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Deuteronomy 12:26

Only your holy things which you have, and your vows, you shall take, and go to the place which Yahweh shall choose.
Deuteronomy 12:26 · World English Bible
Parallel translations
  • KJV Only thy holy things which thou hast, and thy vows, thou shalt take, and go unto the place which the LORD shall choose:
  • BSB But you are to take your holy things and your vow offerings and go to the place the LORD will 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 heave offering of all the holy things of the children of Israel, which they present to the priest, shall be his.
  • Num 18:19All the wave offerings of the holy things, which the children of Israel offer to Yahweh, I have given you, and your sons and your daughters with you, as a portion forever. It is a covenant of salt forever before Yahweh to you and to your offspring with you.”
  • Deut 12:11then it shall happen that to the place which Yahweh your God shall choose, to cause his name to dwell there, there you shall bring all that I command you: your burnt offerings, your sacrifices, your tithes, the wave offering of your hand, and all your choice vows which you vow to Yahweh.
  • Deut 12:6There you shall bring your burnt offerings, your sacrifices, your tithes, the wave offering of your hand, your vows, your freewill offerings, and the firstborn of your herd and of your flock.
  • Gen 28:20Jacob vowed a vow, saying, “If God will be with me, and will keep me in this way that I go, and will give me bread to eat, and clothing to put on,
  • Ps 66:13–15I will come into your temple with burnt offerings. I will pay my vows to you,
  • Deut 12:17–18You may not eat within your gates the tithe of your grain, or of your new wine, or of your oil, or the firstborn of your herd or of your flock, nor any of your vows which you vow, nor your freewill offerings, nor the wave offering of your hand;
  • 1 Sam 1:21–24The man Elkanah, and all his house, went up to offer to Yahweh the yearly sacrifice, and his vow.
  • Lev 22:18–33“Speak to Aaron, and to his sons, and to all the children of Israel, and say to them, ‘Whoever is of the house of Israel, or of the foreigners in Israel, who offers his offering, whether it is any of their vows, or any of their freewill offerings, which they offer to Yahweh for a burnt offering;
  • Deut 12:21If the place which Yahweh your God shall choose, to put his name there, is too far from you, then you shall kill of your herd and of your flock, which Yahweh has given you, as I have commanded you; and you may eat within your gates, after all the desire of your soul.

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.