Deuteronomy 12 Cross References - LEB

¹ "These are the rules and the regulations _⌊that you must diligently observe_⌋* in the land that Yahweh, the God of your ancestors,* has given to you to take possession of it, during all the days that you are living on the land. ² You must completely demolish all of the places there where they served their gods, that is, the nations whom you are about to dispossess, on the high mountains, and on the hills and under each leafy green tree.* ³ And you shall break down their altars, and you shall smash their stone pillars, and their Asherah poles you must burn with fire, and the images of their gods you shall hew down, and you shall blot out their names from that place. ⁴ You shall not worship Yahweh your God like this. ⁵ _⌊But only_⌋* to the place that Yahweh your God will choose from all of your tribes to place his name there as his dwelling shall you seek, and there you shall go. ⁶ And you shall bring there your burnt offerings and your sacrifices and your tithes and _⌊your donations_⌋* and your votive gifts and your freewill offerings and the firstling of your herd and your flock. ⁷ And you shall eat there _⌊before_⌋* Yahweh your God, and you shall rejoice _⌊in all your endeavors_⌋,* you and your family in which Yahweh your God has blessed you. ⁸ "You must not do just as we are doing here _⌊today_⌋,* _⌊each according to all that is right in his eyes_⌋.* ⁹ For you have not come up to now to the resting place and to the inheritance that Yahweh your God is giving to you. ¹⁰ But you will cross the Jordan, and you will settle in the land that Yahweh your God is giving you as an inheritance, and he will give rest to you from all your enemies from all around, and you will live securely, ¹¹ _⌊and then_⌋* at the place that Yahweh your God will choose, to let his name dwell there, there you shall bring all the things I am commanding you, your burnt offerings and your sacrifices, your tithes and _⌊your donations_⌋,* and all of the choice things, your votive gifts that you vow to Yahweh. ¹² And you shall rejoice _⌊before_⌋* Yahweh your God, you and your sons and your daughters and your slaves and your slave women and the Levite who is in your _⌊towns_⌋,* because there is not for him a plot of ground and an inheritance with you. ¹³ "Take care for yourself so that you do not offer your burnt offerings at just any place that you happen to see, ¹⁴ _⌊but only_⌋* at the place that Yahweh will choose among one of your tribes; there you shall offer your burnt offerings, and there you shall do all the things that I am commanding you. ¹⁵ "But _⌊whenever you desire_⌋* you may slaughter, and you may eat meat according to the blessing of Yahweh your God that he has given to you in all of your _⌊towns_⌋;* the unclean and the clean may eat it just as they would the gazelle and as the deer. ¹⁶ Only the blood you must not eat, but on the ground you must pour it like water. ¹⁷ You are not allowed to eat in your _⌊towns_⌋* the tithe of your grain and your wine and your olive oil and the firstborn of your herd and your flock and all of your votive gifts that you vowed and your freewill offering and _⌊your donations_⌋.* ¹⁸ But only _⌊before_⌋* Yahweh your God you shall eat it, at the place that Yahweh your God will choose,* you and your son and your daughter and your slave and your slave woman and the Levite who is in your _⌊towns_⌋,* and you must rejoice _⌊before_⌋* your God _⌊in all your undertakings_⌋.* ¹⁹ _⌊Take care_⌋* so that you do not neglect the Levite all of your days on your land. ²⁰ "When Yahweh your God enlarges your territory just as he has _⌊promised_⌋* to you, and you say 'I want to eat some meat,' _⌊because you want it_⌋,* _⌊whenever you desire_⌋* you may eat meat. ²¹ If the place that* Yahweh your God will choose to put his name there is too far from you, and you slaughter any of your herd and any of your flock that Yahweh has given to you just as I have commanded you, then you may eat whenever you desire in your _⌊towns_⌋.* ²² Surely just as the gazelle and the deer is eaten, so both the unclean and the clean together may eat it. ²³ Only, be sure not to eat the blood, because the blood is the life, and you shall not eat the life with the meat. ²⁴ You shall not eat it, but on the ground you shall pour it out like water. ²⁵ You shall not eat it, so that _⌊it will go well_⌋* for you and your children after you, because then you will be doing what is* right in the eyes of Yahweh. ²⁶ Only your holy objects _⌊that are yours_⌋* and your votive gifts you must carry and you must bring to the place that Yahweh will choose. ²⁷ And you shall offer your burnt offerings, the flesh and the blood on the altar of Yahweh your God, and the blood of your sacrifices you shall pour out on the altar of Yahweh your God, but the meat you may eat. ²⁸ _⌊Be careful to obey_⌋* all these things that I am commanding you, so that _⌊it will go well_⌋* for you and for your children after you _⌊forever_⌋,* because then you will be doing what is* good and right* in the eyes of Yahweh your God. ²⁹ "When Yahweh your God has cut off the nations whom you are _⌊about to go to_⌋,* to dispossess them _⌊before you_⌋,* and you have dispossessed them, and you live in their land, ³⁰ _⌊take care_⌋* so that you are not ensnared _⌊into imitating them_⌋* after their being destroyed from _⌊before you_⌋,* and so that you not enquire concerning their gods, _⌊saying_⌋,* 'How did these nations serve their gods, and thus _⌊I myself_⌋* want to do also.' ³¹ You must not do so toward Yahweh your God, because of every detestable thing they have done for their gods Yahweh hates, for even their sons and their daughters they would burn in the fire to their gods. ³² * All of the things* that I am commanding you, _⌊you must diligently observe_⌋;* you shall not add to it, and you shall not take away from it."

¹ "Now, Israel, listen to the rules and to the regulations that I am teaching you to do, in order that you may live and you may go in and you may take possession of the land that Yahweh, the God of your ancestors,* is giving to you. ² You must not add to the word that I am commanding you, and you shall not take away from it in order to keep* the commands of Yahweh your God that I am commanding you to observe.

⁵ See, I now teach* you rules and regulations just as Yahweh my God has commanded me, to observe them just so in the midst of the land where you are going, to take possession of it.

⁹ "However, _⌊take care_⌋* for yourself and watch your inner self* closely, so that you do not forget the things that your eyes have seen, so that they do not slip from your mind all the days of your life; and you shall make them known to your children and to _⌊your grandchildren_⌋.* ¹⁰ Remember the day that you stood _⌊before_⌋* Yahweh your God at Horeb _⌊when Yahweh said to me_⌋,* 'Summon for me the people so that I can tell them my words, that they may learn to fear me all of the days they are alive on the earth and so that they may teach their children.'

¹⁹ _⌊And do this so that you do not lift_⌋* your eyes toward heaven and _⌊observe_⌋* the sun and the moon and the stars, all the host of the heaven, and be led astray and bow down to them and serve them, things that Yahweh your God has allotted to all of the peoples under all of the heaven.

⁴⁵ these are the legal provisions and the rules and the regulations that Moses spoke to the _⌊Israelites_⌋* _⌊when they left Egypt_⌋,*

¹ "Now this is the commandment, the rules and the regulations, that Yahweh your God charged to teach to you for you _⌊to observe_⌋* in the land that you are about to cross over into* to take possession of it, ² so that you may revere Yahweh your God by keeping all his statutes and his commandments that I am commanding you, you and your children and _⌊grandchildren_⌋,* all the days of your life and so you may live long* lives.

¹⁹ _⌊Take care_⌋* so that you do not neglect the Levite all of your days on your land.

⁴⁰ Do these things so that they may fear you all the days that they live on the face of the land that you gave to our ancestors.*

¹ "Does not _⌊a human being* have hard service_⌋* on earth? And are not his* days like the days of a laborer?

³³ I will sing to Yahweh throughout my life; I will sing praise to my God while _⌊I remain alive_⌋.*

² I will praise Yahweh while I live; I will sing praises to my God while I am still alive.

²⁴ " 'You will not bow to their gods, and you will not serve them, and you will not act according to their actions, because you will utterly demolish them, and you will utterly break their stone pillars.

¹² Be careful for yourself, lest you make a covenant with the inhabitants of the land to which you are going, lest it be a snare among you. ¹³ Rather, you will tear down their altars, and you will break their stone pillars, and you will cut off their Asherah poles. ¹⁴ For you will not bow in worship to another god, for 'Yahweh Is Jealous' is his name, he is a jealous God, ¹⁵ lest you make a covenant with the inhabitants of the land, and they prostitute themselves after their gods, and they sacrifice to their gods, and they invite you, and you eat their sacrifice, ¹⁶ and you take from their daughters for your sons, and their daughters prostitute themselves after their gods, and they cause your sons to prostitute themselves after their gods. ¹⁷ You will not make gods of cast metal for yourself.

⁴¹ And it happened, in the morning Balak took Balaam and took him up to Bamoth-Baal, and he saw from there the end of the nation.

⁵¹ "Speak to the _⌊Israelites_⌋* and say to them, 'When you cross the Jordan into the land of Canaan, ⁵² you will drive out the inhabitants of the land from your presence, and you will destroy all their idols and all the images of their molten idols, and you will demolish all their high places;

⁵ But this is what you must do to them: you shall break down their altars, and their stone pillars you shall smash, and their Asherah poles you shall hew down, and you shall burn their idols with fire.

²⁵ You shall burn the images of their gods with fire; you shall not covet the silver or gold that is on them, and so you take it for yourself, so that you are not ensnared by it, for it is a detestable thing to Yahweh your God. ²⁶ And you must not bring a detestable thing into your house, or you will become a thing devoted to destruction like it; you must utterly detest it, and you must utterly abhor it, for it is an object devoted to destruction.

² And as for you, do not _⌊make a covenant_⌋* with the inhabitants of this land; break down their altars.' But you did not listen to my voice. _⌊Why would you do such a thing_⌋?*

⁴ He sacrificed and offered incense on the high places, on the hills, and under every green tree.

¹⁰ They set up for themselves stone pillars and poles of Asherah worship on every high hill and under every green tree. ¹¹ They burned incense there on all the high places, like the nations which Yahweh deported before them, and they did evil things to provoke Yahweh.

¹³ The high places which were east of Jerusalem, which were on the south of the Mountain of Destruction which Solomon king of Israel had built for Ashtoreth the abomination of the Sidonians and for Chemosh the abomination of Moab and for Molech the detestable thing of the _⌊Ammonites_⌋,* the king defiled.

⁶ Then Yahweh said to me in the days of Josiah, the king, "Have you seen what apostate* Israel has done? She has gone on every high hill and under every leafy tree and she has prostituted herself there.

²⁸ And I brought them to the land that _⌊I swore_⌋* to give* to them, and they saw every high hill and every leafy tree, and they offered their sacrifices, and they presented there the provocation of their offering, and they gave there their fragrant incense offering, and they poured out their libations there. ²⁹ And I said to them, 'What is the high place* to which you are going?' And _⌊it is called_⌋* Bamah until this day.

¹³ On the tops of the mountains they sacrifice, and on the hills they make offerings, under oak, poplar, and terebinth, because their* shade is good. Therefore your daughters play the whore, and all your daughters-in-law* commit adultery.

¹³ " 'And you will be attentive to all that I have said to you, and you will not _⌊profess_⌋* the name of other gods; it will not be heard in your mouth.

⁵² you will drive out the inhabitants of the land from your presence, and you will destroy all their idols and all the images of their molten idols, and you will demolish all their high places;

¹³ Also, he had Maacah his mother removed from the office of queen mother, as she had made a repulsive image for the Asherah. Asa also cut down her repulsive image and burned it in the Wadi* Kidron.

⁴ He removed the high places, and he smashed the stone pillars; he cut down the poles of Asherah worship and demolished the bronze serpent which Moses had made, for up to those days the _⌊Israelites_⌋* were offering incense to it and called it Nehushtan.

¹⁴ He also broke into pieces the stone pillars and cut down the Asherah poles and covered their sites with human bones.

³ He removed the foreign altars and high places, broke down the stone pillars, and cut down the Asherahs.

³ Nevertheless some good things have been found in regard to you, for you burned the Asherahs out of the land and set your heart to seek God."

¹ And when all this was finished, all Israel who were found in the cities of Judah went out and shattered the stone pillars, cut down the Asherahs, and destroyed the high places and the altars from all Judah, Benjamin, Ephraim, and Manasseh _⌊to the very last one_⌋.* Then all the Israelites returned, each to his own property and to their cities.

³ In the eighth year of his reign, while he was still a boy, he began to seek the God of David his ancestor.* And in the twelfth year he began to cleanse Judah and Jerusalem of the high places, the Asherahs, the idols, and the images.

⁴ Those who hurry after* another god increase their sorrows. I will not pour out their drink offerings of blood, nor take up their names on my lips.

² As the remembering of their children, so is the remembering of their altars and their poles of Asherah worship beside the leafy trees* on the high hills.

¹⁷ I will remove the names of the Baals from her mouth, and they will no longer be mentioned by their name.

¹⁴ And I will uproot your Asherahs from among you, and I will destroy your cities.

² _⌊And then_⌋,* on that day,' _⌊declares_⌋* Yahweh of hosts, 'I will cut off the names of the idols from the land, and they will no longer be remembered; and also the prophets and the spirit of uncleanness I will banish from the land.

¹ And I saw coming up out of the sea a beast that had ten horns and seven heads, and on its horns ten royal headbands,* and on its heads a blasphemous name.*

²³ And you shall not follow the statutes of the nation that I am driving out _⌊from before you_⌋,* because they did all these things, and I detested them.

³⁰ _⌊take care_⌋* so that you are not ensnared _⌊into imitating them_⌋* after their being destroyed from _⌊before you_⌋,* and so that you not enquire concerning their gods, _⌊saying_⌋,* 'How did these nations serve their gods, and thus _⌊I myself_⌋* want to do also.' ³¹ You must not do so toward Yahweh your God, because of every detestable thing they have done for their gods Yahweh hates, for even their sons and their daughters they would burn in the fire to their gods.

²¹ You shall not plant for yourselves* _⌊an Asherah pole_⌋* beside the altar of Yahweh your God that you make for yourselves.* ²² And you shall not set up for yourselves a stone pillar, a thing that Yahweh your God hates.

¹⁸ so that they may not teach you to do like all their detestable things that they do for their gods and thereby you sin against Yahweh your God.

² Yah* is my strength and song, and he has become my salvation;* this is my God, and I will praise him—the God of my father—and I will exalt him.

²² And I will meet you there, and I will speak with you from over the atonement cover, from between the two cherubim that are to be on the ark of the testimony—all that I will command you to the _⌊Israelites_⌋.*

⁸⁹ And when Moses came to the tent of assembly to speak with him,* he would hear the voice speaking to him from the atonement cover,* which is on the ark of the testimony, from between the two cherubim, and he would speak to him.

¹¹ _⌊and then_⌋* at the place that Yahweh your God will choose, to let his name dwell there, there you shall bring all the things I am commanding you, your burnt offerings and your sacrifices, your tithes and _⌊your donations_⌋,* and all of the choice things, your votive gifts that you vow to Yahweh.

¹³ "Take care for yourself so that you do not offer your burnt offerings at just any place that you happen to see,

² And you shall offer the Passover sacrifice to Yahweh your God from among your flock and herd at the place that Yahweh will choose, to let his name dwell there.

² then you shall take from the firstfruit of all the fruit of the ground that you harvest from your land that Yahweh your God is giving to you, and you shall put it in a basket, and you shall go to the place that Yahweh your God will choose to make his name to dwell there.

²⁷ And that day Joshua made them woodcutters and water carriers for the congregation and for the altar of Yahweh, to this day, in the place that he should choose.

¹ The entire congregation of the _⌊Israelites_⌋* assembled at Shiloh, and they set up there the tent of meeting, and the land was subdued before them.*

¹⁶ 'From the day that I brought out my people Israel from Egypt I have not chosen a city from all the tribes of Israel to build a house where my name might be, but I have chosen David to be over my people Israel.'

²⁰ Yahweh has carried out his promise which he had made; I have risen in place of David my father, and I sit on the throne of Israel as Yahweh promised, and I have built the house for the name of Yahweh the God of Israel.

²⁷ For will God really dwell on the earth? Behold, the heavens and the heaven of heavens could not contain you! _⌊How could_⌋* this house that I have built?

²⁹ so that your eyes will be open to this house night and day, to the place which you said, 'My name will be there,' to hear the prayer that your servant prays toward this place.

²¹ Now Rehoboam the son of Solomon reigned in Judah. He was forty-one years old when he began to reign, and he reigned seventeen years in Jerusalem, the city which, from all of the tribes of Israel, Yahweh chose to place his name. And the name of his mother was Naamah the Ammonitess.

¹ Then David said, "This will be the house of Yahweh God, and this altar of burnt offering for Israel."

¹² Then Yahweh appeared to Solomon at night and said to him, "I have heard your prayer and have chosen this place for myself as a house of sacrifice.

⁶⁸ but chose the tribe of Judah, _⌊Mount Zion_⌋* that he loved.

² Yahweh loves the gates of Zion more than all the dwellings of Jacob. ³ Glorious things are spoken about* you, O city of God. Selah

¹³ For Yahweh has chosen Zion; he has desired it for his habitation. ¹⁴ "This is my resting place forever; here I will dwell, for I have desired it.

¹ Thus says Yahweh:
"Heaven is my throne, and the earth is the footstool for my feet. Where is this house that you would build for me? And where is this resting place for me? ² And my hand has made all these things, and all these _⌊came to be_⌋,"*
_⌊declares_⌋* Yahweh, "but* I look to this one:
to the humble and the contrite of spirit and the one frightened at my word.

²⁰ Our fathers worshiped on this mountain, and you people* say that in Jerusalem is the place where it is necessary to worship." ²¹ Jesus said to her, "Believe me, woman, that an hour is coming when neither on this mountain nor in Jerusalem will you worship the Father. ²² You worship what you do not know. We worship what we know, because salvation is from the Jews.

⁴⁸ But the Most High does not live in houses* made by human hands, just as the prophet says, ⁴⁹ 'Heaven is my throne and earth is the footstool for my feet. What kind of house will you build for me, says the Lord, or what is the place of my rest? ⁵⁰ Did not my hand make all these things?'*

²⁰ built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Christ Jesus himself being the cornerstone,* ²¹ in whom the whole building, joined together, grows into a holy temple in the Lord, ²² in whom you also are built up together into a dwelling place of God in the Spirit.*

⁹ because in him all the fullness of deity dwells bodily,

²² But you have come to Mount Zion, and to the city of the living God, to the heavenly Jerusalem, and to tens of thousands of angels, to the festal gathering

¹ And I looked, and behold, the Lamb standing on Mount Zion, and with him one hundred forty-four thousand who had his name and the name of his Father written on their foreheads.

³ "_⌊Any man_⌋* from the house of Israel who slaughters an ox or a sheep or a goat in the camp or who slaughters it _⌊outside the camp_⌋* ⁴ and he does not bring it to the tent of assembly's entrance to present an offering to Yahweh _⌊before_⌋* Yahweh's tabernacle, then* that man shall be accounted bloodguilty—he has poured out blood, and that man shall be cut off from the midst of his people. ⁵ This is so that the _⌊Israelites_⌋* may bring their sacrifices that they are sacrificing _⌊in the open field_⌋* and bring* them for Yahweh to the tent of assembly's entrance to the priest, and they shall sacrifice fellowship offerings for Yahweh with them. ⁶ And the priest shall sprinkle the blood on Yahweh's altar at the tent of assembly's entrance, and he shall _⌊burn_⌋* the fat as an appeasing fragrance for Yahweh. ⁷ And _⌊they may no longer sacrifice_⌋* their sacrifices to the goat-idols after which they were prostituting. This is _⌊a lasting statute_⌋* for them _⌊throughout_⌋* their generations." ' ⁸ "And you shall say to them, 'if there is _⌊anyone_⌋* from the house of Israel or* from the alien who dwells in their midst who offers a burnt offering or a sacrifice ⁹ and he does not bring it to the tent of assembly's entrance to _⌊sacrifice_⌋* it for Yahweh, then* that man shall be cut off from his people.

