Firstfruits and the declaration of faith
1When you come into the land Yahweh your God is giving you as an inheritance, and you possess it and settle in it, 2take some of the firstfruits of all the produce of the soil that you harvest from the land Yahweh your God is giving you, put them in a basket, and go to the place Yahweh your God chooses for his name to dwell. 3Go to the priest in office at that time and say to him, “I declare today to Yahweh your God that I have come into the land Yahweh swore to our fathers to give us.” 4The priest is to take the basket from your hand and set it down before the altar of Yahweh your God. 5Then you are to declare before Yahweh your God: “My father was a wandering Aramean. He went down into Egypt with a few people and lived there and became a nation, great, powerful, and numerous. 6The Egyptians treated us harshly and afflicted us, and imposed hard labor on us. 7Then we cried out to Yahweh, the God of our fathers, and Yahweh heard our voice and saw our affliction, our toil, and our oppression. 8Yahweh brought us out of Egypt with a mighty hand and an outstretched arm, with great terror, and with signs and wonders. 9He brought us to this place and gave us this land, a land flowing with milk and honey. 10And now, Yahweh, I bring the firstfruits of the soil you have given me.” Set the basket before Yahweh your God and bow down before him. 11Rejoice in all the good things Yahweh your God has given you and your household — you, the Levite, and the foreigner among you.
The third-year tithe declared
12When you have finished setting aside a tenth of all your produce in the third year, the year of the tithe, give it to the Levite, the foreigner, the fatherless, and the widow, so that they may eat their fill within your gates. 13Then say before Yahweh your God: “I have removed the sacred portion from my house and given it to the Levite, the foreigner, the fatherless, and the widow, according to all you commanded me. I have not disobeyed or forgotten any of your commandments. 14I have not eaten any of the sacred portion while in mourning, or removed any of it while unclean, or offered any of it to the dead. I have obeyed Yahweh my God; I have done everything you commanded me. 15Look down from your holy dwelling in heaven and bless your people Israel and the land you have given us, as you swore to our fathers, a land flowing with milk and honey.”
Yahweh’s people, this very day
16This day Yahweh your God commands you to keep these statutes and ordinances; be careful to keep them with all your heart and all your soul. 17Today you have declared Yahweh to be your God, and that you will walk in his ways, keep his statutes, commandments, and ordinances, and obey his voice. 18And today Yahweh has declared that you are his treasured people, as he promised you, and that you are to keep all his commandments, 19and that he will set you high above all the nations he has made, for praise, fame, and honor, and that you will be a people holy to Yahweh your God, as he promised.
