Giving the Firstfruits

26 “When you enter the land the Lord your God is giving you as an inheritance,(A) and you take possession of it and live in it, take some of the first of all the land’s produce that you harvest from the land the Lord your God is giving you and put it in a basket. Then go to the place where the Lord your God chooses to have his name dwell.(B) When you come before the priest who is serving at that time, say to him, ‘Today I declare to the Lord your[a] God that I have entered the land the Lord swore to our ancestors to give us.’

“Then the priest will take the basket from you and place it before the altar of the Lord your God. You are to respond by saying in the presence of the Lord your God:

My father was a wandering Aramean.(C) He went down to Egypt with a few people and resided there as an alien.(D) There he became a great, powerful, and populous nation. But the Egyptians mistreated and oppressed us, and forced us to do hard labor. So we called out to the Lord, the God of our ancestors, and the Lord heard our cry and saw our misery, hardship, and oppression.(E) Then the Lord brought us out of Egypt with a strong hand and an outstretched arm, with terrifying power, and with signs and wonders. He led us to this place and gave us this land, a land flowing with milk and honey.(F) 10 I have now brought the first of the land’s produce that you, Lord, have given me.

You will then place the container before the Lord your God and bow down to him. 11 You, the Levites, and the resident aliens among you will rejoice(G) in all the good things the Lord your God has given you and your household.

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Footnotes

  1. 26:3 LXX reads my

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, 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. 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.’ Then the priest takes the basket from your hand and places it before[d] the altar of Yahweh your God. 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. And the Egyptians treated us badly, and they oppressed us and imposed on us hard labor. 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. 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. 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.

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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”