Deuteronomy 26

The Firstfruits Confession

1“And when you enter the land that the LORD your God is giving you as an inheritance, possess it, and live in it, 2you shall take from the first of all the fruit of the ground that you bring in from your land that the LORD your God is giving you, put it in a basket, and go to the place that the LORD your God will choose to make his name dwell there. 3You shall come to the priest who is in those days and say to him, ‘I declare today to the LORD your God that I have entered the land that the LORD swore to our ancestors to give us.’ 4Then the priest shall take the basket from your hand and set it down before the altar of the LORD your God. 5And you shall answer and say before the LORD your God:

‘A wandering Aramean was my father.
He went down to Egypt
and sojourned there,
few in number,
and there he became
a great, mighty, and numerous nation. 6The Egyptians treated us badly,
afflicted us,
and laid hard service upon us. 7Then we cried out
to the LORD, the God of our ancestors,
and the LORD heard our voice
and saw our affliction,
our labor,
and our oppression. 8The LORD brought us out from Egypt
with a strong 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, look,
I have brought the first
of the fruit of the ground
that you, O LORD, have given me.’

Then you shall set it before the LORD your God and bow down before the LORD your God. 11You shall rejoice in all the good that the LORD your God has given you and your household—you, the Levite, and the resident alien who is in your midst.

The Third-Year Tithe Confession

12“When you finish tithing all the tithe of your produce in the third year, the year of the tithe, and have given it to the Levite, resident alien, orphan, and widow, so that they may eat within your gates and be satisfied, 13then you shall say before the LORD your God:

‘I have removed the holy portion from my house
and also given it to the Levite,
the resident alien,
the orphan,
and the widow,
according to all your commandment
that you commanded me.
I have not transgressed your commandments,
and I have not forgotten. 14I have not eaten from it in my mourning,
nor removed any of it while unclean,
nor given any of it for the dead.
I have listened to the voice
of the LORD my God;
I have done according to all
that you commanded me. 15Look down from your holy dwelling,
from the heavens,
and bless your people Israel
and the ground that you have given us,
as you swore to our ancestors,
a land flowing with milk and honey.’

You Have Declared the LORD to Be Your God

16“This day the LORD your God commands you to do these statutes and judgments. You shall keep and do them with all your heart and with all your life. 17You have declared today that the LORD is your God, that you will walk in his ways, keep his statutes, commandments, and judgments, and listen to his voice. 18And the LORD has declared today that you are his treasured people, as he spoke to you, and that you are to keep all his commandments, 19and that he will set you high above all the nations that he has made, for praise, fame, and honor, and that you will be a people holy to the LORD your God, as he spoke.”