Be sure that you take care of the Levites all during the time that you live in your land. \*

In the future, God will give you more territory, as he has promised. At that time, if you want to eat meat in that new territory, you may eat as much as you want. \*

If the place that God our God chooses for you to worship him is far from {where} you {live}, I will tell you what to do. You may kill and eat some of your animals where you live, as much as you want.

Impure and pure people may eat that meat, just like you would eat the meat of a gazelle or a deer. \*

But be sure that you do not eat the blood of any animal. This is because blood keeps humans and animals alive. You must not eat that which sustains life along with the meat.

Do not eat the blood. Instead, let it drain onto the ground.

If you obey this command and do what God says is right for you to do, you and your descendants will prosper. \*

But this is what you must do with your offerings and anything that you promise to give to God. You must take those things to the place that he will choose.

There you will offer the animals for the wholly burned sacrifice on the altar. {You will also offer the fellowship sacrifice there. After you kill the animals, the priest} will take the blood from the animals and splatter it onto every side of the altar. {Then, the priests will receive their portion of the meat.} You may eat {the rest of} the meat. \*

Faithfully obey all these commands. If you do that, you and your descendants will prosper forever. This is because you will be doing what God our God says is right for you to do. \*

When you enter the land that you will occupy, God our God will destroy the people groups that live there as you advance.

After he does that, be sure that you do not worship the gods of those people groups. If you do, it will be like a trap that will catch you. Do not ask them how they worshiped their gods just so you can worship God in the same way. \*

Do not try to worship God our God as they have worshiped their gods. This is because they do disgusting things when they worship them. God hates those disgusting things. The worst thing that they do is that they burn their own children on altars for their gods.

Be sure to obey all these commands. Do not add anything to these commands, and do not take anything away from them. \*