Firstfruits and Tithes

26 When you have entered the land the Lord your God is giving you as an inheritance and have taken possession of it and settled in it, ² take some of the firstfruits^(A) of all that you produce from the soil of the land the Lord your God is giving you and put them in a basket. Then go to the place the Lord your God will choose as a dwelling for his Name^{(B) 3} and say to the priest in office at the time, “I declare today to the Lord your God that I have come to the land the Lord swore to our ancestors to give us.” ⁴ The priest shall take the basket from your hands and set it down in front of the altar of the Lord your God. ⁵ Then you shall declare before the Lord your God: “My father was a wandering^(C) Aramean,^(D) and he went down into Egypt with a few people^(E) and lived there and became a great nation,^(F) powerful and numerous. ⁶ But the Egyptians mistreated us and made us suffer,^(G) subjecting us to harsh labor.^{(H) 7} Then we cried out to the Lord, the God of our ancestors, and the Lord heard our voice^(I) and saw^(J) our misery,^(K) toil and oppression.^{(L) 8} So the Lord brought us out of Egypt^(M) with a mighty hand and an outstretched arm,^(N) with great terror and with signs and wonders.^{(O) 9} He brought us to this place and gave us this land, a land flowing with milk and honey;^{(P) 10} and now I bring the firstfruits of the soil that you, Lord, have given me.^(Q)” Place the basket before the Lord your God and bow down before him. ¹¹ Then you and the Levites^(R) and the foreigners residing among you shall rejoice^(S) in all the good things the Lord your God has given to you and your household.

¹² When you have finished setting aside a tenth^(T) of all your produce in the third year, the year of the tithe,^(U) you shall give it to the Levite, the foreigner, the fatherless and the widow, so that they may eat in your towns and be satisfied. ¹³ Then say to the Lord your God: “I have removed from my house the sacred portion and have given it to the Levite, the foreigner, the fatherless and the widow, according to all you commanded. I have not turned aside from your commands nor have I forgotten any of them.^{(V) 14} I have not eaten any of the sacred portion while I was in mourning, nor have I removed any of it while I was unclean,^(W) nor have I offered any of it to the dead. I have obeyed the Lord my God; I have done everything you commanded me. ¹⁵ Look down from heaven,^(X) your holy dwelling place, and bless^(Y) your people Israel and the land you have given us as you promised on oath to our ancestors, a land flowing with milk and honey.”

Follow the Lord’s Commands

¹⁶ The Lord your God commands you this day to follow these decrees and laws; carefully observe them with all your heart and with all your soul.^{(Z) 17} You have declared this day that the Lord is your God and that you will walk in obedience to him, that you will keep his decrees, commands and laws—that you will listen to him.^{(AA) 18} And the Lord has declared this day that you are his people, his treasured possession^(AB) as he promised, and that you are to keep all his commands. ¹⁹ He has declared that he will set you in praise,^(AC) fame and honor high above all the nations^(AD) he has made and that you will be a people holy^(AE) to the Lord your God, as he promised.

At the Potter’s House

18 This is the word that came to Jeremiah from the Lord: ² “Go down to the potter’s house, and there I will give you my message.” ³ So I went down to the potter’s house, and I saw him working at the wheel. ⁴ But the pot he was shaping from the clay was marred in his hands; so the potter formed it into another pot, shaping it as seemed best to him.

⁵ Then the word of the Lord came to me. ⁶ He said, “Can I not do with you, Israel, as this potter does?” declares the Lord. “Like clay^(A) in the hand of the potter, so are you in my hand,^(B) Israel. ⁷ If at any time I announce that a nation or kingdom is to be uprooted,^(C) torn down and destroyed, ⁸ and if that nation I warned repents of its evil, then I will relent^(D) and not inflict on it the disaster^(E) I had planned. ⁹ And if at another time I announce that a nation or kingdom is to be built^(F) up and planted, ¹⁰ and if it does evil^(G) in my sight and does not obey me, then I will reconsider^(H) the good I had intended to do for it.^(I)

¹¹ “Now therefore say to the people of Judah and those living in Jerusalem, ‘This is what the Lord says: Look! I am preparing a disaster^(J) for you and devising a plan^(K) against you. So turn^(L) from your evil ways,^(M) each one of you, and reform your ways and your actions.’^{(N) 12} But they will reply, ‘It’s no use.^(O) We will continue with our own plans; we will all follow the stubbornness of our evil hearts.^(P)’”

¹³ Therefore this is what the Lord says:

¹⁸ They said, “Come, let’s make plans^(AF) against Jeremiah; for the teaching of the law by the priest^(AG) will not cease, nor will counsel from the wise,^(AH) nor the word from the prophets.^(AI) So come, let’s attack him with our tongues^(AJ) and pay no attention to anything he says.”

Present Weakness and Resurrection Life

4 Therefore, since through God’s mercy^(A) we have this ministry, we do not lose heart.^{(B) 2} Rather, we have renounced secret and shameful ways;^(C) we do not use deception, nor do we distort the word of God.^(D) On the contrary, by setting forth the truth plainly we commend ourselves to everyone’s conscience^(E) in the sight of God. ³ And even if our gospel^(F) is veiled,^(G) it is veiled to those who are perishing.^{(H) 4} The god^(I) of this age^(J) has blinded^(K) the minds of unbelievers, so that they cannot see the light of the gospel that displays the glory of Christ,^(L) who is the image of God.^{(M) 5} For what we preach is not ourselves,^(N) but Jesus Christ as Lord,^(O) and ourselves as your servants^(P) for Jesus’ sake. ⁶ For God, who said, “Let light shine out of darkness,”^[a](Q) made his light shine in our hearts^(R) to give us the light of the knowledge of God’s glory displayed in the face of Christ.^(S)

⁷ But we have this treasure in jars of clay^(T) to show that this all-surpassing power is from God^(U) and not from us. ⁸ We are hard pressed on every side,^(V) but not crushed; perplexed,^(W) but not in despair; ⁹ persecuted,^(X) but not abandoned;^(Y) struck down, but not destroyed.^{(Z) 10} We always carry around in our body the death of Jesus,^(AA) so that the life of Jesus may also be revealed in our body.^{(AB) 11} For we who are alive are always being given over to death for Jesus’ sake,^(AC) so that his life may also be revealed in our mortal body. ¹² So then, death is at work in us, but life is at work in you.^(AD)

¹³ It is written: “I believed; therefore I have spoken.”^[b](AE) Since we have that same spirit of^[c] faith,^(AF) we also believe and therefore speak, ¹⁴ because we know that the one who raised the Lord Jesus from the dead^(AG) will also raise us with Jesus^(AH) and present us with you to himself.^{(AI) 15} All this is for your benefit, so that the grace that is reaching more and more people may cause thanksgiving^(AJ) to overflow to the glory of God.

¹⁶ Therefore we do not lose heart.^(AK) Though outwardly we are wasting away, yet inwardly^(AL) we are being renewed^(AM) day by day. ¹⁷ For our light and momentary troubles are achieving for us an eternal glory that far outweighs them all.^{(AN) 18} So we fix our eyes not on what is seen, but on what is unseen,^(AO) since what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal.