The Bible, Douay-Rheims Part 117

12:2. Destroy all the places in which the nations, that you shall possess, worshipped their G.o.ds upon high mountains, and hills, and under every shady tree:

12:3. Overthrow their altars, and break down their statues, burn their groves with fire, and break their idols in pieces: destroy their names out of those places.

12:4. You shall not do so to the Lord your G.o.d:

12:5. But you shall come to the place, which the Lord your G.o.d shall choose out of all your tribes, to put his name there, and to dwell in it:

12:6. And you shall offer in that place your holocausts and victims, the t.i.thes and firstfruits of your hands and your vows and gifts, the firstborn of your herds and your sheep.

12:7. And you shall eat there in the sight of the Lord your G.o.d: and you shall rejoice in all things, whereunto you shall put your hand, you and your houses wherein the Lord your G.o.d hath blessed you.

12:8. You shall not do there the things we do here this day, every man that which seemeth good to himself.

12:9. For until this present time you are not come to rest, and to the possession, which the Lord your G.o.d will give you.

12:10. You shall pa.s.s over the Jordan, and shall dwell in the land which the Lord your G.o.d will give you, that you may have rest from all enemies round about: and may dwell without any fear,

12:11. In the place, which the Lord your G.o.d shall choose, that his name may be therein. Thither shall you bring all the things that I command you, holocausts, and victims, and t.i.thes, and the firstfruits of your hands: and whatsoever is the choicest in the gifts which you shall vow to the Lord.

12:12. There shall you feast before the Lord your G.o.d, you and your sons and your daughters, your menservants and maidservants, and the Levite that dwelleth in your cities. For he hath no other part and possession among you.

12:13. Beware lest thou offer thy holocausts in every place that thou shalt see:

12:14. But in the place which the Lord shall choose in one of thy tribes shalt thou offer sacrifices, and shalt do all that I command thee.

12:15. But if thou desirest to eat, and the eating of flesh delight thee, kill, and eat according to the blessing of the Lord thy G.o.d, which he hath given thee, in thy cities: whether it be unclean, that is to say, having blemish or defect: or clean, that is to say, sound and without blemish, such as may be offered, as the roe, and the hart, shalt thou eat it:

12:16. Only the blood thou shalt not eat, but thou shalt pour it out upon the earth as water.

12:17. Thou mayst not eat in thy towns the t.i.thes of thy corn, and thy wine, and thy oil, the firstborn of thy herds and thy cattle, nor any thing that thou vowest, and that thou wilt offer voluntarily, and the firstfruits of thy hands:

12:18. But thou shalt eat them before the Lord thy G.o.d in the place which the Lord thy G.o.d shall choose, thou and thy son and thy daughter, and thy manservant, and maidservant, and the Levite that dwelleth in thy cities: and thou shalt rejoice and be refreshed before the Lord thy G.o.d in all things, whereunto thou shalt put thy hand.

12:19. Take heed thou forsake not the Levite all the time that thou livest in the land.

12:20 When the Lord thy G.o.d shall have enlarged thy borders, as he hath spoken to thee, and thou wilt eat the flesh that thy soul desireth:

12:21. And if the place which the Lord thy G.o.d shall choose, that his name should be there, be far off, thou shalt kill of thy herds and of thy flocks, as I have commanded thee, and shalt eat in thy towns, as it pleaseth thee.

12:22. Even as the roe and the hart is eaten, so shalt thou eat them: both the clean and unclean shall eat of them alike.

12:23. Only beware of this, that thou eat not the blood, for the blood is for the soul: and therefore thou must not eat the soul with the flesh:

12:24. But thou shalt pour it upon the earth as water,

12:25. That it may be well with thee and thy children after thee, when thou shalt do that which is pleasing in the sight of the Lord.

12:26. But the things which thou hast sanctified and vowed to the Lord, thou shalt take, and shalt come to the place which the Lord shall choose:

12:27. And shalt offer thy oblations, the flesh and the blood upon the altar of the Lord thy G.o.d: the blood of thy victims thou shalt pour on the altar: and the flesh thou thyself shalt eat.

12:28. Observe and hear all the things that I command thee, that it may be well with thee and thy children after thee for ever, when thou shalt do what is good and pleasing in the sight of the Lord thy G.o.d.

12:29. When the Lord thy G.o.d shall have destroyed before thy face the nations, which thou shalt go in to possess, and when thou shalt possess them, and dwell in their land:

12:30. Beware lest thou imitate them, after they are destroyed at thy coming in, and lest thou seek after their ceremonies, saying: As these nations have worshipped their G.o.ds, so will I also worship.

12:31. Thou shalt not do in like manner to the Lord thy G.o.d. For they have done to their G.o.ds all the abominations which the Lord abhorreth, offering their sons and daughters, and burning them with fire.

12:32. What I command thee, that only do thou to the Lord: neither add any thing, nor diminish.

That only do thou, etc... They are forbid here to follow the ceremonies of the heathens; or to make any alterations in the divine ordinances.

Deuteronomy Chapter 13

False prophets must be slain, and idolatrous cities destroyed.

13:1. If there rise in the midst of thee a prophet or one that saith he hath dreamed a dream, and he foretell a sign and a wonder,

13:2. And that come to pa.s.s which he spoke, and he say to thee: Let us go and follow strange G.o.ds, which thou knowest not, and let us serve them:

13:3. Thou shalt not hear the words of that prophet or dreamer: for the Lord your G.o.d trieth you, that it may appear whether you love him with all your heart, and with all your soul, or not.

13:4. Follow the Lord your G.o.d, and fear him, and keep his commandments, and hear his voice: him you shall serve, and to him you shall cleave.

13:5. And that prophet or forger of dreams shall be slain: because he spoke to draw you away from the Lord your G.o.d, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, and redeemed you from the house of bondage: to make thee go out of the way, which the Lord thy G.o.d commanded thee: and thou shalt take away the evil out of the midst of thee.

13:6. If thy brother the son of thy mother, or thy son, or daughter, or thy wife that is in thy bosom, or thy friend, whom thou lovest as thy own soul, would persuade thee secretly, saying: Let us go, and serve strange G.o.ds, which thou knowest not, nor thy fathers,

13:7. Of all the nations round about, that are near or afar off, from one end of the earth to the other,

13:8. Consent not to him, hear him not, neither let thy eye spare him to pity and conceal him,

13:9. But thou shalt presently put him to death. Let thy hand be first upon him, and afterwards the hands of all the people.

Presently put him to death... Not by killing him by private authority, but by informing the magistrate, and proceeding by order of justice.

13:10. With stones shall he be stoned to death: because he would have withdrawn thee from the Lord thy G.o.d, who brought thee out of the land of Egypt, from the house of bondage:

13:11. That all Israel hearing may fear, and may do no more any thing like this.

13:12. If in one of thy cities, which the Lord thy G.o.d shall give thee to dwell in, thou hear some say:

13:13. Children of Belial are gone out of the midst of thee, and have withdrawn the inhabitants of their city, and have said: Let us go, and serve strange G.o.ds which you know not:

Belial... That is, without yoke. Hence the wicked, who refuse to be subject to the divine law, are called in scripture the children of Belial.

13:14. Inquire carefully and diligently, the truth of the thing by looking well into it, and if thou find that which is said to be certain, and that this abomination hath been really committed,