Deuteronomy 11:22-12:10

Good News Translation

²² “Obey faithfully everything that I have commanded you: Love the Lord your God, do everything he commands, and be faithful to him. ²³ Then he will drive out all those nations as you advance, and you will occupy the land belonging to nations greater and more powerful than you. ^24 (A)All the ground that you march over will be yours. Your territory will extend from the desert in the south to the Lebanon Mountains in the north, and from the Euphrates River in the east to the Mediterranean Sea in the west. ²⁵ Wherever you go in that land, the Lord your God will make the people fear you, as he has promised, and no one will be able to stop you.

²⁶ “Today I am giving you the choice between a blessing and a curse— ²⁷ a blessing, if you obey the commands of the Lord your God that I am giving you today; ²⁸ but a curse, if you disobey these commands and turn away to worship other gods that you have never worshiped before. ^29 (B)When the Lord brings you into the land that you are going to occupy, you are to proclaim the blessing from Mount Gerizim and the curse from Mount Ebal. (³⁰ These two mountains are west of the Jordan River in the territory of the Canaanites who live in the Jordan Valley. They are toward the west, not far from the sacred trees of Moreh near the town of Gilgal.) ³¹ You are about to cross the Jordan River and occupy the land that the Lord your God is giving you. When you take it and settle there, ³² be sure to obey all the laws that I am giving you today.

The One Place for Worship

12 “Here are the laws that you are to obey as long as you live in the land that the Lord, the God of your ancestors, is giving you. Listen to them! ² In the land that you are taking, destroy all the places where the people worship their gods on high mountains, on hills, and under green trees. ^3 (C)Tear down their altars and smash their sacred stone pillars to pieces. Burn their symbols of the goddess Asherah and chop down their idols, so that they will never again be worshiped at those places.

⁴ “Do not worship the Lord your God in the way that these people worship their gods. ⁵ Out of the territory of all your tribes the Lord will choose the one place where the people are to come into his presence and worship him. ⁶ There you are to offer your sacrifices that are to be burned and your other sacrifices, your tithes and your offerings, the gifts that you promise to the Lord, your freewill offerings, and the first-born of your cattle and sheep. ⁷ There, in the presence of the Lord your God, who has blessed you, you and your families will eat and enjoy the good things that you have worked for.

⁸ “When that time comes, you must not do as you have been doing. Until now you have all been worshiping as you please, ⁹ because you have not yet entered the land that the Lord your God is giving you, where you can live in peace. ¹⁰ When you cross the Jordan River, the Lord will let you occupy the land and live there. He will keep you safe from all your enemies, and you will live in peace.