| NET Bible | Berean Study Bible |
| 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. | 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 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. | 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. |
| 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. | 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 must not worship the LORD your God the way they worship. | 4You shall not worship the LORD your God in this way. |
| 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. | 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. |
| 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. | 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. |
| 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. | 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. |
| 8You must not do like we are doing here today, with everyone doing what seems best to him, | 8You are not to do as we are doing here today, where everyone does what seems right in his own eyes. |
| 9for you have not yet come to the final stop and inheritance 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. |
| 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. | 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 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. | 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. |
| 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). | 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. |
| 13Make sure you do not offer burnt offerings in any place you wish, | 13Be careful not to offer your burnt offerings in just any place you see; |
| 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. | 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. |
| 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. | 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, |
| 16However, you must not eat blood--pour it out on the ground like water. | 16but you must not eat the blood; pour it on the ground like water. |
| 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. | 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. |
| 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. | 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, |
| 19Be careful not to overlook the Levites as long as you live in the land. | 19and be careful not to neglect the Levites as long as you live in your land. |
| 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. | 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 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. | 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. |
| 22Like you eat the gazelle or ibex, so you may eat these; the ritually impure and pure 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. |
| 23However, by no means eat the blood, for the blood is life itself--you must 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 must not eat it! You must pour it out on the ground like water. | 24You must not eat the blood; pour it on the ground like water. |
| 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. | 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 and votive offerings that belong to you, you must pick up and take to the place the LORD will choose. | 26But you are to take your holy things and your vow offerings and go to the place the LORD will choose. |
| 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. | 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. |
| 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. | 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. |
| 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. | 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, |
| 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." | 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 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! | 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. |
| 32You must be careful to do everything I am commanding you. Do not add to it or subtract from it! | 32See that you do everything I command you; do not add to it or subtract from it. |
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