Deuteronomy 12

The Lord's Chosen Place of Worship

1 "These a are the statutes and judgments which you shall be careful to observe in the land which the LORD God of your fathers is giving you to possess, b all 1 the days that you live on the earth. 2 c "You shall utterly destroy all the places where the nations which you shall dispossess served their gods, d on the high mountains and on the hills and under every green tree. 3 "And e you shall destroy their altars, break their sacred pillars, and burn their 2 wooden images with fire; you shall cut down the carved images of their gods and destroy their names from that place. 4 "You shall not f worship the LORD your God with such things. 5 "But you shall seek the g place where the LORD your God chooses, out of all your tribes, to put His name for His h dwelling 3 place; and there you shall go. 6 i "There you shall take your burnt offerings, your sacrifices, your tithes, the heave offerings of your hand, your vowed offerings, your freewill offerings, and the j firstborn of your herds and flocks. 7 "And k there you shall eat before the LORD your God, and l you shall rejoice in 4 all to which you have put your hand, you and your households, in which the LORD your God has blessed you.

8 "You shall not at all do as we are doing here today - m every man doing whatever is right in his own eyes - 9 "for as yet you have not come to the n rest 5 and the inheritance which the LORD your God is giving you. 10 "But when you cross over the Jordan and dwell in the land which the LORD your God is giving you to inherit, and He gives you o rest from all your enemies round about, so that you dwell in safety, 11 "then there will be the place where the LORD your God chooses to make His name abide. There you shall bring all that I command you: your burnt offerings, your sacrifices, your tithes, the heave offerings of your hand, and all your choice offerings which you vow to the LORD. 12 "And p you shall rejoice before the LORD your God, you and your sons and your daughters, your male and female servants, and the q Levite who is within your gates, since he has no portion nor inheritance with you. 13 "Take heed to yourself that you do not offer your burnt offerings in every place that 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 "However, r you may slaughter and eat meat within all your gates, whatever your heart desires, according to the blessing of the LORD your God which He has given you; s the unclean and the clean may eat of it, t of the gazelle and the deer alike. 16 u "Only you shall not eat the blood; you shall pour it on the earth like water. 17 "You may not eat within your gates the tithe of your grain or your new wine or your oil, of the firstborn of your herd or your flock, of any of your offerings which you vow, of your freewill offerings, or of the 6 heave offering of your hand. 18 "But you must eat them before the LORD your God in the place which the LORD your God chooses, you and your son and your daughter, your male servant and your female servant, and the Levite who is within your gates; and you shall rejoice before the LORD your God in 7 all to which you put your hands. 19 8 "Take heed to yourself that you do not forsake the Levite as long as you live in your land.

20 "When the LORD your God v enlarges your border as He has promised you, and you say, 'Let me eat meat,' because you long to eat meat, you may eat as much meat as your heart desires. 21 "If the place where the LORD your God chooses to put His name is too far from w you, then you may slaughter from your herd and from your flock which the LORD has given you, just as I have commanded you, and you may eat within your gates as much as your heart desires. 22 "Just as the gazelle and the deer are eaten, so you may eat them; the unclean and the clean alike may eat them. 23 "Only be sure that you do not eat the blood, x for the blood is the life; you may not eat the life with the meat. 24 "You shall not eat it; you shall pour it on the earth like water. 25 "You shall not eat it, y that it may go well with you and your children after you, z when you do what is right in the sight of the LORD. 26 "Only the a holy things which you have, and your vowed offerings, you shall take and go to the place which the LORD chooses. 27 "And b you shall offer your burnt offerings, the meat 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 you shall eat the meat. 28 "Observe and obey all these words which I command you, c that it may go well with you and your children after you forever, when you do what is good and right in the sight of the LORD your God.

Warning Against Idolatry

29 "When d the LORD your God cuts off from before you the nations which you go to dispossess, and you displace them and dwell in their land, 30 "take heed to yourself that you are not ensnared to follow them, after they are destroyed from before you, and that you do not inquire after their gods, saying, 'How did these nations serve their gods? I also will do likewise.' 31 e "You shall not worship the LORD your God in that way; for every 9 abomination to the LORD which He hates they have done to their gods; for f they burn even their sons and daughters in the fire to their gods.

32 "Whatever I command you, be careful to observe it; g you shall not add to it nor take away from it.

