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, 1 has given you to possess. 2 12:2 You must by all means destroy 3 all the places where the nations you are about to dispossess worship their gods – on the high mountains and hills and under every leafy tree. 4 12:3 You must tear down their altars, shatter their sacred pillars, 5 burn up their sacred Asherah poles, 6 and cut down the images of their gods; you must eliminate their very memory from that place. 12:4 You must not worship the Lord your God the way they worship. 12:5 But you must seek only the place he 7 chooses from all your tribes to establish his name as his place of residence, 8 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, 9 your votive offerings, your freewill offerings, and the firstborn of your herds and flocks. 12:7 Both you and your families 10 must feast there before the Lord your God and rejoice in all the output of your labor with which he 11 has blessed you.