✝
← Bible
ARCBLIVREKJVVBL

Deuteronomy 12

KJV · Chapter 12/34

1These are the statutes and judgments, which ye shall observe to do in the land, which the Lord God of thy fathers giveth thee to possess it, all the days that ye live upon the earth.

2Ye shall utterly destroy all the places, wherein the nations which ye shall possess served their gods, upon the high mountains, and upon the hills, and under every green tree:

3And ye shall overthrow their altars, and break their pillars, and burn their groves with fire; and ye shall hew down the graven images of their gods, and destroy the names of them out of that place.

4Ye shall not do so unto the Lord your God.

5But unto the place which the Lord your God shall choose out of all your tribes to put his name there, even unto his habitation shall ye seek, and thither thou shalt come:

6And thither ye shall bring your burnt offerings, and your sacrifices, and your tithes, and heave offerings of your hand, and your vows, and your freewill offerings, and the firstlings of your herds and of your flocks:

7And there ye shall eat before the Lord your God, and ye shall rejoice in all that ye put your hand unto, ye and your households, wherein the Lord thy God hath blessed thee.

8Ye shall not do after all the things that we do here this day, every man whatsoever is right in his own eyes.

9For ye are not as yet come to the rest and to the inheritance, which the Lord your God giveth you.

10But when ye go over Jordan, and dwell in the land which the Lord your God giveth you to inherit, and when he giveth you rest from all your enemies round about, so that ye dwell in safety;

11Then there shall be a place which the Lord your God shall 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 vow unto the Lord:

12And ye shall rejoice before the Lord your God, ye, and your sons, and your daughters, and your menservants, and your maidservants, and the Levite that is within your gates; forasmuch as he hath no part nor inheritance with you.

13Take heed to thyself that thou offer not thy burnt offerings in every place that thou seest:

14But in the place which the Lord shall choose in one of thy tribes, there thou shalt offer thy burnt offerings, and there thou shalt do all that I command thee.

15Notwithstanding thou mayest kill and eat flesh in all thy gates, whatsoever thy soul lusteth after, according to the blessing of the Lord thy God which he hath given thee: the unclean and the clean may eat thereof, as of the roebuck, and as of the hart.

16Only ye shall not eat the blood; ye shall pour it upon the earth as water.

17Thou mayest not eat within thy gates the tithe of thy corn, or of thy wine, or of thy oil, or the firstlings of thy herds or of thy flock, nor any of thy vows which thou vowest, nor thy freewill offerings, or heave offering of thine hand:

18But thou must eat them before the Lord thy God in the place which the Lord thy God shall choose, thou, and thy son, and thy daughter, and thy manservant, and thy maidservant, and the Levite that is within thy gates: and thou shalt rejoice before the Lord thy God in all that thou puttest thine hands unto.

19Take heed to thyself that thou forsake not the Levite as long as thou livest upon the earth.

20When the Lord thy God shall enlarge thy border, as he hath promised thee, and thou shalt say, I will eat flesh, because thy soul longeth to eat flesh; thou mayest eat flesh, whatsoever thy soul lusteth after.

21If the place which the Lord thy God hath chosen to put his name there be too far from thee, then thou shalt kill of thy herd and of thy flock, which the Lord hath given thee, as I have commanded thee, and thou shalt eat in thy gates whatsoever thy soul lusteth after.

22Even as the roebuck and the hart is eaten, so thou shalt eat them: the unclean and the clean shall eat of them alike.

23Only be sure that thou eat not the blood: for the blood is the life; and thou mayest not eat the life with the flesh.

24Thou shalt not eat it; thou shalt pour it upon the earth as water.

25Thou shalt not eat it; that it may go well with thee, and with thy children after thee, when thou shalt do that which is right in the sight of the Lord.

26Only thy holy things which thou hast, and thy vows, thou shalt take, and go unto the place which the Lord shall choose:

27And 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 thou shalt eat the flesh.

28Observe and hear all these words which I command thee, that it may go well with thee, and with thy children after thee for ever, when thou doest that which is good and right in the sight of the Lord thy God.

29When the Lord thy God shall cut off the nations from before thee, whither thou goest to possess them, and thou succeedest them, and dwellest in their land;

30Take heed to thyself that thou be not snared by following them, after that they be destroyed from before thee; and that thou enquire not after their gods, saying, How did these nations serve their gods? even so will I do likewise.

31Thou 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 they have burnt in the fire to their gods.

32What thing soever I command you, observe to do it: thou shalt not add thereto, nor diminish from it.

📖 Chapter study

Summary

God commands the total destruction of Canaanite worship sites and establishes that Israel must worship only at the place he will choose, centralizing sacrificial worship, while still permitting the ordinary slaughter of animals for food anywhere, as long as the blood is not consumed.

Explanation

The centralization of worship at a single location chosen by God (which would later become Jerusalem) was meant to prevent the spread of syncretistic altars mixing worship of God with local Canaanite practices — a real and historical risk that would in fact recur throughout the Israelite monarchy. The clear distinction between ordinary slaughter (permitted anywhere) and religious sacrifice (restricted to the chosen place) shows a careful separation between everyday life and formal worship, without turning every domestic activity into a mandatory ritual act. The repeated insistence on caring for the Levite ('forsake not the Levite') throughout the chapter reinforces the community's responsibility to support those serving full-time in religious ministry, even with worship now centralized and potentially far from many families.