  1. Cross References
    Deuteronomy 6:1
    Now this is the commandment, and these are the statutes and judgments which the LORD your God has commanded to teach you, that you may observe them in the land which you are crossing over to possess.
  2. Cross References
    Deuteronomy 4:9
    Only take heed to yourself, and diligently keep yourself, lest you forget the things your eyes have seen, and lest they depart from your heart all the days of your life. And teach them to your children and your grandchildren.
    Deuteronomy 4:10
    " especially concerning the day you stood before the LORD your God in Horeb, when the LORD said to me, 'Gather the people to Me, and I will let them hear My words, that they may learn to fear Me all the days they live on the earth, and that they may teach their children.'
    1 Kings 8:40
    That they may fear You all the days that they live in the land which You gave to our fathers.
  3. Cross References
    Exodus 34:13
    But you shall destroy their altars, break their sacred pillars, and cut down their wooden images
  4. Cross References
    2 Kings 16:4
    And he sacrificed and burned incense on the high places, on the hills, and under every green tree.
    2 Kings 17:10
    They set up for themselves sacred pillars and wooden images on every high hill and under every green tree.
    2 Kings 17:11
    There they burned incense on all the high places, like the nations whom the LORD had carried away before them; and they did wicked things to provoke the LORD to anger.
  5. Cross References
    Numbers 33:52
    Then you shall drive out all the inhabitants of the land from before you, destroy all their engraved stones, destroy all their molded images, and demolish all their high places.
    Deuteronomy 7:5
    But thus you shall deal with them: you shall destroy their altars, and break down their sacred pillars, and cut down their wooden images, and burn their carved images with fire.
    Judges 2:2
    And you shall make no covenant with the inhabitants of this land; you shall tear down their altars.' But you have not obeyed My voice. Why have you done this?
  6. Cross References
    Deuteronomy 12:31
    You shall not worship the LORD your God in that way; for every abomination to the LORD which He hates they have done to their gods; for they burn even their sons and daughters in the fire to their gods.
  7. Cross References
    Exodus 20:24
    An altar of earth you shall make for Me, and you shall sacrifice on it your burnt offerings and your peace offerings, your sheep and your oxen. In every place where I record My name I will come to you, and I will bless you.
  8. Cross References
    Exodus 15:13
    You in Your mercy have led forth The people whom You have redeemed; You have guided them in Your strength To Your holy habitation.
    1 Samuel 2:29
    'Why do you kick at My sacrifice and My offering which I have commanded in My dwelling place, and honor your sons more than Me, to make yourselves fat with the best of all the offerings of Israel My people?'
  9. Cross References
    Leviticus 17:3
    Whatever man of the house of Israel who kills an ox or lamb or goat in the camp, or who kills it outside the camp.
    Leviticus 17:4
    And does not bring it to the door of the tabernacle of meeting to offer an offering to the LORD before the tabernacle of the LORD, the guilt of bloodshed shall be imputed to that man. He has shed blood; and that man shall be cut off from among his people.
  10. Cross References
    Deuteronomy 14:23
    And you shall eat before the LORD your God, in the place where He chooses to make His name abide, the tithe of your grain and your new wine and your oil, of the firstborn of your herds and your flocks, that you may learn to fear the LORD your God always.
  11. Cross References
    Deuteronomy 14:26
    And you shall spend that money for whatever your heart desires: for oxen or sheep, for wine or similar drink, for whatever your heart desires; you shall eat there before the LORD your God, and you shall rejoice, you and your household.
  12. Cross References
    Deuteronomy 12:12
    And you shall rejoice before the LORD your God, you and your sons and your daughters, your male and female servants, and the Levite who is within your gates, since he has no portion nor inheritance with you.
    Deuteronomy 12:18
    But you must eat them before the LORD your God in the place which the LORD your God chooses, you and your son and your daughter, your male servant and your female servant, and the Levite who is within your gates; and you shall rejoice before the LORD your God in all to which you put your hands.
  13. Cross References
    Judges 17:6
    In those days there was no king in Israel; everyone did what was right in his own eyes.
    Judges 21:25
    In those days there was no king in Israel; everyone did what was right in his own eyes.
  14. Cross References
    Deuteronomy 3:20
