| New King James Version | Berean Study Bible |
| 1“These are the statutes and judgments which you shall be careful to observe in the land which the LORD God of your fathers is giving you to possess, all the days that you live on the earth. | 1These are the statutes and ordinances you must be careful to follow all the days you live in the land that the LORD, the God of your fathers, has given you to possess. |
| 2You shall utterly destroy all the places where the nations which you shall dispossess served their gods, on the high mountains and on the hills and under every green tree. | 2Destroy completely all the places where the nations you are dispossessing have served their gods—atop the high mountains, on the hills, and under every green tree. |
| 3And you shall destroy their altars, break their sacred pillars, and burn their wooden images with fire; you shall cut down the carved images of their gods and destroy their names from that place. | 3Tear down their altars, smash their sacred pillars, burn up their Asherah poles, cut down the idols of their gods, and wipe out their names from every place. |
| 4You shall not worship the LORD your God with such things. | 4You shall not worship the LORD your God in this way. |
| 5“But you shall seek the place where the LORD your God chooses, out of all your tribes, to put His name for His dwelling place; and there you shall go. | 5Instead, you must seek the place the LORD your God will choose from among all your tribes to establish as a dwelling for His Name, and there you must go. |
| 6There you shall take your burnt offerings, your sacrifices, your tithes, the heave offerings of your hand, your vowed offerings, your freewill offerings, and the firstborn of your herds and flocks. | 6To that place you are to bring your burnt offerings and sacrifices, your tithes and heave offerings, your vow offerings and freewill offerings, as well as the firstborn of your herds and flocks. |
| 7And there you shall eat before the LORD your God, and you shall rejoice in all to which you have put your hand, you and your households, in which the LORD your God has blessed you. | 7There, in the presence of the LORD your God, you and your households shall eat and rejoice in all you do, because the LORD your God has blessed you. |
| 8“You shall not at all do as we are doing here today—every man doing whatever is right in his own eyes— | 8You are not to do as we are doing here today, where everyone does what seems right in his own eyes. |
| 9for as yet you have not come to the rest and the inheritance which the LORD your God is giving you. | 9For you have not yet come to the resting place and the inheritance that the LORD your God is giving you. |
| 10But when you cross over the Jordan and dwell in the land which the LORD your God is giving you to inherit, and He gives you rest from all your enemies round about, so that you dwell in safety, | 10When you cross the Jordan and live in the land that the LORD your God is giving you as an inheritance, and He gives you rest from all the enemies around you and you dwell securely, |
| 11then there will be the place where the LORD your God chooses to make His name abide. There you shall bring all that I command you: your burnt offerings, your sacrifices, your tithes, the heave offerings of your hand, and all your choice offerings which you vow to the LORD. | 11then the LORD your God will choose a dwelling for His Name. And there you are to bring everything I command you: your burnt offerings and sacrifices, your tithes and special gifts, and all the choice offerings you vow to the LORD. |
| 12And you shall rejoice before the LORD your God, you and your sons and your daughters, your male and female servants, and the Levite who is within your gates, since he has no portion nor inheritance with you. | 12And you shall rejoice before the LORD your God—you, your sons and daughters, your menservants and maidservants, and the Levite within your gates, since he has no portion or inheritance among you. |
| 13Take heed to yourself that you do not offer your burnt offerings in every place that you see; | 13Be careful not to offer your burnt offerings in just any place you see; |
| 14but in the place which the LORD chooses, in one of your tribes, there you shall offer your burnt offerings, and there you shall do all that I command you. | 14you must offer them only in the place the LORD will choose in one of your tribal territories, and there you shall do all that I command you. |
| 15“However, you may slaughter and eat meat within all your gates, whatever your heart desires, according to the blessing of the LORD your God which He has given you; the unclean and the clean may eat of it, of the gazelle and the deer alike. | 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. Both the ceremonially clean and unclean may eat it as they would a gazelle or deer, |
| 16Only you shall not eat the blood; you shall pour it on the earth like water. | 16but you must not eat the blood; pour it on the ground like water. |
