Here’s a readers’ theatre setting of Deuteronomy 26:
1-11. It is set for two voices.
Readers’ Theatre:
Deuteronomy 26: 1-11
One: 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,
Two: 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.
One: 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,
Two: 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.
When the Egyptians oppressed and
humiliated us
by making us their slaves,
we cried out to the Lord, the God of our ancestors.
He heard our cries and saw our
hardship, toil, and oppression.
So the Lord brought us
out of Egypt
with a strong hand and powerful arm,
with overwhelming terror,
and with miraculous signs and
wonders.
He brought us to this place
and gave us this land flowing with
milk and honey!
And now, O Lord,
I have brought you the first portion
of the harvest
you have given me from the ground.
Two: 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.
