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 thou art come in unto the land which the LORD thy God giveth thee for an inheritance, and possessest it, and dwellest 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 thou shalt take of the first of all the fruit of the ground, which thou shalt bring in from thy land that the LORD thy God giveth thee; and thou shalt put it in a basket, and shalt go unto the place which the LORD thy God shall choose to cause his name to dwell 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 thou shalt come unto the priest that shall be in those days, and say unto him, I profess this day unto the LORD thy God, that I am come unto the land which the LORD sware unto 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 thine hand, and set it down before the altar of the LORD thy 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 thou shalt answer and say before the LORD thy God, A Syrian ready to perish was my father, and he went down into Egypt, and sojourned there, few in number; and he 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 upon 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 we cried unto the LORD, the God of our fathers, and the LORD heard our voice, and saw our affliction, and our toil, 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 hath brought us into this place, and hath given us this land, a land flowing 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 of the fruit of the ground, which thou, O LORD, hast given me. And thou shalt set it down before the LORD thy God, and worship before the LORD thy 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 thou shalt rejoice in all the good which the LORD thy God hath given unto thee, and unto thine house, thou, and the Levite, and the stranger that is in the midst of thee.

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 thou hast made an end of tithing all the tithe of thine increase in the third year, which is the year of tithing, then thou shalt give it unto the Levite, to the stranger, to the fatherless, and to the widow, that they may eat within thy 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.

and thou shalt say before the LORD thy God, I have put away the hallowed things out of mine house, and also have given them unto the Levite, and unto the stranger, to the fatherless, and to the widow, according to all thy commandment which thou hast commanded me: I have not transgressed any of thy 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 put away thereof, being unclean, nor given thereof for the dead: I have hearkened to the voice of the LORD my God, I have done according to all that thou hast 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 thy holy habitation, from heaven, and bless thy people Israel, and the ground which thou hast given us, as thou swarest unto our fathers, a land flowing 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 thy God commandeth thee to do these statutes and judgments: thou shalt therefore keep and do them with all thine heart, and with all thy 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.

Thou hast avouched the LORD this day to be thy God, and that thou shouldest walk in his ways, and keep his statutes, and his commandments, and his judgments, and hearken unto 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 hath avouched thee this day to be a peculiar people unto himself, as he hath promised thee, and that thou shouldest 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 thee high above all nations which he hath made, in praise, and in name, and in honour; and that thou mayest be an holy people unto the LORD thy God, as he hath spoken.