Deuteronomy 26-27

New King James Version

Offerings of Firstfruits and Tithes

26 “And it shall be, when you come into the land which the Lord your God is giving you as an inheritance, and you possess it and dwell in it, ²^(A)that you shall take some of the first of all the produce of the ground, which you shall bring from your land that the Lord your God is giving you, and put it in a basket and ^(B)go to the place where the Lord your God chooses to make His name abide. ³And you shall go to the one who is priest in those days, and say to him, ‘I declare today to the Lord ^[a]your God that I have come to the country which the Lord swore to our fathers to give us.’

⁴“Then the priest shall take the basket out of 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: ‘My father was ^(C)a ^[b]Syrian, ^(D)about to perish, and ^(E)he went down to Egypt and ^[c]dwelt there, ^(F)few in number; and there he became a nation, ^(G)great, mighty, and populous. ⁶But the ^(H)Egyptians mistreated us, afflicted us, and laid hard bondage on us. ⁷^(I)Then we cried out to the Lord God of our fathers, and the Lord heard our voice and looked on our affliction and our labor and our oppression. ⁸So ^(J)the Lord brought us out of Egypt with a mighty hand and with an outstretched arm, ^(K)with great terror and with signs and wonders. ⁹He has brought us to this place and has given us this land, ^(L)“a land flowing with milk and honey”; ¹⁰and now, behold, I have brought the firstfruits of the land which you, O Lord, have given me.’

“Then you shall set it before the Lord your God, and worship before the Lord your God. ¹¹So ^(M)you shall rejoice in every good thing which the Lord your God has given to you and your house, you and the Levite and the stranger who is among you.

¹²“When you have finished laying aside all the ^(N)tithe of your increase in the third year—^(O)the year of tithing—and have given it to the Levite, the stranger, the fatherless, and the widow, so that they may eat within your gates and be filled, ¹³then you shall say before the Lord your God: ‘I have removed the ^[d]holy tithe from my house, and also have given them to the Levite, the stranger, the fatherless, and the widow, according to all Your commandments which You have commanded me; I have not transgressed Your commandments, ^(P)nor have I forgotten them. ¹⁴^(Q)I have not eaten any of it ^[e]when in mourning, nor have I removed any of it ^[f]for an unclean use, nor given any of it for the dead. I have obeyed the voice of the Lord my God, and have done according to all that You have commanded me. ¹⁵^(R)Look down from Your holy ^[g]habitation, from heaven, and bless Your people Israel and the land which You have given us, just as You swore to our fathers, ^(S)“a land flowing with milk and honey.” ’

A Special People of God

¹⁶“This day the Lord your God commands you to observe these statutes and judgments; therefore you shall be careful to observe them with all your heart and with all your soul. ¹⁷Today you have ^(T)proclaimed the Lord to be your God, and that you will walk in His ways and keep His statutes, His commandments, and His judgments, and that you will ^(U)obey His voice. ¹⁸Also today ^(V)the Lord has proclaimed you to be His special people, just as He promised you, that you should keep all His commandments, ¹⁹and that He will set you ^(W)high above all nations which He has made, in praise, in name, and in honor, and that you may be ^(X)a ^[h]holy people to the Lord your God, just as He has spoken.”

The Law Inscribed on Stones

27 Now Moses, with the elders of Israel, commanded the people, saying: “Keep all the commandments which I command you today. ²And it shall be, on the day ^(Y)when you cross over the Jordan to the land which the Lord your God is giving you, that ^(Z)you shall set up for yourselves large stones, and whitewash them with lime. ³You shall write on them all the words of this law, when you have crossed over, that you may enter the land which the Lord your God is giving you, ^(AA)‘a land flowing with milk and honey,’ just as the Lord God of your fathers promised you. ⁴Therefore it shall be, when you have crossed over the Jordan, that ^(AB)on Mount Ebal you shall set up these stones, which I command you today, and you shall whitewash them with lime. ⁵And there you shall build an altar to the Lord your God, an altar of stones; ^(AC)you shall not use an iron tool on them. ⁶You shall build with ^[i]whole stones the altar of the Lord your God, and offer burnt offerings on it to the Lord your God. ⁷You shall offer peace offerings, and shall eat there, and ^(AD)rejoice before the Lord your God. ⁸And you shall ^(AE)write very plainly on the stones all the words of this law.”

⁹Then Moses and the priests, the Levites, spoke to all Israel, saying, “Take heed and listen, O Israel: ^(AF)This day you have become the people of the Lord your God. ¹⁰Therefore you shall obey the voice of the Lord your God, and observe His commandments and His statutes which I command you today.”

Curses Pronounced from Mount Ebal

¹¹And Moses commanded the people on the same day, saying, ¹²“These shall stand ^(AG)on Mount Gerizim to bless the people, when you have crossed over the Jordan: Simeon, Levi, Judah, Issachar, Joseph, and Benjamin; ¹³and ^(AH)these shall stand on Mount Ebal to curse: Reuben, Gad, Asher, Zebulun, Dan, and Naphtali.

¹⁴“And ^(AI)the Levites shall speak with a loud voice and say to all the men of Israel: ¹⁵^(AJ)‘Cursed is the one who makes a carved or molded image, ^[j]an abomination to the Lord, the work of the hands of the craftsman, and sets it up in secret.’