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Tithing

Is tithing an Old Testament relic, a payment for blessings, or a covenant law still required of the Saints?

Bible

The Bible answers

Bible · Malachi 3:10

KJV + NRSVUE

King James Version

Bring ye all the tithes into the storehouse, that there may be meat in mine house, and prove me now herewith, saith the Lord of hosts, if I will not open you the windows of heaven, and pour you out a blessing, that there shall not be room enough to receive it.

NRSVUE

Bring the full tithe into the storehouse, so that there may be food in my house, and thus put me to the test, says the LORD of hosts; see if I will not open the windows of heaven for you and pour down for you an overflowing blessing.

Bible · Matthew 23:23

KJV + NRSVUE

King James Version

Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for ye pay tithe of mint and anise and cummin, and have omitted the weightier matters of the law, judgment, mercy, and faith: these ought ye to have done, and not to leave the other undone.

NRSVUE

Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you tithe mint, dill, and cumin and have neglected the weightier matters of the law: justice and mercy and faith. It is these you ought to have practiced without neglecting the others.

Our explanation

Ye pay tithe… these ought ye to have done.

Book of Mormon

The Book of Mormon answers

3 Nephi 24:8–10

Will a man rob God? Yet ye have robbed me. But ye say: Wherein have we robbed thee? In tithes and offerings. … Bring ye all the tithes into the storehouse … and prove me now herewith, saith the Lord of Hosts, if I will not open you the windows of heaven.

Modern Revelation

Doctrine and Covenants 119:4

And after that, those who have thus been tithed shall pay one-tenth of all their interest annually; and this shall be a standing law unto them forever, for my holy priesthood, saith the Lord.

Ancient witnesses

Dead Sea Scrolls and related extra-biblical texts that illuminate the same pattern the Restoration restores.

Tobit 1:6–8

I would go often to Jerusalem at the festivals, as it is prescribed for all Israel by an everlasting decree. I would hurry off to Jerusalem with the first fruits of the crops and the firstlings of the flock, the tithes of the cattle, and the first shearings of the sheep.

Second Temple Jews who never heard of Joseph Smith still treated tithing as living covenant practice, not as a discarded Mosaic curiosity. The Savior did not abolish the tithe; He rebuked those who used it to hide injustice.

Faithful answers

The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints

Tithing

The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints

Tithing is one-tenth of increase, paid to the Lord through His Church. It builds temples, meetinghouses, education, and the work of salvation. The blessing Malachi names is real, but it is not a vending machine. Jesus kept the tithe on the list while putting justice, mercy, and faith first. Saints who pay tithing are not buying a recommend. They are keeping a covenant.

Tithing is a commandment of God. The Lord promises blessings to those who faithfully pay a full tithe.

  • The law is biblical before it is modern: Malachi, the Savior’s own words, and 3 Nephi.
  • A tenth is simple on purpose; it levels the rich and the poor before the same Lord.
  • Tithing funds the Church’s mission. It is not a private investment account.
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Further reading

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