Study Desk

There, in the presence of the Lord your God, who has blessed you, you and your families will eat and enjoy the good things that you have worked for.

because you have not yet entered the land that the Lord your God is giving you, where you can live in peace.

You and your children, together with your servants and the Levites who live in your towns, are to eat these offerings only in the presence of the Lord your God, in the one place of worship chosen by the Lord your God. And you are to be happy there over everything that you have done.

"When the Lord your God enlarges your territory, as he has promised, you may eat meat whenever you want to.

Obey faithfully everything that I have commanded you, and all will go well for you and your descendants forever, because you will be doing what is right and what pleases the Lord your God.

"The Lord your God will destroy the nations as you invade their land, and you will occupy it and settle there.

Do not worship the Lord your God in the way they worship their gods, for in the worship of their gods they do all the disgusting things that the Lord hates. They even sacrifice their children in the fires on their altars.

do not pay any attention to them. The Lord your God is using them to test you, to see if you love the Lord with all your heart.

Stone them to death! They tried to lead you away from the Lord your God, who rescued you from Egypt, where you were slaves.

"When you are living in the towns that the Lord your God gives you, you may hear

Bring together all the possessions of the people who live there and pile them up in the town square. Then burn the town and everything in it as an offering to the Lord your God. It must be left in ruins forever and never again be rebuilt.

"You are the people of the Lord your God. So when you mourn for the dead, don't gash yourselves or shave the front of your head, as other people do.

You belong to the Lord your God; he has chosen you to be his own people from among all the peoples who live on earth.

"Do not eat any animal that dies a natural death. You may let the foreigners who live among you eat it, or you may sell it to other foreigners. But you belong to the Lord your God; you are his people. "Do not cook a young sheep or goat in its mother's milk.

Then go to the one place where the Lord your God has chosen to be worshiped; and there in his presence eat the tithes of your grain, wine, and olive oil, and the first-born of your cattle and sheep. Do this so that you may learn to honor the Lord your God always.

Spend it on whatever you want—beef, lamb, wine, beer—and there, in the presence of the Lord your God, you and your families are to eat and enjoy yourselves.

This food is for the Levites, since they own no property, and for the foreigners, orphans, and widows who live in your towns. They are to come and get all they need. Do this, and the Lord your God will bless you in everything you do.

"The Lord your God will bless you in the land that he is giving you. Not one of your people will be poor

"If in any of the towns in the land that the Lord your God is giving you there are Israelites in need, then do not be selfish and refuse to help them.

Remember that you were slaves in Egypt and the Lord your God set you free; that is why I am now giving you this command.