Offering Firstfruits and Tithes
(Leviticus 27:30–34; Deuteronomy 14:22–29; Nehemiah 13:10–14)

1And it shall come to pass, when you come into the land that YHWH your God is giving to you as an inheritance, and you possess it and dwell in it, 2that you shall take some of the first of all the produce of the ground, which you shall bring from your land that YHWH your God is giving you, and you shall put it in the basket and go to the place where YHWH your God chooses for His Name to dwell there. 3And you shall go to the priest who is in those days and say to him, “I declare today to YHWH your God that I have come to the land that YHWH swore to our fathers to give to us.”

4And the priest shall take the basket from your hand and set it down before the face of the altar of YHWH your God. 5And you shall answer and say before the face of YHWH your God, “My father was a perishing Aramaean, and he went down to Egypt and dwelt there with men few in number, and he became there a nation great, mighty, and numerous. 6And the Egyptians mistreated us and afflicted us and laid on us hard labor. 7And we cried out to YHWH, God of our fathers, and YHWH heard our voice and looked on our affliction and our toil and our oppression. 8And YHWH brought us out of Egypt with a mighty hand, and with an outstretched arm, and with great terror, and with signs and wonders. 9And He has brought us to this place and has given to us this land, a land flowing with milk and honey. 10And now, behold, I have brought the first of the fruit of the land, which You have given to me, O YHWH.”

And you shall set it before the face of YHWH your God and bow down before the face of YHWH your God; 11and you shall rejoice in every good thing that YHWH your God has given to you and to your house—you, and the Levite, and the sojourner who is among you.

12When you have finished laying aside to tithe all the tithe of your increase in the third year, the year of tithing, and have given it to the Levite, to the sojourner, to the fatherless, and to the widow, so that they may eat within your gates and be satisfied,

13then you shall say before the face of YHWH your God, “I have removed the sacred portion from the house, and also have given it to the Levite, and to the sojourner, and to the fatherless, and to the widow, according to all Your commandments that You have commanded me. I have not transgressed Your commandments, nor have I forgotten. 14I have not eaten any of it in my affliction, nor have I removed of it for uncleanness, nor have I given of it for the dead. I have obeyed the voice of YHWH my God, and I have done according to all that You have commanded me. 15Look down from Your holy habitation, the heavens, and bless Your people Israel and the land that You have given to us, as You swore to our fathers, a land flowing with milk and honey.”

Obey Yahweh’s Commands

16This day YHWH your God commands you to observe these statutes and ordinances. And you shall keep and do them with all your heart and with all your soul.

17You have proclaimed YHWH today to be your God, that you will walk in His ways and keep His statutes and His commands and His judgments, and listen to His voice.

18And YHWH has proclaimed you today to be His people, a treasured possession, as He promised to you, and that you should keep all His commandments, 19that He will set you high above all nations that He has made, in praise and in name and in honor, and that you may be a holy people to YHWH your God, as He has spoken.