1 And these [are] the ordinances and the judgments, which ye shall observe to do in the land, which the Lord God of your fathers gives you for an inheritance, all the days which ye live upon the land. 2 Ye shall utterly destroy all the places in which they served their gods, whose [land] ye inherit, on the high mountains and on the hills, and under the thick tree. 3 And ye shall destroy their altars, and break in pieces their pillars, and ye shall cut down their groves, and ye shall burn with fire the graven images of their gods, and ye shall abolish their name out of that place. 4 Ye shall not do so to the Lord your God. 5 But in the place which the Lord thy God shall choose in one of your cities to name his name there, and to be called upon, ye shall even seek [him] out and go thither. 6 And ye shall carry thither your whole burnt offerings, and your sacrifices, and your firstfruits, and your vowed offerings, and your freewill offerings, and your offerings of thanksgiving, the firstborn of your herds, and of your flocks. 7 And ye shall eat there before the Lord your God, and ye shall rejoice in all the things on which ye shall lay your hand, ye and your houses, as the Lord your God has blessed you. 8 Ye shall not do altogether as we do here today, every man that which is pleasing in his own sight. 9 For hitherto ye have not arrived at the rest and the inheritance, which the Lord our God gives you. 10 And ye shall go over Jordan, and shall dwell in the land, which the Lord our God takes as an inheritance for you; and he shall give you rest from all your enemies round about, and ye shall dwell safely. 11 And there shall be a place which the Lord thy God shall choose for his name to be called there, thither shall ye bring all things that I order you today; your whole burnt offerings, and your sacrifices, and your tithes, and the firstfruits of your hands, and every choice gift of yours, whatsoever ye shall vow to the Lord your God. 12 And 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 at your gates; because he has no portion or inheritance with you. 13 Take heed to thyself that thou offer not thy whole burnt offerings in any place which thou shalt see; 14 save in the place which the Lord thy God shall choose, in one of thy tribes, there shall ye offer your whole burnt offerings, and there shalt thou do all things whatsoever I charge thee this day. 15 But thou shalt kill according to all thy desire, and shalt eat flesh according to the blessing of the Lord thy God, which he has given thee in every city; the unclean that is within thee and the clean shall eat it on equal terms, as the doe or the stag. 16 Only ye shall not eat the blood; ye shall pour it out on the ground as water. 17 Thou shalt not be able to eat in thy cities the tithe of thy corn, and of thy wine, and of thine oil, the firstborn of thy herd and of thy flock, and all [your] vows as many as ye shall have vowed, and your thank offerings, and the firstfruits of thy hands. 18 But before the Lord thy God thou shalt eat it, in the place which the Lord thy God shall choose for himself, thou, and thy son, and thy daughter, thy manservant, and thy maidservant, and the stranger that is within thy gates; and thou shalt rejoice before the Lord thy God, on whatsoever thou shalt lay thy hand. 19 Take heed to thyself that thou do not desert the Levite all the time that thou livest upon the earth. 20 And if the Lord thy God shall enlarge thy borders, as he said to thee, and thou shalt say, I will eat flesh; if thy soul should desire to eat flesh, thou shalt eat flesh according to all the desire of thy soul. 21 And if the place be far from thee, which the Lord thy God shall choose for himself, that his name be called upon it, then thou shalt kill of thy herd and of thy flock which God shall have given thee, even as I commanded thee, and thou shalt eat in thy cities according to the desire of thy soul. 22 As the doe and the stag are eaten, so shalt thou eat it; the unclean in thee and the clean shall eat it in like manner. 23 Take diligent heed that thou eat no blood, for blood [is] the life of it; the life shall not be eaten with the flesh. 24 Ye shall not eat [it]; ye shall pour it out on the ground as water. 25 Thou shalt not eat it, that it may be well with thee and with thy sons after thee, if thou shalt do that which is good and pleasing before the Lord thy God. 26 But thou shalt take thy holy things, if thou hast any, and thy vowed offerings, and come to the place which the Lord thy God shall choose to have his name named upon it. 27 And thou shalt sacrifice thy whole burnt offerings, thou shalt offer the flesh upon the altar of the Lord thy God; but the blood of thy sacrifices thou shalt pour out at the foot of the altar of the Lord thy God, but the flesh thou shalt eat. 28 Beware and hearken, and thou shalt do all the commands which I charge thee, that it may be well with thee and with thy sons forever, if thou shalt do that which is pleasing and good before the Lord thy God. 29 And if the Lord thy God shall utterly destroy the nations, to whom thou goest in thither to inherit their land, from before thee, and thou shalt inherit it, and dwell in their land; 30 take heed to thyself that thou seek not to follow them after they are destroyed before thee, saying, How do these nations act toward their gods? I will do likewise. 31 Thou shalt not do so to thy God; for they have sacrificed to their gods the abominations of the Lord which he hates, for they burn their sons and their daughters in fire to their gods.
Deuteronomy · Updated Brenton English Septuagint
Deuteronomy 12 Updated Brenton English Septuagint
Audio: World English Bible (WEB), read by Winfred W. Henson · About the recordings
Notes on this text (1)
- Same Septuagint text as Brenton, with modernised spelling.
Cross references (31)
Related passages for each verse, from the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge as collected and ranked by readers at OpenBible.info.
