The confession of him who offers the basket of first-fruits, 1-11. The prayer of him who gives his third year's tithes, 12-15. The covenant between God and his people, 16-19.
1 "And it shall be, when you come in to the land which the LORD your God gives you for an inheritance and possess it and dwell therein, 2 That you shall take of the first of all the fruit of the earth, which you bring from your land that the LORD your God gives you, and shall put it in a basket, and shall go to the place which the LORD your God chooses to place his name there. 3 And you shall go to the priest who shall be in those days, and say to him, 'I profess this day to the LORD your God, that I have come to the country which the LORD swore to our fathers to give us.' 4 And the priest shall take the basket from your hand and set it down before the altar of the LORD your God. 5 And you shall speak and say before the LORD your God, 'My father was a Syrian ready to perish, and he went down to Egypt and sojourned there with a few and became a nation there, great, mighty, and populous. 6 And the Egyptians ill-treated us and afflicted us and laid upon us hard bondage. 7 And when we cried to the LORD God of our fathers, the LORD heard our voice and looked on our affliction, our labor, and our oppression. 8 And the LORD brought us out of Egypt with a mighty hand, with an out-stretched arm, with great terribleness, with signs, and with wonders, 9 And he has brought us into this place and has given us this land, even a land that flows with milk and honey. 10 And now, behold, I have brought the first-fruits of the land, which you, O LORD, have given me.' And you shall set it before the LORD your God and worship before the LORD your God. 11 And you shall rejoice in every good thing which the LORD your God has given to you and to your house—you, the Levite, and the stranger who is among you.
12 "When you have made an end of tithing all the tithes of your increase the third year, which is the year of tithing, and have given it to the Levite, the stranger, the fatherless, and the widow, so that they may eat within your gates and be filled, 13 You shall say before the LORD your God, 'I have brought away the hallowed things out of my house, and also have given them to the Levite, to the stranger, to the fatherless, and to the widow, according to all your commandments which you have commanded me. I have not transgressed your commandments, neither have I forgotten them. 14 I have not eaten of it in my mourning, neither have I taken away anything of it for any unclean use, nor given anything of it for the dead. But I have listened to the voice of the LORD my God and have done according to all that you have commanded me. 15 Look down from your holy habitation, from heaven, and bless your people Israel and the land which you have given us, as you swore to our fathers, a land that flows with milk and honey.'
16 "This day the LORD your God has commanded you to perform these statutes and judgments. You shall therefore keep and do them with all your heart and with all your soul. 17 You have avouched the LORD this day to be your God, and to walk in his ways, and to keep his statutes, his commandments, and his judgments, and to listen to his voice. 18 And the LORD has avouched you this day to be his peculiar people, as he has promised you, and that you should keep all his commandments; 19 And to make you high above all nations which he has made, in praise, in name, and in honor; and that you may be a holy people to the LORD your God, as he has spoken."
Matthew Henry Commentary - Deuteronomy, Chapter 26[➚]
[v.18-19] - Reference, Deuteronomy 7:6, 14:2; 1st Peter 2:9.