³² As for* every tithe of cattle or* of the flock,* all which crosses under the rod, the tenth shall be a holy object for Yahweh. ³³ He shall not inspect between the good and the bad, and he shall not exchange it; but* if he indeed exchanges it, then* _⌊it and its substitution shall be_⌋* a holy object—it shall not be redeemed.'"

¹⁵ All the first offspring of a womb of any creature that they offer to Yahweh, whether human or animal, will be yours; you will surely redeem the firstborn of the human and the unclean firstborn of the animal. ¹⁶ As to their price of redemption, from _⌊a one-month-old_⌋* you will redeem them according to your proper value, five shekels of silver according to the shekel of the sanctuary, which is twenty gerah. ¹⁷ Only the firstborn of an ox or the firstborn of a sheep or the firstborn of a goat you will not redeem; they are holy. Their blood you will sprinkle over the altar, and their fat you will turn into smoke as an offering made by fire, a fragrance of appeasement for Yahweh.

¹⁷ You are not allowed to eat in your _⌊towns_⌋* the tithe of your grain and your wine and your olive oil and the firstborn of your herd and your flock and all of your votive gifts that you vowed and your freewill offering and _⌊your donations_⌋.*

²² "Certainly you must give a tithe of all the yield of your seed, _⌊which comes forth from your field year after year_⌋.* ²³ And you shall eat _⌊before_⌋* Yahweh your God in the place that he will choose to make to dwell his name there the tithe of your grain, your wine and your olive oil and the firstling of your herd and your flock, so that you may learn to revere Yahweh your God _⌊always_⌋.* ²⁴ But if _⌊the distance is too great for you_⌋,* so that you are not able to transport* it, because the place that Yahweh your God will choose to set his name there, it is too far from you, when Yahweh your God will bless you, ²⁵ then in that case _⌊you may exchange for money_⌋,* and you shall take* the money to your hand and go to the place that Yahweh your God will choose. ²⁶ You may spend the money for anything _⌊that you desire_⌋,* for oxen or for sheep or for wine or for strong drink or for anything _⌊that you desire_⌋,* and you shall eat it there _⌊before_⌋* Yahweh your God, and you shall rejoice, you and your household.

¹⁹ "Every firstling male that is born of your herd and of your flock you shall consecrate to Yahweh your God; you shall not do work with the firstling of your ox, and you shall not shear the firstling of your flock. ²⁰ Rather _⌊before Yahweh_⌋* your God you shall eat it year by year at the place Yahweh will choose, you and your household.

⁴⁰ "For on _⌊my holy mountain_⌋,* on the mountain of the height of Israel," _⌊declares_⌋* the Lord Yahweh, "there all of the house of Israel will serve me, all of them,* in the land. I will take pleasure in them, and there I will accept your contributions and the best of your portions with all of your holy objects.

⁸ Will a human dare to rob God? Yet you are robbing me! And you say, 'How have we robbed you?' In the tithes and the contributions!

¹⁰ Bring the whole tithe to _⌊the storehouse_⌋,* so that there will be food in my house, and test me please in this," says Yahweh of hosts, "if I will not open for you the windows of heaven, and pour forth for you _⌊an overflowing blessing_⌋.*

⁴² "But woe to you, Pharisees, because you pay a tenth of mint and rue and every garden herb, and neglect justice and love for God! But it was necessary to do these things without neglecting those things also.

¹² I fast twice a week; I give a tenth of all that I get.'

⁴⁰ And on the first day you shall take for yourselves the first fruit of majestic trees, branches of palm trees and branches* of a leafy tree and of a brook's poplar trees, and you shall rejoice _⌊before_⌋* Yahweh your God for seven days.

¹² And you shall rejoice _⌊before_⌋* Yahweh your God, you and your sons and your daughters and your slaves and your slave women and the Levite who is in your _⌊towns_⌋,* because there is not for him a plot of ground and an inheritance with you.

¹⁸ But only _⌊before_⌋* Yahweh your God you shall eat it, at the place that Yahweh your God will choose,* you and your son and your daughter and your slave and your slave woman and the Levite who is in your _⌊towns_⌋,* and you must rejoice _⌊before_⌋* your God _⌊in all your undertakings_⌋.*

²³ And you shall eat _⌊before_⌋* Yahweh your God in the place that he will choose to make to dwell his name there the tithe of your grain, your wine and your olive oil and the firstling of your herd and your flock, so that you may learn to revere Yahweh your God _⌊always_⌋.*

²⁶ You may spend the money for anything _⌊that you desire_⌋,* for oxen or for sheep or for wine or for strong drink or for anything _⌊that you desire_⌋,* and you shall eat it there _⌊before_⌋* Yahweh your God, and you shall rejoice, you and your household.

²⁰ Rather _⌊before Yahweh_⌋* your God you shall eat it year by year at the place Yahweh will choose, you and your household.

¹¹ And you shall rejoice before Yahweh your God, you and your son and your daughter and your slave and your slave woman and the Levite that is in your _⌊towns_⌋* and the alien and the orphan and the widow who are in your midst in the place that Yahweh your God will choose to let his name dwell there. ¹² And you shall remember that you were a slave in Egypt, and so _⌊you shall diligently observe_⌋* these rules. ¹³ "You shall celebrate the Feast of Booths for yourselves* seven days _⌊at the gathering in of the produce_⌋* from your threshing floor and from your press; ¹⁴ and you shall rejoice at your feast, you and your son and your daughter and your slave and your slave woman and the Levite and the orphan and the widow that are in your _⌊towns_⌋.* ¹⁵ Seven days you shall celebrate your feast to Yahweh your God at the place Yahweh will choose, for Yahweh your God shall bless you in all of your produce* and in all of the work of your hand, and you shall surely be rejoicing.*

¹¹ And you shall celebrate with all of the bounty that Yahweh your God gave to you and to your family, you and the Levite and the alien who is in your midst.

⁷ And you shall sacrifice fellowship offerings, and you shall eat them there, and you shall rejoice _⌊before_⌋* Yahweh your God.

¹ A song of ascents.*
Blessed is everyone who fears Yahweh, who walks in his ways. ² You will indeed eat of the labor of your hands; you will be happy and it will be well with you.

¹⁸ And this shall happen:
her merchandise and her harlot's wages will be set apart for Yahweh;
it will not be stored up, and it will not be hoarded, but her merchandise will be for those who live before the _⌊presence_⌋* of Yahweh, for eating to satiation and for fine clothing.

¹³ And this you do _⌊as well_⌋:* you cover the altar of Yahweh with tears, with weeping and with groaning, because he* _⌊no longer regards the offering_⌋* or accepts it with favor from your hand.

⁴⁶ And every day, devoting themselves to meeting* with one purpose in the temple courts* and breaking bread from house to house, they were eating their food with joy and simplicity of heart,

⁴ Rejoice in the Lord always; again I say, rejoice.

³⁹ You will have a tassel _⌊for you to look at_⌋* and remember all the commands of Yahweh and do them, and not follow _⌊after the unfaithfulness of your own heart and eyes_⌋,*

⁶ In those days there was no king in Israel, and each one did what was right in his own eyes.

²⁵ In those days there was no king in Israel; each one did what was right in his own eyes.

² Every way of a man is upright in his own eyes, but Yahweh weighs hearts.*

²⁵ Did you bring to me sacrifices and offerings those forty years in the desert, O house of Israel?

⁴² But God turned away and gave them over to worship the host of heaven, just as it is written in the book of the prophets:
'You did not bring offerings and sacrifices to me for forty years in the wilderness, did you,* house of Israel?

¹⁹ _⌊And when_⌋* Yahweh your God gives rest to you from all your enemies from around about you in the land that Yahweh your God is giving to you as an inheritance to take possession of it, you shall blot out the remembrance of Amalek from under the heavens; you shall not forget!"

⁵⁶ "Blessed be Yahweh who gave a resting place to his people Israel. According to all that he promised, not one word has fallen from all of his promises concerning the good which he spoke through the hand of Moses his servant.

²⁵ For David said, "Yahweh, the God of Israel, has given rest to his people, and he dwells in Jerusalem forever.

¹¹ Therefore I swore in my anger, 'They shall surely not enter into my rest.'"

¹⁰ Arise and go, for this is no resting place, on account of uncleanness that destroys with painful destruction.

⁸ For if Joshua had caused them to rest, he would not have spoken about another day after these things. ⁹ Consequently a sabbath rest remains for the people of God.

³ Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who according to his great mercy has caused us to be born again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, ⁴ into an inheritance imperishable and undefiled and unfading, reserved in heaven for you

¹⁸ " 'And you* shall do my statutes, and you must keep my regulations, and you shall do them, so that* you shall live _⌊securely_⌋* on the land. ¹⁹ And the land shall give its fruit, and you* shall eat _⌊your fill_⌋,* and you shall live _⌊securely_⌋* on it.

²⁷ Go up to the top of Pisgah and _⌊look around you_⌋* toward the west, toward the north, and toward the east, and _⌊view_⌋* the land with your eyes, for you will not cross this Jordan.

²² For I am going to die in this land; I am not going to cross the Jordan, but you are going to cross, and you are going to take possession of this good land.

¹ "Hear, Israel, you are about to cross the Jordan today to go to dispossess nations larger and more numerous than you, great cities fortified _⌊with high walls_⌋,*

³¹ For you are now about to cross the Jordan to go to take possession of the land that Yahweh, your God, is giving to you, and you will take possession of it and live in it,

¹² Of Benjamin he said, "The beloved of Yahweh dwells _⌊securely_⌋,* the Most High* shields all around him, all the day, and between his shoulders he dwells."

