Deuteronomy 26:2-15
26:2 you must take the first of all the ground’s produce you harvest from the land the
Lord your God is giving you, place it in a basket, and go to the place where he
chooses to locate his name.
26:3 You must go to the priest in office at that time and say to him, “I declare today to the
Lord your
God that I have come into the land that the
Lord promised
to our ancestors
to give us.”
26:4 The priest will then take the basket from you
and set it before the altar of the
Lord your God.
26:5 Then you must affirm before the
Lord your God, “A wandering
Aramean
was my ancestor,
and he went down to Egypt and lived there as a foreigner with a household few in number,
but there he became a great, powerful, and numerous people.
26:6 But the Egyptians mistreated and oppressed us, forcing us to do burdensome labor.
26:7 So we cried out to the
Lord, the God of our ancestors, and he
heard us and saw our humiliation, toil, and oppression.
26:8 Therefore the
Lord brought us out of Egypt with tremendous strength and power,
as well as with great awe-inspiring signs and wonders.
26:9 Then he brought us to this place and gave us this land, a land flowing with milk and honey.
26:10 So now, look! I have brought the first of the ground’s produce that you,
Lord, have given me.” Then you must set it down before the
Lord your God and worship before him.
26:11 You will celebrate all the good things that the
Lord your God has given you and your family,
along with the Levites and the resident foreigners among you.
Presentation of the Third-year Tithe
26:12 When you finish tithing all your income in the third year (the year of tithing), you must give it to the Levites, the resident foreigners, the orphans, and the widows so that they may eat to their satisfaction in your villages.
26:13 Then you shall say before the Lord your God, “I have removed the sacred offering from my house and given it to the Levites, the resident foreigners, the orphans, and the widows just as you have commanded me. 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; I have obeyed you and have done everything you have commanded me.
26:15 Look down from your holy dwelling place in heaven and bless your people Israel and the land you have given us, just as you promised our ancestors – a land flowing with milk and honey.”