    'until the LORD has given rest to your brethren as to you, and they also possess the land which the LORD your God is giving them beyond the Jordan. Then each of you may return to his possession which I have given you.'
    Deuteronomy 25:19
    Therefore it shall be, when the LORD your God has given you rest from your enemies all around, in the land which the LORD your God is giving you to possess as an inheritance, that you will blot out the remembrance of Amalek from under heaven. You shall not forget.
    Psalms 95:11
    So I swore in My wrath, 'They shall not enter My rest.'
  15. Cross References
    Joshua 11:23
    So Joshua took the whole land, according to all that the LORD had said to Moses; and Joshua gave it as an inheritance to Israel according to their divisions by their tribes. Then the land rested from war.
  16. Cross References
    Deuteronomy 12:18
    But you must eat them before the LORD your God in the place which the LORD your God chooses, you and your son and your daughter, your male servant and your female servant, and the Levite who is within your gates; and you shall rejoice before the LORD your God in all to which you put your hands.
    Deuteronomy 26:11
    So you shall rejoice in every good thing which the LORD your God has given to you and your house, you and the Levite and the stranger who is among you.
  17. Cross References
    Deuteronomy 10:9
    Therefore Levi has no portion nor inheritance with his brethren; the LORD is his inheritance, just as the LORD your God promised him.)
    Deuteronomy 14:29
    And the Levite, because he has no portion nor inheritance with you, and the stranger and the fatherless and the widow who are within your gates, may come and eat and be satisfied, that the LORD your God may bless you in all the work of your hand which you do.
  18. Cross References
    Deuteronomy 12:21
    If the place where the LORD your God chooses to put His name is too far from you, then you may slaughter from your herd and from your flock which the LORD has given you, just as I have commanded you, and you may eat within your gates as much as your heart desires.
  19. Cross References
    Deuteronomy 12:22
    Just as the gazelle and the deer are eaten, so you may eat them; the unclean and the clean alike may eat them.
  20. Cross References
    Deuteronomy 14:5
    The deer, the gazelle, the roe deer, the wild goat, the mountain goat, the antelope, and the mountain sheep.
  21. Cross References
    Genesis 9:4
    But you shall not eat flesh with its life, that...
    Leviticus 7:26
    Moreover you shall not eat any blood in any of ...
    Leviticus 17:10 - 12
    And whatever man of the house of Israel, or of ...
    1 Samuel 14:33
    Then they told Saul, saying, "Look, the people ...
    Acts 15:20
    But that we write to them to abstain from thing...
    Acts 15:29
    That you abstain from things offered to idols, ...
  22. Cross References
    Genesis 15:18
    On the same day the LORD made a covenant with Abram, saying: "To your descendants I have given this land, from the river of Egypt to the great river, the River Euphrates -
    Exodus 34:24
    For I will cast out the nations before you and enlarge your borders; neither will any man covet your land when you go up to appear before the LORD your God three times in the year.
    Deuteronomy 11:24
    Every place on which the sole of your foot treads shall be yours: from the wilderness and Lebanon, from the river, the River Euphrates, even to the Western Sea, shall be your territory.
    Deuteronomy 19:8
    Now if the LORD your God enlarges your territory, as He swore to your fathers, and gives you the land which He promised to give to your fathers.
  23. Cross References
    Deuteronomy 14:24
    But if the journey is too long for you, so that you are not able to carry the tithe, or if the place where the LORD your God chooses to put His name is too far from you, when the LORD your God has blessed you.
  24. Cross References
    Genesis 9:4
    But you shall not eat flesh with its life, that is, its blood.
    Leviticus 17:10 - 14
    And whatever man of the house of Israel, or of the strangers who dwell among you, who eats any blood, I will set My face against that person who eats blood, and will cut him off from among his people.
    Deuteronomy 12:16
    Only you shall not eat the blood; you shall pour it on the earth like water.
  25. Cross References
    Deuteronomy 4:40
    "You shall therefore keep His statutes and His commandments which I command you today, that it may go well with you and with your children after you, and that you may prolong your days in the land which the LORD your God is giving you for all time."
    Deuteronomy 6:18
    And you shall do what is right and good in the sight of the LORD, that it may be well with you, and that you may go in and possess the good land of which the LORD swore to your fathers.
    Isaiah 3:10
    Say to the righteous that it shall be well with them, For they shall eat the fruit of their doings.
  26. Cross References
    Exodus 15:26
