Deuteronomy 26:13-14

26:13 Then you shall say before the Lord your God, “I have removed the sacred offering ¹  from my house and given it to the Levites, the resident foreigners, the orphans, and the widows just as you have commanded me. ²  I have not violated or forgotten your commandments. 26:14 I have not eaten anything when I was in mourning, or removed any of it while ceremonially unclean, or offered any of it to the dead; ³  I have obeyed you ⁴  and have done everything you have commanded me.

¹ tn Heb “the sacred thing.” The term הַקֹּדֶשׁ (haqqodesh) likely refers to an offering normally set apart for the Lord but, as a third-year tithe, given on this occasion to people in need. Sometimes this is translated as “the sacred portion” (cf. NASB, NIV, NRSV), but that could sound to a modern reader as if a part of the house were being removed and given away.

² tn Heb “according to all your commandment that you commanded me.” This has been simplified in the translation for stylistic reasons.

³ sn These practices suggest overtones of pagan ritual, all of which the confessor denies having undertaken. In Canaan they were connected with fertility practices associated with harvest time. See E. H. Merrill, Deuteronomy (NAC), 335-36.

⁴ tn Heb “the Lord my God.” See note on “he” in 26:2.