Chapter 26

Thanksgiving for the Harvest. ^1 (A)When you have come into the land which the Lord, your God, is giving you as a heritage, and have taken possession and settled in it, ² you shall take some first fruits^(B) of the various products of the soil which you harvest from the land the Lord, your God, is giving you; put them in a basket and go to the place which the Lord, your God, will choose as the dwelling place for his name. ³ There you shall go to the priest in office at that time and say to him, “Today I acknowledge to the Lord, my God, that I have indeed come into the land which the Lord swore to our ancestors to give us.”^{(C) 4} The priest shall then take the basket from your hands and set it in front of the altar of the Lord, your God. ⁵ Then you shall declare in the presence of the Lord, your God, “My father was a refugee Aramean^[a] who went down to Egypt with a small household and lived there as a resident alien.^(D) But there he became a nation great, strong and numerous. ^6 (E)When the Egyptians maltreated and oppressed us, imposing harsh servitude upon us, ⁷ we cried to the Lord, the God of our ancestors, and the Lord heard our cry and saw our affliction, our toil and our oppression. ⁸ Then the Lord brought us out of Egypt with a strong hand and outstretched arm, with terrifying power, with signs and wonders,^{(F) 9} and brought us to this place, and gave us this land, a land flowing with milk and honey.^{(G) 10} Now, therefore, I have brought the first fruits of the products of the soil which you, Lord, have given me.” You shall set them before the Lord, your God, and you shall bow down before the Lord, your God. ¹¹ Then you and your household, together with the Levite and the resident aliens who live among you, shall celebrate with all these good things which the Lord, your God, has given you.^(H)

¹² I also assign to you all the best^(A) of the new oil and of the new wine and grain that they give to the Lord as their first produce that has been processed.

⁵ As soon as the order was promulgated, the Israelites brought, in great quantities, the best of their grain, wine, oil, and honey, and all the produce of the fields; they gave a generous tithe of everything.^(A)

¹⁰ I learned, too, that the portions due the Levites were no longer being given, so that the Levites and the singers who should have been carrying out the services had deserted to their own fields. ¹¹ I reprimanded the magistrates, demanding, “Why is the house of God neglected?” Then I brought the Levites together and had them resume their stations. ^12 (A)All Judah once more brought in the tithes of grain, wine, and oil to the storerooms. ¹³ In charge of the storerooms I appointed Shelemiah the priest, Zadok the scribe, and Pedaiah, one of the Levites, together with Hanan, son of Zaccur, son of Mattaniah, as their assistant; for they were considered trustworthy. It was their duty to make the distribution to their kinsmen.