Passage Resources Hebrew/Greek Your Content
Previous Next
Add parallel Print Page Options
Close LEB

Deuteronomy 26
Lexham English Bible

26 “And then[a] when you come to the land that Yahweh your God is giving to you as an inheritance, and you take possession of it and you settle in it, 2 then you shall take from the firstfruit of all the fruit of the ground that you harvest from your land that Yahweh your God is giving to you, and you shall put it in a basket, and you shall go to the place that Yahweh your God will choose to make his name to dwell there. 3 And you shall go to the priest who is in office in those days, and you shall say, ‘I declare today[b] to Yahweh your God that I have come into the land that Yahweh swore to our ancestors[c] to give to us.’ 4 Then the priest takes the basket from your hand and places it before[d] the altar of Yahweh your God. 5 And you shall declare[e] and you shall say before[f] your God, ‘My ancestor[g] was a wandering Aramean, and he went down to Egypt, and there he dwelt as an alien few in number,[h] and there he became a great nation, mighty and numerous. 6 And the Egyptians treated us badly, and they oppressed us and imposed on us hard labor. 7 And we cried to Yahweh, the God of our ancestors,[i] and Yahweh heard our voice and saw our affliction and our toil and our oppression. 8 And Yahweh brought us out from Egypt with a strong hand and an outstretched arm and with great terror and with signs and with wonders. 9 And he brought us to this place and gave to us this land, a land flowing with milk and honey. 10 And now, look, I am bringing[j] the firstfruit of the fruit of the ground that you gave to me, Yahweh,’ and you shall place it before[k] Yahweh your God, and you shall bow down before[l] Yahweh your God. 11 And you shall celebrate with all of the bounty that Yahweh your God gave to you and to your family, you and the Levite and the alien who is in your midst.

12 “When you are finished giving a tithe,[m] all of the tithe of your produce in the third year, the year of the tithe, then you shall give to the Levite, to the alien, to the orphan, and to the widow, so that they may eat in your towns and they may be satisfied. 13 And you shall say before[n] Yahweh your God, ‘I have removed the sacred portion from the[o] house and, moreover, I have given it to the Levite and to the alien and to the orphan and to the widow according to all your commandment that you commanded me; I have not transgressed any of your commandments, and I have not forgotten any of them. 14 I have not eaten during my time of mourning, and I have not removed anything from it while being unclean, and I have not offered any of it[p] to someone who has died. I have listened to the voice of Yahweh my God; I have done all that you commanded me to do. 15 Look down from the dwelling place of your holiness, from heaven, and bless your people Israel, and the land that you have given to us, as you swore to our ancestors,[q] a land flowing with milk and honey.’

16 “This day Yahweh your God is commanding you to do these rules and regulations, and you must observe them diligently[r] with all your heart and with all your soul.[s] 17 Yahweh you have declared today[t] to be for you as your God, and to go[u] in his ways and to observe his rules and his commandments and his regulations and to listen to his voice. 18 And Yahweh has declared you today[v] to be for him as a people, a treasured possession, as he promised[w] to you, and that you are to observe all his commandments, 19 and that he then will set you[x] high above all the nations that he has made for his praise and for fame[y] and for honor and for you to be a holy people[z] to Yahweh your God, as he promised.”[aa]

