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Deuteronomy 12:26

But you are to take your holy things and your vow offerings and go to the place the LORD will choose.
Deuteronomy 12:26 · Berean Standard Bible
Parallel translations
  • WEB Only your holy things which you have, and your vows, you shall take, and go to the place which Yahweh shall choose.
  • KJV Only thy holy things which thou hast, and thy vows, thou shalt take, and go unto the place which the LORD shall choose:
  • NKJV Only the holy things which you have, and your vowed offerings, you shall take and go to the place which the Lord chooses.
  • NASB Only your holy things which you may have and your vowed offerings, you shall take and go to the place which the Lord chooses.
  • NLT “Take your sacred gifts and your offerings given to fulfill a vow to the place the Lord chooses.

Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

Scripture quotations taken from the (NASB®) New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995, 2020 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. All rights reserved. lockman.org

Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.

Quick answer

Holy things and vows, however, must be carried to the place the LORD chooses. Dedicated offerings still belong at the sanctuary.

Overview

While ordinary food could be eaten anywhere, anything consecrated to God, such as vow offerings, must be brought to the chosen sanctuary. This preserves the distinction between common and holy. It teaches that what is set apart for God is to be handled on his terms, a holiness ultimately centered in Christ to whom every vow finds its yes.

Cross-references & the web

Cross-references · 10

  • Num 5:9–10Every sacred contribution the Israelites bring to the priest shall belong to him.
  • Num 18:19All the holy offerings that the Israelites present to the LORD I give to you and to your sons and daughters as a permanent statute. It is a permanent covenant of salt before the LORD for you and your offspring.”
  • Deut 12:11then the LORD your God will choose a dwelling for His Name. And there you are to bring everything I command you: your burnt offerings and sacrifices, your tithes and special gifts, and all the choice offerings you vow to the LORD.
  • Deut 12:6To that place you are to bring your burnt offerings and sacrifices, your tithes and heave offerings, your vow offerings and freewill offerings, as well as the firstborn of your herds and flocks.
  • Gen 28:20Then Jacob made a vow, saying, “If God will be with me and watch over me on this journey, and if He will provide me with food to eat and clothes to wear,
  • Ps 66:13–15I will enter Your house with burnt offerings; I will fulfill my vows to You—
  • Deut 12:17–18Within your gates you must not eat the tithe of your grain or new wine or oil, the firstborn of your herds or flocks, any of the offerings that you have vowed to give, or your freewill offerings or special gifts.
  • 1 Sam 1:21–24Then Elkanah and all his house went up to make the annual sacrifice to the LORD and to fulfill his vow,
  • Lev 22:18–33“Speak to Aaron and his sons and all the Israelites and tell them, ‘Any man of the house of Israel or any foreign resident who presents a gift for a burnt offering to the LORD, whether to fulfill a vow or as a freewill offering,
  • Deut 12:21If the place where the LORD your God chooses to put His Name is too far from you, then you may slaughter any of the herd or flock He has given you, as I have commanded you, and you may eat it within your gates whenever you want.

Themes, concepts, people & topics

Topics (1)

Resources, by level

Commentaries & study tools

  • VideoBibleProject — Deuteronomy videosBibleProject · Lay · Free · evangelical

    Free animated overview and word-study videos for this book.

  • VideoWatch teaching on Deuteronomy 12:26YouTube · Lay · Free

    Sermons and teaching on this passage from across YouTube.

  • CommentaryEnduring Word — verse-by-verseDavid Guzik · Lay · Free · evangelical

    Clear, readable, conservative exposition — the best free place to start on any passage.

  • CommentaryClassic commentaries for this verseBibleHub (20+ works) · Pastoral · Free

    Matthew Henry, Barnes, Gill, the Pulpit Commentary, Ellicott, Cambridge, and more — stacked on one page for this exact verse.

  • CommentaryMatthew Henry on DeuteronomyMatthew Henry · Pastoral · Free · evangelical

    The beloved Puritan exposition of this whole book — warm, devotional, and verse by verse (free, CCEL).

  • ReferenceInterlinear, lexicon & Strong'sBlue Letter Bible · Seminary · Free

    Hebrew/Greek interlinear, word definitions, and cross-references for this verse.

Christ at the center

Moses promised a Prophet like himself to whom Israel must listen (18:15); Jesus is that Prophet, the one who keeps the covenant we broke and becomes the curse for us by hanging on a tree (Gal 3:13).

How Deuteronomy 12:26 points to him is part of the one story that runs through all Scripture — meet Jesus at the heart of the web, or follow a trail that traces him from Genesis to Revelation.

Original language

Each word below is tagged with its Strong’s number — tap one to see the underlying Hebrew word, its meaning, and every verse that uses it.