Deuteronomy 26

The AIT Bible

Offering Firstfruits

1And it shall be, when you come into the land that Yahweh your God is giving you as an inheritance, and you take possession of it and dwell in it,

2that you shall take some of the firstfruits of all the produce of the ground, which you bring in from your land that Yahweh your God is giving you, and put it in a basket, and go to the place that Yahweh your God will choose to make his name dwell there.

3And you shall come to the priest who is in office in those days and say to him, ‘I declare today to Yahweh your God that I have come into the land that Yahweh swore to our fathers to give to us.’

4And the priest shall take the basket from your hand and set it down before the altar of Yahweh your God.

5And you shall respond and say before Yahweh your God: ‘A wandering Aramean was my father, and he went down to Egypt and sojourned there, few in number, and there he became a nation—great, mighty, and numerous.

6But the Egyptians dealt harshly with us and afflicted us, and they imposed hard labor on us.

7Then we cried out to Yahweh, the God of our fathers, and Yahweh heard our voice and saw our affliction, our toil, and our oppression.

8And Yahweh brought us out of Egypt with a mighty hand and an outstretched arm, with great terror, and with signs and with wonders.

9And he brought us to this place and gave us this land, a land flowing with milk and honey.

10And now, behold, I have brought the firstfruits of the produce of the ground that you, Yahweh, have given me.’ And you shall set it down before Yahweh your God and bow down before Yahweh your God.

11And you shall rejoice in all the good that Yahweh your God has given you and your household—you and the Levite and the sojourner who is in your midst.

The Third-Year Tithe Declaration

12When you have finished tithing all the tithe of your yield in the third year, the year of the tithe, and have given it to the Levite, the sojourner, the orphan, and the widow, so that they eat within your gates and are satisfied,

13then you shall say before Yahweh your God: ‘I have removed the sacred portion from the house, and I have also given it to the Levite and the sojourner, to the orphan and the widow, according to all your commandment that you commanded me; I have not transgressed your commandments, nor have I forgotten them.

14I have not eaten of it in my mourning, nor have I removed any of it while unclean, nor have I given any of it for the dead. I have obeyed the voice of Yahweh my God; I have done according to all that you commanded me.

15Look down from your holy dwelling, from heaven, and bless your people Israel and the ground that you have given us, as you swore to our fathers, a land flowing with milk and honey.’

The Covenant Confirmed

16This day Yahweh your God is commanding you to do these statutes and the ordinances; and you shall keep and do them with all your heart and with all your self.

17You have this day declared Yahweh to be your God, that you would walk in his ways and keep his statutes, his commandments, and his ordinances, and obey his voice.

18And Yahweh has this day declared you to be his people, a treasured possession, as he promised you, and that you would keep all his commandments,

19and that he would set you high above all the nations that he has made, for praise and for renown and for glory, and that you would be a people holy to Yahweh your God, as he has promised.

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