Deuteronomy 12:5-12

12:5 But you must seek only the place he ¹  chooses from all your tribes to establish his name as his place of residence, ²  and you must go there. 12:6 And there you must take your burnt offerings, your sacrifices, your tithes, the personal offerings you have prepared, ³  your votive offerings, your freewill offerings, and the firstborn of your herds and flocks. 12:7 Both you and your families ⁴  must feast there before the Lord your God and rejoice in all the output of your labor with which he ⁵  has blessed you. 12:8 You must not do like we are doing here today, with everyone ⁶  doing what seems best to him, 12:9 for you have not yet come to the final stop ⁷  and inheritance the Lord your God is giving you. 12:10 When you do go across the Jordan River ⁸  and settle in the land he ⁹  is granting you as an inheritance and you find relief from all the enemies who surround you, you will live in safety. ¹⁰  12:11 Then you must come to the place the Lord your God chooses for his name to reside, bringing ¹¹  everything I am commanding you – your burnt offerings, sacrifices, tithes, the personal offerings you have prepared, ¹²  and all your choice votive offerings which you devote to him. ¹³  12:12 You shall rejoice in the presence of the Lord your God, along with your sons, daughters, male and female servants, and the Levites in your villages ¹⁴  (since they have no allotment or inheritance with you). ¹⁵ 

Deuteronomy 12:26

12:26 Only the holy things and votive offerings that belong to you, you must pick up and take to the place the Lord will choose. ¹⁶ 

¹ tn Heb “the Lord your God.” The pronoun has been used in the translation for stylistic reasons to avoid redundancy.

² tc Some scholars, on the basis of v. 11, emend the MT reading שִׁכְנוֹ (shikhno, “his residence”) to the infinitive construct לְשָׁכֵן (lÿshakhen, “to make [his name] to dwell”), perhaps with the 3rd person masculine singular sf לְשַׁכְּנוֹ (lÿshakÿno, “to cause it to dwell”). Though the presupposed nounשֵׁכֶן (shekhen) is nowhere else attested, the parallel here with שַׁמָּה (shammah, “there”) favors retaining the MT as it stands.

³ tn Heb “heave offerings of your hand.”

⁴ tn Heb “and your houses,” referring to entire households. The pronouns “you” and “your” are plural in the Hebrew text.

⁵ tn Heb “the Lord your God.” See note on “he” in 12:5.

⁶ tn Heb “a man.”

⁷ tn Heb “rest.”

⁸ tn The word “River” is not in the Hebrew text, but has been supplied in the translation for clarity.

⁹ tn Heb “the Lord your God.” See note on “he” in 12:5.

¹⁰ tn In the Hebrew text vv. 10-11 are one long, complex sentence. For stylistic reasons the translation divides this into two sentences.

¹¹ tn Heb “and it will be (to) the place where the Lord your God chooses to cause his name to dwell you will bring.”

¹² tn Heb “heave offerings of your hand.”

¹³ tn Heb “the Lord.” See note on “he” in 12:5.

¹⁴ tn Heb “within your gates” (so KJV, NASB); NAB “who belongs to your community.”

¹⁵ sn They have no allotment or inheritance with you. See note on the word “inheritance” in Deut 10:9.

¹⁶ tc Again, to complete a commonly attested wording the LXX adds after “choose” the phrase “to place his name there.” This shows insensitivity to deliberate departures from literary stereotypes. The MT reading is to be preferred.