1 Once you have entered the land the LORD your God is giving you as an inheritance, and you have taken possession of it and settled there,
2 take some of the first of every crop the ground produces, which you harvest from the land the LORD your God is giving you, and put it in a basket. Then go to the place the LORD your God will choose to make his name dwell.
3 Go to the priest who is serving at that time and tell him, "Today I declare to the LORD your God that I have entered the land the LORD swore to our fathers to give us."
4 The priest is to take the basket from your hand and place it in front of the altar of the LORD your God.
5 Then you are to declare before the LORD your God: "My father was an Aramean about to perish. He went down to Egypt with only a few people and lived there as a sojourner, and there he became a great nation, strong and numerous.
6 But the Egyptians mistreated us and oppressed us, imposing harsh labor on us.
7 So we cried out to the LORD, the God of our fathers, and the LORD heard us and saw our misery, our hardship, and the oppression we suffered.
8 The LORD brought us out of Egypt with a mighty hand and an outstretched arm, with great terror and with signs and wonders.
9 He brought us to this place and gave us this land, a land flowing with milk and honey.
10 And now I bring the first of the fruit of the ground that you, LORD, have given me." Then place it before the LORD your God and bow down in his presence.
11 You, the Levite, and the sojourner among you are to rejoice in all the good things the LORD your God has given to you and your household.
12 When you have finished setting aside the full tithe of your produce in the third year, the year of the tithe, and have given it to the Levite, the sojourner, the fatherless, and the widow, so that they may eat their fill in your towns,
13 then say in the presence of the LORD your God: "I have taken the sacred portion out of my house and given it to the Levite, the sojourner, the fatherless, and the widow, just as you commanded me. I have not disregarded any of your commandments or forgotten them.
14 I have not eaten any of it while in mourning, or removed any of it while I was unclean, or offered any of it to the dead. I have obeyed the voice of the LORD my God and done everything you commanded me.
15 Look down from heaven, your holy dwelling place, and bless your people Israel and the land you have given us as you swore to our fathers, a land flowing with milk and honey."
16 Today the LORD your God commands you to carry out these statutes and rules. Be careful to observe them with all your heart and with all your soul.
17 You have declared today that the LORD is your God and that you will walk in his ways, keep his statutes, his commandments, and his rules, and obey his voice.
18 And the LORD has declared today that you are his people, his treasured possession, as he promised you, and that you are to keep all his commandments.
19 He will raise you high above all the nations he has made, in praise, fame, and honor, and you will be a people holy to the LORD your God, as he said.