Deuteronomy 12

NEW JERUSALEM	DOUAI-RHEIMS
1 'Now, these are the laws and customs which you must keep in the country which Yahweh, God of yourancestors, is giving you as yours, and which you must observe every day that you live in that country.	1 These are the precepts and judgments, that you must do in the land, which the Lord the God of thy fathers will give thee, to possess it all the days that thou shalt walk upon the earth.
2 'You must completely destroy all the places where the nations you dispossess have served their gods,on high mountains, on hills, under any spreading tree;	2 Destroy all the places in which the nations, that you shall possess, worshipped their gods upon high mountains, and hills, and under every shady tree:
3 you must tear down their altars, smash their sacred stones, burn their sacred poles, hack to bits thestatues of their gods and obliterate their name from that place.	3 Overthrow their altars, and break down their statues, burn their groves with fire, and break their idols in pieces: destroy their names out of those places.
4 'Not so must you behave towards Yahweh your God.	4 You shall not do so to the Lord your God:
5 You must seek Yahweh your God in the place which he wil choose from al your tribes, there to sethis name and give it a home: that is where you must go.	5 But you shall come to the place, which the Lord your God shall choose out of all your tribes, to put his name there, and to dwell in it:
6 That is where you must bring your burnt offerings and your sacrifices, your tithes and offerings heldhigh, your votive offerings and your voluntary offerings, and the first-born of your herd and flock;	6 And you shall offer in that place your holocausts and victims, the tithes and firstfruits of your hands and your vows and gifts, the firstborn of your herds and your sheep.
7 and that is where you must eat in the presence of Yahweh your God, rejoicing over your labours, youand your households, because Yahweh your God has blessed you.	7 And you shall eat there in the sight of the Lord your God: and you shall rejoice in all things, whereunto you shall put your hand, you and your houses wherein the Lord your God hath blessed you.
8 'You must not behave as we are behaving here today, each of you doing what he himself sees fit,	8 You shall not do there the things we do here this day, every man that which seemeth good to himself.
9 since you have not yet come to the resting place and the heritage that Yahweh your God is going togive you.	9 For until this present time you are not come to refit, and to the possession, which the Lord your God will give you.
10 You are about to cross the Jordan and live in the country given you by Yahweh your God as yourheritage; he will grant you peace from al the enemies surrounding you, and you wil live in safety.	10 You shall pass over the Jordan, and shall dwell in the land which the Lord your God will give you, that you may have rest from all enemies round about: and may dwell without any fear,
11 To the place chosen by Yahweh your God as a home for his name, to that place you must bring althe things that I am laying down for you: your burnt offerings and your sacrifices, your tithes and offerings heldhigh, and al the best of your possessions dedicated by you to Yahweh.	11 In the place, which the Lord your God shall choose, that his name may be therein. Thither shall you bring all the things that I command you, holocausts, and victims, and tithes, and the firstfruits of your hands: and whatsoever is the choicest in the gifts which you shall vow to the Lord.
12 That is where you will rejoice in the presence of Yahweh your God, you and your sons anddaughters, your serving men and women, and the Levite living in your community since he has no share orheritage of his own among you.	12 There shall you feast before the Lord your God, you and your sons and your daughters, your menservants and maidservants, and the Levite that dwelleth in your cities. For he hath no other part and possession among you.
13 'Take care you do not offer your burnt offerings in al the sacred places you see;	13 Beware lest thou offer thy holocausts in every place that thou shalt see:
14 only in the place that Yahweh chooses in one of your tribes may you offer your burnt offerings and doal the things which I have commanded you.	14 But in the place which the Lord shall choose in one of thy tribes shalt thou offer sacrifices. and shalt do all that I command thee.
15 'This notwithstanding, and whenever you wish, you may slaughter and eat meat wherever you live --as much as the blessing of Yahweh affords you. Clean or unclean may eat it, as though it were gazel e or deer.	15 But if thou desirest to eat, and the eating of flesh delight thee, kill, and eat according to the blessing of the Lord thy God, which he hath given thee, in thy cities: whether it be unclean, that is to say, having blemish or defect: or clean, that is to say, sound and without blemish, such as may be offered, as the roe, and the hart, shalt thou eat it:
16 You wil not, however, eat the blood, but wil pour that like water on the ground.	16 Only the blood thou shalt not eat, but thou shalt pour it out upon the earth as water.