Footnotes

  1. Deuteronomy 26:1 Literally “And it shall happen”
  2. Deuteronomy 26:3 Literally “the day”
  3. Deuteronomy 26:3 Or “fathers”
  4. Deuteronomy 26:4 Literally “to the face of”
  5. Deuteronomy 26:5 Literally “answer”
  6. Deuteronomy 26:5 Literally “to the face of”
  7. Deuteronomy 26:5 Or “father”
  8. Deuteronomy 26:5 Literally “in people only a few”
  9. Deuteronomy 26:7 Or “fathers”
  10. Deuteronomy 26:10 Hebrew “I bring”
  11. Deuteronomy 26:10 Literally “to the face of”
  12. Deuteronomy 26:10 Literally “to the face of”
  13. Deuteronomy 26:12 Literally “to give a tenth”
  14. Deuteronomy 26:13 Literally “to the face of”
  15. Deuteronomy 26:13 Or “my” house since the definite article can show possession here
  16. Deuteronomy 26:14 Literally “from it”
  17. Deuteronomy 26:15 Or “our fathers”
  18. Deuteronomy 26:16 Literally “and you shall observe and you shall do them”
  19. Deuteronomy 26:16 Or “inner self”
  20. Deuteronomy 26:17 Literally “the day”
  21. Deuteronomy 26:17 Or “to walk”
  22. Deuteronomy 26:18 Literally “the day”
  23. Deuteronomy 26:18 Literally “spoke”
  24. Deuteronomy 26:19 Literally “and to set you”
  25. Deuteronomy 26:19 Literally “for a name”
  26. Deuteronomy 26:19 Literally “for you to be/your being a people holy”
  27. Deuteronomy 26:19 Literally “spoke”
Close NET

Deuteronomy 26
New English Translation

Presentation of the Firstfruits

26 When[a] you enter the land that the Lord your God is giving you as an inheritance, and you occupy it and live in it, 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[b] chooses to locate his name.[c] 3 You must go to the priest in office at that time and say to him, “I declare today to the Lord your[d] God that I have come into the land that the Lord[e] promised[f] to our ancestors[g] to give us.” 4 The priest will then take the basket from you[h] and set it before the altar of the Lord your God. 5 Then you must affirm before the Lord your God, “A wandering[i] Aramean[j] was my ancestor,[k] and he went down to Egypt and lived there as a foreigner with a household few in number,[l] but there he became a great, powerful, and numerous people. 6 But the Egyptians mistreated and oppressed us, forcing us to do burdensome labor. 7 So we cried out to the Lord, the God of our ancestors, and he[m] heard us and saw our humiliation, toil, and oppression. 8 Therefore the Lord brought us out of Egypt with tremendous strength and power,[n] as well as with great awe-inspiring signs and wonders. 9 Then he brought us to this place and gave us this land, a land flowing with milk and honey. 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.[o] 11 You will celebrate all the good things that the Lord your God has given you and your family,[p] along with the Levites and the resident foreigners among you.

Presentation of the Third-year Tithe

12 When you finish tithing all[q] 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[r] so that they may eat to their satisfaction in your villages.[s] 13 Then you shall say before the Lord your God, “I have removed the sacred offering[t] from my house and given it to the Levites, the resident foreigners, the orphans, and the widows just as you have commanded me.[u] I have not violated or forgotten your commandments. 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;[v] I have obeyed you[w] and have done everything you have commanded me. 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.”

Narrative Interlude

16 Today the Lord your God is commanding you to keep these statutes and ordinances, something you must do with all your heart and soul.[x] 17 Today you have declared the Lord to be your God, and that you will walk in his ways, keep his statutes, commandments, and ordinances, and obey him. 18 And today the Lord has declared you to be his special people (as he already promised you) so you may keep all his commandments. 19 Then[y] he will elevate you above all the nations he has made and you will receive praise, fame, and honor.[z] You will[aa] be a people holy to the Lord your God, as he has said.

