These are the statutes and judgments which you are to observe to do in the land which the Lord God of your fathers giveth you to inherit all the days that you live upon the earth.
You shall utterly destroy all the places in which the people (whose land) you will possess have worshipped their idols, upon the high mountains and hills, and under every tree of beautiful form.
You shall lay their altars in ruin, break down their pillars, burn their abominations with fire, and utterly destroy the images of their gods, and abolish their names from that place.
Not so may you do to blot out the inscription of the Name of the Lord your God.
But in the land which the Word of the Lord your God will choose out of all your tribes for His Shekinah to dwell there, unto the place of His Shekinah shall you have recourse, and come thither,
and bring your sacrifices and consecrated oblations, your tythes, the separation of your hands, your vows, your voluntary offerings, and the firstlings of your herds and flocks.
And you shall there eat before the Lord your God, and rejoice in all that you put your hand unto, you and your households, in which the Lord your God will have blessed you.
It will not be lawful for you to do (there) as we do here today, whatever any one thinks fit for himself;
for you are not yet come to the Sanctuary, to the dwelling of Peace, and to the inheritance of the land which the Lord your God will give you.
But when you have passed over Jordan and dwell in the land which the Lord your God will give you to inherit, and He hath given you repose from all your enemies round about, then shall you build the house of the Sanctuary, and afterward shall dwell securely.
And to the place which the Word of the Lord will choose to make His Shekinah to dwell there, shall you bring all your oblations, firstlings, and tythes, which I command you; there shall you offer your sacrifices and hallowed victims, there eat your tythes and the separation of your hands, and all your goodly vows which you may have vowed before the Lord.
And you shall rejoice before the Lord your God, you and your sons and daughters, your servants and handmaids, and the Levite who is in your cities, for he hath no portion or inheritance with you.
Beware lest you offer your sacrifices in any place which thou mayest see;
but in the Place which the Lord will choose in the inheritance of one of your tribes, there shall you offer your sacrifices and do whatever I command you.
Nevertheless, after every wish of your soul, you may kill and eat flesh according to the blessing of the Lord your God, which He will give you in all your cities; they who are unclean so as not to be able to offer holy things, and they who are clean that they may offer holy things, may eat of it alike, as the flesh of the antelope or of the hart.
Only be careful to pour out the blood upon the ground like water.
It will not be lawful for you to eat the tenths of your corn, or wine, or oil, or the firstlings of your herd or flock, nor any of the vows that you have vowed, or freewill offerings, or the separation of your hands in your cities;
but you shall eat it before the Lord your God, in the place which the Lord your God will choose; you, and your sons and daughters, and your handmaids, and the Levites who are in your cities; and you shall rejoice before the Lord your God, in all that thou puttest thine hand unto.
Beware that thou aggrieve not the Levite all your days in which you dwell in your land.
When the Lord your God will have enlarged your border, as He hath said unto you; and thou sayest, I would eat flesh, because thy soul may desire to eat flesh, thou mayest eat flesh according to all thy desire.
But if the place which the Lord your God will have chosen that His Shekinah may dwell there be too far off, then may you eat of your herds and flocks which the Lord your God shall give you, as I have com- manded you, in your cities you may eat, according to all the desire of your soul:
as the flesh of the antelope or hart so may you eat it; he who is unclean that he may not offer holy things, and he who is clean that he may offer them, may eat of it alike.
Only put a strong restraint upon your desires, that you eat no blood; for the blood is the subsistence of the life. You may not, with the flesh, eat blood, in which is the subsistence of life:
you shall not eat it, you shall pour it out upon the ground like water:
eat it not, that it may be well with you, and with your children after you, while you do that which is right before the Lord.
Nevertheless, animals which are your consecrated tenths, and your votive offerings, you shall take and bring to the place which the Lord will choose;
and thou shalt do (with them) according to the rite of thy burnt offerings, (and offer) the flesh and the blood upon the altar of the Lord thy God: the blood of the rest of thy holy oblations shall be poured out at the altar of the Lord thy God, but of the flesh it is lawful to eat.
Observe and obey all these words that I command you, that it may be well with you and with your children after you for ever, while you do that which is good and right before the Lord your God.
When the Lord your God shall have cut off the nations among whom you go, and have expelled them from before you, and you inherit and dwell in their land,
beware that you stumble not after their idols when they shall have been destroyed before you, or lest you seek after their idols, saying, How did these peoples worship their gods, that we may worship as they did?
So shall you not do in serving the Lord your God; for whatever is abominable and hateful to Him have they done to their idols; for even their sons and daughters they have bound and burned with fire unto their idols.