| Holman Christian Standard Bible | NET Bible |
| 1Be careful to follow these statutes and ordinances in the land that Yahweh, the God of your fathers, has given you to possess all the days you live on the earth. | 1These are the statutes and ordinances you must be careful to obey as long as you live in the land the LORD, the God of your ancestors, has given you to possess. |
| 2Destroy completely all the places where the nations that you are driving out worship their gods--on the high mountains, on the hills, and under every green tree. | 2You must by all means destroy all the places where the nations you are about to dispossess worship their gods--on the high mountains and hills and under every leafy tree. |
| 3Tear down their altars, smash their sacred pillars, burn up their Asherah poles, cut down the carved images of their gods, and wipe out their names from every place. | 3You must tear down their altars, shatter their sacred pillars, burn up their sacred Asherah poles, and cut down the images of their gods; you must eliminate their very memory from that place. |
| 4Don't worship the LORD your God this way. | 4You must not worship the LORD your God the way they worship. |
| 5Instead, you must turn to the place Yahweh your God chooses from all your tribes to put His name for His dwelling and go there. | 5But you must seek only the place he chooses from all your tribes to establish his name as his place of residence, and you must go there. |
| 6You are to bring there your burnt offerings and sacrifices, your tenths and personal contributions, your vow offerings and freewill offerings, and the firstborn of your herds and flocks. | 6And there you must take your burnt offerings, your sacrifices, your tithes, the personal offerings you have prepared, your votive offerings, your freewill offerings, and the firstborn of your herds and flocks. |
| 7You will eat there in the presence of the LORD your God and rejoice with your household in everything you do, because the LORD your God has blessed you." | 7Both you and your families must feast there before the LORD your God and rejoice in all the output of your labor with which he has blessed you. |
| 8You are not to do as we are doing here today; everyone is doing whatever seems right in his own eyes. | 8You must not do like we are doing here today, with everyone doing what seems best to him, |
| 9Indeed, you have not yet come into the resting place and the inheritance the LORD your God is giving you. | 9for you have not yet come to the final stop and inheritance the LORD your God is giving you. |
| 10When you cross the Jordan and live in the land the LORD your God is giving you to inherit, and He gives you rest from all the enemies around you and you live in security, | 10When you do go across the Jordan River and settle in the land he is granting you as an inheritance and you find relief from all the enemies who surround you, you will live in safety. |
| 11then Yahweh your God will choose the place to have His name dwell. Bring there everything I command you: your burnt offerings, sacrifices, offerings of the tenth, personal contributions, and all your choice offerings you vow to the LORD. | 11Then you must come to the place the LORD your God chooses for his name to reside, bringing everything I am commanding you--your burnt offerings, sacrifices, tithes, the personal offerings you have prepared, and all your choice votive offerings which you devote to him. |
| 12You will rejoice before the LORD your God--you, your sons and daughters, your male and female slaves, and the Levite who is within your gates, since he has no portion or inheritance among you. | 12You shall rejoice in the presence of the LORD your God, along with your sons, daughters, male and female servants, and the Levites in your villages (since they have no allotment or inheritance with you). |
| 13Be careful not to offer your burnt offerings in all the sacred places you see. | 13Make sure you do not offer burnt offerings in any place you wish, |
| 14You must offer your burnt offerings only in the place the LORD chooses in one of your tribes, and there you must do everything I command you." | 14for you may do so only in the place the LORD chooses in one of your tribal areas--there you may do everything I am commanding you. |
| 15But whenever you want, you may slaughter and eat meat within any of your gates, according to the blessing the LORD your God has given you. Those who are clean or unclean may eat it, as they would a gazelle or deer, | 15On the other hand, you may slaughter and eat meat as you please when the LORD your God blesses you in all your villages. Both the ritually pure and impure may eat it, whether it is a gazelle or an ibex. |
| 16but you must not eat the blood; pour it on the ground like water. | 16However, you must not eat blood--pour it out on the ground like water. |
