22

For if ye shall diligently keep all these commandments, which I command you, to do them, to love the LORD your 23 God, to walk in all his ways, and to cleave unto him; Then will the LORD drive out all these nations from before you, and ye shall possess greater nations and mightier than yourselves, 24 Every place whereon the soles of your feet shall tread shall be yours from the wilderness and Lebanon, from the river, the river Euphrates, even unto the uttermost sea shall your 25 coast be. There shall no man be able to stand before you : [for] the LORD your God shall lay the fear of you and the dread of you upon all the land that ye shall tread upon, as he hath said unto you.

26

Behold, I set before you this day a blessing and a curse; 27 A blessing, if ye obey the commandments of the LORD your 28 God, which I command you this day: And a curse, if ye

will not obey the commandments of the LORD your God, but turn aside out of the way which I command you this day, to 29 go after other gods which ye have not known. And it shall come to pass, when the LORD thy God hath brought thee in unto the land whither thou goest to possess it, that thou shalt put the blessing upon mount Gerizim, and the curse upon 30 mount Ebal. [Are] they not on the other side Jordan, by the way where the sun goeth down, in the land of the Canaanites, which dwell in the champaign over against Gilgal, beside the 31 plains of Moreh? For ye shall pass over Jordan to go in to possess the land which the LORD your God giveth you, and 32 ye shall possess it, and dwell therein.. And ye shall observe to do all the statutes and judgments which I set before you this day.

CHAP. XII.

Monuments of idolatry to be destroyed; the place of God's service to be kept; and blood forbid to be cat.

1

1TH

HESE [are] the statutes and judgments, which ye shall observe to do in the land, which the Lord God of thy fathers giveth thee to possess it, all the days that ye live 2 upon the earth. Ye shall utterly destroy all the places, wherein the nations which ye shall possess served their gods, upon the high mountains, and upon the hills, and under every 3 green tree: And ye shall overthrow their altars, and break their pillars, and burn their groves with fire; and ye shall hew down the graven images of their gods, and destroy the names of them out of that place.

4 5 Ye shall not do so unto the LORD your God. But unto the place which the LORD your God shall choose out of all your tribes to put his name there, [even] unto his habitation 6 shall ye seek, and thither thou shalt come: And thither ye shall bring your burnt offerings, and your sacrifices, and your tithes, and heave offerings of your hand, and your vows, and your free will offerings, and the firstlings of your herds and of 7 your flocks: And there ye shall eat before the LORD your God, and ye shall rejoice in all that ye put your hand unto, ye and your households, wherein the LORD thy God hath blessed thee. Ye shall not do after all [the things] that we do here this day, every man whatsoever [is] right in his own eyes; not live in the neglect of sacrifices, and many other rites of the ceremonial law, which they took occasion to do, by reason of their 9 unsettled condition; For ye are not as yet come to the rest, and to the inheritance, which the LORD your God giveth you. 10. But [when] ye go over Jordan, and dwell in the land which the LORD your God giveth you to inherit, and [when] he giv eth you rest from all your enemies round about, so that ye 11 dwell in safety; Then there shall be a place which the Lord your God shall choose to cause his name to dwell there; thither shall ye bring all that I command you; your burnt offerings, and your sacrifices, your tithes, and the heave offering of your hand, and all your choice vows which ye vow unto 12 the LORD. And ye shall rejoice before the LORD your God, ye, and your sons, and your daughters, and your men servants, and your maid servants, and the Levite that [is] within your gates; forasmuch as he hath no part nor inheritance with 13 you. Take heed to thyself that thou offer not thy burnt offer 14 ings in every place that thou seest: But in the place which

15

the LORD shall choose in one of thy tribes, there thou shalt offer thy burnt offerings, and there thou shalt do all that I command thee.

Notwithstanding thou mayest kill and eat flesh in all thy gates, whatsoever thy soul lusteth after, according to the blesse ing of the Lord thy God which he hath given thee: the unclean and the clean may eat thereof, as of the roebuck, and as 16 of the hart. Only ye shall not eat the blood; ye shall pour * it upon the earth as water.

