Deuteronomy 26
1 “After you occupy the land that Yahweh our God is giving to you, and you (have settled/are living) there,
And it shall be, when thou art come in unto the land which Yhwh thy God giveth thee for an inheritance, and possessest it, and dwellest therein;
2 [each of] you must take some of the first crops that you harvest, put them in a basket, and take them to the place that Yahweh will have chosen for you to worship [MTY] there.
That thou shalt take of the first of all the fruit of the earth, which thou shalt bring of thy land that Yhwh thy God giveth thee, and shalt put it in a basket, and shalt go unto the place which Yhwh thy God shall choose to place his name there.
3 Go to the Supreme Priest who is serving at that time and say to him, ‘[By giving you this first part of my harvest] today, I am declaring to Yahweh our God that I have [picked it in] the land that he vowed to our ancestors to give to us.’
And thou shalt go unto the priest that shall be in those days, and say unto him, I profess this day unto Yhwh thy God, that I am come unto the country which Yhwh sware unto our fathers for to give us.
4 Then the priest must take the basket of food from your hand and put it on the altar where sacrifices are offered to Yahweh our God.
And the priest shall take the basket out of thine hand, and set it down before the altar of Yhwh thy God.
5 Then in Yahweh’s presence you must say this: ‘My ancestor [Jacob] was a man from Aram/Syria who was continually wandering [from one place to another]. He took his family to Egypt. They were a small group [when they went there], but they lived there and their descendants became a very large/populous [DOU] and powerful nation.
And thou shalt speak and say before Yhwh thy 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 Then the people of Egypt treated them very harshly [DOU], and they forced them to become their slaves and to work very hard.
And the Egyptians evil entreated us, and afflicted us, and laid upon us hard bondage:
7 Then our ancestors cried out to you, Yahweh our God, and you heard them. You saw that they were suffering, and that they were forced to work very hard, and were being oppressed.
And when we cried unto Yhwh God of our fathers, Yhwh heard our voice, and looked on our affliction, and our labour, and our oppression:
8 Then by your great power [MTY] and by performing many kinds of miracles [DOU], and other terrifying things, you brought them out of Egypt.
And Yhwh 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 You brought us to this land and gave it to us, a land that is very fertile [IDM].
And he hath brought us into this place, and hath given us this land, even a land that floweth with milk and honey.
10 So now, Yahweh, I have brought to you the first part of the harvest from the land that I received.’ Then you must set the basket down in Yahweh’s presence and worship him there.
And now, behold, I have brought the firstfruits of the land, which thou, O Yhwh, hast given me. And thou shalt set it before Yhwh thy God, and worship before Yhwh thy God:
11 And you must celebrate [by eating a meal together to thank] Yahweh our God for all the good things that he has given to you and to your family. And you must invite the descendants of Levi and the foreigners who are living among you to also rejoice [and eat] with you.
And thou shalt rejoice in every good thing which Yhwh thy God hath given unto thee, and unto thine house, thou, and the Levite, and the stranger that is among you.
12 Every third year, you must bring to the descendants of Levi and to the foreigners [who are living among you] and the orphans and the widows (a tithe/10 percent) of your crops, in order that in every town they will have plenty to eat.
When thou hast made an end of tithing all the tithes of thine increase the third year, which is the year of tithing, and hast given it unto the Levite, the stranger, the fatherless, and the widow, that they may eat within thy gates, and be filled;
13 Then you must say to Yahweh, ‘I have brought to you, from my house, all of the sacred tithe [from my harvest this year]. I am giving it to the descendants of Levi, to the foreigners, the orphans, and the widows, as you commanded us to do. I have not disobeyed any of your commands [about the tithes], and I have not forgotten any of your commands [about tithes].
Then thou shalt say before Yhwh thy God, I have brought 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 commandments which thou hast commanded me: I have not transgressed thy commandments, neither have I forgotten them:
14 [I declare that] I have not eaten any food from the tithe while I was mourning [for someone who died]. And I have not touched any of it while I was unacceptable to you; I have not offered any of it to [spirits of] dead people. Yahweh, I have obeyed you and done everything that you have commanded us [concerning the tithe].
I have not eaten thereof in my mourning, neither have I taken away ought thereof for any unclean use, nor given ought thereof for the dead: but I have hearkened to the voice of Yhwh my God, and have done according to all that thou hast commanded me.
15 So [please] look down from your holy place in heaven, and bless us, your Israeli people. Also bless this very fertile [IDM] land which you have given to us, which is what you promised our ancestors that you would do.’
Look down from thy holy habitation, from heaven, and bless thy people Israel, and the land which thou hast given us, as thou swarest unto our fathers, a land that floweth with milk and honey.
16 Today Yahweh our God is commanding you to obey all these rules and regulations. So obey them faithfully, with your entire inner being [DOU].
This day Yhwh thy God hath commanded 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 declared that Yahweh is your God, and that you will conduct your lives as he wants you to do, and that you will obey all his commands and rules and regulations, and that you will do all that he tells you to do.
Thou hast avouched Yhwh this day to be thy God, and to walk in his ways, and to keep his statutes, and his commandments, and his judgments, and to hearken unto his voice:
18 And today Yahweh has declared that you are his people, which is what he promised that you would be, and he commands you to obey all his commands.
And Yhwh hath avouched thee this day to be his peculiar people, as he hath promised thee, and that thou shouldest keep all his commandments;
19 If you do that, he will cause you to become greater than any other nation that he has established, and he will enable you to praise him and honor him [DOU]. You will truly belong to Yahweh our God, which is what he has 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 Yhwh thy God, as he hath spoken.
