¹² “When you take a census^(A) of the Israelites to register them, each of the men must pay a ransom^(B) for his life to the Lord as they are registered. Then no plague^(C) will come on them as they are registered. ¹³ Everyone who is registered must pay half a shekel^[a] according to the sanctuary shekel (twenty gerahs to the shekel). This half shekel is a contribution to the Lord.^{(D) 14} Each man who is registered, twenty years old or more, must give this contribution to the Lord. ¹⁵ The wealthy may not give more and the poor may not give less^(E) than half a shekel when giving the contribution to the Lord to atone for^[b] your lives. ¹⁶ Take the atonement price^[c] from the Israelites and use it for the service of the tent of meeting. It will serve as a reminder for the Israelites before the Lord to atone for your lives.”^(F)

⁹ So they went to the high priest Hilkiah^(A) and gave him the silver brought into God’s temple. The Levites and the doorkeepers had collected it from Manasseh, Ephraim,^(B) and from the entire remnant of Israel, and from all Judah, Benjamin, and the inhabitants of Jerusalem. ¹⁰ They gave it to those doing the work—those who oversaw the Lord’s temple. They gave it to the workmen who were working in the Lord’s temple, to repair and restore the temple;

³² We will impose the following commands on ourselves:

To give an eighth of an ounce of silver^[a] yearly for the service of the house of our God:^(A)

Paying the Temple Tax

²⁴ When they came to Capernaum, those who collected the temple tax approached Peter and said, “Doesn’t your teacher pay the temple tax?” ^(A)