17

Thou mayest not eat within thy gates thy tithe of thy corn, or of thy wine, or of thy oil, or the firstlings of thy herds or of thy flock, nor any of thy vows which thou vowest, nor thy 18 free will offerings, or heave offering of thine hand: But thou must eat them before the LORD thy God in the place which the LORD thy God shall choose, thou, and thy son, and thy daughter, and thy man servant, and thy maid servants, and the Levite that [is] within thy gates: and thou shalt rejoice before the LORD thy God in all that thou puttest thine hands unto.

19

20

Take heed to thyself that thou forsake not the Levite as long as thou livest upon the earth.

When the LORD thy God shall enlarge thy border, as he hath promised thee, and thou shalt say, I will eat flesh because thy soul longeth to eat flesh; thou mayest eat flesh whatso21 ever thy soul lusteth after. If the place which the LORD thy God hath chosen to put his name there, be too far from thee, then thou shalt kill of thy herd and of thy flock, which the LORD hath given thee, as I have commanded thee, and thou 22 shalt eat in thy gates whatsoever thy soul lusteth after. Even as the roebuck and the hart is eaten, so thou shalt eat them the unclean and the clean shall eat [of] them alike. 23 Only be sure that thou eat not the blood for the blood [is] the life; and thou mayest not eat the life with the flesh. 24 Thou shalt not eat it; thou shalt pour it upon the earth as 25 water. Thou shalt not eat it; that it may go well with thee and with thy children after thee, when thou shall do [that which is] right in the sight of the LORD..

26

Only thy holy things which thou hast, and thy vows, thou shalt take, and go unto the place which the LORD shall choose : 27 and thou shalt offer thy burnt offerings, the flesh and the blood, upon the altar of the LORD thy God and the blood of thy sacrifices shall be poured out upon the altar of the LORD thy God, and thou shalt eat the flesh.

28

29

Observe and hear all these words which I command thee, that it may go well with thee, and with thy children after thee for ever, when thou doest [that which is] good and right in the sight of the LORD thy God.

When the LORD thy God shall cut off the nations from before thee, whither thou goest to possess them, and thou suc30 ceedest them, and dwellest in their land; Take heed to thyself that thou be not snared by following them, after that they be destroyed from before thee; and that thou inquire not after their gods, saying, How did these nations serve 31 their gods? even so will I do likewise. Thou shalt not do so unto the LORD thy God: for every abomination to the LORD which he hateth have they done unto their gods; for even their sons and their daughters they have burnt in the fire 32 to their gods. What thing soever I command you, observe to do it thou shalt not add thereto, nor diminish from it. :

*

CHAP. XIII.

Moses having, in the former chapters, warned the people against being led to idolatry by the neighbouring nations, in this, directs them how to behave to idolaters among themselves.

1

F there arise among you a prophet, or a dreamer of

to

a vision or dream, and giveth thee a sign or a wonder, foretells some strange and wonderful things to come, with a design to lead 2 you to idolatry; And if God should permit the sign or the wonder to come to pass, whereof he spake unto thee, saying, Let us go after other gods, which thou hast not known, and 3 let us serve them: Thou shalt not hearken unto the words of that prophet, or that dreamer of dreams: for the LORD your God proveth you, to know whether ye love the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul. God may suffer such a one to perform a miracle, as he did the Egyp tian magicians; or to foretell future events, as he did Balaam ; but all this is only to try your constancy, whether you love God and will adhere to him: if he would lead you from Jehovah, you may be sure he is no true prophet. Ye shall walk after the LORD your God, and fear him, and keep his commandments, and obey his voice, and ye shall serve him, and cleave 5 unto him. And that prophet, or that dreamer of dreams, shall be put to death by the elders or counsellors, after due examination; because he hath spoken to turn [you] away from the LORD your God, which brought you out of the land of Egypt, and redeemed you out of the house of bondage, to thrust thee out of the way which the LORD thy God commanded thee to walk in; that is, because he hath endeavoured to persuade and force thee to idolatry. So shalt thou put the evil away from the midst of thee, and prevent the mischief that might follow thereupon.