²⁸ So Israel dwells alone and carefree, the spring of Jacob in a land of grain and wine; his heavens even drip dew.

¹⁷ And the priests carrying the ark of the covenant of Yahweh stood firmly on the dry land in the middle of the Jordan while all Israel crossed on dry ground, until all the nation finished crossing the Jordan.

¹² The children of Reuben, Gad, and the half-tribe of Manasseh crossed over armed before the _⌊Israelites_⌋,* as Moses told them.

¹² So Samuel took a single stone and put it between Mizpah and Shen, and he named it Ebenezer and said, "Up to here Yahweh has helped us."

²⁵ Judah and Israel lived in security, each man under his vine and under his fig tree, from Dan as far as Beersheba, all the days of Solomon.

⁸ In peace I will lie down and sleep _⌊at once_⌋,* for you alone, O Yahweh, make me dwell safely.

³³ Whoever listens to me will dwell in security and rest securely* from dread and disaster."

⁶ In his days Judah will be saved, and Israel will dwell _⌊in safety_⌋,* and this is his name by which he will be called: 'Yahweh is our righteousness.'

³⁷ Look, I am going to gather them from all the lands to which I driven them in my anger, and in my fury, and in great wrath, and I will bring them back to this place, and I will cause them to dwell _⌊in safety_⌋.*

¹¹ the voice of jubilation, and the voice of joy, the voice of the bridegroom, and the voice of the bride, the voices* of those who say, "Praise Yahweh of hosts, for Yahweh is good, for his loyal love is _⌊forever_⌋,"* the voices of those who bring thank offerings* to the house of Yahweh, for I will restore the fortunes* of the land as in the beginning,' says Yahweh.

²⁶ And they will live on it in safety, and they will build houses, and they will plant vineyards, and they will live in safety when I execute my judgments on all _⌊those who despise them from all around them_⌋,* and then they will know that I am Yahweh their God."

²⁵ And I will make them a covenant of peace, and I will put an end to wild animals* from the land, and they will dwell in the desert _⌊safely_⌋,* and they will sleep in the forest.

²⁸ And they will not be any longer plunder to the nations, and the animals of the land will not eat them, and they will dwell _⌊in safety_⌋,* and there will not be anyone frightening them.

⁸ After many days you will be mustered; _⌊in the last years_⌋* you will come to a restored land from the sword, gathered from many peoples on the mountains of Israel which were as _⌊permanent ruins_⌋* but from peoples it was brought out, and they will dwell _⌊in safety_⌋,* all of them.

⁵ _⌊But only_⌋* to the place that Yahweh your God will choose from all of your tribes to place his name there as his dwelling shall you seek, and there you shall go.

¹⁴ _⌊but only_⌋* at the place that Yahweh will choose among one of your tribes; there you shall offer your burnt offerings, and there you shall do all the things that I am commanding you.

²¹ If the place that* Yahweh your God will choose to put his name there is too far from you, and you slaughter any of your herd and any of your flock that Yahweh has given to you just as I have commanded you, then you may eat whenever you desire in your _⌊towns_⌋.*

²⁶ Only your holy objects _⌊that are yours_⌋* and your votive gifts you must carry and you must bring to the place that Yahweh will choose.

² And you shall offer the Passover sacrifice to Yahweh your God from among your flock and herd at the place that Yahweh will choose, to let his name dwell there. ³ You shall not eat _⌊with it_⌋* anything leavened; seven days you shall eat _⌊with it_⌋* unleavened bread of affliction, because in haste you went out from the land of Egypt, so that you will remember the day of your going out from the land of Egypt all the days of your life. ⁴ And leaven shall not be seen with* you in any of your territory* for seven days, and none of the meat that you will slaughter on the evening on the first day shall remain overnight until morning. ⁵ You are not allowed to offer the Passover sacrifice in one of your _⌊towns_⌋* that Yahweh your God is giving to you, ⁶ but only at the place that Yahweh your God will choose, to let his name dwell there; you shall offer the Passover sacrifice _⌊in the evening at sunset_⌋,* at the designated time* of your going out from Egypt. ⁷ And you shall cook, and you shall eat it at the place that Yahweh your God will choose; and you may turn in the morning and go to your tents. ⁸ Six days you shall eat unleavened bread, and on the seventh day there shall be an assembly for Yahweh your God; you shall not do work.

⁸ "_⌊If a matter is too difficult for you_⌋,* for example disputes between blood and blood,* between legal claim and legal claim* and between assault and assault* and between matters of discernment in your _⌊towns_⌋,* then you shall get up and you shall go to the place that Yahweh your God will choose;

⁶ And if a* Levite comes from one of your _⌊towns_⌋* from _⌊anywhere in Israel_⌋* where he is residing, _⌊he may come whenever he desires_⌋,* to the place that Yahweh will choose,

¹⁶ He shall reside with you in your midst in the place that he chooses in one of _⌊your towns wherever he pleases_⌋;* you shall not oppress him.

¹¹ _⌊when all Israel comes to appear before_⌋* Yahweh their God at the place that he will choose, you shall read this law before all Israel _⌊in their hearing_⌋.*

¹³ I have certainly built a lofty house for you, a place for you to live forever."

¹² "For go now to my place that was in Shiloh, where I caused my name to dwell in the beginning, and see what I did to it _⌊because of_⌋* the wickedness of my people Israel.

²⁰ Our fathers worshiped on this mountain, and you people* say that in Jerusalem is the place where it is necessary to worship." ²¹ Jesus said to her, "Believe me, woman, that an hour is coming when neither on this mountain nor in Jerusalem will you worship the Father. ²² You worship what you do not know. We worship what we know, because salvation is from the Jews. ²³ But an hour is coming—and now is here*—when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth, for indeed the Father seeks such people to be his worshipers.

²⁰ Then Yahweh said to Aaron, "You will not receive an inheritance in their land, and there will not be a plot of ground for you in the midst of the _⌊Israelites_⌋.*

²³ The Levites* will perform the service of the tent of assembly, and they will bear their guilt, an eternal decree for all your generations. But they will not receive an inheritance in the midst of the _⌊Israelites_⌋* ²⁴ because the tithes* of the _⌊Israelites_⌋* that are _⌊offered_⌋* to Yahweh as a contribution, I have given to the Levites as an inheritance; therefore I said to them, 'They will not receive an inheritance in the midst of the _⌊Israelites_⌋.'"*

²⁶ "You will speak to the Levites and say to them, 'When you receive the tithe from the _⌊Israelites_⌋* that I have given to you from them for your inheritance, _⌊you will present_⌋* a contribution from it to Yahweh, a tithe from a tithe.

⁹ Therefore _⌊there was not_⌋* for Levi an allotment or an inheritance along with his brothers; rather Yahweh is his inheritance just as Yahweh your God _⌊promised_⌋* to him.

⁷ And you shall eat there _⌊before_⌋* Yahweh your God, and you shall rejoice _⌊in all your endeavors_⌋,* you and your family in which Yahweh your God has blessed you.

²⁶ You may spend the money for anything _⌊that you desire_⌋,* for oxen or for sheep or for wine or for strong drink or for anything _⌊that you desire_⌋,* and you shall eat it there _⌊before_⌋* Yahweh your God, and you shall rejoice, you and your household. ²⁷ And as to the Levite who is in your _⌊towns_⌋,* you shall not neglect him, because there is not a plot of ground for him and an inheritance along with you.

²⁹ And so the Levite may come, because there is no plot of ground for him or an inheritance with you, and the alien also may come and the orphan and the widow that are in your _⌊towns_⌋,* and _⌊they may eat their fill_⌋,* so that Yahweh your God may bless you in all of the work of your hand that you undertake."

¹¹ And you shall rejoice before Yahweh your God, you and your son and your daughter and your slave and your slave woman and the Levite that is in your _⌊towns_⌋* and the alien and the orphan and the widow who are in your midst in the place that Yahweh your God will choose to let his name dwell there.

¹⁴ and you shall rejoice at your feast, you and your son and your daughter and your slave and your slave woman and the Levite and the orphan and the widow that are in your _⌊towns_⌋.*

¹ "And there shall not be for the Levitical priests, the whole tribe of Levi, a plot of ground and an inheritance with Israel, rather they may eat an offering made by fire as their inheritance,* for Yahweh. ² And there shall not be for them* an inheritance of land in the midst of his brothers; rather Yahweh is his inheritance, just as he _⌊promised_⌋* to them.*

¹² "When you are finished _⌊giving a tithe_⌋,* all of the tithe of your produce in the third year, the year of the tithe, then you shall give to the Levite, to the alien, to the orphan, and to the widow, so that they may eat in your towns and they may be satisfied.

¹⁴ Only the tribe of Levites* Moses did not give an inheritance; the offerings made by fire to Yahweh the God of Israel are their* inheritance, just as he promised to them.*

³³ But to the tribe of Levi Moses did not give an inheritance; Yahweh the God of Israel, he is their inheritance, just as _⌊he promised them_⌋.*

⁴ For the descendants* of Joseph were two tribes, Manasseh and Ephraim, and they did not give a plot of ground to the Levites in the land, only cities to live in, with their pastureland for their flocks and for their goods.

⁶⁶ On the eighth day, he sent the people away, and they blessed the king, and they went to their tents rejoicing and _⌊in good spirits_⌋* because of all the goodness that Yahweh had shown to David his servant and to Israel his people.

³⁶ And Hezekiah and all the people rejoiced over what God had established with the people, for the matter happened suddenly.