Footnotes

  1. Deuteronomy 26:1 tn Heb “and it will come to pass that.”
  2. Deuteronomy 26:2 tn Heb “the Lord your God.” The pronoun has been used in the translation for stylistic reasons to avoid redundancy.
  3. Deuteronomy 26:2 sn The place where he chooses to locate his name. This is a circumlocution for the central sanctuary, first the tabernacle and later the Jerusalem temple. See Deut 12:1-14 and especially the note on the word “you” in v. 14.
  4. Deuteronomy 26:3 tc For the MT reading “your God,” certain LXX mss have “my God,” a contextually superior rendition followed by some English versions (e.g., NAB, NASB, TEV). Perhaps the text reflects dittography of the kaf (כ) at the end of the word with the following preposition כִּי (ki).
  5. Deuteronomy 26:3 tc The Syriac adds “your God” to complete the usual formula.
  6. Deuteronomy 26:3 tn Heb “swore on oath.”
  7. Deuteronomy 26:3 tn Heb “fathers” (also in vv. 7, 15).
  8. Deuteronomy 26:4 tn Heb “your hand.”
  9. Deuteronomy 26:5 tn Though the Hebrew term אָבַד (ʾavad) generally means “to perish” or the like (HALOT 2-3 s.v.; BDB 1-2 s.v.; cf. KJV “a Syrian ready to perish”), a meaning “to go astray” or “to be lost” is also attested. The ambivalence in the Hebrew text is reflected in the versions where LXX Vaticanus reads ἀπέβαλεν (apebalen, “lose”) for a possibly metathesized reading found in Alexandrinus, Ambrosianus, ἀπέλαβεν (apelaben, “receive”); others attest κατέλειπεν (kateleipen, “leave, abandon”). “Wandering” seems to suit best the contrast with the sedentary life Israel would enjoy in Canaan (v. 9) and is the meaning followed by many English versions.
  10. Deuteronomy 26:5 sn A wandering Aramean. This is a reference to Jacob whose mother Rebekah was an Aramean (Gen 24:10; 25:20, 26) and who himself lived in Aram for at least twenty years (Gen 31:41-42).
  11. Deuteronomy 26:5 tn Heb “father.”
  12. Deuteronomy 26:5 tn Heb “sojourned there few in number.” The words “with a household” have been supplied in the translation for stylistic reasons and for clarity.
  13. Deuteronomy 26:7 tn Heb “the Lord.” See note on “he” in 26:2.
  14. Deuteronomy 26:8 tn Heb “by a powerful hand and an extended arm.” These are anthropomorphisms designed to convey God’s tremendously great power in rescuing Israel from their Egyptian bondage. They are preserved literally in many English versions (cf. KJV, NAB, NIV, NRSV).
  15. Deuteronomy 26:10 tn Heb “the Lord your God.” See note on “he” in 26:2.
  16. Deuteronomy 26:11 tn Or “household” (so NASB, NIV, NLT); Heb “house” (so KJV, NRSV).
  17. Deuteronomy 26:12 tn Heb includes “the tithes of.” This has not been included in the translation to avoid redundancy.
  18. Deuteronomy 26:12 tn The terms “Levite, resident foreigner, orphan, and widow” are collective singulars in the Hebrew text (also in v. 13).
  19. Deuteronomy 26:12 tn Heb “gates.”
  20. Deuteronomy 26:13 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.
  21. Deuteronomy 26:13 tn Heb “according to all your commandment that you commanded me.” This has been simplified in the translation for stylistic reasons.
  22. Deuteronomy 26:14 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.
  23. Deuteronomy 26:14 tn Heb “the Lord my God.” See note on “he” in 26:2.
  24. Deuteronomy 26:16 tn Or “mind and being”; cf. NCV “with your whole being”; TEV “obey them faithfully with all your heart.”
  25. Deuteronomy 26:19 tn Heb “so that.” Verses 18-19 are one sentence in the Hebrew text, but the translation divides it into three sentences for stylistic reasons. The first clause in verse 19 gives a result of the preceding clause. When Israel keeps God’s law, God will bless them with fame and honor (cf. NAB “he will then raise you high in praise and renown and glory”; NLT “And if you do, he will make you greater than any other nation”).
  26. Deuteronomy 26:19 tn Heb “for praise and for a name and for glory.”
  27. Deuteronomy 26:19 tn Heb “and to be.” A new sentence was started here for stylistic reasons.
Next
Deuteronomy 25
Deuteronomy 27
Next
dropdown
Lexham English Bible (LEB)

2012 by Logos Bible Software. Lexham is a registered trademark of Logos Bible Software

New English Translation (NET)

NET Bible® copyright ©1996-2017 by Biblical Studies Press, L.L.C. http://netbible.com All rights reserved.