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6 brother unto her. And it shall be, [that] the firstborn which she beareth, shall succeed in the name of his brother [which is] dead, that his name be not put out of Israel. And if the man like not to take his brother's wife, then let his brother's wife go up to the gate unto the elders, and say, My husband's brother refuseth to raise up unto his brother a name in Israel, he will not perform the duty of my husband's brother. Then the elders of his city shall call him, and speak unto him: and [if] he stand [to it,] and say, I like not to take her; Then shall his brother's wife come unto him in the presence of the elders, and loose his shoe from off his foot, and spit in his face, and shall answer and say, So shall it be done unto 10 that man that will not build up his brother's house. And his name shall be called in Israel, The house of him that hath his shoe loosed.

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When men strive together one with another, and the wife of the one draweth near for to deliver her husband out of the hand of him that smiteth him, and putteth forth her hand, and taketh him by the secrets: Then thou shalt cut off her hand, thine eye shall not pity [her.]

Thou shalt not have in thy bag divers weights, a great and 14 a small. Thou shalt not have in thine house divers measures, 15 a great and a small. [But] thou shalt have a perfect and just weight, a perfect and just measure shalt thou have: that thy days may be lengthened in the land which the LORD thy 16 God giveth thee. For all that do such things, [and] all that do unrighteously, [are] an abomination unto the LORD thy God.

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Remember what Amalek did unto thee by the way, when 18 ye were come forth out of Egypt; How he met thee by the way, and smote the hindmost of thee, [even] all [that were] feeble behind thee, when thou [wast] faint and weary; and 19 he feared not God. Therefore it shall be, when the LORD thy God hath given thee rest from all thine enemies round about, in the land which the LORD thy God giveth thee [for] an inheritance to possess it, [that] thou shalt blot out the remembrance of Amalek from under heaven; thou shalt not forget Tit.]

CHAP. XXVI.

This chapter concludes Moses' account of the particular statutes which God gave to Israel; he prescribes a confession for those who offered the basket of first fruits, and who paid the third year's eithes; and enforces these things upon them by a solemn obligation.

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ND it shall be, when thou [art] come in unto the land which the LORD thy God giveth thee [for] an in- ́ 2 heritance, and possessest it, and dwellest therein; That thou shalt take of the first of all the fruit of the earth, which thou shalt bring of thy land that the LORD thy God giveth thee, and shalt put [it] in a basket, and shalt go unto the place which the LORD thy God shall choose to place his namẹ 3 there. And thou shalt go unto the priest that shall be in those days, to the priest at that time in waiting, and say unto him, I profess this day unto the LORD thy God, that I am come into the country which the LORD Sware unto our fathers for to give us; I thankfully acknowledge God's faithfulness to his promise in giving us the land of Canaan, and the obligation I am under to be faithful to him. On this tenure they held their 4 land. And the priest shall take the basket out of thine hand, 5 and set it down before the altar of the LORD thy God. And thou shalt speak and say before the LORD thy God, A Syrian ready to perish [was] my father, that is, Jacob, who lived twenty years in Syria, and was ready to perish through Esau's enmity, and Laban's cruelty, and the famine that brought him to Egypt; and he went down into Egypt, and sojourned there with a few, that is, seventy persons, and became there a nation, great, 6 mighty, and populous: And the Egyptians evil entreated us, and afflicted us, and laid upon us hard bondage; this must be 7 remembered to promote their humility and gratitude: And when we cried unto the Lord God of our fathers, the LORD heard our voice, and looked on our affliction, and our labour, 8 and our oppression: And the LORD brought us forth out of Egypt with a mighty hand, and with an outstretched arm, and with great terribleness, and with signs, and with wonders; 9 thus God pitied, and delivered them: And he hath brought us into this place, and hath given us this land, [even] a land that floweth with milk and honey, a pleasant and fruitful country. 10 And now, behold, I have brought the first fruits of the land, which thou, O LORD, hast given me; then the priest was to give the basket to the officer, and he was to set it down before

This was offered at the feast of Pentecost. It consisted of the first fruits of their corn and trees, and was presented as a token of their homage to God. The same custom was practised among the heathen, who used to send their first fruits to Apollo, at Delphos, from all parts of the world.

the sanctuary: and thou shalt set it before the LORD thy God; and worship before the LORD thy God; and this external adoration was to be attended with thankfulness and prayer: 11 And thou shalt rejoice in every good [thing] which the LORD thy God hath given unto thee, and unto thine house, thou, and the Levite, and the stranger that [is] among you; feasting together with the Levites and strangers, upon the peace offerings they had brought thither, and which always attended the offering of the first fruits. The words may also refer to the pe culiar satisfaction they would find in all their other enjoyments, when they had given to God his portion.

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When 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 13 be filled ;* 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 14 [them.]t I have not eaten thereof in my mourning, either in the time of mourning for dead friends, or rather, not with such mourning and lamentation as the Egyptians used when they offered their first fruits to Isis and Bacchus; but with thankfulness to the only true God; neither have I taken away [aught] thereof for [any] unclean [use,] to any magical rite, or impure one, as was common with the Egyptians at the feast of their first fruits, nor given [aught] thereof for the dead, not consecrated it to their heroes and deified men; which was common in Egypt, and was made a law at Athens : [but] I have hearkened to the voice of the LORD my God, [and] have done according to all 15 that thou hast commanded me. Look down from thy holy habitation, from heaven, and bless thy people Israel, and the land which thou hast given us, as thou swarest unto our fathers, a land that floweth with milk and honey. With the utmost propriety did they seek his blessing and mercy, when they could appeal to him that they had been obedient.