Fun facts

  • This law centralizing worship, given decades before the conquest, would only become fully applicable once Israel had 'rest from all your enemies' (v. 10) — something that historically would only happen more completely in the days of King Solomon, with the building of the temple in Jerusalem.
  • The repeated prohibition against eating blood ('for the blood is the life,' v. 23) uses a theological justification indicating that life belongs exclusively to God — the same principle already established in Leviticus 17:11, showing consistency among the books of the Torah.

Verse-by-verse explanation

  1. Deuteronomy 12:1It opens the longest block of practical laws in the book: statutes and judgments to be followed throughout their whole life in the promised land.
  2. Deuteronomy 12:2The first command is to destroy every Canaanite place of worship, traditionally set up on mountains, hills, and under leafy trees.
  3. Deuteronomy 12:3It spells out the destruction: tear down altars, break sacred pillars, burn ritual groves, and even wipe out the names of the Canaanite gods from those places.
  4. Deuteronomy 12:4After commanding the destruction of the pagan sites, the text gives a warning: the worship of God must not be carried out the same scattered, uncontrolled way.
  5. Deuteronomy 12:5The command to sacrifice only at the place chosen by the LORD marks the start of centralizing worship at a single sanctuary, instead of altars scattered across the hills — a change the Bible later ties to the temple in Jerusalem. It is one of the features scholars use to discuss the origin and purpose of the book of Deuteronomy itself.
  6. Deuteronomy 12:6It lists what was to be brought to the place God chose: burnt offerings, sacrifices, tithes, freewill offerings, and the firstborn of the flocks and herds.
  7. Deuteronomy 12:7There, before God, the whole family would eat and celebrate the blessings received through their own labor.
  8. Deuteronomy 12:8It contrasts the organized future with the disorganized present, in which everyone did as they saw fit, with no centralized worship.
  9. Deuteronomy 12:9It explains the reason for this change: the people had not yet reached the rest and the final inheritance promised by God.
  10. Deuteronomy 12:10It looks ahead to that rest: after crossing the Jordan and defeating the enemies around them, the people would live securely in the land.
  11. Deuteronomy 12:11It repeats the instruction to centralize all offerings at the place God would choose to make His name dwell.
  12. Deuteronomy 12:12The celebration at that place would include the whole family, and also the Levite, who had no land or inheritance of his own like the other tribes.
  13. Deuteronomy 12:13It reinforces the ban on offering sacrifices anywhere a person pleased, instead of the place chosen by God.
  14. Deuteronomy 12:14Only at the place God designated, within one of the tribes, were sacrifices to be properly offered.
  15. Deuteronomy 12:15Outside the central sanctuary, the people could eat ordinary meat, not a sacrifice, the same way one eats deer or roebuck — but never the blood, because it represents life. This distinction between eating meat day to day and offering a sacrifice is new compared to earlier laws.
  16. Deuteronomy 12:16The one restriction when eating ordinary meat, outside the sanctuary, is not to eat the blood, which was to be poured out like water.
  17. Deuteronomy 12:17Certain offerings — tithes, firstfruits, and vows — could not be eaten at home, only at the place God chose.
  18. Deuteronomy 12:18These special offerings were to be eaten before God, together with the family and the Levite, as part of the religious celebration.
  19. Deuteronomy 12:19A reminder of social care: never abandon the Levite, who depended on these offerings to live.
  20. Deuteronomy 12:20Once the territory expanded, it would be permitted to eat ordinary meat freely, whenever the desire to eat it arose.
  21. Deuteronomy 12:21If the sanctuary was too far away, it would be permitted to slaughter one’s own livestock at home and eat it as usual, with no need to travel.
  22. Deuteronomy 12:22This ordinary meat could be eaten by anyone, ritually clean or unclean, just as with game — roebuck or deer.
  23. Deuteronomy 12:23It reinforces the most serious rule of all: never eat the blood, because it represents the animal’s own life.
  24. Deuteronomy 12:24It repeats the instruction: the blood must be poured out on the ground, never consumed together with the meat.
  25. Deuteronomy 12:25The reward for following this rule is the well-being of the people and their children, for doing what is right in God’s eyes.
  26. Deuteronomy 12:26Sacred offerings and vows that have been made, however, must always be brought to the place God chose.
  27. Deuteronomy 12:27It spells out the procedure at the altar: the flesh and blood of burnt offerings are offered up, but in ordinary sacrifices, the blood is poured out and the flesh is eaten.
  28. Deuteronomy 12:28It reinforces once more that obeying these instructions brings lasting benefit to the people and their descendants.
  29. Deuteronomy 12:29It looks ahead to the moment of conquest, when God drives out the Canaanite nations and the people occupy their land.
  30. Deuteronomy 12:30The danger at that moment would be copying the religious customs of the defeated peoples, imitating the way they worshipped their gods.
  31. Deuteronomy 12:31The mention of sons and daughters “burnt in the fire” refers to the child sacrifice practiced by neighboring peoples, cited here as the ultimate example of what Israel must not copy. Archaeological finds in the region confirm that this kind of practice did exist.
  32. Deuteronomy 12:32The chapter closes with a closing rule typical of ancient treaties: follow exactly what has been commanded, neither taking away nor adding anything to it.

Chapters

12345678910111213141516171819202122232425262728293031323334

Our apps

Our apps →

Bible in Stories

The Bible told as a story, with audio and videos.

📱 Get the app

World in Stories

True stories of humanity that sound made up.

App StoreGoogle Play

Feito! Pequenas Vitórias

A light daily routine for people who lose track of the day.

App StoreGoogle Play