17 'You must not eat the tithe of your wheat, of your new wine or of your oil, or the first-born of your herdor flock, or any of your votive offerings or voluntary offerings, or your offerings held high to Yahweh, at home.	17 Thou mayst not eat in thy towns the tithes of thy corn, and thy wine, and thy oil, the firstborn of thy herds and thy cattle, nor any thing that thou vowest, and that thou wilt offer voluntarily, and the firstfruits of thy hands:
18 You must eat these in the presence of Yahweh your God in the place Yahweh your God choosesand there alone, you, your son and your daughter, your serving man and serving woman, and the Levite living inyour community, expressing your joy in al your labours in the presence of Yahweh your God.	18 But thou shalt eat them before the Lord thy God in the place which the Lord thy God shall choose, thou and thy son and thy daughter, and thy manservant, and maidservant, and the Levite that dwelleth in thy cities: and thou shalt rejoice and be refreshed before the Lord thy God in all things, whereunto thou shalt put thy hand.
19 As long as you live on your soil, be careful not to neglect the Levite.	19 Take heed thou forsake not the Levite all the time that thou livest in the land.
20 'When Yahweh your God enlarges your territory as he has promised you, and you say, "I should liketo eat meat," if you want to eat meat you may eat as much as you like.	20 When the Lord thy God shall have enlarged thy borders, as he hath spoken to thee, and thou wilt eat the flesh that thy soul desireth:
21 If the place in which Yahweh your God chooses to set his name is too far away, you may slaughterany of your herd or flock that Yahweh has given you, as I have prescribed for you; you may eat as much of it asyou please at home.	21 And if the place which the Lord thy God shall choose, that his name should be there, be far off, thou shalt kill of thy herds and of thy docks, as I have commanded thee, and shalt eat in thy towns, as it pleaseth thee.
22 But you must eat it as you would gazel e or deer; clean and unclean may eat it together.	22 Even as the roe and the hart is eaten, so shalt thou eat them: both the clean and unclean shall eat of them alike.
23 Take care, however, not to eat the blood, since blood is life, and you must not eat the life with themeat.	23 Only beware of this, that thou eat not the blood, for the blood is for the soul: and therefore thou must not eat the soul with the flesh:
24 You must not eat it, but must pour it like water on the ground.	24 But thou shalt pour it upon the earth as water,
25 You must not eat it -- so that you, and your children after you, may prosper, doing what is right inYahweh's eyes.	25 That it may be well with thee and thy children after thee, when thou shalt do that which is pleasing in the sight of the Lord.
26 But the holy things of yours and the things which you have dedicated, you must go and take to theplace chosen by Yahweh.	26 But the things which thou hast sanctified and vowed to the Lord, thou shalt take, and shalt come to the place which the Lord shall choose:
27 The burnt offerings of meat and blood must be presented on the altar of Yahweh your God; whereas,in your sacrifices, the blood must be poured on the altar of Yahweh your God; the meat you yourselves may eat.	27 And shalt offer thy oblations the flesh and the blood upon the altar of the Lord thy God: the blood of thy victims thou shalt pour on the altar: and the flesh thou thyself shalt eat.
28 Faithful y keep and obey al these orders which I am giving you, so that you and your children afteryou may prosper for ever, doing what is good and right in the eyes of Yahweh your God.	28 Observe and hear all the things that I command thee, that it may be well with thee and thy children after thee for ever, when thou shalt do what is good and pleasing in the sight of the Lord thy God.
29 'When Yahweh your God has annihilated the nations confronting you, whom you are going todispossess, and when you have dispossessed them and made your home in their country,	29 When the Lord thy God shall have destroyed before thy face the nations, which then shalt go in to possess, and when thou shalt possess them, and dwell in their land:
30 beware of being entrapped into copying them, after they have been destroyed to make way for you,and do not enquire about their gods, saying, "How did these nations worship their gods? I am going to do thesame too."	30 Beware lest thou imitate them, after they are destroyed at thy coming in, and lest thou seek after their ceremonies, saying: As these nations have worshipped their gods, so will I also worship.
31 This is not the way to treat Yahweh your God. For in honour of their gods they have done everythingdetestable that Yahweh hates; yes, in honour of their gods, they even burn their own sons and daughters assacrifices!'	31 Thou shalt not do in like manner to the Lord thy God. For they have done to their gods all the abominations which the Lord abhorreth, offering their sons and daughters, and burning them with fire.
	32 What I command thee, that only do thou to the Lord: neither add any thing, nor diminish.