Offerings of Firstfruits and Tithes
1 “And it shall be, when you come into the land which theLordyour God is giving youasan inheritance, and you possess it and dwell in it,
2 that you shall take some of the first of all the produce of the ground, which you shall bring from your land that theLordyour God is giving you, and putitin a basket andgo to the place where theLordyour God chooses to make His name abide.
3 And you shall go to the one who is priest in those days, and say to him, ‘I declare today to theLordyour God that I have come to the country which theLordswore to our fathers to give us.’
4 “Then the priest shall take the basket out of your hand and set it down before the altar of theLordyour God.
5 And you shall answer and say before theLordyour God: ‘My fatherwasa Syrian,about to perish, andhe went down to Egypt and dwelt there,few in number; and there he became a nation,great, mighty, and populous.
6 But theEgyptians mistreated us, afflicted us, and laid hard bondage on us.
7 Then we cried out to theLordGod of our fathers, and theLordheard our voice and looked on our affliction and our labor and our oppression.
8 SotheLordbrought us out of Egypt with a mighty hand and with an outstretched arm,with great terror and with signs and wonders.
9 He has brought us to this place and has given us this land,“a land flowing with milk and honey”;
10 and now, behold, I have brought the firstfruits of the land which you, OLord, have given me.’
“Then you shall set it before theLordyour God, and worship before theLordyour God.
11 Soyou shall rejoice in every goodthingwhich theLordyour God has given to you and your house, you and the Levite and the stranger whoisamong you.
12 “When you have finished laying aside all thetithe of your increase in the third year—the year of tithing—and have givenitto the Levite, the stranger, the fatherless, and the widow, so that they may eat within your gates and be filled,
13 then you shall say before theLordyour God: ‘I have removed the holytithefrommyhouse, and also have given them to the Levite, the stranger, the fatherless, and the widow, according to all Your commandments which You have commanded me; I have not transgressed Your commandments,nor have I forgottenthem.
14 I have not eaten any of it when in mourning, nor have I removedanyof it for an uncleanuse,nor givenanyof it for the dead. I have obeyed the voice of theLordmy God, and have done according to all that You have commanded me.
15 Look down from Your holy habitation, from heaven, and bless Your people Israel and the land which You have given us, just as You swore to our fathers,“a land flowing with milk and honey.” ’
A Special People of God
16 “This day theLordyour God commands you to observe these statutes and judgments; therefore you shall be careful to observe them with all your heart and with all your soul.
17 Today you haveproclaimed theLordto be your God, and that you will walk in His ways and keep His statutes, His commandments, and His judgments, and that you willobey His voice.
18 Also todaytheLordhas proclaimed you to be His special people, just as He promised you, thatyoushould keep all His commandments,
19 and that He will set youhigh above all nations which He has made, in praise, in name, and in honor, and that you may bea holy people to theLordyour God, just as He has spoken.”