There must be a rearrangement of this verse to provide the needed information (see Good News Translation); Revised English Bible has “In the third year, the tithe-year, ….” And the very long sentence (verses 12-14) must be broken up as in Good News Translation. One way to do this is to begin a new sentence at verse 13, “Then say in the presence of the LORD your God….” This will require restructuring verse 12, for which Good News Translation also offers a good model.

With the beginning of a new section here, Moses should be reintroduced as the speaker.

Paying all the tithe of your produce: this is not a voluntary offering; it is required by the Law (see 14.28-29). The tithe is one-tenth of the whole amount. Bible en français courant provides a good model for retaining the technical term “tithe” and explaining it: “After you have finished paying the tithe, that is, one-tenth of your crops, ….” In some languages, however, there will not be a technical term for tithe, so we may simply say “give ten percent” or “give one part out of every ten parts.” In 14.22 the Israelites were commanded to give a tithe, or ten percent, every year to the LORD. It will therefore be helpful to make that clear here as Contemporary English Version does: “Every year you are to give ten percent of your harvest to the LORD, but every third year, this ten percent must be given to the poor….”

The third year, which is the year of tithing: every three years the Israelite farmer was obliged to give away one-tenth of all his crops to feed the poor and needy. The text does not say how the produce would be distributed.

The Levite, the sojourner, the fatherless, and the widow: see 14.29.

Eat within your towns and be filled: they may eat as much as they wish, until they are satisfied. Your towns may also be expressed as “your towns and villages” or “every community” (Good News Translation).

Quoted with permission from Bratcher, Robert G. and Hatton, Howard A. A Handbook on Deuteronomy. (UBS Helps for Translators). New York: UBS, 2000. For this and other handbooks for translators see here .