Deuteronomy 26

26:1 When1 you enter the land that the Lord your God is giving you as an inheritance, and you occupy it and live in it, 26:2 you must take the first of all the ground’s produce you harvest from the land the Lord your God is giving you, place it in a basket, and go to the place where he2 chooses to locate his name.3 26:3 You must go to the priest in office at that time and say to him, “I declare today to the Lord your4 God that I have come into the land that the Lord5 promised6 to our ancestors7 to give us.” 26:4 The priest will then take the basket from you8 and set it before the altar of the Lord your God. 26:5 Then you must affirm before the Lord your God, “A wandering9 Aramean10 was my ancestor,11 and he went down to Egypt and lived there as a foreigner with a household few in number.12 But there he became a great, powerful, and numerous people. 26:6 But the Egyptians mistreated and oppressed us, forcing us to do burdensome labor. 26:7 So we cried out to the Lord, the God of our ancestors, and he13 heard us and saw our humiliation, toil, and oppression. 26:8 Therefore the Lord brought us out of Egypt with strength and power,14 as well as with great awe-inspiring signs and wonders. 26:9 Then he brought us to this place and gave us this land, a land flowing with milk and honey. 26:10 So now, look! I have brought the first of the ground’s produce that you, Lord, have given me.” Then you must set it down before the Lord your God and worship before him.15 26:11 You will celebrate all the good things that the Lord your God has given you and your family,16 along with the Levites and the resident foreigners among you.

Presentation of the Third Year Tithe

26:12 When you finish tithing all17 your income in the third year (the year of tithing), you must give it to the Levites, the resident foreigners, the orphans, and the widows18 so that they may eat to their satisfaction in your villages.19 26:13 Then you shall say before the Lord your God, “I have removed the sacred offering20 from my house and given it to the Levites, the resident foreigners, the orphans, and the widows just as you have commanded me.21 I have not violated or forgotten your commandments. 26:14 I have not eaten anything when in mourning, or removed any of it while ceremonially unclean, or offered any of it to the dead;22 I have obeyed you23 and have done everything you have commanded me. 26:15 Look down from your holy dwelling place in heaven and bless your people Israel and the land you have given us, just as you promised our ancestors—a land flowing with milk and honey.”

Narrative Interlude

26:16 Today the Lord your God is commanding you to keep these statutes and ordinances, something you must do with all your heart and soul.24 26:17 Today you have declared the Lord to be your God, and that you will walk in his ways, keep his statutes, commandments, and ordinances, and obey him. 26:18 And today the Lord has declared you to be his special people (as he already promised you) so you may keep all his commandments. 26:19 Then25 he will elevate you above all the nations he has made and you will receive praise, fame, and honor.26 You will27 be a people holy to the Lord your God, as he has said.

The Assembly at Shechem

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