Deuteronomy 12
God will tell you where to worship
First task: destroy idols and their shrines
1I’m going to tell you exactly what laws and rules you need to follow from now on. Live by them when you settle in the land that the LORD and God of your ancestors is giving you. 2First, destroy all the shrines and worship centers devoted to other gods. You’ll find them scattered throughout the Canaanite nations: on mountains, hills, and under towering shade trees. 3Break down their altars. Smash their cherished stone markers. Burn their sacred poles. [1] Chop down their images of gods. Wipe out every trace of these sites. 4And don’t copy any of their rituals when you worship the LORD your God.Coming soon: permanent Jewish worship center
5The LORD your God will choose one worship center for the entire nation of Israel. [2] That’s where all your tribes will come to worship. And that’s where the LORD will be. 6So, it’s where you’ll bring your burnt offerings [6] and other sacrifices. You’ll also bring your tithes, special offerings, voluntary offerings, and gifts associated with vows you made to the LORD. There is where you’ll bring the firstborn animals from your herds and flocks as sacrifices for the LORD. 7You and your families will eat there, in the presence of the LORD your God. That’s where you’ll celebrate all that the LORD your God has done for you.Worship style will change
8In the future, you won’t worship the way you do today. Now, you worship God in your own ways. 9You’re not where you’re going to be. You’re on a road trip, headed to the land the LORD your God is giving you. 10You’re going to cross the Jordan River and settle in the land the LORD your God is giving you. Soon you’ll be able to rest and enjoy the land because your enemies will be gone. 11When that happens, you need to start worshiping at whatever place the LORD your God selects as the nation’s worship center. That’s where you’ll bring your sacrifices, tithes, special offerings, gifts associated with vows you made to the LORD. 12This worship center is where all of you should celebrate in the presence of the LORD your God. This includes you, your children, your slaves, and the Levites who live in your towns but who don’t own any tribal territory.Don’t do this when you worship
13Don’t burn sacrifices to God at any site but the one he will choose. 14Burn your sacrifices only at the site the LORD will select in one of the 12 tribal territories. Burn your offerings there. And do it exactly as I tell you. 15You may butcher your animals for their meat and then eat it anywhere with God’s blessing. Everyone is allowed to eat it, just like you eat wild deer and gazelle. [4] It doesn’t matter if the person is ritually clean or unclean. [5] Bon appetite to everyone who wants to eat. 16Don’t eat meat with blood still in it. Drain the blood out of the meat.Don’t eat sacred offerings at home
17And don’t eat anything connected to worship unless you’re eating it at the worship center the LORD your God selects. I’m talking about your tithe of grain, new wine, olive oil, the firstborn animals among your livestock, gifts associated with vows you made to the LORD, voluntary offerings, and special gifts. 18Instead, you’re to eat them at the place the LORD your God chooses. Everyone should do this: you, your children, your slaves, and the Levites who live in your towns but who don’t own a tribal territory. Count your blessings and celebrate them before the LORD. 19Don’t overlook the Levites [6] or leave them out. Keep them in the loop for as long as you live in the land.Eat meat wherever you like
20The LORD has promised to expand the borders of your nation. When he does, feel free to eat meat wherever you are and whenever you want. 21If the worship place that the LORD your God selects is far from where you live, don’t worry about having to butchering your livestock there. [7] You’ll be allowed to butcher the animals and eat the meat anywhere. 22Eat the meat as freely as you now eat wild deer or gazelle. You don’t have to be ritually clean to eat.Don’t eat meat with blood in it
23Just don’t eat any meat with blood in it. Blood is the source of life. It doesn’t belong to you. 24So, don’t eat it. Drain it out of the meat. 25If you don’t eat the blood, your time here will go better for you and your children. That’s because you’ll be doing what the LORD says. 26Take your offerings and gifts that belong to the LORD to the place he selects. 27That’s where you’ll burn your sacrificial offerings on an altar devoted to the LORD your God. That’s where you’ll place the meat and the blood. And that’s where you’ll eat your share of the meat.Don’t worship God like a Canaanite god
28Pay attention to everything I’m telling you. If you do, life will always go better for you and your children. That’s because you’ll be doing what the LORD says. 29The LORD your God is going to get rid of the nations that live in the land he promised you. 30When he does, be careful not to follow their way of life or worship the way they did. And certainly, don’t go asking questions like, “How did the locals worship their gods because I’d like to give it a try with my God?” 31Don’t associate the LORD your God in any way with their detestable worship rituals. God hates the way they worship. Those people burn their own children as sacrifices to their gods. 32Listen up. Whatever I tell you to do, you’d better do it. Don’t add a single word to what I say. And don’t delete anything, either.Footnotes
Known as Asherah poles. These may have been trees or poles meant to represent trees, as symbols of a Canaanite fertility goddess known as Asherah, goddess of motherhood. She was the love interest of Baal, chief god of the people who lived in Canaan, now known as Israel and the Palestinian Territories.
Jerusalem became that site, in Judah’s tribal territory along the border with Benjamin’s tribe (2 Chronicles 6:6).
Burnt offerings involved sacrifices to atone for sinful behavior. The entire animal was burned on an altar. See Leviticus 1.
Burnt offerings involved sacrifices to atone for sinful behavior. The entire animal was burned on an altar. See Leviticus 1.
Israelites had to be ritually clean to sacrifice animals to God. People were ritually unclean, for example, if they touched a corpse and hadn’t gone through the cleaning rituals, which included washing themselves. A woman in her monthly period was considered unclean. For more, see Leviticus 15.
Moses, a Levite himself, repeats this theme many times (14:27). The Levites didn’t get any plug of tribal territory, though they did get selected cities throughout the tribal lands. They would depend on offerings from the other tribes as income for their survival.
As Moses spoke, the Israelites were still required to butcher their animals at the tent worship center as “peace offerings” (Leviticus 17:5). After the Israelites settled in Canaan and God selected a single worship site, this wasn’t to be required any longer.
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