Deuteronomy 26:1-9

Offering First Fruits

1 "Then it shall be, when you enter the land which the LORD your God gives you as an inheritance, and you possess it and live in it,

2 that you shall take some of ¹the first of all the produce of the ground which you bring in from your land that the LORD your God gives you, and you shall put it in a basket and ²go to the place where * the LORD your God chooses to establish His name.

3 "You shall go to the priest who is in office at that time and say to him, 'I declare this day to the LORD my God that I have entered the land which the LORD swore to our fathers to give us.'

4 "Then the priest shall take the basket from your hand and set it down before the altar of the LORD your God.

5 "You shall answer and say before the LORD your God, '³My father was a wandering Aramean, and he went down to Egypt and sojourned there, ⁴few in number; but there he became a ⁵great, mighty and populous nation.

6 'And the ⁶Egyptians treated us harshly and afflicted us, and imposed hard labor on us.

7 'Then ⁷we cried to the LORD, the God of our fathers, and the LORD heard our voice and saw our affliction and our toil and our oppression;

8 ⁸and the LORD brought us out of Egypt with a mighty hand and an outstretched arm and with great terror and with signs and wonders;

9 and He has brought us to this place and has given us this land, ⁹a land flowing with milk and honey.

Deuteronomy 26:1-9 Meaning and Commentary

INTRODUCTION TO DEUTERONOMY 26

This chapter treats of the basket of firstfruits to be brought and presented to the Lord, and the confession to be made along with it, De 26:1-11; and of the declaration to be made on the third year, the year of tithing, and the prayer annexed to it, De 26:12-15; and of the covenant made in a solemn manner between God and the people of Israel, De 26:16-19.

Cross References

• 1. Exodus 22:29; Exodus 23:16, 19; Numbers 18:13; Proverbs 3:9
• 2. Deuteronomy 12:5
• 3. Genesis 43:1-14
• 4. Genesis 46:27
• 5. Deuteronomy 1:10; Deuteronomy 10:22
• 6. Exodus 1:8-11
• 7. Exodus 2:23-25; Exodus 3:9
• 8. Deuteronomy 4:34; Deuteronomy 34:11, 12
• 9. Exodus 3:8, 17

Footnotes

• [a]. So with Gr; Heb "your"
• [b]. Or "perishing"
• [c]. Or "lived as an alien"