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This day the LORD thy God hath commanded thee to do these statutes and judgments, all the precepts of the foregoing

In order to understand this, it must be remembered, that there was tithe paid in kind to all the Levites within their borders, out of this first tithe. The Levites carried a tenth portion to Jerusalem, and paid it to the priests: then there was a second tithe, which was paid either in kind or money; this was brought the first and second year after the sab batical, or seventh year, to Jerusalem, and made a kind of love feast, to which the offerer invited his friends, and the priest and Levites. But on the third year he carried it not to Jerusalem, but spent it at home within his gates, upon the Levite, the fatherless, and the widow. This they did on the third and sixth years; and therefore it is called the year of tithing. See chap. xiv. 18.

This acknowledgment was to be made the next time they went up to Jerusalent, and was designed to prevent their defrauding the poor through a cruel and covetous disposition,

chapter: thou shalt therefore keep and do them with all thine heart, and with all thy soul. Thou hast avouched, solemnly professed and owned, the LORD this day to be thy God, and to walk in his ways, and to keep his statutes, and his com mandments, and his judgments, and to hearken unto his voice: 18 And the LORD hath avouched thee this day to be his peculiar people, owned thee for such before all the world, giving thee peculiar laws, ordinances, and privileges, as he hath promised thee, and that [thou] shouldst keep all his commandments ; 19 And to make thee high above all nations which he hath made, in praise, and in name, and in honour; and that thou mayest be an holy people unto the LORD thy God, as he hath spoken: all was designed to make them an high and holy people, that all nations might admire and magnify the honour which God put upon them, and be led thereby to adore and reverence him.

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REFLECTIONS.

ROM hence we see, that it is fit and reasonable we should honour the Lord with our substance; we shall thus keep up a remembrance that all comes from him. It is his own which we present to him; let us therefore be ready to distribute, and willing to communicate to our poorer brethren. Let us lay by in store for that purpose. This will make our comforts peculiarly sweet; and we shall be able to rejoice in the good things which the Lord our God giveth us, and shall bring his blessing on all we do and possess.

2. Let us frequently and seriously commemorate all the kind appearances of God for us and our country. Let us bless him for the good land, for all temporal and spiritual favours; and recollect from how low a beginning God hath raised us, and how often we have been in danger and distress, and God hath mercifully interposed. Anniversary days for doing this are very proper, and agree with the design of the law in this chapter. And when we commemorate these mercies, let us also present our requests to God for future favours, as in v. 15. Look down from thy holy habitation, from heaven, and bless thy people Israel, and the land which thou hast given us, a land flowing with milk and honey. May we thus cultivate a public spirit, a tender concern for the peace and prosperity of our Israel, that the land may yield its increase.

3. It becomes us to embrace every opportunity of avouching the Lord for our God, of recognizing our obligations to him, and diligently remembering them; and to be careful not to violate the sacred engagements we are under. Having avouched the Lord for our God, let us not be willing to go back; but be upright before him; remembering the dignity promised, v. 19. to make thee high above all nations which he hath made, in praise, and

in name, and in honour; and that thou mayest be an holy people unto the Lord thy God, as he hath spoken. And may we especially look forward to the still greater dignity he intends for us in the other world, and therefore be obedient. Nothing will afford us greater joy in life or death, than to be able to appeal to God, that we have not wilfully transgressed his commandments, but have kept them, and loved them with all our heart, and soul, and mind, and strength, and have humbly endeavoured, through divine grace, to walk in all the ordinances and commandments of the Lord blameless.

CHAP. XXVII.

Moses, having repeated the law and enforced the commands and covenant, that nothing might be left undone which was likely to affect the minds of the people, he proceeds to direct to some external means to promote the remembrance and observance of it; one was, to write the law upon stones, the other, to pronounce a blessing and a curse in a most solemn manner; both of which were to be done on their first entrance into Canaan.

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ND Moses with the elders of Israel commanded the people, saying, Keep all the commandments which I command you this day. The elders joined with Moses in doing this, lest the people should think their obligations were lessened when Moses was gone, or that the priests and Levites recom2 mended it for their own private ends. And it shall be on the day, on the first opportunity after your entrance into the land of Canaan, when ye shall pass over Jordan unto the land which the LORD thy God giveth thee, that thou shalt set thee up great stones, and plaster them with plaster: these stones were for an altar, and for a memorial; they were to be unhewn, and unpolished, to prevent any thing like an image being made, and 3 then were to be plastered over. And thou shalt write upon them all the words of this law,* when thou art passed over, that thou mayest go in unto the land which the LORD thy God giveth thee, a land that floweth with milk and honey; 4 as the Lord GOD of thy fathers hath promised thee. There fore it shall be when ye be gone over Jordan, [that] ye shall set up these stones, which I command you this day in mount 5 Ebal, and thou shalt plaster them with plaster. And there shalt thou build an altar unto the LORD thy God, an altar of stones thou shalt not lift up ([any] iron [tool] upon them. 6 Thou shalt build the altar of the LORD thy God of whole

Some say, the ten commandments; and others, the whole of these five books of Moses; but most probably, only an abridgment of this book of Deuteronomy, or the blessings and curses here set down. Compare Joshua viil. 34.

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