Deuteronomy 12-16

New Catholic Bible

The Deuteronomic Code^[a]

Chapter 12

One Place of Worship.^{[b] 1} These are the statutes and the decrees that you must be careful to observe in the land that the Lord, the God of your fathers, has given you as an inheritance for the whole time that you live upon the earth. ² You must totally destroy all the places where the nations that you shall dispossess served their gods, whether they be on the high mountains or upon the hills or under every green tree. ³ You are to overturn their altars and break their sacred pillars. You must burn their wooden idols in fires, you must cut down their carved idols and obliterate their names from that place. ⁴ This is not the way that you are to worship the Lord, your God.

⁵ You are to seek out the place that the Lord, your God, has chosen from among all the tribes to be where you shall place his name and establish his dwelling. This is where you are to go ⁶ to bring your burnt offering, your sacrifices, your tithes, your wave offerings, what you have vowed to give as a freewill offering, and the firstborn from your herds and flocks. ⁷ There you and your families will eat before the Lord, your God, and you shall rejoice at everything you have put your hand to, for the Lord, your God, will have blessed you. ⁸ You are not to do things the way we do them today, that each person does as he sees fit, ⁹ for you have not yet come to your resting place, the inheritance that the Lord, your God, is giving you. ¹⁰ But when you cross the Jordan and live in the land that the Lord, your God, is giving to you as an inheritance, a place where he will give you peace from all the enemies who surround you so that you can live in safety, ¹¹ then you shall bring everything that I command you to the place that the Lord, your God, will have chosen for the dwelling place of his name: your burnt offerings, your sacrifices, your tithes, your wave offerings, and all of your choice vow offerings that you have vowed onto the Lord. ¹² You and your sons and daughters, your menservants and your maidservants, and the Levite who lives in your town (for he has no claim to your inheritance) will rejoice before the Lord, your God.

¹³ Make sure that you do not offer burnt offerings any place you might happen to see, ¹⁴ but you are to offer burnt offerings in the place that the Lord will choose in one of your tribes. There you are to fulfill all that I command you to do.

¹⁵ Permissible Slaughter. Nevertheless, you can slaughter animals and eat meat within your town gates with the blessing that the Lord, your God, gives you, as much as you desire. The clean and the unclean may eat of it, the gazelle and the roebuck alike. ¹⁶ Only you are not to consume its blood; you are to pour it on the ground as if it were water.^[c]

¹⁷ You are not to eat the following things within your town gates: the tithe of the grain, wine, and oil, the firstborn of the herds or flocks, any of the vow offerings you have offered with a vow, any freewill offering and any wave offering. ¹⁸ You are to eat these before the Lord, your God, in the place that the Lord, your God, will have chosen, you and your son and your daughter, your manservant and your maidservant, and the Levite who lives in your town. You are to rejoice before the Lord, your God, in all of your undertakings.

¹⁹ Take heed not to forsake the Levite for as long as you live in the land. ²⁰ When the Lord, your God, enlarges your boundaries, as he has promised that he will do, and you say to yourself, “I am going to eat some meat,”^[d] because you feel like eating some meat, you can eat as much meat as you desire.

²¹ If the place that the Lord, your God, will have chosen to put his name is too far from where you are living, you can kill any animal from the herd or the flock that the Lord has given you, just as I have instructed you. You can eat as much as you want of it within your town gates. ²² You can eat them like you would eat the gazelle or the roebuck. Both the unclean and the clean can eat of it. ²³ Only be careful that you do not consume the blood, for the blood is its life. You are not to eat the life with the meat. ²⁴ You are not to consume the blood; you are to pour it on the ground as if it were water. ²⁵ You are not to eat it, so that things may turn out well for you and your children after you, for you will be doing the right thing from the Lord’s point of view.

