Deuteronomy 12:5-11

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 

Deuteronomy 12:1

The Central Sanctuary

12:1 These are the statutes and ordinances you must be careful to obey as long as you live in the land the Lord, the God of your ancestors, ¹⁴  has given you to possess. ¹⁵ 

Deuteronomy 9:3

9:3 Understand today that the Lord your God who goes before you is a devouring fire; he will defeat and subdue them before you. You will dispossess and destroy them quickly just as he ¹⁶  has told you.

Deuteronomy 9:1

Theological Justification of the Conquest

9:1 Listen, Israel: Today you are about to cross the Jordan so you can dispossess the nations there, people greater and stronger than you who live in large cities with extremely high fortifications. ¹⁷ 

Deuteronomy 21:1

Laws Concerning Unsolved Murder

21:1 If a homicide victim ¹⁸  should be found lying in a field in the land the Lord your God is giving you, ¹⁹  and no one knows who killed ²⁰  him,

Deuteronomy 22:1-2

Laws Concerning Preservation of Life

22:1 When you see ²¹  your neighbor’s ²²  ox or sheep going astray, do not ignore it; ²³  you must return it without fail ²⁴  to your neighbor. 22:2 If the owner ²⁵  does not live ²⁶  near you or you do not know who the owner is, ²⁷  then you must corral the animal ²⁸  at your house and let it stay with you until the owner looks for it; then you must return it to him.

Deuteronomy 6:6

Exhortation to Teach the Covenant Principles

6:6 These words I am commanding you today must be kept in mind,

Deuteronomy 7:12

Promises of Good for Covenant Obedience

7:12 If you obey these ordinances and are careful to do them, the Lord your God will faithfully keep covenant with you ²⁹  as he promised ³⁰  your ancestors.

Deuteronomy 7:16

Exhortation to Destroy Canaanite Paganism

7:16 You must destroy ³¹  all the people whom the Lord your God is about to deliver over to you; you must not pity them or worship ³²  their gods, for that will be a snare to you.

Psalms 78:68

78:68 He chose the tribe of Judah,

and Mount Zion, which he loves.

Psalms 87:1-2

Psalm 87 ³³ 

Written by the Korahites; a psalm, a song.

87:1 The Lord’s city is in the holy hills. ³⁴ 

87:2 The Lord loves the gates of Zion

more than all the dwelling places of Jacob.

Psalms 132:13

132:13 Certainly ³⁵  the Lord has chosen Zion;

he decided to make it his home. ³⁶ 

[12:5]  ¹ tn Heb “the Lord your God.” The pronoun has been used in the translation for stylistic reasons to avoid redundancy.

[12:5]  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.

[12:6]  ³ tn Heb “heave offerings of your hand.”

[12:7]  ⁴ tn Heb “and your houses,” referring to entire households. The pronouns “you” and “your” are plural in the Hebrew text.

[12:7]  ⁵ tn Heb “the Lord your God.” See note on “he” in 12:5.

[12:8]  ⁶ tn Heb “a man.”

[12:9]  ⁷ tn Heb “rest.”

[12:10]  ⁸ tn The word “River” is not in the Hebrew text, but has been supplied in the translation for clarity.

[12:10]  ⁹ tn Heb “the Lord your God.” See note on “he” in 12:5.

[12:10]  ¹⁰ tn In the Hebrew text vv. 10-11 are one long, complex sentence. For stylistic reasons the translation divides this into two sentences.

[12:11]  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.”

[12:11]  ¹² tn Heb “heave offerings of your hand.”

[12:11]  ¹³ tn Heb “the Lord.” See note on “he” in 12:5.

[12:1]  ¹⁴ tn Heb “fathers.”

[12:1]  ¹⁵ tn Heb “you must be careful to obey in the land the Lord, the God of your fathers, has given you to possess all the days which you live in the land.” This adverbial statement modifies “to obey,” not “to possess,” so the order in the translation has been rearranged to make this clear.

[9:3]  ¹⁶ tn Heb “the Lord.” The pronoun has been used in the translation in keeping with contemporary English style to avoid redundancy.

[9:1]  ¹⁷ tn Heb “fortified to the heavens” (so NRSV); NLT “cities with walls that reach to the sky.” This is hyperbole.

[21:1]  ¹⁸ tn Heb “slain [one].” The term חָלָל (khalal) suggests something other than a natural death (cf. Num 19:16; 23:24; Jer 51:52; Ezek 26:15; 30:24; 31:17-18).

[21:1]  ¹⁹ tn The Hebrew text includes “to possess it,” but this has not been included in the translation for stylistic reasons.

[21:1]  ²⁰ tn Heb “struck,” but in context a fatal blow is meant; cf. NLT “who committed the murder.”

[22:1]  ²¹ tn Heb “you must not see,” but, if translated literally into English, the statement is misleading.

[22:1]  ²² tn Heb “brother’s” (also later in this verse). In this context it is not limited to one’s siblings, however; cf. NAB “your kinsman’s.”

[22:1]  ²³ tn Heb “hide yourself.”

[22:1]  ²⁴ tn The Hebrew text uses the infinitive absolute for emphasis, which the translation indicates with the words “without fail.”

[22:2]  ²⁵ tn Heb “your brother” (also later in this verse).

[22:2]  ²⁶ tn Heb “is not.” The idea of “residing” is implied.

[22:2]  ²⁷ tn Heb “and you do not know him.”

[22:2]  ²⁸ tn Heb “it”; the referent (the ox or sheep mentioned in v. 1) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[7:12]  ²⁹ tn Heb “will keep with you the covenant and loyalty.” On the construction used here, see v. 9.

[7:12]  ³⁰ tn Heb “which he swore on oath.” The relative pronoun modifies “covenant,” so one could translate “will keep faithfully the covenant (or promise) he made on oath to your ancestors.”

[7:16]  ³¹ tn Heb “devour” (so NRSV); KJV, NAB, NASB “consume.” The verbal form (a perfect with vav consecutive) is understood here as having an imperatival or obligatory nuance (cf. the instructions and commands that follow). Another option is to take the statement as a continuation of the preceding conditional promises and translate “and you will destroy.”

[7:16]  ³² tn Or “serve” (so KJV, NIV, NRSV).

[87:1]  ³³ sn Psalm 87. The psalmist celebrates the Lord’s presence in Zion and the special status of its citizens.

[87:1]  ³⁴ tn Heb “his foundation [is] in the hills of holiness.” The expression “his foundation” refers here by metonymy to the Lord’s dwelling place in Zion. The “hills” are the ones surrounding Zion (see Pss 125:2; 133:3).

[132:13]  ³⁵ tn Or “for.”

[132:13]  ³⁶ tn Heb “he desired it for his dwelling place.”