¹² “When you take a census of the people of Isra’el and register them, each, upon registration, is to pay a ransom for his life to Adonai, to avoid any breakout of plague among them during the time of the census. ¹³ Everyone subject to the census is to pay as an offering to Adonai half a shekel [one-fifth of an ounce of silver]— by the standard of the sanctuary shekel (a shekel equals twenty gerahs). ¹⁴ Everyone over twenty years of age who is subject to the census is to give this offering to Adonai — ¹⁵ the rich is not to give more or the poor less than the half-shekel when giving Adonai’s offering to atone for your lives. ¹⁶ You are to take the atonement money from the people of Isra’el and use it for the service in the tent of meeting, so that it will be a reminder of the people of Isra’el before Adonai to atone for your lives.”

¹⁵ “If anyone acts improperly and inadvertently sins in regard to the holy things of Adonai, he is to bring as his guilt offering for Adonai a ram without defect from the flock or its equivalent in silver shekels (using the sanctuary shekel as the standard), according to your appraisal of its value; it is a guilt offering.

¹⁶ In addition, he is to make restitution for whatever he did wrong in regard to the holy thing; moreover, he is to add to that one-fifth and give it to the cohen. Then the cohen will make atonement with the ram of the guilt offering, and he will be forgiven.

^16 (15) Moreover, they did not require an accounting from the supervisors given the money to pay the workers, because they dealt honestly.