²⁶ Take your consecrated things and whatever you have vowed to give, and go to the place that the Lord has chosen. ²⁷ Present your burnt offerings, both the meat and the blood, on the altar of the Lord, your God. You are to pour the blood out on the altar of the Lord, your God, but you can eat the meat. ²⁸ Take heed to observe all of the things that I have commanded you, that things may go well with you and your children forever, when you do what is right and good in the sight of the Lord, your God. ²⁹ The Lord, your God, will cut down the nations of the place where you are going before you so that you can dispossess them. When you take their place and settle in their land ³⁰ and they have been destroyed before you, be careful not to be ensnared by asking questions about their gods such as, “How did these nations serve their gods? We should do the same thing as they did.” ³¹ You shall not do these things to the Lord, your God. They have worshiped their gods with every kind of abomination that the Lord hates. They have even offered their sons and daughters as burnt sacrifices to their gods.

Chapter 13

Punishing False Prophets. ¹ Do whatever I command you to do. Do not add anything to it, nor ignore anything from it.

² If a prophet or one who foretells the future through dreams arises among you and performs some miraculous sign or wonder ³ and that miraculous sign or wonder occurs, and he says to you, “Let us seek after other gods which we have not previously known and serve them,” ⁴ you are not to listen to the words of that prophet or dreamer of dreams.^[e] The Lord, your God, is testing you to see whether you love the Lord, your God, with all your heart and your soul. ⁵ It is the Lord, your God, whom you are to follow. You must fear him and observe his commandments and obey what he tells you and serve him and hold fast to him. ⁶ But that prophet or the one who told the future through dreams is to be put to death for he counseled you to turn away from the Lord, your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt and redeemed you from the land of slavery. He was driving you away from the way that the Lord, your God, had ordered must be your path. You must purge this evil from your midst.

^7 [f]Even if your brother, the son of your mother, or your son, or your daughter, or your wife, or your closest friend secretly tempts you saying, “Let us go and serve other gods whom neither you nor your forefathers have known,” ⁸ the gods of the people living around us, whether they be near or far, wherever they are upon the whole face of the earth, ⁹ you are not to agree to do this with him or even listen to him. You must show him no pity, you should not spare or conceal him. ¹⁰ You must put him to death. You must be the first to lay hands on him to put him to death, and then all of the people after you. ¹¹ Stone him to death! He sought to turn you away from the Lord, your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the land of slavery. ¹² Then all of Israel will hear of this and be filled with fear, and no one will ever do such an evil thing again in your midst.

¹³ If you hear it said that in one of the cities that the Lord, your God, has given you to live in ¹⁴ there are evil men who have come out from among you and who have misled the inhabitants of the city saying, “Let us go and serve other gods whom we have not previously known,” ¹⁵ then you will inquire, and probe, and investigate it thoroughly. If it is clearly proven that this detestable thing has been done among you, ¹⁶ you are to put the inhabitants of that city to the sword and you are to demolish it. Destroy everything in it, even killing the cattle with the edge of the sword. ¹⁷ Gather all of the plunder from it in the middle of its streets, and burn the city and all the spoil in it to the ground. It is to be like a burnt offering to the Lord, your God. It is to remain a ruin forever, never to be rebuilt. ¹⁸ You are not to hold on to any of those cursed things, so that the Lord may turn from his fierce anger and show you mercy. He will have compassion on you, and make you numerous, as he promised your fathers, ¹⁹ for you will have heeded the voice of the Lord, your God, and observed all of the commandments that I gave you today and done what the Lord, your God, considered to be right.

Chapter 14

¹ You are the children of the Lord, your God. Do not slash yourselves nor shave the front of your heads on account of the dead.^{[g] 2} You are a people who are holy to the Lord, your God, and the Lord has picked you out from among all the peoples on the earth to be a chosen people.

Clean and Unclean Food.^{[h] 3} You are not to eat any abominable thing. ⁴ These are the animals that you can eat: the ox, the sheep, the goat, ⁵ the gazelle, the roebuck, the deer, the wild goat, the antelope, the wild ox, and the mountain sheep. ⁶ Every animal that has a cleft hoof, its hoof is divided in two parts, and that chews its cud is an animal that you can eat. ⁷ However, there are animals that chew their cud, or that have a cleft hoof that you cannot eat: the camel, the hare, and the rock badger, for they chew their cud but do not have a cleft hoof, so they are unclean for you. ⁸ Likewise, pigs have a cleft hoof, but they do not chew their cud, so they are unclean for you. You are not to eat their meat, nor even touch their dead carcasses.

