Deuteronomy 12: One place of worship, and the blood is not to be eaten
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What happens?
Moses tells Israel to tear down every place where the nations of Canaan worshiped their gods. They are to bring their offerings, tithes and gifts only to the place Yahweh will choose to put his name, and eat them there with joy, with their households and the Levites. Meat that is not an offering may be killed and eaten at home, but the blood must never be eaten. They must not ask how the nations served their gods, or copy them, for those nations even burned their children in the fire.
Who is speaking?
Moses speaks the whole chapter to Israel. He is still giving the laws he began in [[DEU 5:1|Deuteronomy 5:1]]. In verses 20 and 30 he gives words the people might say. No verse is in gold: these are Moses' words, even where he speaks of what Yahweh commands. God's own words are printed in gold, and those verses are marked God speaks
1These are the statutes and the ordinances which you shall observe to do in the land which Yahweh, the God of your fathers, has given you to possess all the days that you live on the earth.
In plain English: These are the statutes and the rules you are to be careful to keep in the land that Yahweh, the God of your fathers, has given you to own, all the days you live on the earth.
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2You shall surely destroy all the places in which the nations that you shall dispossess served their gods: on the high mountains, and on the hills, and under every green tree.
In plain English: You must completely destroy all the places where the nations you are driving out served their gods: on the high mountains, on the hills, and under every green tree.
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3You shall break down their altars, dash their pillars in pieces, and burn their Asherah poles with fire. You shall cut down the engraved images of their gods. You shall destroy their name out of that place.
In plain English: Break down their altars, smash their sacred stones (this Bible: pillars), and burn their Asherah poles. Cut down the carved images of their gods, and wipe out their name from that place.
The Hebrew word: "Asherah" is asherah, which the dictionary gives as "a Phoenician goddess; also an image of the same". The text does not describe the poles further.
How it is translated: This Bible says "Asherah" in 37 of the 40 verses that use the word.
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4You shall not do so to Yahweh your God.
In plain English: You are not to act this way toward Yahweh your God.
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5But to the place which Yahweh your God shall choose out of all your tribes, to put his name there, you shall seek his habitation, and you shall come there.
In plain English: Instead, you are to seek the place Yahweh your God will choose out of all your tribes to put his name there, his dwelling (this Bible: his habitation), and you are to go there.
Good to know: Deuteronomy does not name the place. Moses speaks of the place Yahweh will choose in 21 verses of the book, 19 of them in chapters 12 to 18 (counted where the Hebrew has both "place" and "choose" and Yahweh does the choosing). Later books name places: speaks of Shiloh, "where I caused my name to dwell at the first", and calls Jerusalem "the city which I have chosen for myself to put my name there".
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6You shall bring your burnt offerings, your sacrifices, your tithes, the wave offering of your hand, your vows, your free will offerings, and the firstborn of your herd and of your flock there.
In plain English: There you are to bring your burnt offerings and your sacrifices, your tithes, the gifts you lift up with your hand (this Bible: wave offering), your vow offerings, your freewill offerings, and the firstborn of your herds and your flocks.
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7There you shall eat before Yahweh your God, and you shall rejoice in all that you put your hand to, you and your households, in which Yahweh your God has blessed you.
In plain English: There you and your households are to eat before Yahweh your God, and you are to rejoice in all you have worked for, in which Yahweh your God has blessed you.
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8You shall not do all the things that we do here today, every man whatever is right in his own eyes;
In plain English: You are not to do as we do here today, where everyone does whatever seems right in his own eyes,
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9for you haven’t yet come to the rest and to the inheritance which Yahweh your God gives you.
In plain English: because you have not yet come to the rest and to the inheritance that Yahweh your God is giving you.
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10But when you go over the Jordan and dwell in the land which Yahweh your God causes you to inherit, and he gives you rest from all your enemies around you, so that you dwell in safety,
In plain English: But when you cross the Jordan and live in the land Yahweh your God is giving you as an inheritance, and he gives you rest from all your enemies around you, so that you live in safety,
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11then it shall happen that to the place which Yahweh your God shall choose, to cause his name to dwell there, there you shall bring all that I command you: your burnt offerings, your sacrifices, your tithes, the wave offering of your hand, and all your choice vows which you vow to Yahweh.
In plain English: then you are to bring everything I command you to the place Yahweh your God will choose to make his name live there: your burnt offerings, your sacrifices, your tithes, the gifts you lift up with your hand, and all the best of the vows you make to Yahweh.
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12You shall rejoice before Yahweh your God—you, and your sons, your daughters, your male servants, your female servants, and the Levite who is within your gates, because he has no portion nor inheritance with you.
In plain English: You are to rejoice before Yahweh your God: you, your sons and your daughters, your male and female servants, and the Levite who lives in your towns (literally: within your gates), because he has no share or inheritance with you.
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13Be careful that you don’t offer your burnt offerings in every place that you see;
In plain English: Be careful not to offer your burnt offerings in just any place you see.
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14but in the place which Yahweh chooses in one of your tribes, there you shall offer your burnt offerings, and there you shall do all that I command you.
In plain English: Offer your burnt offerings only in the place Yahweh will choose in one of your tribes, and there do everything I command you.
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15Yet you may kill and eat meat within all your gates, after all the desire of your soul, according to Yahweh your God’s blessing which he has given you. The unclean and the clean may eat of it, as of the gazelle and the deer.
In plain English: But you may kill and eat meat in any of your towns, as much as you want (literally: by all the desire of your soul), as Yahweh your God has blessed you. Both the unclean and the clean may eat it, as they would eat a gazelle or a deer.
