דברים 26
| והיה כי תבוא אל הארץ אשר יהוה אלהיך נתן לך נחלה וירשתה וישבת בה׃ | 1 |
“After you occupy the land that Yahweh our God is giving to you, and you (have settled/are living) there,
| ולקחת מראשית כל פרי האדמה אשר תביא מארצך אשר יהוה אלהיך נתן לך ושמת בטנא והלכת אל המקום אשר יבחר יהוה אלהיך לשכן שמו שם׃ | 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.
| ובאת אל הכהן אשר יהיה בימים ההם ואמרת אליו הגדתי היום ליהוה אלהיך כי באתי אל הארץ אשר נשבע יהוה לאבתינו לתת לנו׃ | 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.’
| ולקח הכהן הטנא מידך והניחו לפני מזבח יהוה אלהיך׃ | 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.
| וענית ואמרת לפני יהוה אלהיך ארמי אבד אבי וירד מצרימה ויגר שם במתי מעט ויהי שם לגוי גדול עצום ורב׃ | 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.
| וירעו אתנו המצרים ויענונו ויתנו עלינו עבדה קשה׃ | 6 |
Then the people of Egypt treated them very harshly [DOU], and they forced them to become their slaves and to work very hard.
| ונצעק אל יהוה אלהי אבתינו וישמע יהוה את קלנו וירא את ענינו ואת עמלנו ואת לחצנו׃ | 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.
| ויוצאנו יהוה ממצרים ביד חזקה ובזרע נטויה ובמרא גדל ובאתות ובמפתים׃ | 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.
| ויבאנו אל המקום הזה ויתן לנו את הארץ הזאת ארץ זבת חלב ודבש׃ | 9 |
You brought us to this land and gave it to us, a land that is very fertile [IDM].
| ועתה הנה הבאתי את ראשית פרי האדמה אשר נתתה לי יהוה והנחתו לפני יהוה אלהיך והשתחוית לפני יהוה אלהיך׃ | 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.
| ושמחת בכל הטוב אשר נתן לך יהוה אלהיך ולביתך אתה והלוי והגר אשר בקרבך׃ | 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.
| כי תכלה לעשר את כל מעשר תבואתך בשנה השלישת שנת המעשר ונתתה ללוי לגר ליתום ולאלמנה ואכלו בשעריך ושבעו׃ | 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.
| ואמרת לפני יהוה אלהיך בערתי הקדש מן הבית וגם נתתיו ללוי ולגר ליתום ולאלמנה ככל מצותך אשר צויתני לא עברתי ממצותיך ולא שכחתי׃ | 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].
| לא אכלתי באני ממנו ולא בערתי ממנו בטמא ולא נתתי ממנו למת שמעתי בקול יהוה אלהי עשיתי ככל אשר צויתני׃ | 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].
| השקיפה ממעון קדשך מן השמים וברך את עמך את ישראל ואת האדמה אשר נתתה לנו כאשר נשבעת לאבתינו ארץ זבת חלב ודבש׃ | 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.’
| היום הזה יהוה אלהיך מצוך לעשות את החקים האלה ואת המשפטים ושמרת ועשית אותם בכל לבבך ובכל נפשך׃ | 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].
| את יהוה האמרת היום להיות לך לאלהים וללכת בדרכיו ולשמר חקיו ומצותיו ומשפטיו ולשמע בקלו׃ | 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.
| ויהוה האמירך היום להיות לו לעם סגלה כאשר דבר לך ולשמר כל מצותיו׃ | 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.
| ולתתך עליון על כל הגוים אשר עשה לתהלה ולשם ולתפארת ולהיתך עם קדש ליהוה אלהיך כאשר דבר׃ | 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.”
