Redeeming a Poor Man

47 “If a stranger or sojourner with you becomes rich, and (A)your brother beside him becomes poor and sells himself to the stranger or sojourner with you or to a member of the stranger's clan, 48 then after he is sold he may be redeemed. One of his brothers may redeem him, 49 or his uncle or his cousin may (B)redeem him, or a close relative from his clan may redeem him. Or if he (C)grows rich he may redeem himself. 50 He shall calculate with his buyer from the year when he sold himself to him until the year of jubilee, and the price of his sale shall vary with the number of years. The time he was with his owner shall be (D)rated as the time of a hired worker. 51 If there are still many years left, he shall pay proportionately for his redemption some of his sale price. 52 If there remain but a few years until the year of jubilee, he shall calculate and pay for his redemption in proportion to his years of service. 53 He shall treat him as a worker hired year by year. (E)He shall not rule ruthlessly over him in your sight. 54 And if he is not redeemed by these means, then (F)he and his children with him shall be released in the year of jubilee. 55 For it is (G)to me that the people of Israel are servants.[a] They are my servants whom I brought out of the land of Egypt: I am the Lord your God.

Blessings for Obedience

26 “You shall not make (H)idols for yourselves or erect an (I)image or (J)pillar, and you shall not set up a (K)figured stone in your land to bow down to it, for I am the Lord your God. (L)You shall keep my Sabbaths and reverence my sanctuary: I am the Lord.

(M)“If you walk in my statutes and observe my commandments and do them, then (N)I will give you your rains in their season, and the land shall yield its increase, and the trees of the field shall yield their fruit. (O)Your threshing shall last to the time of the grape harvest, and the grape harvest shall last to the time for sowing. And (P)you shall eat your bread to the full and (Q)dwell in your land securely. (R)I will give peace in the land, and (S)you shall lie down, and none shall make you afraid. And (T)I will remove harmful beasts from the land, (U)and the sword shall not go through your land. You shall chase your enemies, and they shall fall before you by the sword. (V)Five of you shall chase a hundred, and a hundred of you shall chase ten thousand, and your enemies shall fall before you by the sword. (W)I will turn to you and (X)make you fruitful and multiply you and will confirm my covenant with you. 10 You shall eat (Y)old store long kept, and you shall clear out the old to make way for the new. 11 (Z)I will make my dwelling[b] among you, and my soul shall not abhor you. 12 (AA)And I (AB)will walk among you and will be your God, and you shall be my people. 13 (AC)I am the Lord your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, that you should not be their slaves. (AD)And I have broken the bars of your yoke and made you walk erect.

Punishment for Disobedience

14 (AE)“But if you will not listen to me and will not do all these commandments, 15 if you spurn my statutes, and if your soul abhors my rules, so that you will not do all my commandments, but (AF)break my covenant, 16 then I will do this to you: I will visit you with panic, with (AG)wasting disease and fever that consume the eyes and make the heart ache. And (AH)you shall sow your seed in vain, for your enemies shall eat it. 17 I will (AI)set my face against you, and (AJ)you shall be struck down before your enemies. (AK)Those who hate you shall rule over you, and (AL)you shall flee when none pursues you. 18 And if in spite of this you will not listen to me, then I will discipline you again (AM)sevenfold for your sins, 19 and I will break (AN)the pride of your power, and I (AO)will make your heavens like iron and your earth like bronze. 20 And (AP)your strength shall be spent in vain, for (AQ)your land shall not yield its increase, and the trees of the land shall not yield their fruit.

21 (AR)“Then if you walk contrary to me and will not listen to me, I will continue striking you, sevenfold for your sins. 22 And (AS)I will let loose the wild beasts against you, which shall bereave you of your children and destroy your livestock and make you few in number, so that (AT)your roads shall be deserted.