6

If thy brother, the son of thy mother, or thy son, or thy daughter, or the wife of thy bosom, or thy friend, which [is] as thine own soul, entice thee secretly, saying, Let us go and serve other gods which thou hast not known, thou, nor thy 7 fathers; [Namely,] of the gods of the people which [are] round about you, nigh unto thee, or far off from thee, from the [one] end of the earth even unto the [other] end of the earth; if he urge upon thee the universality of idolatry, that all 8 the nations round about thee, far and near did so; Thou shalt not consent unto him, nor hearken unto him; neither shall thine eye pity him, neither shalt thou spare, neither shalt thou conceal him, but use all means to bring him to condign punish9 ment: But thou shalt surely kill him, inform against him to the magistrate, that he may be put to death, and thine hand

shall be first upon him to put him to death; and afterward the hand of all the people; thou shalt throw the first 10 stone, as the accuser and witnesses were commanded to do. And thou shalt stone him with stones, that he die; because he hath sought to thrust thee away from the LORD thy God, which brought thee out of the land of Egypt, from the house 11 of bondage. And all Israel shall hear, and fear, and shall do no more any such wickedness as this is among you, when they see a man prosecuting a near relation, for only attempting such a thing, though it should be without success,

12 If thou shalt hear [say] in one of thy cities, the cities of Israel, which the LORD thy God hath given thee to dwell 13 there, saying, [Certain] men, the children of Belial, unruly persons, who will not submit to God's yoke, wicked licentious persons, who have forsaken Jehovah, to serve other gods, are gone out from among you, and have withdrawn the inhabitants of their city, saying, Let us go and serve other gods, 14 which ye have not known; Then shalt thou inquire, and make search, and ask diligently; and, behold, [if it be] truth, [and] the thing certain, [that] such abomination is wrought 15 among you, that the whole city has revolted; Thou shalt surely smite the inhabitants of that city with the edge of the sword, destroying it utterly, and all that [is] therein, and the cattle 16 thereof, with the edge of the sword.* And thou shalt gather all the spoil of it into the midst of the street thereof, and shalt burn with fire the city, and all the spoil thereof every whit, for the LORD thy God; for his honour, and out of regard for the purity of his worship: and it shall be an heap for ever; it shall not be built again, it shall lie in ruins as a monument of 17 his justice, and as a warning to other cities. And there shall cleave nought of the cursed thing to thine hand; thou shalt not take for thy own use, any of the spoil of that city which is devoted to destruction ; that the LORD may turn from the fierceness of his anger, and show thee mercy, and have compassion upon thee, and multiply thee, as he hath sworn unto thy 18 fathers; When thou shalt hearken to the voice of the LORD thy God, to keep all his commandments which I command thee this day, to do [that which is] right in the eyes of the LORD thy God.†

<

The Jewish rabbies say, that if the greatest part of it had revolted, the innocent were to be removed, but the whole city was to be destroyed; if the lesser part only had affended, the guilty were to be taken out with their goods, and destroyed.

Some have objected to the law in this chapter, as being an invincible bar to freedom of inquiry, and a foundation for persecution, and therefore unworthy of God. To this it is answered, 1. Though we readily allow that persecution is an evil in a state of nature, yet perhaps it may be asserted, that as the divine Being knows what degree of evidence will attend any doctrine of religion in any given circumstances of time, place, and person, which we cannot judge of, he may pass sentence upon idolaters, and other profane persons, where human laws cannot safely do it. 2. As God was the temporal king of Israel, and even their kings were only his viceroys, idolatry was in the nature of high treason, and therefore justly punishable as by their statute laws. 3. It is also to be remembered, that God gave the land of Canaan with many temporal emoluments, to the Israelites, as a reward of their obedience