Study Desk

All who cheat with dishonest weights and measures are detestable to the Lord your God.

They attacked you when you were exhausted and weary, and they struck down those who were straggling behind. They had no fear of God.

Therefore, when the Lord your God has given you rest from all your enemies in the land he is giving you as a special possession, you must destroy the Amalekites and erase their memory from under heaven. Never forget this!

"When you enter the land the Lord your God is giving you as a special possession and you have conquered it and settled there,

put some of the first produce from each crop you harvest into a basket and bring it to the designated place of worship—the place the Lord your God chooses for his name to be honored.

Go to the priest in charge at that time and say to him, ‘With this gift I acknowledge to the Lord your God that I have entered the land he swore to our ancestors he would give us.'

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

"You must then say in the presence of the Lord your God, ‘My ancestor Jacob was a wandering Aramean who went to live as a foreigner in Egypt. His family arrived few in number, but in Egypt they became a large and mighty nation.

we cried out to the Lord , the God of our ancestors. He heard our cries and saw our hardship, toil, and oppression.

And now, O Lord , I have brought you the first portion of the harvest you have given me from the ground.' Then place the produce before the Lord your God, and bow to the ground in worship before him.

Afterward you may go and celebrate because of all the good things the Lord your God has given to you and your household. Remember to include the Levites and the foreigners living among you in the celebration.

Then you must declare in the presence of the Lord your God, ‘I have taken the sacred gift from my house and have given it to the Levites, foreigners, orphans, and widows, just as you commanded me. I have not violated or forgotten any of your commands.

I have not eaten any of it while in mourning; I have not handled it while I was ceremonially unclean; and I have not offered any of it to the dead. I have obeyed the Lord my God and have done everything you commanded me.

"Today the Lord your God has commanded you to obey all these decrees and regulations. So be careful to obey them wholeheartedly.

You have declared today that the Lord is your God. And you have promised to walk in his ways, and to obey his decrees, commands, and regulations, and to do everything he tells you.

And if you do, he will set you high above all the other nations he has made. Then you will receive praise, honor, and renown. You will be a nation that is holy to the Lord your God, just as he promised."

When you cross the Jordan River and enter the land the Lord your God is giving you, set up some large stones and coat them with plaster.

Write this whole body of instruction on them when you cross the river to 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, promised you.

"Then build an altar there to the Lord your God, using natural, uncut stones. You must not shape the stones with an iron tool.

Build the altar of uncut stones, and use it to offer burnt offerings to the Lord your God.