Deuteronomy 26:1-13 ▼

1 And it shall come to pass, when you come into the land that YHWH your God is giving to you as an 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 YHWH your God is giving you, and you shall put it in the basket and go to the place where YHWH your God chooses for His Name to dwell there.

3 And you shall go to the priest who is in those days and say to him, “I declare today to YHWH your God that I have come to the land that YHWH swore to our fathers to give to us.”

4 And the priest shall take the basket from your hand and set it down before the face of the altar of YHWH your God.

5 And you shall answer and say before the face of YHWH your God, “My father was a perishing Aramaean, and he went down to Egypt and dwelt there with men few in number, and he became there a nation great, mighty, and numerous.

6 And the Egyptians mistreated us and afflicted us and laid on us hard labor.

7 And we cried out to YHWH, God of our fathers, and YHWH heard our voice and looked on our affliction and our toil and our oppression.

8 And YHWH brought us out of Egypt with a mighty hand, and with an outstretched arm, and with great terror, and with signs and wonders.

9 And He has brought us to this place and has given to us this land, a land flowing with milk and honey.

10 And now, behold, I have brought the first of the fruit of the land, which You have given to me, O YHWH.” And you shall set it before the face of YHWH your God and bow down before the face of YHWH your God;

11 and you shall rejoice in every good thing that YHWH your God has given to you and to your house—you, and the Levite, and the sojourner who is among you.

12 When you have finished laying aside to tithe all the tithe of your increase in the third year, the year of tithing, and have given it to the Levite, to the sojourner, to the fatherless, and to the widow, so that they may eat within your gates and be satisfied,

13 then you shall say before the face of YHWH your God, “I have removed the sacred portion from the house, and also have given it to the Levite, and to the sojourner, and to the fatherless, and to the widow, according to all Your commandments that You have commanded me. I have not transgressed Your commandments, nor have I forgotten.