| 17You may not eat within your gates the tithe of your grain or your new wine or your oil, of the firstborn of your herd or your flock, of any of your offerings which you vow, of your freewill offerings, or of the heave offering of your hand. | 17Within your gates you must not eat the tithe of your grain or new wine or oil, the firstborn of your herds or flocks, any of the offerings that you have vowed to give, or your freewill offerings or special gifts. |
| 18But you must eat them before the LORD your God in the place which the LORD your God chooses, you and your son and your daughter, your male servant and your female servant, and the Levite who is within your gates; and you shall rejoice before the LORD your God in all to which you put your hands. | 18Instead, you must eat them in the presence of the LORD your God at the place the LORD your God will choose—you, your sons and daughters, your menservants and maidservants, and the Levite within your gates. Rejoice before the LORD your God in all you do, |
| 19Take heed to yourself that you do not forsake the Levite as long as you live in your land. | 19and be careful not to neglect the Levites as long as you live in your land. |
| 20“When the LORD your God enlarges your border as He has promised you, and you say, ‘Let me eat meat,’ because you long to eat meat, you may eat as much meat as your heart desires. | 20When the LORD your God expands your territory as He has promised, and you crave meat and say, “I want to eat meat,” you may eat it whenever you want. |
| 21If the place where the LORD your God chooses to put His name is too far from you, then you may slaughter from your herd and from your flock which the LORD has given you, just as I have commanded you, and you may eat within your gates as much as your heart desires. | 21If the place where the LORD your God chooses to put His Name is too far from you, then you may slaughter any of the herd or flock He has given you, as I have commanded you, and you may eat it within your gates whenever you want. |
| 22Just as the gazelle and the deer are eaten, so you may eat them; the unclean and the clean alike may eat them. | 22Indeed, you may eat it as you would eat a gazelle or deer; both the ceremonially unclean and the clean may eat it. |
| 23Only be sure that you do not eat the blood, for the blood is the life; you may not eat the life with the meat. | 23Only be sure not to eat the blood, because the blood is the life, and you must not eat the life with the meat. |
| 24You shall not eat it; you shall pour it on the earth like water. | 24You must not eat the blood; pour it on the ground like water. |
| 25You shall not eat it, that it may go well with you and your children after you, when you do what is right in the sight of the LORD. | 25Do not eat it, so that it may go well with you and your children after you, because you will be doing what is right in the eyes of the LORD. |
| 26Only the holy things which you have, and your vowed offerings, you shall take and go to the place which the LORD chooses. | 26But you are to take your holy things and your vow offerings and go to the place the LORD will choose. |
| 27And you shall offer your burnt offerings, the meat and the blood, on the altar of the LORD your God; and the blood of your sacrifices shall be poured out on the altar of the LORD your God, and you shall eat the meat. | 27Present the meat and blood of your burnt offerings on the altar of the LORD your God. The blood of your other sacrifices must be poured out beside the altar of the LORD your God, but you may eat the meat. |
| 28Observe and obey all these words which I command you, that it may go well with you and your children after you forever, when you do what is good and right in the sight of the LORD your God. | 28Be careful to obey all these things I command you, so that it may always go well with you and your children after you, because you will be doing what is good and right in the eyes of the LORD your God. |
| 29“When the LORD your God cuts off from before you the nations which you go to dispossess, and you displace them and dwell in their land, | 29When the LORD your God cuts off before you the nations you are entering to dispossess, and you drive them out and live in their land, |
| 30take heed to yourself that you are not ensnared to follow them, after they are destroyed from before you, and that you do not inquire after their gods, saying, ‘How did these nations serve their gods? I also will do likewise.’ | 30be careful not to be ensnared by their ways after they have been destroyed before you. Do not inquire about their gods, asking, “How do these nations serve their gods? I will do likewise.” |
| 31You shall not worship the LORD your God in that way; for every abomination to the LORD which He hates they have done to their gods; for they burn even their sons and daughters in the fire to their gods. | 31You must not worship the LORD your God in this way, because they practice for their gods every abomination which the LORD hates. They even burn their sons and daughters in the fire as sacrifices to their gods. |
| 32“Whatever I command you, be careful to observe it; you shall not add to it nor take away from it. | 32See that you do everything I command you; do not add to it or subtract from it. |
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