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Instead,(A) you shall seek out the place which the Lord, your God, chooses out of all your tribes and designates as his dwelling to put his name there.[a](B) There you shall go, bringing your burnt offerings and sacrifices, your tithes and personal contributions, your votive and voluntary offerings, and the firstlings of your herds and flocks.(C) There, too, in the presence of the Lord, your God, you and your families shall eat and rejoice in all your undertakings, in which the Lord, your God, has blessed you.(D)

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Footnotes

  1. 12:5 The place…to put his name there: Moses thus designates Jerusalem (Mt. Zion), in accordance with the Deuteronomic doctrine that the Lord “chooses” Zion, as the place where eventually the Temple will be built, as he chooses the house of David to reign over Israel; see 2 Sm 7; 1 Kgs 8; Ps 132. But the Lord’s presence in Jerusalem consists in putting his “name” there (12:11, 21; 14:23–24; 16:2, 6, 11; 26:2; 1 Kgs 8:44, 49; 9:3; 11:36; 14:21; 2 Kgs 17:34; 21:4, 7; 23:27). The Lord himself “cannot be contained” in an earthly dwelling (1 Kgs 8:27), but because he says of the Jerusalem Temple that “my name will be there” (1 Kgs 8:16, 29; 2 Kgs 23:27), he is present. This theology allows God in a way to dwell with Israel and at the same time preserves divine transcendence. See note on 1 Kgs 8:12–13.

But you are to seek the place the Lord your God will choose from among all your tribes to put his Name(A) there for his dwelling.(B) To that place you must go; there bring your burnt offerings and sacrifices, your tithes(C) and special gifts, what you have vowed(D) to give and your freewill offerings, and the firstborn of your herds and flocks.(E) There, in the presence(F) of the Lord your God, you and your families shall eat and shall rejoice(G) in everything you have put your hand to, because the Lord your God has blessed you.

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11 [a](A)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.

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Footnotes

  1. 12:11 Sacrifice is to be confined to the single place that the Lord has chosen; eventually this was Jerusalem.

11 Then to the place the Lord your God will choose as a dwelling for his Name(A)—there you are to bring everything I command you: your burnt offerings and sacrifices, your tithes and special gifts, and all the choice possessions you have vowed to the Lord.(B) 12 And there rejoice(C) before the Lord your God—you, your sons and daughters, your male and female servants, and the Levites(D) from your towns who have no allotment or inheritance(E) of their own.

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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.

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17 You must not eat in your own towns the tithe(A) of your grain and new wine and olive oil,(B) or the firstborn of your herds and flocks, or whatever you have vowed to give,(C) or your freewill offerings or special gifts.(D) 18 Instead, you are to eat(E) them in the presence of the Lord your God at the place the Lord your God will choose(F)—you, your sons and daughters, your male and female servants, and the Levites from your towns—and you are to rejoice(G) before the Lord your God in everything you put your hand to.

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Firstlings. 19 (A)You shall consecrate to the Lord, your God, every male firstling born in your herd and in your flock. You shall not work the firstlings of your cattle, nor shear the firstlings of your flock. 20 In the presence of the Lord, your God, you shall eat them year after year, you and your household, in the place that the Lord will choose.(B)

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The Firstborn Animals

19 Set apart for the Lord(A) your God every firstborn male(B) of your herds and flocks.(C) Do not put the firstborn of your cows to work, and do not shear the firstborn of your sheep.(D) 20 Each year you and your family are to eat them in the presence of the Lord your God at the place he will choose.(E)

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