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 shalt enter into the land which Yahweh thy God is giving unto thee for an inheritance, —and shalt possess it and dwell 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.

then shalt thou take—of the first of all the fruit of the soil which thou shalt bring in from thy land which Yahweh thy God is giving unto thee and shalt put it in a basket, —and go thy way unto the place which Yahweh thy God shall choose, to make a habitation for 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 come in unto the priest who shall be in those days, —and shalt say unto him—I declare to-day unto Yahweh thy God, that I am come into the land which Yahweh sware unto our fathers that he would give unto 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.

Then shall the priest take the basket out of thy hand, —and set it down before the altar of Yahweh 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 respond and say before Yahweh thy God—A Syrian ready to perish, was my father, so he went down to Egypt, and became a sojourner there with men only few; but he became there a nation great, mighty and numerous;

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, badly entreated us, and humiliated us, —and put upon us harsh service;

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.

so we made outcry unto Yahweh God of our fathers, —and Yahweh hearkened unto our voice, and looked upon our humiliation and our toil, 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 Yahweh, brought us forth, out of Egypt, with a firm hand and with a stretched-out arm, and with great terror, —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 brought us into this place, and gave unto us this land, a land flowing 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.

Now, therefore lo! I have brought in the first of the fruit of the soil, which thou hast given unto me, O Yahweh. Thus shalt thou set it down before Yahweh thy God, and shall bow thyself down before Yahweh 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 shalt rejoice in all the good things which Yahweh thy God, hath given unto thee, and unto thy house, —thou and the Levite, and the sojourner who is in thy midst.

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 shalt make an end of tithing all the tithe of thine increase in the third year the year of tithing, —and shalt give unto the Levite unto the sojourner, unto the fatherless and unto the widow, and they shall eat within thy gates and be satisfied,

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 shalt thou say—before Yahweh thy God: —I have carefully removed that which was hallowed out of the house moreover also I have given it unto the Levite, and unto the sojourner unto the fatherless and unto the widow, according to all thy commandment which thou hast commanded me, —I have not transgressed any of thy commandments neither have I forgotten,

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 in my sorrow therefrom neither have I removed therefrom when unclean, neither have I given thereof unto the dead, —I have hearkened unto the voice of Yahweh my God, I have done according to all which 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 thou down out of thy holy habitation out of the heavens and bless thy people Israel, and the soil which thou hast given unto us, —as thou didst swear unto our fathers, a land flowing 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, is Yahweh thy God commanding thee to do these statutes and the regulations, —thou shalt therefore observe and do them, with all thy 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 avowed to-day that Yahweh, shall be, thy God, and that thou wilt walk in his ways, and keep his statutes and his commandments and his regulations and wilt 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, Yahweh, hath avowed to-day that thou shalt be, his people, as a treasure, as he spake unto thee, —and that thou shalt observe 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 [hath avowed] that he will set thee on high above all the nations which he hath made, for praise, and for renown and for glory, and that thou shalt be a holy people unto Yahweh thy God as he hath spoken.