Deu 26 | EE | STEP | You are going into the country that the LORD your God is giving to you. Now when you have arrived, do this.

Deuteronomy 26

The first food from your fields and the regular gifts to God

1 You are going into the country that the LORD your God is giving to you. Now when you have arrived, do this. 2 Take a basket. Put into it some of the first food that you have grown in your fields. This is the country that the LORD your God is giving to you. Then go to the special place that he will choose for himself. 3 Say to the man who is a priest at that time, ‘Today, I say to the LORD your God that I have come into the country. This is the country that the LORD promised to us. He made this promise to our ancestors.’ 4 Then the priest will take the basket from you. He will put it down in front of the altar of the LORD your God. 5 Then you must say, in front of the LORD, ‘My father was a man from Aramea who moved from place to place. He went to Egypt with a few people and lived there. But he became a great nation of many powerful people. 6 But the people in Egypt were cruel to us. They made us work very hard. 7 Then we prayed to the LORD, the God of our fathers. He heard our voices. He saw that we were sad. He saw that the people in Egypt were cruel to us. 8 So the LORD brought us out of Egypt by his strong hands and powerful arms. He made them afraid, because of the great and powerful things that he did. 9 He brought us to this place. He gave to us this country that is full of good food and drink. 10 and now, I bring the first food that has grown in my fields. You, LORD, have given it to me.’ Then you must put the basket down in front of the LORD your God. You must thank him there. Tell him how great he is. 11 And so you and the Levites and the foreign people among you will be very happy. You will enjoy all the good things that the LORD has given to you and to your family.

12 Every third year you must give a 10th part of the food that grows in your fields. Give it to the Levites, the strangers, the women whose husbands have died and their children. Then they can eat all the food that they need, in every town. 13 Then you can say to the LORD, ‘None of the 10th part that is special, remains in my house. I have given it to the Levites, the strangers, the women whose husbands have died and their children. I have obeyed your rules. I have not refused to obey your words. I have not forgotten any of them. 14 I did not eat any of the 10th part of the food while I was sad and crying. I did not move any of it while I was not ready for God. I have not put any of it as a gift, in front of a dead person. I have obeyed the LORD my God. I have done everything that you commanded me. 15 Look down from your home, the special place where you live. Come near to your people, Israel’s people and give us your help. Do good things also to the country that you have given to us. It is a country full of good food and drink. You promised our ancestors that you would give it to us.’ ^{▼▼26:15 These verses repeat what is in chapter 14 verses 22-29.}

Obey the LORD‘s rules

16 ‘Today, the LORD your God commands you to obey these decrees and rules. Be careful to obey them. Be happy to do this because you love the LORD. 17 Today, you have said that the LORD is your God. You have said that you will give him pleasure. You have said that you will obey his rules. You will do everything that he commands. 18 Today the LORD has accepted you as his own people. He has chosen you and you are special to him. He promised that you would be special. And you must obey all his rules. 19 He says that he will make you greater and more famous than every other nation in the world. You will be a special nation that belongs to the LORD your God. He has promised you this.’ Moses said all those things.