Study Desk

you must take the first of all the ground's produce you harvest from the land the Lord your God is giving you, place it in a basket, and go to the place where he chooses to locate his name.

You must go to the priest in office at that time and say to him, "I declare today to the Lord your God that I have come into the land that the Lord promised to our ancestors to give us."

The priest will then take the basket from you and set it before the altar of the Lord your God.

Then you must affirm before the Lord your God, "A wandering Aramean was my ancestor, and he went down to Egypt and lived there as a foreigner with a household few in number, but there he became a great, powerful, and numerous people.

So we cried out to the Lord , the God of our ancestors, and he heard us and saw our humiliation, toil, and oppression.

So now, look! I have brought the first of the ground's produce that you, Lord , have given me." Then you must set it down before the Lord your God and worship before him.

You will celebrate all the good things that the Lord your God has given you and your family, along with the Levites and the resident foreigners among you.

Then you shall say before the Lord your God, "I have removed the sacred offering from my house and given it to the Levites, the resident foreigners, the orphans, and the widows just as you have commanded me. I have not violated or forgotten your commandments.

Today the Lord your God is commanding you to keep these statutes and ordinances, something you must do with all your heart and soul.

Today you have declared the Lord to be your God, and that you will walk in his ways, keep his statutes, commandments, and ordinances, and obey him.

Then he will elevate you above all the nations he has made and you will receive praise, fame, and honor. You will be a people holy to the Lord your God, as he has said.

When you cross the Jordan River to the land the Lord your God is giving you, you must erect great stones and cover them with plaster.

Then you must inscribe on them all the words of this law when you cross over, so that you may enter the land the Lord your God is giving you, a land flowing with milk and honey just as the Lord , the God of your ancestors, said to you.

Then you must build an altar there to the Lord your God, an altar of stones—do not use an iron tool on them.

You must build the altar of the Lord your God with whole stones and offer burnt offerings on it to the Lord your God.

Also you must offer fellowship offerings and eat them there, rejoicing before the Lord your God.

Then Moses and the Levitical priests spoke to all Israel: "Be quiet and pay attention, Israel. Today you have become the people of the Lord your God.

"If you indeed obey the Lord your God and are careful to observe all his commandments I am giving you today, the Lord your God will elevate you above all the nations of the earth.

All these blessings will come to you in abundance if you obey the Lord your God:

"But if you ignore the Lord your God and are not careful to keep all his commandments and statutes I am giving you today, then all these curses will come upon you in full force: