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

1“And when you will have entered into the land which the Lord your God will give to you to possess, and when you will have obtained it and are living within it: 2you shall take the first of all your crops, and place them in a basket, and you shall travel to the place which the Lord your God will choose, so that his name may be invoked there. 3And you shall approach the priest who will be in those days, and you shall say to him: ‘I profess this day, before the Lord your God, that I have entered into the land about which he swore to our fathers that he would give it to us.’ 4And the priest, taking up the basket from your hand, shall place it before the altar of the Lord your God. 5And you shall say, in the sight of the Lord your God: ‘The Syrian pursued my father, who descended into Egypt, and he sojourned there in a very small number, and he increased into a great and strong nation and into an innumerable multitude. 6And the Egyptians afflicted us, and they persecuted us, imposing upon us the most grievous burdens. 7And we cried out to the Lord, the God of our fathers. He heard us, and he looked with favor upon our humiliation, and hardship, and distress. 8And he led us away from Egypt, with a strong hand and an outstretched arm, with a mighty terror, with signs and wonders. 9And he led us into this place, and he delivered to us the land flowing with milk and honey. 10And because of this, I now offer the first fruits of the land which the Lord has given to me.’ And you shall leave them in the sight of the Lord your God, and you shall adore the Lord your God. 11And you shall feast on all the good things which the Lord your God will give to you and to your house: you, and the Levite, and the new arrival who is with you.

12When you will have completed the tithing of all your crops, in the third year of tithes, you shall give it to the Levite, and to the new arrival, and to the orphan, and to the widow, so that they may eat within your gates and be satisfied. 13And you shall say, in the sight of the Lord your God: ‘I have taken what was sanctified from my house, and I have given it to the Levite, and to the new arrival, and to the orphan and the widow, just as you have commanded me. I have not transgressed your commandments, nor have I forgotten your precepts. 14I have not eaten from these things in my grief, nor have I separated them due to any kind of uncleanness, nor have I expended any of these things in funerals. I have obeyed the voice of the Lord my God, and I have done all things just as you have instructed me. 15Look with favor from your sanctuary and from your lofty habitation amid the heavens, and bless your people Israel and the land which you have given to us, just as you swore to our fathers, a land flowing with milk and honey.’

Obey the LORD’s Commands

16Today the Lord your God has instructed you to carry out these commandments and judgments, and to keep and fulfill them, with all your heart and with all your soul. 17Today, you have chosen the Lord to be your God, so that you may walk in his ways, and keep his ceremonies and commandments and judgments, and obey his command. 18Today, the Lord has chosen you, so that you may be his particular people, just as he has spoken to you, and so that you may keep all his precepts, 19and so that he may cause you to be more exalted than all the nations which he has created, for the sake of his own praise and name and glory, in order that you may be a holy people for the Lord your God, just as he has spoken.”