^2 (A)you shall take some of the first of all the fruit of the ground, which you harvest from your land that the Lord your God is giving you, and you shall put it in a basket, and you shall ^(B)go to the place that the Lord your God will choose, to make his name to dwell there. ³ And you shall go to the priest who is in office at that time and say to him, ‘I declare today to the Lord your God that I have come into the land ^(C)that the Lord swore to our fathers to give us.’ ⁴ Then the priest shall take the basket from your hand and set it down before the altar of the Lord your God.

⁵ “And you shall make response before the Lord your God, ‘A ^(D)wandering Aramean was my father. And he went down into Egypt and sojourned there, ^(E)few in number, and there he became a nation, great, mighty, and populous. ⁶ And ^(F)the Egyptians treated us harshly and humiliated us and laid on us hard labor. ⁷ Then ^(G)we cried to the Lord, the God of our fathers, and the Lord heard our voice and saw our affliction, our toil, and our oppression. ⁸ And ^(H)the Lord brought us out of Egypt ^(I)with a mighty hand and an outstretched arm, with great deeds of terror,^[a] with signs and wonders. ⁹ And he brought us into this place and gave us this land, ^(J)a land flowing with milk and honey. ¹⁰ And behold, now I bring the first of the fruit of the ground, which you, O Lord, have given me.’ And you shall set it down before the Lord your God and worship before the Lord your God. ¹¹ And ^(K)you shall rejoice in all the good that the Lord your God has given to you and to your house, you, and the Levite, and the sojourner who is among you.

¹² “When you have finished paying all ^(L)the tithe of your produce in the third year, which is ^(M)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, ^(N)nor have I forgotten them. ^14 (O)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 ^(P)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 (Q)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.’

² On ^(A)the first day of every week, each of you is to put something aside and store it up, ^(B)as he may prosper, ^(C)so that there will be no collecting when I come.

¹⁹ “The best of the ^(A)firstfruits of your ground you shall bring into the house of the Lord your God.

^(B)“You shall not boil a young goat in its mother's milk.

^17 (A)Not that I seek the gift, but I seek ^(B)the fruit that increases to your credit.^{[a] 18} I have received full payment, and more. I am well supplied, ^(C)having received from Epaphroditus the gifts you sent, ^(D)a fragrant offering, ^(E)a sacrifice acceptable and pleasing to God.

²⁹ “You shall not delay to offer from the fullness of your harvest and from the outflow of your presses. ^(A)The firstborn of your sons you shall give to me.

² for in a severe test of affliction, their abundance of joy and ^(A)their extreme poverty have overflowed in a wealth of generosity on their part. ³ For they gave ^(B)according to their means, as I can testify, and beyond their means, of their own accord,

^4 (A)“Is it a time for you yourselves to dwell in your paneled houses, while ^(B)this house lies in ruins? ⁵ Now, therefore, thus says the Lord of hosts: ^(C)Consider your ways. ^6 (D)You have sown much, and harvested little. ^(E)You eat, but you never have enough; you drink, but you never have your fill. You clothe yourselves, but no one is warm. And he who ^(F)earns wages does so to put them into a bag with holes.

⁷ “Thus says the Lord of hosts: ^(G)Consider your ways. ⁸ Go up to the hills and bring wood and build the house, that ^(H)I may take pleasure in it and that ^(I)I may be glorified, says the Lord. ^9 (J)You looked for much, and behold, it came to little. And when you brought it home, ^(K)I blew it away. Why? declares the Lord of hosts. Because of my house ^(L)that lies in ruins, while each of you busies himself with his own house.