⁹ You can eat any water creature that has fins and scales; those you can eat. ¹⁰ Whatever does not have fins or scales, you are not to eat. It is unclean for you.

¹¹ You can eat any clean bird. ¹² These are the birds you shall not eat: the eagle, the bearded vulture, the osprey, ¹³ the hawk, the kite, any type of vulture, ¹⁴ any kind of raven, ¹⁵ the owl, the night hawk, the gull, any type of falcon, ¹⁶ the little owl, the great owl, the barn owl, ¹⁷ the desert owl, the carrion vulture, the cormorant, ¹⁸ the stork, any type of heron, the hoopoe, and the bat. ¹⁹ Every type of flying insect is unclean for you. You shall not eat it, ²⁰ but you can eat any type of clean bird.

²¹ Do not eat anything that died on its own. You can give it to a foreigner who is living in your town, and he can eat it, or you can sell it to a foreigner. But you are a people who are holy to the Lord, your God. You shall not eat a kid goat boiled in its mother’s milk.^[i]

²² Tithes.^[j]Each year you are to tithe the yield of your seed that has grown in the field. ²³ This is what you shall eat in the presence of the Lord, your God, in the place that he has established that his name be placed: the tithe of your grain, wine, and oil, the firstborn of your herd and flock. This will be a lesson to fear the Lord, your God, always. ²⁴ If the distance is so great that you cannot carry it to the place that the Lord, your God, has chosen to set his name, and the Lord, your God, has blessed you, ²⁵ then you shall exchange it for money, and carry the money to the place that the Lord, your God, has chosen. ²⁶ You can use that money to buy whatever you wish, oxen, or sheep, or wine, or strong drink, whatever you wish. You and your family will consume it in the presence of the Lord, your God, and you will rejoice.

²⁷ You are not to neglect the Levite who lives in your town, for he has no portion or inheritance among you. ^28 [k]Every third year you are to bring all of your tithes from your produce for that year and you will deposit them in your town. ²⁹ The Levite, who has no portion nor inheritance among you, the foreigner, the orphan, and the widow who live in your town will consume it until they are full. Thus, the Lord, your God, will bless you in every endeavor you pursue.

Chapter 15

Goodwill to the Poor.^{[l] 1} At the end of every seven years you are to cancel debts. ² This is how you are to do it. Everyone who has made a loan to his neighbor will forgive the debt. He will not require payment from his neighbor nor his brother, for the Lord’s pardon of debts has been proclaimed. ³ You may require payment from a foreigner, but you must forgive the debt that your brother owes. ⁴ There should be no poor among you, for the Lord will greatly bless you in the land that the Lord, your God, has given you to possess as an inheritance, ⁵ but only if you carefully heed the voice of the Lord, your God, and observe all of the commandments that I give you today. ⁶ The Lord, your God, will bless you as he promised you. You will lend to many nations, but borrow from none. You shall rule over many nations, but none shall rule over you.

⁷ If there is a poor man among you in the towns of the land that the Lord, your God, has given you, do not harden your heart nor be stingy with your poor brother. ⁸ Be generous with him, lending him what he needs, whatever it is he needs. ⁹ Be careful not to harbor the evil thought in your mind, “The seventh year, the time for canceling debts, is near.” Do not show bad will toward your poor brother and end up giving him nothing. He might appeal to the Lord, and it would be your sin. ¹⁰ You must give to him, and you should not have a grudging heart when you give to him. The Lord, your God, will bless you in all the endeavors that you undertake because of what you have given. ¹¹ There will always be poor people in the land. Therefore, I command you, “Be generous to your poor brother and the needy in your land.”

¹² Freeing Slaves. If a fellow Hebrew man or woman sells himself to you and serves for six years, then in the seventh year you are to set him free.^{[m] 13} When you release him, you are not to send him away empty-handed. ¹⁴ Provide him generously from your flock, your threshing floor, your winepress. Give to him in the same way that the Lord, your God, has blessed you. ¹⁵ Remember that you were slaves in the land of Egypt, and the Lord, your God, redeemed you. Therefore, I give you this command today.

