Deuteronomy 12 Now these are the commandments, and the judgments, which you shall be careful to execute, in the land which the Lord the God of your fathers giveth you for a possession, all the days you live in the land.

Thomson⁽ⁱ⁾ ¹ Now these are the commandments, and the judgments, which you shall be careful to execute, in the land which the Lord the God of your fathers giveth you for a possession, all the days you live in the land. ² You shall utterly destroy all those places, in which they whom you succeed, have worshipped their gods, on the lofty mountains, and on the hills, and under every shady tree. ³ You shall level their mounts, and break in pieces their pillars, and cut down their groves, and burn the graven images of their gods with fire, so that their name may be destroyed out of that place. ⁴ You shall not do to the Lord your God, in the manner they have done; ⁵ but you shall seek out and come to the place, which the Lord thy God shall make choice of, in one of your cities, to put his name there, and to be invoked; ⁶ and to that place you shall bring your whole burnt offerings, and your sacrifices, and your oblations, and your vows, and your free will offerings, and your thank offerings, and the firstlings of your herds, and flocks; ⁷ and you shall eat there before the Lord your God, and rejoice with your households, for all your possessions, and the labours of your hands, as the Lord thy God hath blessed thee. ⁸ You shall not do all that we do here at this day; every one what is agreeable in his own sight; ⁹ for till now you have not come to the rest, and to the inheritance which the Lord your God giveth you: ¹⁰ but when you cross the Jordan, and dwell in the land which the Lord our God giveth you for a possession; when he shall give you rest from all your enemies round about, and you shall dwell in safety, then there shall be a place, wherever the Lord thy God shall chuse, for his name to be invoked. ¹¹ To that place you shall bring all that I this day command you, your whole burnt offerings, and your sacrifices, and your tenths, and the oblations of your hands, and the choice of all your gifts which you may vow to the Lord your God; ¹² and you shall rejoice before the Lord your God, you, and your sons, and your daughters, and your men servants, and your maid servants, and the Levite who is at your gates, because he hath no portion nor inheritance with you. ¹³ Take heed to thyself, that thou offer not thy whole burnt offerings in every place which thou mayst see; ¹⁴ but only in the place which the Lord thy God shall make choice of, in one of thy tribes. There you shall offer your whole burnt offerings, and there you shall do all that I this day command you. ¹⁵ Nevertheless, to satisfy thy desire, thou mayst kill and eat flesh, in every city, according to the blessing of the Lord thy God, which he hath given thee. The unclean with thee, and the clean, may eat it together, as you now do a roebuck or a deer; ¹⁶ but you must not eat the blood: that you shall pour on the ground like water. ¹⁷ Thou shall not be at liberty to eat, in thy cities, the tythe of thy corn, and of thy wine, and thine oil, nor the firstlings of thy herds, and thy flocks, nor any of thy vows, which you shall make, nor your thank offerings, nor the oblations of thy hands. ¹⁸ These thou shalt eat no where but before the Lord, in the place which the Lord thy God shall chuse for himself; thou, and thy son, and thy daughter, thy man servant, and thy maid servant, and the stranger who is in thy cities. And when thou shalt rejoice before the Lord thy God, for all thy possessions and all the labours of thy hand, ¹⁹ take heed to thyself, that thou neglect not the Levite, as long as thou livest in the land. ²⁰ And when the Lord thy God hath enlarged thy borders, as he hath said to thee, if thou shalt say, I will eat flesh; if thy soul desireth to eat flesh; thou mayst, to satisfy the longing of thy soul, eat flesh: ²¹ and if the place, which the Lord thy God may have chosen for his name to be invoked, be far from thee, thou mayst slay, in the manner I have commanded thee, some of thy herd or thy flock, which God hath given thee, and eat in thy cities, according to the longing of thy soul. ²² As the roebuck and the deer is eaten so thou shalt eat it. The unclean and the clean may alike eat it. ²³ But be very cautious not to eat blood. For his blood is life. Life must not be eaten with the flesh. ²⁴ You must not eat it. You must pour it out on the ground, like water. ²⁵ Thou shalt not eat it, that it may be well with thee, and thy children after thee. If thou wouldst do what is good, and well pleasing in the sight of the Lord thy God, ²⁶ over and above thy hallowed things, if any thou hast; thou shalt take thy vows, and come to the place which the Lord thy God may have chosen for his name to be there invoked, and having offered thy whole burnt offerings, ²⁷ thou shalt offer up the flesh at the altar of the Lord thy God, and pour out the blood of thy own sacrifices against the base of the altar of the Lord thy God, and eat the flesh of these. ²⁸ Observe and hear, that thou mayst do all the things which I command thee, that it may be well with thee, and with thy children after thee for ever. When thou hast done what is well pleasing and good in the sight of the Lord thy God; ²⁹ and when the Lord thy God shall have driven out from before thee the nations, to which thou art going, to take possession of their land, and thou shalt possess it, and dwell therein, ³⁰ take heed to thyself that thou seek not to follow them after they are driven out from before thee, saying, How did these nations sacrifice to their gods? I will sacrifice in like manner. ³¹ Thou shalt not do so to thy God; for they sacrificed to their gods the abominations of the Lord, which he hated; for they burned their sons, and their daughters, with fire, to their gods. ³² Be careful to do every thing which I this day command you. Thou shalt not add to it, nor diminish from it.