Good to know: In and , while Israel is in the camp in the wilderness, an animal killed must be brought to the Tent of Meeting. Here, for the land, Moses allows meat to be killed and eaten at home, away from the one place. The text does not say how the two rules fit together, and readers explain it in different ways.
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16Only you shall not eat the blood. You shall pour it out on the earth like water.
In plain English: Only you must not eat the blood. Pour it out on the ground like water.
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17You may not eat within your gates the tithe of your grain, or of your new wine, or of your oil, or the firstborn of your herd or of your flock, nor any of your vows which you vow, nor your free will offerings, nor the wave offering of your hand;
In plain English: In your own towns you may not eat the tithe of your grain, your new wine, or your oil, or the firstborn of your herds or flocks, or any of the vows you make, or your freewill offerings, or the gifts you lift up with your hand.
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18but you shall eat them before Yahweh your God in the place which Yahweh your God shall choose: you, your son, your daughter, your male servant, your female servant, and the Levite who is within your gates. You shall rejoice before Yahweh your God in all that you put your hand to.
In plain English: You are to eat them before Yahweh your God in the place Yahweh your God will choose: you, your son and your daughter, your male and female servants, and the Levite who lives in your towns. Rejoice before Yahweh your God in all you have worked for.
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19Be careful that you don’t forsake the Levite as long as you live in your land.
In plain English: Be careful not to neglect the Levite as long as you live in your land.
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20When Yahweh your God enlarges your border, as he has promised you, and you say, “I want to eat meat,” because your soul desires to eat meat, you may eat meat, after all the desire of your soul.
In plain English: When Yahweh your God makes your land larger, as he promised you, and you say, "I want to eat meat," because you long to eat meat, you may eat as much meat as you want.
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21If the place which Yahweh your God shall choose to put his name is too far from you, then you shall kill of your herd and of your flock, which Yahweh has given you, as I have commanded you; and you may eat within your gates, after all the desire of your soul.
In plain English: If the place Yahweh your God chooses to put his name is too far from you, you may kill animals from the herd and the flock Yahweh has given you, as I have commanded you, and eat in your own towns as much as you want.
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22Even as the gazelle and as the deer is eaten, so you shall eat of it. The unclean and the clean may eat of it alike.
In plain English: Eat it as you would eat a gazelle or a deer. The unclean and the clean may eat it alike.
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23Only be sure that you don’t eat the blood; for the blood is the life. You shall not eat the life with the meat.
In plain English: Only be sure (literally: be strong) not to eat the blood, because the blood is the life (or: the soul). You must not eat the life with the meat.
The Hebrew word: "Life" is nephesh, the word often given as "soul". The dictionary gives it as "properly, a breathing creature".
How it is translated: In Deuteronomy this Bible says "soul" in 18 of the 31 verses that use nephesh, and "life" in 4.
Good to know: also forbids eating "flesh with its life, that is, its blood", and gives the same reason: "the life of the flesh is in the blood".
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24You shall not eat it. You shall pour it out on the earth like water.
In plain English: You must not eat it. Pour it out on the ground like water.
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25You shall not eat it, that it may go well with you and with your children after you, when you do that which is right in Yahweh’s eyes.
In plain English: You must not eat it, so that it may go well with you and with your children after you, when you do what is right in Yahweh's eyes.
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26Only your holy things which you have, and your vows, you shall take and go to the place which Yahweh shall choose.
In plain English: But your holy things that you have, and your vow offerings, you are to take them and go to the place Yahweh will choose.
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27You shall offer your burnt offerings, the meat and the blood, on Yahweh your God’s altar. The blood of your sacrifices shall be poured out on Yahweh your God’s altar, and you shall eat the meat.
In plain English: Offer your burnt offerings, the meat and the blood, on the altar of Yahweh your God. The blood of your sacrifices is to be poured out on the altar of Yahweh your God, and you may eat the meat.
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28Observe and hear all these words which I command you, that it may go well with you and with your children after you forever, when you do that which is good and right in Yahweh your God’s eyes.
In plain English: Be careful to listen to all these words I am commanding you, so that it may go well with you and with your children after you forever, when you do what is good and right in the eyes of Yahweh your God.
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29When Yahweh your God cuts off the nations from before you where you go in to dispossess them, and you dispossess them and dwell in their land,
In plain English: When Yahweh your God cuts off before you the nations whose land you are going in to take, and you drive them out and live in their land,
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30be careful that you are not ensnared to follow them after they are destroyed from before you, and that you not inquire after their gods, saying, “How do these nations serve their gods? I will do likewise.”
In plain English: be careful that you are not trapped into following them after they have been destroyed before you. Do not ask about their gods, saying, "How do these nations serve their gods? I will do the same."
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31You shall not do so to Yahweh your God; for every abomination to Yahweh, which he hates, they have done to their gods; for they even burn their sons and their daughters in the fire to their gods.
In plain English: You are not to act this way toward Yahweh your God, because they have done for their gods every disgusting thing (this Bible: abomination) that Yahweh hates. They even burn their sons and their daughters in the fire to their gods.
Good to know: forbids giving children to Molech. Deuteronomy comes back to this in .
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32Whatever thing I command you, that you shall observe to do. You shall not add to it, nor take away from it.
In plain English: Be careful to do everything I command you. Do not add to it or take away from it.
Good to know: Moses said the same in : "You shall not add to the word which I command you, neither shall you take away from it."
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