The Place of Worship
Deuteronomy 12, verse 1. “These are the ordinances and judgments you shall be careful to observe in the land the Lord God of your fathers is giving you to inherit, all the days you live on the earth. Deuteronomy 12, verse 2. You shall utterly destroy all the places the nations you will inherit served their gods: on the high mountains, on the hills, and under the tree of the grove. Deuteronomy 12, verse 3. So you shall destroy their altars, break their pillars, cut down their groves, burn the carved images of their gods with fire, and destroy their name from that place. Deuteronomy 12, verse 4. You shall not do thus with the Lord your God. Deuteronomy 12, verse 5. But you shall seek the place the Lord your God chooses, out of all your tribes, to put His name and to be called on there; and you shall go and seek Him there. Deuteronomy 12, verse 6. There you shall bring your whole burnt offerings, sacrifices, firstfruits, prayers, voluntary offerings, and the firstborn of your oxen and sheep. Deuteronomy 12, verse 7. There you shall eat before the Lord your God, and you shall rejoice in all to which you put your hand, you and your households, as the Lord your God blessed you. Deuteronomy 12, verse 8. “You shall not at all do as we are doing here today—every man doing whatever is right in his own eyes— Deuteronomy 12, verse 9. for as yet, you have not come to the rest and the inheritance the Lord your God gives you. Deuteronomy 12, verse 10. But when you cross over the Jordan and dwell in the land the Lord your God is giving you to inherit, and He gives you rest from all your enemies round about, and you dwell in safety, Deuteronomy 12, verse 11. then there will be the place the Lord your God chooses to make His name abide. There you shall bring all I command you today: your whole burnt offerings, sacrifices, tithes, the first fruits of your hands, and all your gifts and all your choice gifts you vow to the Lord. Deuteronomy 12, verse 12. And you shall rejoice before the Lord your God, you, your sons and daughters, your male and female servants, and the Levite within your gates, since he has no portion nor inheritance with you. Deuteronomy 12, verse 13. Take heed to yourself, do not offer your whole burnt offerings in every place you see; Deuteronomy 12, verse 14. but in the place the Lord chooses, in one of your tribes; there you shall offer your whole burnt offerings, and there you shall do all I command you today. Deuteronomy 12, verse 15. “However, according to your every desire, you may slaughter and eat meat, according to the blessing the Lord your God gave you in each city; the unclean and the clean may eat of it, of the gazelle and the deer alike. Deuteronomy 12, verse 16. Only you shall not eat the blood; you shall pour it on the earth like water. Deuteronomy 12, verse 17. You may not eat the tithe in your cities: of your grain, wine, or olive oil, of the firstborn of your oxen or sheep, of any of your offerings you vow, of your agreements, or of the firstfruits of your hands. Deuteronomy 12, verse 18. But you must eat them before the Lord your God in the place the Lord your God chooses, you and your son and daughter, your male and female servant, and the resident alien in your cities; and you shall rejoice before the Lord your God in all to which you put your hand. Deuteronomy 12, verse 19. Take heed to yourself, do not forsake the Levite as long as you live in your land. Deuteronomy 12, verse 20. “Now if the Lord your God enlarges your borders, as He told you, and you say, ‘I will eat meat,’ because you desire to eat meat, you may eat as much meat as your soul desires. Deuteronomy 12, verse 21. But if the place the Lord your God chooses to put His name is too far from you, then you may slaughter from your oxen and sheep the Lord gave you in the manner I commanded you, and may eat in your cities according to your soul's desire. Deuteronomy 12, verse 22. Just as the gazelle and the deer are eaten, so you may eat them; the unclean and the clean alike may eat them. Deuteronomy 12, verse 23. Only be sure not to eat the blood, for the blood is the life; the life will not be eaten with the meat. Deuteronomy 12, verse 24. You shall not eat it; you shall pour it on the earth like water. Deuteronomy 12, verse 25. You shall not eat it, that it may go well with you and your sons after you, if you do what is good and pleasing before the Lord your God. Deuteronomy 12, verse 26. Only the holy things you have and your vowed offerings you shall take and go to the place the Lord your God chooses for His name to be called upon there. Deuteronomy 12, verse 27. You shall offer your whole burnt offerings; you shall offer the meat upon 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. Deuteronomy 12, verse 28. Keep, obey, and do all these words I command you, that it may go well with you and your sons forever, if you do what is good and pleasing in the sight of the Lord your God.
Beware of Idolatry
Deuteronomy 12, verse 29. “If the Lord your God destroys before your face the nations whose land you go to inherit, and you inherit them and dwell in their land, Deuteronomy 12, verse 30. take heed to yourself that you not seek to follow them after they are destroyed from before your face, and do not inquire after their gods, saying, ‘How did these nations serve their gods? I also will do likewise.’ Deuteronomy 12, verse 31. You shall not do thus with the Lord your God; for every abomination the Lord hates they have done with their gods; for they burn even their sons and daughters in the fire to their gods.