Deuteronomy 26:12-15
English Standard Version
12 “When you have finished paying all (A)the tithe of your produce in the third year, which is (B)the year of tithing, giving it to the Levite, the sojourner, the fatherless, and the widow, so that they may eat within your towns and be filled, 13 then you shall say before the Lord your God, ‘I have removed the sacred portion out of my house, and moreover, I have given it to the Levite, the sojourner, the fatherless, and the widow, according to all your commandment that you have commanded me. I have not transgressed any of your commandments, (C)nor have I forgotten them. 14 (D)I have not eaten of the tithe while I was mourning, or removed any of it while I was unclean, or offered any of it (E)to the dead. I have obeyed the voice of the Lord my God. I have done according to all that you have commanded me. 15 (F)Look down from your holy habitation, from heaven, and bless your people Israel and the ground that you have given us, as you swore to our fathers, a land flowing with milk and honey.’
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Deuteronomy 26:12-15
New English Translation
Presentation of the Third-year Tithe
12 When you finish tithing all[a] 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[b] so that they may eat to their satisfaction in your villages.[c] 13 Then you shall say before the Lord your God, “I have removed the sacred offering[d] from my house and given it to the Levites, the resident foreigners, the orphans, and the widows just as you have commanded me.[e] 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;[f] I have obeyed you[g] 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.”
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- Deuteronomy 26:12 tn Heb includes “the tithes of.” This has not been included in the translation to avoid redundancy.
- Deuteronomy 26:12 tn The terms “Levite, resident foreigner, orphan, and widow” are collective singulars in the Hebrew text (also in v. 13).
- Deuteronomy 26:12 tn Heb “gates.”
- 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.
- Deuteronomy 26:13 tn Heb “according to all your commandment that you commanded me.” This has been simplified in the translation for stylistic reasons.
- 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.
- Deuteronomy 26:14 tn Heb “the Lord my God.” See note on “he” in 26:2.
The Holy Bible, English Standard Version. ESV® Text Edition: 2016. Copyright © 2001 by Crossway Bibles, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers.
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