Deuteronomy:12

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* These are the statutes and ordinances , which ye shall observe to do , in the land which the Lord , the God of thy fathers , giveth unto thee to possess it , and all the days that ye live upon the earth . * Ye shall utterly destroy all the places whereon the nations which ye are about to drive out served their gods , upon the high mountains , and upon the hills , and under every green tree ; * And ye shall overthrow their altars , and break their statues , and their groves shall ye burn with fire ; and the graven images of their gods shall ye hew down ; and ye shall destroy their name out of the same place . * Ye shall not do so unto the Lord your God ; * But unto the place which the Lord your God may choose out of all your tribes to put his name there , even unto his habitation shall ye repair , and thither shalt thou come ; * And ye shall bring thither your burnt –offerings , and your sacrifices , and your tithes , and the heave –offering of your hand , and your vows , and your freewill –offerings , and the first –born of your herds and of your flocks ; * And ye shall eat there before the Lord your God , and ye shall rejoice with all the acquisition of your hand , ye and your households , wherewith the Lord thy God may have blessed thee . * Ye shall not do after all the manner that we do here this day , every one whatsoever is right in his own eyes . * For ye are not as yet come to the rest and to the inheritance , which the Lord thy God giveth thee . * But ye will go over the Jordan , and dwell in the land which the Lord your God causeth you to inherit , and he will give you rest from all your enemies round about , so that ye may dwell in safety . * And then shall it be , that the place which the Lord your God will choose to cause his name to dwell there ,–– thither shall ye bring all that I command you : your burnt –offerings , and your sacrifices , your tithes , and the heave –offering of your hand , and all your choice vows which ye may vow unto the Lord ; * And ye shall rejoice before the Lord your God , ye , and your sons , and your daughters , and your men –servants , and your maid –servants , and the Levite who is within your gates ; because he hath not any portion nor inheritance with you . * Take heed to thyself that thou offer not thy burnt –offerings in every place which thou mayest see ; * But in the place which the Lord will choose in one of thy tribes , there shalt thou offer thy burnt –offerings , and there shalt thou do all that I command thee . * Notwithstanding , according to all the longing of thy soul , mayest thou kill and eat flesh , according to the blessing of the Lord thy God which he hath given thee , in all thy gates : the unclean and the clean may eat thereof , as of the roebuck , and as of the hart . * Only the blood shall ye not eat : upon the earth shall ye pour it out as water . * Thou mayest not eat within thy gates the tithe of thy corn , or of thy wine , or of thy oil , nor the first –born of thy herds or of thy flocks , nor any of thy vows which thou mayest vow , nor thy freewill –offerings , and the heave –offering of thy hand ; * But before the Lord thy God must thou eat them in the place which the Lord thy God may choose , thou , and thy son , and thy daughter , and thy man –servant , and thy maid –servant , and the Levite who is within thy gates ; and thou shalt rejoice before the Lord thy God with all the acquisition of thy hand . * Take heed to thyself that thou forsake not the Levite as long as thou livest upon thy land . * When the Lord thy God will enlarge thy border , as he hath spoken unto thee , and thou dost say , I wish to eat flesh , because thy soul longeth to eat flesh : then mayest thou , according to all the longing of thy soul , eat flesh . * If the place which the Lord thy God may choose to put his name there be too far for thee : then mayest thou kill of thy herds and of thy flocks , which the Lord hath given thee , as I have commanded thee ; and thou shalt eat in thy gates according to all the longing of thy soul . * But as the roebuck and the hart are eaten , so shalt thou eat the same : the unclean and the clean may eat thereof together . * Only be firm so as not to eat the blood ; for the blood is the life ; and thou shalt not eat the life with the flesh . * Thou shalt not eat it : upon the earth shalt thou pour it out like water . * Thou shalt not eat it ; in order that it may go well with thee , and with thy children after thee , when thou wilt do what is right in the eyes of the Lord . * Nevertheless thy holy things which thou mayest have , and thy vows , shalt thou take , and go unto the place which the Lord may choose : * And thou shalt offer thy burnt –offerings , the flesh and the blood , upon the altar of the Lord thy God ; and the blood of thy sacrifices shall be poured out upon the altar of the Lord thy God , and the flesh shalt thou eat . * Observe and hear all these words which I command thee ; in order that it may go well with thee , and with thy children after thee for ever , when thou wilt do what is good and right in the eyes of the Lord thy God . * When the Lord thy God will cut off the nations , whither thou goest to drive them out from before thee , and thou succeedest them , and dwellest in their land : * Then take heed to thyself that thou be not snared by following them , after they have been destroyed from before thee ; and that thou inquire not after their gods , saying , How did these nations serve their gods ? even so will I do likewise . * Thou shalt not do so unto the Lord thy God ; for every abomination to the Lord , which he hateth , have they done unto their gods ; for even their sons and their daughters have they burnt in the fire to their gods . *

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