We will also bring the firstfruits of our land and of every fruit tree to the house of the LORD year by year.
Parallel translations
- WEB and to bring the first fruits of our ground, and the first fruits of all fruit of all kinds of trees, year by year, to Yahweh’s house;
- KJV And to bring the firstfruits of our ground, and the firstfruits of all fruit of all trees, year by year, unto the house of the LORD:
- NKJV And we made ordinances to bring the firstfruits of our ground and the firstfruits of all fruit of all trees, year by year, to the house of the Lord;
- NASB and so that they could bring the first fruits of our ground and the first fruits of all the fruit of every tree to the house of the Lord annually,
- NLT “We promise to bring the first part of every harvest to the Lord’s Temple year after year—whether it be a crop from the soil or from our fruit trees.
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
They pledged to bring the firstfruits of their crops and trees to the LORD's house each year. Giving God the first and best expressed trust and gratitude.
Overview
Offering firstfruits acknowledged that the land and its harvest belonged to God, who alone gives the increase. By presenting the first of the produce, the people confessed dependence on him and gratitude for his provision. The principle is fulfilled in Christ, the 'firstfruits' of the resurrection (1 Corinthians 15:20), guaranteeing the full harvest to come.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 9
- Deut 26:2you are to take some of the firstfruits of all your produce from the soil of the land that the LORD your God is giving you and put them in a basket. Then go to the place the LORD your God will choose as a dwelling for His Name,
- Exod 23:19Bring the best of the firstfruits of your soil to the house of the LORD your God. You must not cook a young goat in its mother’s milk.
- Num 18:12I give you all the freshest olive oil and all the finest new wine and grain that the Israelites give to the LORD as their firstfruits.
- Exod 34:26Bring the best of the firstfruits of your soil to the house of the LORD your God. You must not cook a young goat in its mother’s milk.”
- 2 Chr 31:3–10The king contributed from his own possessions for the regular morning and evening burnt offerings and for the burnt offerings on the Sabbaths, New Moons, and appointed feasts, as written in the Law of the LORD.
- Lev 19:23–26When you enter the land and plant any kind of tree for food, you shall regard the fruit as forbidden. For three years it will be forbidden to you and must not be eaten.
- Mal 3:8–12Will a man rob God? Yet you are robbing Me! But you ask, ‘How do we rob You?’ In tithes and offerings.
- Prov 3:9–10Honor the LORD with your wealth and with the firstfruits of all your harvest;
- Num 18:2But bring with you also your brothers from the tribe of Levi, the tribe of your father, that they may join you and assist you and your sons before the Tent of the Testimony.
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Christ at the center
The rebuilt walls and renewed covenant community foreshadow the greater builder who gathers and secures a people for God, the one who declares 'I will build my church.'
How Nehemiah 10:35 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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