²¹ And the _⌊Israelites_⌋* who were found in Jerusalem kept the Feast of Unleavened Bread seven days with great joy. And the Levites and the priests were offering praise to Yahweh day by day, with powerful instruments to Yahweh. ²² And Hezekiah spoke to the heart of all the Levites _⌊who were skilled at service_⌋* to Yahweh. So they ate the feast seven days, offering peace offerings and giving thanks to Yahweh, the God of their ancestors.* ²³ Then the whole assembly decided to make seven more days of feasting, so they made seven more days with joy, ²⁴ for Hezekiah the king of Judah had _⌊provided_⌋* one thousand bulls and seven thousand sheep for the assembly, and the princes _⌊provided_⌋* one thousand bulls and ten thousand sheep for the assembly. And many priests consecrated themselves. ²⁵ And the whole assembly of Judah, the priests and the Levites, all the assembly who had come from the land of Israel, and those living in Judah rejoiced. ²⁶ And there was great joy in Jerusalem, for from the days of Solomon the son of David, king of Israel, there was nothing such as this in Jerusalem.

¹⁰ Then he said to them, "Go, eat festive food and drink sweet drinks, and send a share to those for whom nothing is prepared; for this day is holy to our lord. Do not be grieved because the joy of Yahweh is your refuge." ¹¹ So the Levites silenced all of the people, saying, "Silence, for this day is holy. Do not be grieved." ¹² All of the people went to eat, to drink, to send a share, and to have great joy because they understood the words that they had made known to them.

¹ A psalm of thanksgiving.*
Shout in triumph to Yahweh, all the earth. ² Serve* Yahweh with joy; come into his presence with exultation.

¹ Praise Yah.* For it is good to sing praises to our God; for it is pleasant; praise is fitting.

³ what we have seen and heard, we announce to you also, in order that you also may have fellowship with us, and indeed our fellowship is with the Father and with his Son Jesus Christ. ⁴ And these things we write, in order that our joy may be complete.

² "Speak to Aaron and to his sons and to all the _⌊Israelites_⌋,* and you shall say to them, 'This is the word that Yahweh has commanded, saying, ³ "_⌊Any man_⌋* from the house of Israel who slaughters an ox or a sheep or a goat in the camp or who slaughters it _⌊outside the camp_⌋* ⁴ and he does not bring it to the tent of assembly's entrance to present an offering to Yahweh _⌊before_⌋* Yahweh's tabernacle, then* that man shall be accounted bloodguilty—he has poured out blood, and that man shall be cut off from the midst of his people. ⁵ This is so that the _⌊Israelites_⌋* may bring their sacrifices that they are sacrificing _⌊in the open field_⌋* and bring* them for Yahweh to the tent of assembly's entrance to the priest, and they shall sacrifice fellowship offerings for Yahweh with them.

⁶ And you shall bring there your burnt offerings and your sacrifices and your tithes and _⌊your donations_⌋* and your votive gifts and your freewill offerings and the firstling of your herd and your flock.

²⁸ And the king had decided, so he made two golden calves and he said to them,* "_⌊You have been going up to Jerusalem long enough_⌋;* here are your gods, O Israel, who brought you up from the land of Egypt." ²⁹ He put one in Bethel, and the other he put in Dan. ³⁰ This thing became a sin, and the people walked before the one as far as Dan. ³¹ Then he built the houses on the high places, and he appointed priests _⌊from all walks of life_⌋* who were not from the sons of Levi. ³² Jeroboam also inaugurated a religious feast in the eighth month on the fifteenth day of the month, like the religious feast which was in Judah, and he offered sacrifices on the altar. Thus he did in Bethel, by sacrificing to the calves that he had made; and he placed in Bethel the priests of the high places which he had made.

³⁴ He did evil in the eyes of Yahweh, and he walked in the way of Jeroboam and in his sin that he caused Israel to commit.

¹⁷ But the high places were not removed from Israel. Nevertheless, the heart of Asa was fully devoted all his days.

⁷ _⌊But as for me_⌋,* through the abundance of your steadfast love* I will enter your house.* I will bow down* toward _⌊your holy temple_⌋* in awe of you.

¹¹ Sing praises to Yahweh who sits enthroned* in Zion. Tell his deeds among the peoples,

¹⁹ namely, that God was in Christ reconciling the world to himself, not counting their trespasses against them, and entrusting to us the message of reconciliation.

¹⁹ Therefore, brothers, since we* have confidence for the entrance into the sanctuary by the blood of Jesus, ²⁰ by the new and living way which he inaugurated for us through the curtain, that is, his flesh, ²¹ and since we have* a great priest over the house of God, ²² let us approach with a true heart in the full assurance of faith, our hearts sprinkled clean from an evil conscience and our bodies washed with pure water.

¹⁵ Therefore through him let us offer up a sacrifice of praise _⌊continually_⌋* to God, that is, the fruit of lips that confess his name.

²⁰ "When Yahweh your God enlarges your territory just as he has _⌊promised_⌋* to you, and you say 'I want to eat some meat,' _⌊because you want it_⌋,* _⌊whenever you desire_⌋* you may eat meat. ²¹ If the place that* Yahweh your God will choose to put his name there is too far from you, and you slaughter any of your herd and any of your flock that Yahweh has given to you just as I have commanded you, then you may eat whenever you desire in your _⌊towns_⌋.* ²² Surely just as the gazelle and the deer is eaten, so both the unclean and the clean together may eat it. ²³ Only, be sure not to eat the blood, because the blood is the life, and you shall not eat the life with the meat.

⁵ deer, gazelle, roebuck, wild goat, ibex, antelope, and mountain sheep.

²² In your _⌊towns_⌋* you shall eat it, the unclean and the clean together may eat it, just as they eat the gazelle and as they eat the deer. ²³ But you shall not eat its blood; you shall pour it on the ground like water."

⁴ Only you shall not eat _⌊raw flesh with blood in it_⌋.*

²⁶ And in any of your* dwellings, you must not eat any blood _⌊belonging to_⌋* birds* or* domestic animals.* ²⁷ Any person* who eats any blood, that person* shall be cut off from his people.'"

¹⁰ And if there is _⌊anyone_⌋* from the house of Israel or* from the alien who is dwelling in their midst who eats any blood, then* I will set my face against the person who eats the blood, and I will cut him off from among his people. ¹¹ Indeed* the flesh's life is in the blood, and I have given it to you on the altar to make atonement for your lives, because it is the blood with the life that makes atonement. ¹² _⌊Therefore_⌋* I said to the _⌊Israelites_⌋,* '_⌊None of you_⌋* may eat blood, nor* may the alien who is dwelling in your midst eat blood.' ¹³ "And if there is _⌊anyone_⌋* from the _⌊Israelites_⌋* or* from the alien who is dwelling in their midst who hunts a wild game animal or a bird that may be eaten, then* he shall pour out its blood, and he shall cover it with the soil.

²³ Only, be sure not to eat the blood, because the blood is the life, and you shall not eat the life with the meat. ²⁴ You shall not eat it, but on the ground you shall pour it out like water.

²³ But you shall not eat its blood; you shall pour it on the ground like water."

²⁹ that you abstain from food sacrificed to idols, and from blood, and from what has been strangled, and from sexual immorality. If you* keep yourselves from _⌊these things_⌋* you will do well. Farewell.

⁴ because everything created by God is good and nothing is to be rejected if it is* received with thankfulness,

³⁰ " 'And any tithe of the land from the land's seed or from the fruit of the trees is for Yahweh; it is a holy object for Yahweh. ³¹ And if a man indeed redeems from his tithe, he shall add a fifth of its value onto it. ³² As for* every tithe of cattle or* of the flock,* all which crosses under the rod, the tenth shall be a holy object for Yahweh.

²¹ "Behold, I have given to the descendants* of Levi every tithe in Israel as an inheritance in return for their service, which they are doing, the work of the tent of assembly. ²² The _⌊Israelites_⌋* will not come near again to the tent of assembly, or _⌊they will bear sin_⌋* and die.

²² "Certainly you must give a tithe of all the yield of your seed, _⌊which comes forth from your field year after year_⌋.* ²³ And you shall eat _⌊before_⌋* Yahweh your God in the place that he will choose to make to dwell his name there the tithe of your grain, your wine and your olive oil and the firstling of your herd and your flock, so that you may learn to revere Yahweh your God _⌊always_⌋.* ²⁴ But if _⌊the distance is too great for you_⌋,* so that you are not able to transport* it, because the place that Yahweh your God will choose to set his name there, it is too far from you, when Yahweh your God will bless you, ²⁵ then in that case _⌊you may exchange for money_⌋,* and you shall take* the money to your hand and go to the place that Yahweh your God will choose. ²⁶ You may spend the money for anything _⌊that you desire_⌋,* for oxen or for sheep or for wine or for strong drink or for anything _⌊that you desire_⌋,* and you shall eat it there _⌊before_⌋* Yahweh your God, and you shall rejoice, you and your household. ²⁷ And as to the Levite who is in your _⌊towns_⌋,* you shall not neglect him, because there is not a plot of ground for him and an inheritance along with you. ²⁸ "At the end of three years you shall bring out all of the tithe of your yield for that year, and you shall store it in your _⌊towns_⌋.* ²⁹ And so the Levite may come, because there is no plot of ground for him or an inheritance with you, and the alien also may come and the orphan and the widow that are in your _⌊towns_⌋,* and _⌊they may eat their fill_⌋,* so that Yahweh your God may bless you in all of the work of your hand that you undertake."

¹⁴ I have not eaten during my time of mourning, and I have not removed anything from it while being unclean, and I have not offered _⌊any of it_⌋* to someone who has died. I have listened to the voice of Yahweh my God; I have done all that you commanded me to do.

¹¹ _⌊and then_⌋* at the place that Yahweh your God will choose, to let his name dwell there, there you shall bring all the things I am commanding you, your burnt offerings and your sacrifices, your tithes and _⌊your donations_⌋,* and all of the choice things, your votive gifts that you vow to Yahweh. ¹² And you shall rejoice _⌊before_⌋* Yahweh your God, you and your sons and your daughters and your slaves and your slave women and the Levite who is in your _⌊towns_⌋,* because there is not for him a plot of ground and an inheritance with you.