| 17Within your gates you may not eat: the tenth of your grain, new wine, or oil; the firstborn of your herd or flock; any of your vow offerings that you pledge; your freewill offerings; or your personal contributions. | 17You will not be allowed to eat in your villages your tithe of grain, new wine, olive oil, the firstborn of your herd and flock, any votive offerings you have vowed, or your freewill and personal offerings. |
| 18You must eat them in the presence of the LORD your God at the place the LORD your God chooses--you, your son and daughter, your male and female slave, and the Levite who is within your gates. Rejoice before the LORD your God in everything you do, | 18Only in the presence of the LORD your God may you eat these, in the place he chooses. This applies to you, your son, your daughter, your male and female servants, and the Levites in your villages. In that place you will rejoice before the LORD your God in all the output of your labor. |
| 19and be careful not to neglect the Levite, as long as you live in your land." | 19Be careful not to overlook the Levites as long as you live in the land. |
| 20When the LORD your God enlarges your territory as He has promised you, and you say, 'I want to eat meat because you have a strong desire to eat meat, you may eat it whenever you want. | 20When the LORD your God extends your borders as he said he would do and you say, "I want to eat meat just as I please," you may do so as you wish. |
| 21If the place where Yahweh your God chooses to put His name is too far from you, you may slaughter any of your herd or flock He has given you, as I have commanded you, and you may eat it within your gates whenever you want. | 21If the place he chooses to locate his name is too far for you, you may slaughter any of your herd and flock he has given you just as I have stipulated; you may eat them in your villages just as you wish. |
| 22Indeed, you may eat it as the gazelle and deer are eaten; both the clean and the unclean may eat it. | 22Like you eat the gazelle or ibex, so you may eat these; the ritually impure and pure alike may eat them. |
| 23But don't eat the blood, since the blood is the life, and you must not eat the life with the meat. | 23However, by no means eat the blood, for the blood is life itself--you must not eat the life with the meat! |
| 24Do not eat blood; pour it on the ground like water. | 24You must not eat it! You must pour it out on the ground like water. |
| 25Do not eat it, so that you and your children after you will prosper, because you will be doing what is right in the LORD's sight." | 25You must not eat it so that it may go well with you and your children after you; you will be doing what is right in the LORD's sight. |
| 26But you are to take the holy offerings you have and your vow offerings and go to the place the LORD chooses. | 26Only the holy things and votive offerings that belong to you, you must pick up and take to the place the LORD will choose. |
| 27Present the meat and blood of your burnt offerings on the altar of the LORD your God. The blood of your other sacrifices is to be poured out beside the altar of the LORD your God, but you may eat the meat. | 27You must offer your burnt offerings, both meat and blood, on the altar of the LORD your God; the blood of your other sacrifices you must pour out on his altar while you eat the meat. |
| 28Be careful to obey all these things I command you, so that you and your children after you may prosper forever, because you will be doing what is good and right in the sight of the LORD your God." | 28Pay careful attention to all these things I am commanding you so that it may always go well with you and your children after you when you do what is good and right in the sight of the LORD your God. |
| 29When the LORD your God annihilates the nations before you, which you are entering to take possession of, and you drive them out and live in their land, | 29When the LORD your God eliminates the nations from the place where you are headed and you dispossess them, you will settle down in their land. |
| 30be careful not to be ensnared by their ways after they have been destroyed before you. Do not inquire about their gods, asking, 'How did these nations worship their gods? I'll also do the same.' | 30After they have been destroyed from your presence, be careful not to be ensnared like they are; do not pursue their gods and say, "How do these nations serve their gods? I will do the same." |
| 31You must not do the same to the LORD your God, because they practice every detestable thing, which the LORD hates, for their gods. They even burn their sons and daughters in the fire to their gods. | 31You must not worship the LORD your God the way they do! For everything that is abhorrent to him, everything he hates, they have done when worshiping their gods. They even burn up their sons and daughters before their gods! |
| 32You must be careful to do everything I command you; do not add anything to it or take anything away from it." | 32You must be careful to do everything I am commanding you. Do not add to it or subtract from it! |
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