Old Testament

New Testament

Deuteronomy 12:11-24 New American Bible, Revised Edition (NABRE)

11. then to the place which the Lord, your God, chooses as the dwelling place for his name you shall bring all that I command you: your burnt offerings and sacrifices, your tithes and personal contributions, and every special offering you have vowed to the Lord.

12. You shall rejoice in the presence of the Lord, your God, with your sons and daughters, your male and female slaves, as well as with the Levite within your gates, who has no hereditary portion with you.

13. Be careful not to sacrifice your burnt offerings in any place you like,

14. but offer them in the place which the Lord chooses in one of your tribal territories; there you shall do what I command you.

15. However, in any of your communities you may slaughter and eat meat freely, according to the blessing that the Lord, your God, has given you; the unclean as well as the clean may eat it, as they do the gazelle or the deer.

16. Only, you shall not eat of the blood, but must pour it out on the ground like water.

17. Moreover, you may not, in your own communities, partake of your tithe of grain or wine or oil, of the firstborn of your herd or flock, of any offering you have vowed, of your voluntary offerings, or of your personal contributions.

18. These you must eat in the presence of the Lord, your God, in the place that the Lord, your God, chooses, along with your son and daughter, your male and female slave, and the Levite within your gates; and there, in the presence of the Lord, you shall rejoice in all your undertakings.

19. Be careful, also, that you do not neglect the Levite as long as you live in your land.

20. After the Lord, your God, has enlarged your territory, as he promised you, and you think, “I will eat meat,” as it is your desire to eat meat, you may eat it freely;

21. and if the place where the Lord, your God, chooses to put his name is too far, you may slaughter in the manner I have commanded you any of your herd or flock that the Lord has given you, and eat it freely in your own community.

22. You may eat it as you would the gazelle or the deer: the unclean and the clean eating it together.

23. But make sure that you do not eat of the blood; for blood is life; you shall not eat that life with the flesh.

24. Do not eat of the blood, therefore, but pour it out on the ground like water.

Read complete chapter Deuteronomy 12