- 1 1 Kings 8:40; Job 7:1; Psalm 104:33; Deuteronomy 4:9–10; Deuteronomy 4:5
- 2 Deuteronomy 7:5; 2 Kings 16:4; Numbers 33:51–52; Exodus 34:12–17; 2 Kings 17:10–11
- 3 Judges 2:2; Numbers 33:52; Zechariah 13:2; Psalm 16:4; Exodus 23:13
- 4 Leviticus 20:23; Deuteronomy 20:18; Deuteronomy 12:30–31; Deuteronomy 16:21–22
- 5 Deuteronomy 12:11; 2 Chronicles 7:12; Deuteronomy 26:2; Deuteronomy 16:2; 1 Kings 8:29
- 6 Deuteronomy 15:19–20; Leviticus 17:3–9; Ezekiel 20:40; Luke 18:12; Numbers 18:15–17
- 7 Deuteronomy 12:18; Leviticus 23:40; Deuteronomy 14:26; Deuteronomy 12:12; Philippians 4:4
- 8 Judges 21:25; Judges 17:6; Proverbs 21:2; Acts 7:42; Numbers 15:39
- 9 1 Kings 8:56; Psalm 95:11; Deuteronomy 25:19; Hebrews 4:8–9; Micah 2:10
- 10 Ezekiel 34:28; Jeremiah 33:11; Deuteronomy 3:27; Deuteronomy 4:22; Deuteronomy 11:31
- 11 Deuteronomy 15:20; Deuteronomy 12:5; Deuteronomy 16:2–8; Deuteronomy 18:6; Deuteronomy 17:8
- 12 Deuteronomy 12:7; Deuteronomy 26:12; Deuteronomy 10:9; Deuteronomy 14:29; Deuteronomy 12:19
- 13 Leviticus 17:2–5; 2 Chronicles 15:17; 1 Kings 15:34; Deuteronomy 12:6; 1 Kings 12:28–32
- 14 Deuteronomy 12:5; 2 Corinthians 5:19; Deuteronomy 12:11; Psalm 5:7; Psalm 9:11
- 15 Deuteronomy 14:5; Deuteronomy 12:20–23; Deuteronomy 15:22–23; Deuteronomy 14:26; Leviticus 17:3–5
- 16 Genesis 9:4; Deuteronomy 15:23; Acts 15:29; Deuteronomy 12:23–24; 1 Timothy 4:4
- 17 Deuteronomy 26:14; Deuteronomy 14:22–29; Deuteronomy 12:6; Deuteronomy 12:11; Leviticus 27:30–32
- 18 Deuteronomy 12:7; Deuteronomy 14:23; Deuteronomy 12:5; 1 Corinthians 10:31; Acts 2:46
- 19 2 Chronicles 31:4–21; Nehemiah 10:34–39; 2 Chronicles 11:13–14; 1 Corinthians 9:10–14; Deuteronomy 14:27–29
- 20 Deuteronomy 19:8; Deuteronomy 11:24; Exodus 34:24; Genesis 28:14; 1 Chronicles 4:10
- 21 Deuteronomy 12:5; Ezra 6:12; Deuteronomy 16:11; Exodus 20:24; Deuteronomy 26:2
- 22 Deuteronomy 12:15–16
- 23 Leviticus 17:11; Genesis 9:4; Leviticus 17:13–14; Leviticus 3:16–17; Deuteronomy 12:16
- 24 Deuteronomy 12:16; Deuteronomy 15:23
- 25 Isaiah 3:10; Exodus 15:26; 1 Kings 11:38; Deuteronomy 4:40; Deuteronomy 13:18
- 26 Numbers 18:19; Numbers 5:9–10; Deuteronomy 12:17–18; Deuteronomy 12:11; Genesis 28:20
- 27 Leviticus 1:13; Leviticus 1:9; Leviticus 17:11; Leviticus 1:5; Leviticus 4:30
- 28 John 15:10; John 15:14; Deuteronomy 12:25; Deuteronomy 4:40; Nehemiah 1:5
- 29 Joshua 23:4; Deuteronomy 19:1; Deuteronomy 9:3; Psalm 78:55; Exodus 23:23
- 30 Ezekiel 20:32; Jeremiah 10:2; Deuteronomy 7:16; Psalm 106:34–38; Ezekiel 20:28
- 31 Jeremiah 32:35; Deuteronomy 18:9–10; 2 Kings 17:15–17; Jeremiah 7:31; 2 Kings 21:2
Cross references: OpenBible.info (CC BY), drawn mainly from the public-domain Treasury of Scripture Knowledge. · Sources & licences
What the Fathers said
Passages from the Church Fathers that expound or quote this chapter, verbatim from the public-domain Schaff edition (19th-century English translations).
How these were chosen
“Commentary” is the opening of a homily or exposition on this chapter (John Chrysostom’s homilies, Augustine’s tractates, sermons and expositions of the Psalms). “Quotes” are sentences where the edition’s own footnotes identify a quotation of a verse here, kept only when the wording matches the verse. Only works whose authorship is not in doubt are used. Psalms follow the Hebrew/English numbering (Augustine numbers them as the Septuagint does: his Psalm 50 is Psalm 51 here).
This is the special and peculiar place of true worship; for it is said "Take heed to thyself that thou offer not thy burnt offerings in every place...but in the place the Lord thy God shall choose." Now what is a spiritual burnt offering?
Read in context · Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, series 2, vol. 8 (1895)