One Place for Worship

1These are the ordinaunces and lawes whiche ye shall obserue and do in the lande, whiche the Lorde God of thy fathers geueth thee to possesse it as long as ye liue vpon the earth. 2Ye shall destroy all places wherin the nations whiche ye shall possesse serued their gods, vpon hye mountaynes, on hylles, and vnder euery greene tree. 3You shall ouerthrowe their aulters, and breake their pillers, and burne their groues with fire, and you shall hewe downe the grauen images of the gods that they haue, and bryng the names of them to naught out of that place. 4Ye shall not do so vnto the Lorde your God: 5But ye shall seeke the place which the Lorde your God shall choose out of all your tribes, to put his name there, and there to dwell, and thyther thou shalt come: 6And thyther ye shal bryng your burnt sacrifices, your offeringes, your tithes, and heaue offeringes of your hande, your vowes, your freewyll offeringes, and the first borne of your kyne, and of your sheepe. 7And there ye shall eate before the Lorde your God, and ye shall reioyce in all that ye put your hande vnto, both ye and your housholdes, wherin the Lord thy God hath blessed thee.

8Ye shall not do after all the thinges that we do here this day, euery man what seemeth hym good in his owne eyes. 9For ye are not yet come to rest, and to the inheritaunce whiche the Lord your God geueth you. 10But when ye go ouer Iordane, and dwell in the lande whiche the Lorde your God hath geuen you to inherite, and when he hath geuen you rest from al your enemies rounde about, and shal dwell in safetie: 11Then vnto the place which the Lord your God hath chosen to put his name there, ye shall bryng all that I commaunde you: namely, your burnt sacrifices, your offeringes, your tithes, the heaue offering of your hande, and all your speciall vowes whiche ye vowe vnto the Lorde. 12And ye shall reioyce before the Lorde your God, ye and your sonnes, and your daughters, your seruauntes, and your maydens, and the Leuite that is within your gates, forasmuche as he hah no part nor inheritauce with you.

13Take heede that thou offer not thy burnt offeringes in euery place that thou seest: 14But in the place which the Lord shall choose in one of thy tribes, there thou shalt offer thy burnt offeringes, and there thou shalt do al that I comaunde thee.

15Notwithstanding, thou mayest kyll and eate fleshe in all thy cities, whatsoeuer thy soule lusteth after, accordyng to the blessing of the Lorde thy God, whiche he hath geuen thee: both the vncleane and the cleane may eate therof, euen of the Roe bucke, and of the Hart. 16Only ye shall not eate the blood, but powre it vpon the earth as water. 17Thou mayest not eate within thy gates the tithe of thy corne, of thy wine, and of thy oyle, and the first borne of thy kine, and of thy sheepe, neither any of thy vowes which thou vowest, nor thy freewill offeringes, or heaue offering of thyne hande: 18But thou must eate them before the Lorde thy God, in the place whiche the Lorde thy God hath chosen, thou and thy sonne, & thy daughter, thy seruaunt, and thy mayde, and the Lenite that is within thy gates: and thou shalt reioyce before the Lorde thy God, in all that thou puttest thyne hande to. 19Beware that thou forsake not the Leuite, as long as thou liuest vpon the earth.

20If when the Lorde thy God shall enlarge thy border as he hath promised thee, thou say, I will eate flesh (because thy soule longeth to eate fleshe) thou mayest eate fleshe whatsoeuer thy soule lusteth. 21If the place whiche the Lorde thy God hath chosen to put his name there, be to farre from thee, then thou shalt kil of thy oxen and of thy sheepe which the Lord gath geuen thee, as I haue commaunded thee, and thou shalt eate in thyne owne citie whatsoeuer thy soule lusteth. 22And as the Roe bucke and the Hart is eaten, euen so thou shalt eate them: both the cleane and the vncleane shall eate of them. 23But be strong, that thou eate not the blood: for the blood is the life, and thou mayest not eate the life with the fleshe. 24Thou shalt not eate it, but powre it vpon the earth as water. 25Thou shalt not eate it, that it may go well with thee, and with thy chyldren after thee: But thou shalt do that whiche is ryght in the sight of the Lorde. 26But thy holy thynges whiche thou hast, and thy vowes, thou shalt take, and come vnto the place whiche the Lorde hath chosen. 27And thou shalt offer thy burnt offeringes, both fleshe and blood vpon the aulter of the Lorde thy God: and the blood of thyne offeringes shalbe powred out vpon the aulter of the Lord thy God, and thou shalt eate the fleshe.

28Take heede, & heare all these wordes which I commaunde thee, that it may go well with thee, and with thy chyldren after thee for euer, if thou doest that whiche is good and ryght in the sight of the Lorde thy God.

A Warning against Idolatry
(Deuteronomy 4:15–31; Ezekiel 6:1–7)

29When the Lord thy God shall destroy the nations before thee whyther thou goest to possesse them, and thou succeedest in their inheritaunce, and dwellest in their lande: 30Beware that thou be not taken in a snare after them, after that they be destroyed before thee, and that thou aske not after their gods, saying: Howe do these nations serue their gods? I wyll do so likewise. 31Nay, thou shalt not do so vnto the Lorde thy God: for all abhominations, and that whiche the Lorde hateth, the same haue they done vnto their gods.

32For they haue burned both their sonnes and their daughters with fire before their gods. Therefore whatsoeuer I commaunde you, take heede ye do it: and put thou naught therto, nor take ought therefrom.