Deuteronomy 26

1 Once you've entered the country that the Lord your God is giving you to own, and you take it over and settle there,

And it shall be, when you are come in to the land which the LORD your God gives you for an inheritance, and possess it, and dwell therein;

2 take some of the firstfruits of all your crops produced by the land that the Lord your God is giving you and place them in a basket. Then go to the place the Lord your God will choose to live with you,

That you shall take of the first of all the fruit of the earth, which you shall bring of your land that the LORD your God gives you, and shall put it in a basket, and shall go to the place which the LORD your God shall choose to place his name there.

3 and tell the priest in charge at the time, “Today I declare to the Lord your God that I now live in the country that the Lord promised our forefathers to give us.”

And you shall go to the priest that shall be in those days, and say to him, I profess this day to the LORD your God, that I am come to the country which the LORD swore to our fathers for to give us.

4 The priest will take the basket from you and place it in front of the altar of the Lord your God.

And the priest shall take the basket out of your hand, and set it down before the altar of the LORD your God.

5 Then this is what you are to publicly declare before the Lord your God, “My father was a Aramean who moved from place to place. There were only a few of them when he and his family went to live in Egypt. But they became a large and powerful nation.

And you shall speak and say before the LORD your God, A Syrian ready to perish was my father, and he went down into Egypt, and sojourned there with a few, and became there a nation, great, mighty, and populous:

6 But the Egyptians treated us very badly, oppressing us and forcing us to do hard labor.

And the Egyptians evil entreated us, and afflicted us, and laid on us hard bondage:

7 We cried out for help to the Lord, the God of our forefathers; and the Lord answered us as he saw how much we were suffering, forced to work so hard in such cruelty.

And when we cried to the LORD God of our fathers, the LORD heard our voice, and looked on our affliction, and our labor, and our oppression:

8 The Lord led us out of Egypt with his great power and incredible strength and terrifying actions, signs and miracles.

And the LORD brought us forth out of Egypt with a mighty hand, and with an outstretched arm, and with great terribleness, and with signs, and with wonders:

9 He brought us here and gave us this country, a land flowing with milk and honey.

And he has brought us into this place, and has given us this land, even a land that flows with milk and honey.

10 Look, Lord! I have brought you the firstfruits of the land that you have given me.” You shall place the basket before the Lord your God and bow down in worship before him.

And now, behold, I have brought the first fruits of the land, which you, O LORD, have given me. And you shall set it before the LORD your God, and worship before the LORD your God:

11 Then you, the Levites, and the foreigners who live with you are to celebrate all the good things the Lord your God has given to you and your family.

And you shall rejoice in every good thing which the LORD your God has given to you, and to your house, you, and the Levite, and the stranger that is among you.

12 Once you've finished storing up a tenth of all your crops in the third year, (the year of the tithe), you shall give it to the Levites, the foreigners, the orphans, and the widows, so they will have enough to eat in your towns.

When you have made an end of tithing all the tithes of your increase the third year, which is the year of tithing, and have given it to the Levite, the stranger, the fatherless, and the widow, that they may eat within your gates, and be filled;

13 Then you are to make this declaration in the presence of the Lord your God: “I have brought the holy tithe and I have given it to the Levite, the foreigners, the orphans, and the widows as you have ordered me to do. I have not broken or forgotten your commandments.

Then you shall say before the LORD your God, I have brought away the hallowed things out of my house, and also have given them to the Levite, and to the stranger, to the fatherless, and to the widow, according to all your commandments which you have commanded me: I have not transgressed your commandments, neither have I forgotten them.

14 I have not eaten any of the holy tithe while in mourning, or taken any of it while I was unclean, or used any of it as an offering for the dead. I have obeyed the Lord my God. I have done everything you ordered me to do.

I have not eaten thereof in my mourning, neither have I taken away anything thereof for any unclean use, nor given anything thereof for the dead: but I have listened to the voice of the LORD my God, and have done according to all that you have commanded me.

15 Please look down from your home in heaven, and bless your people the Israelites and the country you have given us as you promised our fathers—a land flowing with milk and honey.”

Look down from your holy habitation, from heaven, and bless your people Israel, and the land which you have given us, as you swore to our fathers, a land that flows with milk and honey.

16 Today the Lord your God orders you to carry out these rules and regulations. Make sure you follow them with all your mind and with all your being.

This day the LORD your God has commanded you to do these statutes and judgments: you shall therefore keep and do them with all your heart, and with all your soul.

17 Today you have publicly declared that the Lord is your God and that you will follow his ways, keep rules and commandments and regulations, and obey what he says.

You have avouched the LORD this day to be your God, and to walk in his ways, and to keep his statutes, and his commandments, and his judgments, and to listen to his voice:

18 Today the Lord has announced that you are a special people who belong to him as he promised. He has announced that you are to keep all his commandments.

And the LORD has avouched you this day to be his peculiar people, as he has promised you, and that you should keep all his commandments;

19 He has announced that he will give you greater praise and reputation and honor than any other nation he has made. He has announced that you will be a holy people to the Lord your God, as he promised.

And to make you high above all nations which he has made, in praise, and in name, and in honor; and that you may be an holy people to the LORD your God, as he has spoken.