¹¹ Be glad in Yahweh and rejoice, you righteous, and shout for joy, all you upright of heart.

³ But the righteous will be glad; they will exalt before God, and will rejoice with joy.

¹⁷ Her ways are ways of pleasantness, and all her paths are peace.

³ And you will draw water from the wells of salvation in joy.

³⁴ And he brought them up into his* house and* set a meal before them,* and rejoiced greatly that he had believed in God with his whole household.

³¹ Therefore, whether you eat or you drink or whatever you do, do all things for the glory of God.

²² But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness,

¹ Finally, my brothers, rejoice in the Lord. To write the same things to you is not troublesome to me, but is a safeguard for you. ² Beware of the dogs, beware of the evil workers, beware of the mutilation.* ³ For we are the circumcision, the ones who worship* by the Spirit* of God and boast in Christ Jesus and do not put confidence in the flesh,

¹³ Now the priests and the Levites who were throughout all Israel took their stand with him* from all their territories. ¹⁴ For the Levites left their pasturelands and their property and came to Judah and to Jerusalem, for Jeroboam and his sons had rejected them from serving as priests to Yahweh.

⁴ Then he said to the people, to the inhabitants of Jerusalem, to give a gift for the priests and the Levites, so that they might be strong in the law of Yahweh. ⁵ And the word spread. The Israelites gave abundantly from the firstfruits of grain, new wine, olive oil, honey, and all kinds of grains from the field. And they brought tithes of everything in abundance. ⁶ Then the people of Israel and Judah who were living in the cities of Judah, they also brought a tithe of cattle and sheep and a tithe of consecrated objects to Yahweh their God. And they gave heaps upon heaps. ⁷ In the third month the heaps began to pile up, and in the seventh month they ceased. ⁸ When Hezekiah and the princes came and saw the heaps, they blessed Yahweh and his people Israel. ⁹ And Hezekiah questioned* the priests and the Levites concerning the heaps. ¹⁰ And Azariah the chief priest of the house of Zadok answered him, saying, "Since the offerings began to be brought to the house of Yahweh, we have eaten and been satisfied, and have much to spare, for Yahweh has blessed his people. Now see this abundant remainder!" ¹¹ And Hezekiah commanded to prepare chambers in the house of Yahweh, and they were prepared. ¹² Then they brought the offerings and tithes and holy objects faithfully. And over them as leader was Conaniah the Levite. And Shimei his brother was second in rank. ¹³ And Jehiel, Azaziah, Nathan, Asahel, Jerimoth, Jozabad, Eliel, Ismachiah, Mahath, and Benaiah were chief officers under the hand of Conaniah and Shimei, his brother, by appointment of King Hezekiah. And Azaraiah was leader of the house of God. ¹⁴ Now Kore the son of Imlah, the Levite, the gatekeeper of the east gate was over the freewill offerings of God, to give offerings to Yahweh and the most holy things. ¹⁵ And at his hand were Eden, Miniamin, Jeshua, Shemaiah, Amariah, and Shecaniah in the cities of the priests and _⌊entrusted_⌋* to give to their brothers by working groups, according to the eldest to the youngest, ¹⁶ besides their enrollment by genealogy, to males from three years old and upward, to all who came into the house of Yahweh, _⌊as each day required_⌋* for their service in their posts according to their working groups. ¹⁷ And the enrollment of the priests was according to the house of their fathers, and the Levites, from twenty years old and upward, according to their posts by their working groups. ¹⁸ And they were enrolled with all their little ones, their wives, their sons, and their daughters for the whole assembly because of their faithfulness. And they sanctified themselves in holiness. ¹⁹ And for the descendants* of Aaron, the priests, who were in the fields of the pasturelands of their cities, _⌊in each and every one of their cities_⌋* were men who were designated by name to give shares to every male among the priests and to everyone enrolled among the Levites. ²⁰ And Hezekiah did according to this throughout all Judah. And he did what is good and what is right and what is faithful before Yahweh his God. ²¹ And in every work that he began in the service of the house of God or with respect to the law and the commandment to seek his God, he did with all his heart, and he prospered.

³⁴ And we have cast lots for the contributions of the wood offering of the priests, the Levites, and the people to bring it to the house of our God, by our fathers' houses, at designated times, year by year, to burn on the altar of Yahweh our God—as it is written in the law.* ³⁵ We also bring the first fruits of our soil and the first fruits of all the fruit trees, year by year, for the house of Yahweh. ³⁶ And the firstborn of our sons and beasts—as it is written in the law*—and the firstborn of our cattle and sheep, to bring to the house of our God and to the priests serving in the house of our God. ³⁷ And we bring the best of our dough, our offerings, the fruit of every tree, new wine, and olive oil to the priests, to the chambers of the house of our God; and to bring the tithe of our soil to the Levites, for the Levites receive the tithes in all of our rural towns. ³⁸ And the priest, the descendant* of Aaron, will be with the Levites during the tithe the Levites receive. The Levites will bring up a tithe of the tithes for the house of our God to the chambers of the storehouse. ³⁹ For the _⌊Israelites_⌋* and the _⌊Levites_⌋* will bring to the storerooms the offering of grain, new wine, and olive oil. These are the objects of the sanctuary and the priests who minister and the gatekeepers and singers. We will not neglect the house of our God."

¹⁰ Or doubtless does he speak _⌊for our sake_⌋*? For it is written _⌊for our sake_⌋*, because the one who plows ought to plow in hope and the one who threshes ought to do so in hope of a share. ¹¹ If we have sown spiritual things among you, is it too great a thing if we reap material things from you? ¹² If others share this right over you, do we not do so even more? Yet we have not made use of this right, but we endure all things, in order that we may not cause any hindrance to the gospel of Christ. ¹³ Do you not know that those performing the holy services eat the things from the temple, and those attending to the altar have a share with the altar? ¹⁴ In the same way also the Lord ordered those who proclaim the gospel to live from the gospel.

¹⁸ On that day Yahweh _⌊made_⌋* a covenant with Abram saying, "To your offspring I will give this land, from the river of Egypt to the great river, the Euphrates river, ¹⁹ the land of the Kenites, the Kenizzites, the Kadmonites, ²⁰ the Hittites, the Perizzites, the Rephaim, ²¹ the Amorites, the Canaanites, the Girgashites, and the Jebusites."

¹⁴ Your descendants shall be like the dust of the earth, and you will spread out to the west, and to the east, and to the north and to the south. And all the families of the earth will be blessed through you and through your descendants.

³⁰ Now, you have surely gone because you desperately longed for the house of your father, but why did you steal my gods?"

³¹ " 'And I will set your boundary from the _⌊Red Sea_⌋* and up to the sea of the Philistines and from the desert up to the river,* because I will give the inhabitants of the land into your hand, and you will drive them out from before you.

²⁴ because I will evict nations before you, and I will enlarge your territory, and no one will covet your land when you go up to appear before Yahweh your God three times in the year.

⁴ The riff-raff that were in their midst _⌊had a strong desire_⌋;* and the _⌊Israelites_⌋* turned back and also wept, and they said, "Who will feed us meat?

²⁰ _⌊but for a whole month_⌋,* until it comes out from your nose and becomes as nausea to you; because you have rejected Yahweh, who is in your midst, and you wept before _⌊his presence_⌋,* saying, "Why did we ever leave Egypt?" '"

³⁴ And he called the name of that place Kibroth Hattaavah* because they buried the people that _⌊were greedy_⌋.*

²⁴ Every place on which the sole of your foot treads, it shall be yours; your boundary shall be from the desert and Lebanon from the river, the river Euphrates, on up to the western sea.*

¹⁵ "But _⌊whenever you desire_⌋* you may slaughter, and you may eat meat according to the blessing of Yahweh your God that he has given to you in all of your _⌊towns_⌋;* the unclean and the clean may eat it just as they would the gazelle and as the deer.

⁸ Then if Yahweh your God enlarges your territory just as he swore to your ancestors* and gives* to you all the land that he _⌊promised_⌋* to give to your ancestors,*

³⁹ King David longed to go out to Absalom, for he was consoled that Amnon had died.

¹⁵ David _⌊said longingly_⌋,* "_⌊Oh that someone would bring me a drink_⌋* of water from the well of Bethlehem that is at the gate."

¹⁰ And Jabez called upon the God of Israel, saying, "Oh that you would surely bless me and enlarge my border. And may your hand be with me, that you would keep me from evil so that it might not harm me!" And God granted what he asked.

¹ A psalm of David, when he was in the wilderness of Judah.*
O God, you are my God; I will seek you diligently. My soul thirsts for you; my flesh longs for you as in a dry and weary land without water.

² My soul longs and even fails for the courtyards of Yahweh. My heart and flesh sing for joy to the living God.

⁹ for he satisfies the longing soul,* and the hungry soul he fills with good.

²⁰ My soul is crushed with longing for your ordinances at all times.

⁴⁰ Look, I have longed for your precepts; revive me in your righteousness.

¹⁷⁴ I long for your salvation, O Yahweh, and your law is my delight.

¹⁴ and they are longing for you in their prayers for you, because of the surpassing grace of God to you.

⁸ For God is my witness, that I long for all of you with the affection of Christ Jesus.

²⁶ because he was longing for all of you and was distressed because you had heard that he was sick.

²⁴ An altar of earth you will make for me, and you will sacrifice on it your burnt offerings and your fellowship offerings, your sheep and your cattle. In every place where I cause my name to be remembered,* I will come to you, and I will bless you.

