When thou hast reached the land which the Lord is to make thy home and taken possession of it, and settled there,

thou wilt set apart first-fruits out of all thy crops. These thou wilt put in a basket, and then carry them to the place the Lord thy God has chosen as the sanctuary of his name.

And thus shalt thou address thyself to the priest who bears office at the time: I make acknowledgement this day before the Lord thy God, that the land he promised to us in our fathers’ days is now my home.

Thereupon the priest will take the basket from thy hand, and set it down before the altar of the Lord thy God.

In that divine presence, thou wilt continue thy protestation: My fathers were wanderers, hunted to and fro in Syria, when they made their way into Egypt and began to dwell there, only a handful of them; but they grew to be a great people, hardy and numerous.

Whereupon the Egyptians treated us ill and persecuted us, and the burden we must bear was insupportable;

so we cried out to the Lord God of our fathers, and he listened to our plea, and took pity on our affliction, the toil and oppression we suffered;

rescued us from Egypt by force, with his arm high uplifted to strike great terror, and perform great wonders and portents,

and brought us here, where he has given us a land that is all milk and honey.

That is why I am offering first-fruits, now, out of the land which the Lord has given me. So leave them there, in the presence of the Lord thy God, and when thou hast paid worship to this Lord and God of thine,

go home to feast on all the good things he has given thee, with all thy household, with Levite and wanderer that are thy neighbours.

And when thou hast finished taking tithes of all thy harvest, every third year, when tithe is due; when thou hast given them to Levite and stranger, to orphan and widow, in thy own city, so that they can feast and have their fill,

what prayer wilt thou make before the Lord thy God? I have stripped my house, thou wilt tell him, of all that I had vowed away, given it to Levite or to wanderer, to orphan or to widow, as thou badest me; I have not neglected thy will, or forgotten thy commands.

None of it has been eaten when I was in mourning, or set apart when I was defiled, or devoted to the dead; no, I have obeyed the Lord my God, and done all thy bidding.✻

Look down, then, from that sanctuary of thine, that dwelling-place high in heaven, and bless thy people Israel; bless the land thou hast given us, that land, all milk and honey, which thou didst promise to our fathers before us.

Here and now the Lord thy God gives thee these commands, these decrees, bidding thee observe them and fulfil them, heart and soul.

Here and now thou art choosing the Lord to be thy God, whose guidance thou wilt follow, whose prescriptions, laws and commandments thou wilt observe, whose rule thou wilt obey.

Here and now the Lord is choosing thee to be his own people, as he promised thee, living by his precepts;

his will is to exalt thee high above all other nations he has made, for his own praise and glory and renown, a people consecrated to the Lord thy God, claiming his promise.