Then thou shalt say before the LORD thy God, I have brought away the hallowed things out of mine house, and also have given them unto the Levite, and unto the stranger, to the fatherless, and to the widow, according to all thy commandments which thou hast commanded me: I have not transgressed thy commandments, neither have I forgotten them:
Parallel translations
- WEB You shall say before Yahweh your God, “I have put away the holy things out of my house, and also have given them to the Levite, to the foreigner, to the fatherless, and to the widow, according to all your commandment which you have commanded me. I have not transgressed any of your commandments, neither have I forgotten them.
- BSB Then you shall declare in the presence of the LORD your God, “I have removed from my house the sacred portion and have given it to the Levite, the foreigner, the fatherless, and the widow, according to all the commandments You have given me. I have not transgressed or forgotten Your commandments.
- NKJV then you shall say before the Lord your God: ‘I have removed the holy tithe from my house, and also have given them to the Levite, the stranger, the fatherless, and the widow, according to all Your commandments which You have commanded me; I have not transgressed Your commandments, nor have I forgotten them.
- NASB And you shall say before the Lord your God, ‘I have removed the sacred portion from my house, and have also given it to the Levite, the stranger, the orphan, and the widow, in accordance with all Your commandments which You have commanded me; I have not violated or forgotten any of Your commandments.
- NLT 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.
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
Scripture quotations taken from the (NASB®) New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995, 2020 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. All rights reserved. lockman.org
Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.
Quick answer
The worshiper declares before God that he has faithfully given the tithe to the needy as commanded, neglecting none of God's commands. Obedience is to be sincere and complete, offered openly before the Lord.
Overview
This confession affirms that the sacred portion was rightly distributed and the commandments not forgotten or transgressed. It calls for honest self-examination before God in matters of generosity and obedience. While no one keeps the law perfectly, the heart's sincerity is what God seeks, a sincerity ultimately made possible through the cleansing and renewing work of Christ.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 18
- Ps 119:141I am small and despised: yet do not I forget thy precepts.
- Ps 119:153Consider mine affliction, and deliver me: for I do not forget thy law.
- Ps 119:176I have gone astray like a lost sheep; seek thy servant; for I do not forget thy commandments.
- Ps 119:93I will never forget thy precepts: for with them thou hast quickened me.
- Ps 119:139My zeal hath consumed me, because mine enemies have forgotten thy words.
- 1 Jn 3:17–22But whoso hath this world’s good, and seeth his brother have need, and shutteth up his bowels of compassion from him, how dwelleth the love of God in him?
- 2 Cor 11:31The God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, which is blessed for evermore, knoweth that I lie not.
- Deut 14:29And the Levite, (because he hath no part nor inheritance with thee,) and the stranger, and the fatherless, and the widow, which are within thy gates, shall come, and shall eat and be satisfied; that the LORD thy God may bless thee in all the work of thine hand which thou doest.
- Prov 3:1My son, forget not my law; but let thine heart keep my commandments:
- Job 31:16–20If I have withheld the poor from their desire, or have caused the eyes of the widow to fail;
- 2 Cor 1:12For our rejoicing is this, the testimony of our conscience, that in simplicity and godly sincerity, not with fleshly wisdom, but by the grace of God, we have had our conversation in the world, and more abundantly to you-ward.
- Acts 24:16And herein do I exercise myself, to have always a conscience void of offence toward God, and toward men.
- Ps 18:21–24For I have kept the ways of the LORD, and have not wickedly departed from my God.
- Ps 26:6I will wash mine hands in innocency: so will I compass thine altar, O LORD:
- Deut 26:12When thou hast made an end of tithing all the tithes of thine increase the third year, which is the year of tithing, and hast given it unto the Levite, the stranger, the fatherless, and the widow, that they may eat within thy gates, and be filled;
- Deut 24:19–21When thou cuttest down thine harvest in thy field, and hast forgot a sheaf in the field, thou shalt not go again to fetch it: it shall be for the stranger, for the fatherless, and for the widow: that the LORD thy God may bless thee in all the work of thine hands.
- Ps 26:1–3Judge me, O LORD; for I have walked in mine integrity: I have trusted also in the LORD; therefore I shall not slide.
- 1 Th 2:10Ye are witnesses, and God also, how holily and justly and unblameably we behaved ourselves among you that believe:
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Christ at the center
Moses promised a Prophet like himself to whom Israel must listen (18:15); Jesus is that Prophet, the one who keeps the covenant we broke and becomes the curse for us by hanging on a tree (Gal 3:13).
How Deuteronomy 26:13 points to him is part of the one story that runs through all Scripture — meet Jesus at the heart of the web, or follow a trail that traces him from Genesis to Revelation.
Original language
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