²³ And you shall eat _⌊before_⌋* Yahweh your God in the place that he will choose to make to dwell his name there the tithe of your grain, your wine and your olive oil and the firstling of your herd and your flock, so that you may learn to revere Yahweh your God _⌊always_⌋.* ²⁴ But if _⌊the distance is too great for you_⌋,* so that you are not able to transport* it, because the place that Yahweh your God will choose to set his name there, it is too far from you, when Yahweh your God will bless you,

⁶ but only at the place that Yahweh your God will choose, to let his name dwell there; you shall offer the Passover sacrifice _⌊in the evening at sunset_⌋,* at the designated time* of your going out from Egypt.

¹³ So King Rehoboam was strengthened in Jerusalem, and he reigned there. Now, Rehoboam was forty-one years old when he became king, and he reigned seventeen years in Jerusalem, the city where Yahweh had chosen to put his name out of all the tribes of Israel. And the name of his mother was Naamah the Ammonite.

¹² May the God who has set his name there overthrow any king or people who sets his hand to alter or to destroy this house of God in Jerusalem. I, Darius, issue forth a decree. Let it be done with diligence."

¹⁵ "But _⌊whenever you desire_⌋* you may slaughter, and you may eat meat according to the blessing of Yahweh your God that he has given to you in all of your _⌊towns_⌋;* the unclean and the clean may eat it just as they would the gazelle and as the deer. ¹⁶ Only the blood you must not eat, but on the ground you must pour it like water.

¹⁶ The priest* shall turn them into smoke on the altar as a food offering;* all the fat is an offering made by fire as an appeasing fragrance for Yahweh. ¹⁷ This is* a lasting statute for your generations in all your dwellings: you must not eat any fat or any blood.'"

¹¹ Indeed* the flesh's life is in the blood, and I have given it to you on the altar to make atonement for your lives, because it is the blood with the life that makes atonement.

¹³ "And if there is _⌊anyone_⌋* from the _⌊Israelites_⌋* or* from the alien who is dwelling in their midst who hunts a wild game animal or a bird that may be eaten, then* he shall pour out its blood, and he shall cover it with the soil. ¹⁴ Indeed,* the life of all flesh, its blood, is in its life, so* I said to the _⌊Israelites_⌋,* 'You may not eat the blood of any flesh, because the life of all flesh is its blood; anyone who eats it must be cut off.'

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

²⁸ just as the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many."

⁹ And they were singing a new song, saying,
"You are worthy to take the scroll and to open its seals, because you were slaughtered, and bought people for God by your blood from every tribe and language and people and nation,

²⁶ And he said, "If you carefully listen to the voice of Yahweh your God and you do what is right in his eyes and give heed to his commands and you keep all his rules, then I will not bring about on you any of the diseases* that I brought about on Egypt, because I am Yahweh your healer.

⁴⁰ And you shall keep his rules and his commandments that I am commanding you _⌊today_⌋,* so that _⌊it may go well_⌋* for you and for your children* after you, and so that _⌊you may remain a long time_⌋* on the land that Yahweh your God is giving to you during all of those days."

¹⁶ 'Honor your father and your mother, as Yahweh your God commanded you, so that it will be good for you* _⌊in the land_⌋* that Yahweh your God is giving to you.

¹⁸ And you shall do what is right and good in the eyes of Yahweh, so that _⌊it shall go well_⌋* for you and so that you may go and you may take possession of the good land that Yahweh swore for your ancestors,*

²⁸ _⌊Be careful to obey_⌋* all these things that I am commanding you, so that _⌊it will go well_⌋* for you and for your children after you _⌊forever_⌋,* because then you will be doing what is* good and right* in the eyes of Yahweh your God.

¹⁸ if you listen to the voice of Yahweh your God, to keep all of his commandments that I am commanding to you _⌊today_⌋* so as to do the right thing in the eyes of Yahweh your God."

³⁸ It shall be that if you listen to all that I command you and you walk in my ways and you do right in my eyes by keeping my statutes and my commandments, as David my servant did, then I will be with you, and I will build an enduring house for you as I built for David, and I will give Israel to you.

² His _⌊descendants_⌋* will be mighty in the land; the generation of the upright will be blessed.

²⁶ For to the person who is good in his eyes, he gives wisdom, knowledge, and joy; but to the sinner he gives the task of gathering and heaping up only to give it to him who is pleasing to him. This also is vanity and chasing wind!

¹⁰ Tell the innocent* that it is good for they shall eat the fruit of their deeds.

¹⁸ O that you had listened attentively to my commandments!
Then* your prosperity would have been like a river, and your righteousness like the waves of the sea. ¹⁹ And your offspring would have been like the sand, and the descendants of your _⌊body_⌋* like its grains.* It would not be cut off, and its name would not be destroyed from my presence."

²⁵ Therefore say to them, 'Thus says the Lord Yahweh: "You eat blood in your meat, and you raise your eyes to your idols and you pour out blood, and yet you want to take possession of the land?*

²⁰ And Jacob made a vow* saying, "If God will be with me and protect me on this way that I am going, and gives me food to eat and clothing to wear,

¹⁸ "Speak to Aaron and to his sons and to all the _⌊Israelites_⌋,* and say to them, 'Anyone from the house of Israel or* from the alien in Israel who presents his offering for any of their vows or* for any of their freewill offerings that they present to Yahweh as a burnt offering, ¹⁹ it must be without defect _⌊to be acceptable for you_⌋:* a male among the cattle, among the sheep, or* among the goats. ²⁰ You shall not present any animal in which is a physical defect, because it shall not be _⌊acceptable_⌋* for you. ²¹ And if anyone brings a sacrifice of fellowship offerings for Yahweh to fulfill a vow or as a freewill offering from* the cattle or from* the flock,* it must be without defect _⌊to be acceptable_⌋;* there must not be any physical defect in it. ²² The blind or the injured or the maimed or the seeping or one with a skin disorder or one with a skin eruption—these you shall not present to Yahweh, nor shall you give from them an offering made by fire on the altar for Yahweh. ²³ As for* an ox or sheep that is deformed or* that is stunted, you may present it as a freewill offering, but* for a vow it will not be accepted. ²⁴ And you shall not present anything for Yahweh with bruised or* shattered or* torn or* cut-off testicles, and you shall not _⌊sacrifice_⌋* such in your land. ²⁵ And you shall not present your God's food from any of these by the hand of _⌊a foreigner_⌋,* because their deformity is in them; a physical defect is in them; they shall not be accepted for you.'" ²⁶ Then* Yahweh spoke to Moses, saying, ²⁷ "When an ox or a sheep or a goat is born, then* it shall be under its mother for seven days, and from the eighth day and beyond it is acceptable as an offering made by fire for Yahweh. ²⁸ And you shall not slaughter an ox or a sheep and _⌊its young_⌋* on _⌊the same day_⌋.* ²⁹ And when you sacrifice a sacrifice of thanksgiving to Yahweh, you must sacrifice it to be acceptable for you. ³⁰ It must be eaten on that day; you must not leave over anything from it until morning; I am Yahweh. ³¹ "Thus* you shall keep my commands, and you shall do them; I am Yahweh. ³² "And you shall not profane my holy name, so that I may be consecrated in the midst of the _⌊Israelites_⌋;* I am Yahweh, who consecrates you, ³³ the one who brought you out from the land of Egypt to be as God for you; I am Yahweh."

⁹ And every contribution of all the holy objects of the _⌊Israelites_⌋* that they bring to the priest for him will be his. ¹⁰ The holy objects of a man will be for him;* whatever he gives to the priest will be for him.'"

¹⁹ All the contributions of holiness that the _⌊Israelites_⌋* offer to Yahweh I have given to you and your sons and your daughters with you as an eternal decree; it is an eternal covenant of salt _⌊before_⌋* Yahweh to you and your offspring with you."

¹⁷ You are not allowed to eat in your _⌊towns_⌋* the tithe of your grain and your wine and your olive oil and the firstborn of your herd and your flock and all of your votive gifts that you vowed and your freewill offering and _⌊your donations_⌋.* ¹⁸ But only _⌊before_⌋* Yahweh your God you shall eat it, at the place that Yahweh your God will choose,* you and your son and your daughter and your slave and your slave woman and the Levite who is in your _⌊towns_⌋,* and you must rejoice _⌊before_⌋* your God _⌊in all your undertakings_⌋.*

²¹ So the man Elkanah went up with all his household _⌊to make the annual sacrifice_⌋* to Yahweh and to pay his vow. ²² But Hannah did not go up, for she said to her husband, "Once the boy is weaned, I will bring him, so that he may appear before Yahweh; and he will remain there forever." ²³ So her husband Elkanah said to her, "_⌊Do what seems right to you_⌋;* stay until you wean him. Only may Yahweh fulfill his word." So the woman remained and nursed her son until she weaned him. ²⁴ Then she brought him up with her when she had weaned him, along with three bulls, one ephah of flour, and a skin* of wine. She brought him to the house of Yahweh at Shiloh while the boy was still young.

¹³ I will come into your house* with burnt offerings. I will pay to you my vows ¹⁴ that my lips uttered, and my mouth spoke in my distress. ¹⁵ Burnt offerings of fat animals I will offer to you, with the smoke of rams. I will do* cattle with rams. Selah

⁵ He* must slaughter _⌊the young bull_⌋* _⌊before_⌋* Yahweh, then* Aaron's sons, the priests, will present the blood and sprinkle the blood all around the altar that is at the door of the tent of assembly.

⁹ Then* he must wash its inner parts* and its lower leg bones with water, and the priest will turn into smoke the whole animal on the altar as a burnt offering by fire, as an appeasing fragrance for Yahweh.

¹³ Then* he must wash the inner parts* and the lower leg bones with water and the priest shall present the whole animal and will turn it* into smoke on the altar; it is a burnt offering by fire as an appeasing fragrance for Yahweh.

³⁰ The priest* shall take _⌊some of_⌋* its blood with his finger, and he shall put it on the horns of the altar of the burnt offering, and he must pour out all the rest of* its blood on the altar's base.

¹¹ "Keep for yourself what I myself have commanded you today. Look, I am about to drive from before you the Amorites and the Canaanites* and the Hittites* and the Perizzites* and the Hivites* and the Jebusites.*

³⁷ " 'Thus you* shall keep all my statutes and all my regulations, and you* shall do them; I am Yahweh.'"

²⁵ You shall not eat it, so that _⌊it will go well_⌋* for you and your children after you, because then you will be doing what is* right in the eyes of Yahweh.

⁸ Be watchful* _⌊with respect to_⌋* an outbreak of any infectious skin disease, by being very careful and by acting* according to all that the priests and the Levites have instructed you, just as I have commanded them, _⌊so you shall diligently observe_⌋.*

¹⁷ Now as for you, if you will walk before me as David your father walked and do according to all that I have commanded you and will keep my ordinances and judgments,

⁵ I said, "O Yahweh God of the heavens, the great and awesome one who keeps the covenant and loyal love for the ones who love him and for those who keep his commands.

⁴⁵ so that they might observe his statutes, and keep his laws. Praise Yah.*

²⁴ " '"And my servant David will be king over them, and one shepherd will be for all of them, and in my regulations they will go, and my statutes they will observe, and they will do them.

³ You are already clean because of the word that I have spoken to you.

¹⁰ If you keep my commandments, you will remain in my love, just as I have kept my Father's commandments and remain in his love.

¹⁴ You are my friends if you do what I command you.

²³ When my angel goes before you and brings you to the Amorites* and the Hittites* and the Perizzites* and the Canaanites* and the Hivites* and the Jebusites,* I will wipe them out.

³ You should know _⌊today_⌋* that Yahweh your God is the one crossing _⌊ahead of you_⌋* as a devouring fire; he will destroy them, and he will subdue them before you; so you will dispossess them, and you will destroy them quickly, _⌊just as_⌋* Yahweh _⌊promised_⌋* you.

¹ "When Yahweh your God has _⌊exterminated_⌋* the nations concerning whom Yahweh your God is giving to you their land, and you have dispossessed them, and you have settled in their towns and in their houses,

⁴ Look! I have allotted to you these remaining nations as an inheritance for your tribes, from the Jordan, with all the nations that I have cut off, to the Great Sea* _⌊in the west_⌋.*

⁵⁵ And he drove out nations before them and allocated them for an inheritance by boundary line, and settled the tribes of Israel in their tents.

³¹ " 'And I will set your boundary from the _⌊Red Sea_⌋* and up to the sea of the Philistines and from the desert up to the river,* because I will give the inhabitants of the land into your hand, and you will drive them out from before you. ³² You will not make a covenant with them and with their gods. ³³ They will not live in your land, lest they cause you to sin against me when you serve their gods, for it will be a snare to you.'"

³ You must not _⌊carry out_⌋* the practices of the land of Egypt, in which you lived, and you must not _⌊carry out_⌋* the practices of the land of Canaan, to which I am bringing you; and you must not follow their statutes.

¹⁶ And you shall devour all of the peoples that Yahweh your God is giving to you; _⌊you shall not pity them_⌋,* and you shall not serve their gods, which will be a snare for you.

² And as for you, do not _⌊make a covenant_⌋* with the inhabitants of this land; break down their altars.' But you did not listen to my voice. _⌊Why would you do such a thing_⌋?* ³ Now I say, I will not drive them out from before you; they will _⌊become as thorns_⌋* for you, and their gods will be a trap for you."

¹⁵ They rejected his statutes, his covenant which he _⌊made_⌋* with their ancestors,* and his warnings which he gave to them; and they went after the idols, became vain, and went after all the nations which were all around them, which Yahweh had commanded them not to do as they did.

³⁴ They did not exterminate the peoples, as Yahweh had commanded them, * ³⁵ but they mingled with the nations and learned their works, ³⁶ and served their idols, which became* a snare to them. ³⁷ They even sacrificed their sons and daughters to the demons, ³⁸ and they poured out innocent blood, the blood of their sons and daughters, whom they sacrificed to the idols of Canaan, and so the land was defiled with the blood.*

² Thus says Yahweh:
"You must not learn the way of the nations, and you must not be dismayed by the signs of the heavens, for the nations are dismayed by them.

²⁸ And I brought them to the land that _⌊I swore_⌋* to give* to them, and they saw every high hill and every leafy tree, and they offered their sacrifices, and they presented there the provocation of their offering, and they gave there their fragrant incense offering, and they poured out their libations there.

³² And _⌊what you are planning_⌋,* surely it will not be—that you are saying, 'Let us be like the nations, like the clans* of the lands, _⌊serving wood and stone_⌋!'*

² And do not be conformed to this age, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, so that you may approve what is the good and well-pleasing and perfect will of God.

¹⁷ This therefore I say and testify in the Lord, that you no longer walk as the Gentiles walk: in the futility of their mind,

³ For the time that has passed was sufficient _⌊to do what the Gentiles desire to do_⌋*, having lived in licentiousness, evil desires, drunkenness, carousing, drinking parties, and wanton idolatries, ⁴ with respect to which they are surprised when* you do not run with them into the same flood of dissipation, and so they* revile you.

² You will not _⌊follow_⌋* a majority* for evil, and you will not testify concerning a legal dispute to turn aside after a majority* to pervert justice.

²¹ " 'And you shall not give _⌊any of_⌋* your offspring* in order to sacrifice them to Molech, nor* shall you profane the name of your God; I am Yahweh.

²⁶ But* you (neither the native nor* the alien who is dwelling in your midst) shall keep my statutes and my regulations, and you shall not _⌊practice_⌋* any of these detestable things ²⁷ (because the people of the land, who were _⌊before you_⌋,* did all these detestable things, so the land became unclean), ²⁸ so that the land will not vomit you out when you make it unclean just as it vomited out the nation that was _⌊before you_⌋.* ²⁹ Indeed, anyone who does any of these detestable things, even* those persons who do so shall be cut off from the midst of their people. ³⁰ Thus* you shall keep my obligation to not do any of the statutes _⌊regarding_⌋* the detestable things that they did _⌊before you_⌋,* so that you will not make yourselves unclean by them; I am Yahweh your God.'"

² "And to the _⌊Israelites_⌋* you shall say, 'If there is _⌊anyone_⌋* from the _⌊Israelites_⌋* or* from the alien who is dwelling in Israel, who gives _⌊any of_⌋* his offspring to Molech, he must surely be put to death; the people of the land must stone him with stones.*

⁵ It is not because of your righteousness and because of the uprightness of your heart that you are coming to take possession of their land, but because of the wickedness of these nations Yahweh your God is driving them _⌊before you_⌋,* and in order to confirm the _⌊promise_⌋* that Yahweh swore to your ancestors,* to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob.

⁴ You shall not worship Yahweh your God like this.

⁹ "When you come to the land that Yahweh your God is giving to you, you must not learn to do like the detestable practices of those nations. ¹⁰ There shall not be found among you one who makes his son or his daughter go through the fire, or _⌊one who practices divination_⌋,* or an interpreter of signs,* or an augur,* or sorcerer,

¹⁵ They rejected his statutes, his covenant which he _⌊made_⌋* with their ancestors,* and his warnings which he gave to them; and they went after the idols, became vain, and went after all the nations which were all around them, which Yahweh had commanded them not to do as they did. ¹⁶ They abandoned all the commands of Yahweh their God and made for themselves two molten calf-shaped idols; they made a pole of Asherah worship and bowed down to the army of the heavens and served Baal. ¹⁷ They made their sons and their daughters pass through the fire, they practiced divination and read omens, and they sold themselves to do evil in the eyes of Yahweh to provoke him.

² He did evil in the eyes of Yahweh, according to the detestable things of the nations that Yahweh had driven out from the presence of the _⌊Israelites_⌋.*

² And he did evil in the eyes of Yahweh according to the detestable things of the nations whom Yahweh drove out before the _⌊Israelites_⌋.*

¹⁴ All the leaders of the priests and the people likewise increased in unfaithfulness according to all the detestable things of the nations. And they polluted the house of Yahweh that he had consecrated in Jerusalem.

³¹ And they built the high place of Topheth, which is in the Valley of Ben Hinnom, to burn their sons and their daughters in the fire, which I have not commanded, and it did not come into my mind.*

³⁵ And they built the high places of Baal that are in the Valley of Ben Hinnom to present as offerings their sons and their daughters to Molech, which I had not commanded them, and it had not come to my _⌊mind_⌋* to do this detestable thing in order to cause Judah to sin."

³¹ And _⌊when you lift up your gifts, sacrificing your children_⌋* through the fire, you are defiling yourself through all of your idols until _⌊today_⌋,* and will I let myself* be consulted by you, house of Israel?" ' _⌊As I live_⌋,"* _⌊declares_⌋* the Lord Yahweh, "I will not let myself* be consulted by you!

²⁷ And I will put an end to your obscene conduct coming from you and your fornication from the land of Egypt, and you will not lift your eyes to them; and you will not remember Egypt again.'

⁷ Will Yahweh be pleased with thousands of rams, with myriads of rivers of oil? Shall I give my firstborn for my transgression, the fruit of my body for the sin of my soul?

² You must not add to the word that I am commanding you, and you shall not take away from it in order to keep* the commands of Yahweh your God that I am commanding you to observe.

⁷ Only be strong and very courageous _⌊to observe diligently the whole law_⌋* that Moses my servant commanded you. Do not turn aside from it, to the right or left, so that you may succeed _⌊wherever you go_⌋.*

⁶ Do not add to his words lest he rebuke you and you be found a liar.

²⁰ teaching them to observe everything I have commanded you, and behold, I am with you all the days until the end of the age."

¹⁸ I testify to everyone who hears the words of the prophecy of this book: if anyone adds to them, God will add to him the plagues written in this book. ¹⁹ And if anyone takes away from the words of this book of prophecy, God will take away his share of the tree of life and from the holy city that are written in this book.