| International Standard Version | NET Bible |
| 1"These are the statutes and ordinances that you must carefully observe in the land that the LORD God of your ancestors has given you to possess every day that 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. |
| 2Be sure you destroy there all the places where the nations that you're going to dispossess serve their gods—upon the high mountains and hills and under every leafy 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, cut down their sacred poles, and burn them. Cut down the carved images of their gods to erase their memory from that 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. |
| 4"You must not act like this with respect to the LORD your God. | 4You must not worship the LORD your God the way they worship. |
| 5Instead, you must seek to enter only the place that the LORD your God will choose among your tribes. There he will establish his name and live. | 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. |
| 6Bring your burnt offerings there, along with your sacrifices, your tithes, your hand-carried gifts, your offerings in fulfillment of promises, your freely given 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. |
| 7Then you and your household will eat in the presence of the LORD your God and rejoice with all the works of your hand with which he 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. |
| 8"You must not act as we have been doing here today, where everyone acts as they see fit, | 8You must not do like we are doing here today, with everyone doing what seems best to him, |
| 9for you haven't arrived yet to your allotted place that the LORD your God is about to give you. | 9for you have not yet come to the final stop and inheritance the LORD your God is giving you. |
| 10But after you have crossed the Jordan River and settled in the land that the Lord your God is giving you to inherit, and after you have received relief from the enemies around you and are living securely, | 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 bring to the place that the LORD your God will choose as a dwelling place—where he will establish his name—everything that I'm commanding you: your burnt offerings, your sacrifices, your tithes, your hand-carried gifts, and all your best offerings in fulfillment of promises that you pledged 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. |
| 12"Rejoice in the presence of the LORD your God—you, your sons and daughters, your male and female servants, and the descendant of Levi who is in your city—for there is no territorial allotment for him as you have. | 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 burnt offerings at any location you happen to see | 13Make sure you do not offer burnt offerings in any place you wish, |
| 14instead of at the place the LORD will choose in one of the tribal areas. There you may offer burnt offerings, and there you may do everything that I'm commanding 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. |
| 15"You may slaughter and eat as much meat as you desire, according to the blessing of the LORD your God, when he provides for you in all your cities. Both ritually unqualified and qualified people may eat it as they would gazelle and 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. |
| 16Only, you must not consume the blood; instead, pour it out on the ground as you would water. | 16However, you must not eat blood--pour it out on the ground like water. |
| 17"You won't be allowed to eat your tithe of grain, new wine, oil, the firstborn of your herd and flock, your voluntary offerings that you pledged, your free-will offerings, and the works of your hands in your own cities. | 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'll eat only in the presence of the LORD your God at the place that he will choose—you, your sons and your daughters, your male and female servants, and the descendant of Levi who is in your cities. Rejoice in the presence of the LORD your God in everything you undertake. | 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. |
| 19Be careful not to forget the descendant of Levi while you live in the land. | 19Be careful not to overlook the Levites as long as you live in the land. |
| 20When the LORD your God enlarges your territory—just as he told you—and you say 'I want to eat meat' since you desire to eat it, you may do so as much as you please. | 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. |
| 21"If the place where the LORD your God chooses to establish his name is distant from you, then you may slaughter from your herd and your flock what the LORD has provided for you, as he instructed you. You may consume them in your cities as much as you please. | 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. |
| 22You may eat them, just as you would gazelle and deer. Ritually unqualified and qualified people may eat them. | 22Like you eat the gazelle or ibex, so you may eat these; the ritually impure and pure alike may eat them. |
| 23Only be sure to refrain from eating blood, because blood is the source of life and you must not consume blood 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! |
| 24You must not consume it; instead, pour it on the ground as you would water. | 24You must not eat it! You must pour it out on the ground like water. |
| 25You must not eat it, so that life will go well for you and for your children after you. Then you'll do what is right in the eyes of the LORD. | 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. |
| 26"You may carry and bring only your consecrated gifts and offerings in fulfillment of promises to the place that the LORD will choose. | 26Only the holy things and votive offerings that belong to you, you must pick up and take to the place the LORD will choose. |
| 27You must offer your burnt offerings, both the meat and the blood, on the altar of the LORD your God. You must offer the blood by pouring it on the altar of the LORD your God while you consume 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 sure to observe all these words that I'm commanding you, in order that life may go well for you and your children after you forever, for this is good and right in the eyes 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. |
| 29"When the LORD your God eliminates the nations that you are about to dispossess so you can 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. |
| 30after they have been destroyed in your sight, be careful not to be ensnared as they were. Otherwise, you will seek their gods and ask yourselves, 'How do these nations serve their gods? I will do likewise.' | 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 practiced in the presence of their gods every sort of abomination that the LORD hates. Moreover, they sacrificed their sons and daughters 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! |
| 32 Now as to everything I'm commanding you, you must be careful to observe it. Don't add to or subtract 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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