¹⁶ But if your slave says to you, “I do not want to leave you,” because he loves you and your family and is well off with you, ¹⁷ then take an awl and push it through his ear lobe into the door. He will then be your slave forever. You are to do the same with your maidservants as well. ¹⁸ Do not consider it to be a hardship to set your slave free. You received twice as much from him in the six years as you would have from a hired hand, and the Lord, your God, will bless you in all of your undertakings.

¹⁹ The Firstborn. Set apart for the Lord, your God, the firstborn male from your herds and your flocks. Do not set the firstborn of your oxen to work, nor shear the firstborn of your sheep. ²⁰ Each year you and your family are to eat them before the Lord, your God, in the place that the Lord has chosen. ²¹ If an animal has any blemish, or is lame, or blind, or has any serious flaw, you are not to sacrifice it to the Lord, your God. ²² You can eat it within your own towns.^[n] The clean and the unclean can eat it, as if it were a gazelle or a roebuck. ²³ But you must not consume its blood, you are to pour it out on the ground as if it were water.

Chapter 16

Feast of the Passover.^{[o] 1} Observe the month of Abib,^[p] and celebrate the Passover of the Lord, your God, for in the month of Abib the Lord, your God, brought you forth from Egypt during the night. ² Make a Passover sacrifice from your flock or your herd to the Lord, your God, in the place where the Lord has chosen to place his name. ³ Do not eat leavened bread, but eat unleavened bread for seven days. This is the bread of affliction, for you had to leave the land of Egypt in haste. Thus, all of your life you will remember the day that you came forth from Egypt. ⁴ There should be no leavened bread in your entire land for seven days. Do not let any of the meat of the sacrifice that was made on the first evening remain until the next morning. ^5 [q]You are not to make the Passover sacrifice in any of the towns that the Lord, your God, has given you. ⁶ Do it only in the place that the Lord, your God, has chosen to place his name. You will make the Passover sacrifice in the evening, when the sun goes down, at the time when you went forth out of Egypt. ⁷ Roast the lamb and eat it in the place that the Lord, your God, will choose. Then, in the morning, return to your homes. ⁸ For six days you are to eat unleavened bread. Then, on the seventh day, you will hold a solemn assembly to the Lord, your God, and you are to do no heavy labor.

Feast of Weeks. ⁹ Count off seven weeks from the time that you put the sickle to the standing grain. You are to count off seven weeks, ¹⁰ and then you will celebrate the Feast of Weeks to the Lord, your God, making a freewill offering in proportion to how much the Lord, your God, has blessed you. ¹¹ You and your son and your daughter, your manservant and your maidservant, the Levite who lives in your town, the foreigner, the orphan, and the widow are all to rejoice in the place that the Lord, your God, has chosen to place his name. ¹² Remember that you were slaves in Egypt and carefully observe these statutes.

¹³ Feast of Booths. Celebrate the Feast of Booths for seven days after you have gathered the produce of your threshing floor and your winepress. ¹⁴ Be joyful at the feast, you and your son and your daughter, your manservant and your maidservant, as well as the Levite, the orphans, and the widows who live in your town. ¹⁵ For seven days you are to celebrate the feast to the Lord, your God, in the place that the Lord will choose, for the Lord, your God, has blessed you with all your harvest and all of the works of your hands. Therefore, you must surely rejoice.

¹⁶ Three times a year all of your men must appear before the Lord, your God, in the place that he will choose: the Feast of Unleavened Bread, the Feast of Weeks, and the Feast of Booths. You are not to appear before the Lord empty-handed. ¹⁷ Each of you is to bring a gift that is proportionate to how much the Lord, your God, has blessed you.

¹⁸ Justice.^[r]Appoint judges and officials for each of your tribes in every town that the Lord, your God, gives you. They are to judge the people fairly. ¹⁹ Do not pervert justice nor show partiality. Do not accept a bribe, for a bribe blinds the eyes of the wise and twists the words of the righteous. ²⁰ Seek justice, so that you may live in and inherit the land that the Lord, your God, has given you.

²¹ False Worship. Do not plant any sacred grove beside the altar that you will build to the Lord, your God. ²² Do not set up any sacred pillar, for the Lord, your God, hates these things.