Thou shalt eat it before the LORD thy God year by year in the place which the LORD shall choose, thou and thy household.
Parallel translations
- WEB You shall eat it before Yahweh your God year by year in the place which Yahweh shall choose, you and your household.
- BSB Each year you and your household are to eat it before the LORD your God in the place the LORD will choose.
- NKJV You and your household shall eat it before the Lord your God year by year in the place which the Lord chooses.
- NASB You and your household shall eat it every year before the Lord your God in the place which the Lord chooses.
- NLT Instead, you and your family must eat these animals in the presence of the Lord your God each year at the place he 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
The firstborn animals were to be eaten yearly before God at his chosen place, with one's household. Consecration to God was joined to joyful fellowship.
Overview
What was dedicated to God became the occasion for a sacred meal eaten in his presence at the central sanctuary. Devotion and celebration went hand in hand, drawing the family into worship. This pattern of communion with God around a sacred meal points forward to the Lord's Supper, where God's people feast in fellowship with their Redeemer.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 3
- Deut 14:23And thou shalt eat before the LORD thy God, in the place which he shall choose to place his name there, the tithe of thy corn, of thy wine, and of thine oil, and the firstlings of thy herds and of thy flocks; that thou mayest learn to fear the LORD thy God always.
- Deut 12:17Thou mayest not eat within thy gates the 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 freewill offerings, or heave offering of thine hand:
- Deut 12:5–7But unto the place which the LORD your God shall choose out of all your tribes to put his name there, even unto his habitation shall ye seek, and thither thou shalt come:
Themes, concepts, people & topics
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Commentaries & study tools
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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 15:20 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.