    And said, "If you diligently heed the voice of the LORD your God and do what is right in His sight, give ear to His commandments and keep all His statutes, I will put none of the diseases on you which I have brought on the Egyptians. For I am the LORD who heals you.
    1 Kings 11:38
    Then it shall be, if you heed all that I command you, walk in My ways, and do what is right in My sight, to keep My statutes and My commandments, as My servant David did, then I will be with you and build for you an enduring house, as I built for David, and will give Israel to you.
  27. Cross References
    Numbers 5:9
    Every offering of all the holy things of the children of Israel, which they bring to the priest, shall be his.
    Numbers 5:10
    'And every man's holy things shall be his; whatever any man gives the priest shall be his.'"
    Numbers 18:19
    "All the heave offerings of the holy things, which the children of Israel offer to the LORD, I have given to you and your sons and daughters with you as an ordinance forever; it is a covenant of salt forever before the LORD with you and your descendants with you."
  28. Cross References
    Leviticus 1:5
    He shall kill the bull before the LORD; and the priests, Aaron's sons, shall bring the blood and sprinkle the blood all around on the altar that is by the door of the tabernacle of meeting.
    Leviticus 1:9
    But he shall wash its entrails and its legs with water. And the priest shall burn all on the altar as a burnt sacrifice, an offering made by fire, a sweet aroma to the LORD.
    Leviticus 1:13
    But he shall wash the entrails and the legs with water. Then the priest shall bring it all and burn it on the altar; it is a burnt sacrifice, an offering made by fire, a sweet aroma to the LORD.
    Leviticus 1:17
    Then he shall split it at its wings, but shall not divide it completely; and the priest shall burn it on the altar, on the wood that is on the fire. It is a burnt sacrifice, an offering made by fire, a sweet aroma to the LORD.
  29. Cross References
    Deuteronomy 12:25
    You shall not eat it, that it may go well with you and your children after you, when you do what is right in the sight of the LORD.
  30. Cross References
    Exodus 23:23
    For My Angel will go before you and bring you in to the Amorites and the Hittites and the Perizzites and the Canaanites and the Hivites and the Jebusites; and I will cut them off.
    Deuteronomy 19:1
    When the LORD your God has cut off the nations whose land the LORD your God is giving you, and you dispossess them and dwell in their cities and in their houses.
    Joshua 23:4
    See, I have divided to you by lot these nations that remain, to be an inheritance for your tribes, from the Jordan, with all the nations that I have cut off, as far as the Great Sea westward.
  31. Cross References
    Leviticus 18:3
    According to the doings of the land of Egypt, where you dwelt, you shall not do; and according to the doings of the land of Canaan, where I am bringing you, you shall not do; nor shall you walk in their ordinances.
    Leviticus 18:26
    You shall therefore keep My statutes and My judgments, and shall not commit any of these abominations, either any of your own nation or any stranger who dwells among you
    Leviticus 18:30
    'Therefore you shall keep My ordinance, so that you do not commit any of these abominable customs which were committed before you, and that you do not defile yourselves by them: I am the LORD your God.'"
    Leviticus 20:1
    Then the LORD spoke to Moses, saying.
    Leviticus 20:2
    Again, you shall say to the children of Israel: 'Whoever of the children of Israel, or of the strangers who dwell in Israel, who gives any of his descendants to Molech, he shall surely be put to death. The people of the land shall stone him with stones.
  32. Cross References
    Deuteronomy 18:10
    There shall not be found among you anyone who makes his son or his daughter pass through the fire, or one who practices witchcraft, or a soothsayer, or one who interprets omens, or a sorcerer.
    Psalms 106:37
    They even sacrificed their sons And their daughters to demons.
    Jeremiah 32:35
    'And they built the high places of Baal which are in the Valley of the Son of Hinnom, to cause their sons and their daughters to pass through the fire to Molech, which I did not command them, nor did it come into My mind that they should do this abomination, to cause Judah to sin.'
  33. Cross References
    Deuteronomy 4:2
    You shall not add to the word which I command y...
    Deuteronomy 13:18
    Because you have listened to the voice of the L...
    Joshua 1:7
    Only be strong and very courageous, that you ma...
    Proverbs 30:6
    Do not add to His words, Lest He rebuke you, an...
    Revelation 22:18
    For I testify to everyone who hears the words o...
    Revelation 22:19
    And if anyone takes away from the words of the ...
New King James Version (NKJV) Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson, Inc.
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