23 “And (AU)if by this discipline you are not turned to me (AV)but walk contrary to me, 24 (AW)then I also will walk contrary to you, and I myself will strike you sevenfold for your sins. 25 And (AX)I will bring a sword upon you, that shall execute vengeance for the covenant. And if you gather within your cities, (AY)I will send pestilence among you, and you shall be delivered into the hand of the enemy. 26 (AZ)When I break your supply[c] of bread, ten women shall bake your bread in a single oven and shall dole out your bread again by weight, and (BA)you shall eat and not be satisfied.

27 “But (BB)if in spite of this you will not listen to me, but walk contrary to me, 28 then I will walk contrary to you (BC)in fury, and I myself will discipline you (BD)sevenfold for your sins. 29 (BE)You shall eat the flesh of your sons, and you shall eat the flesh of your daughters. 30 And (BF)I will destroy your high places and cut down your incense altars and (BG)cast your dead bodies upon the dead bodies of your idols, and my soul will abhor you. 31 And I will (BH)lay your cities waste and will (BI)make your sanctuaries desolate, and (BJ)I will not smell your pleasing aromas. 32 And (BK)I myself will devastate the land, so that your enemies who settle in it shall be (BL)appalled at it. 33 And (BM)I will scatter you among the nations, and I will unsheathe the sword after you, and your land shall be a desolation, and your cities shall be a waste.

34 (BN)“Then the land shall enjoy[d] its Sabbaths as long as it lies desolate, while you are in your enemies' land; then the land shall rest, and enjoy its Sabbaths. 35 As long as it lies desolate it shall have rest, the rest that it did not have on your Sabbaths when you were dwelling in it. 36 And as for those of you who are left, (BO)I will send faintness into their hearts in the lands of their enemies. The (BP)sound of a (BQ)driven leaf shall put them to flight, and they shall flee as one flees from the sword, and they shall fall when none pursues. 37 They shall stumble over one another, as if to escape a sword, though none pursues. And (BR)you shall have no power to stand before your enemies. 38 And you shall perish among the nations, and the land of your enemies shall eat you up. 39 And those of you who are left shall (BS)rot away in your enemies' lands because of their iniquity, and also because of the iniquities of their fathers they shall rot away like them.

40 “But if (BT)they confess their iniquity and the iniquity of their fathers in their treachery that they (BU)committed against me, and also in walking contrary to me, 41 so that I walked contrary to them and brought them into the land of their enemies—if then their (BV)uncircumcised heart is (BW)humbled and they make amends for their iniquity, 42 then I will (BX)remember my covenant with Jacob, and I will remember my covenant with Isaac and my covenant with Abraham, and I will (BY)remember the land. 43 But (BZ)the land shall be abandoned by them and enjoy its Sabbaths while it lies desolate without them, and they shall make amends for their iniquity, because they spurned my rules and their soul abhorred my statutes. 44 Yet for all that, when they are in the land of their enemies, (CA)I will not spurn them, neither will I abhor them so as to destroy them utterly and (CB)break my covenant with them, for I am the Lord their God. 45 But I will for their sake remember the covenant with their forefathers, (CC)whom I brought out of the land of Egypt (CD)in the sight of the nations, that I might be their God: I am the Lord.”

46 (CE)These are the statutes and rules and laws that the Lord made between himself and the people of Israel through Moses (CF)on Mount Sinai.

Laws About Vows

27 The Lord spoke to Moses, saying, “Speak to the people of Israel and say to them, If anyone (CG)makes a special vow to the Lord involving the valuation of persons, then the valuation of a male from twenty years old up to sixty years old shall be fifty shekels[e] of silver, according to the (CH)shekel of the sanctuary. If the person is a female, the valuation shall be thirty shekels. If the person is from five years old up to twenty years old, the valuation shall be for a male twenty shekels, and for a female ten shekels. If the person is from a month old up to five years old, the valuation shall be for a male five shekels of silver, and for a female the valuation shall be three shekels of silver. And if the person is sixty years old or over, then the valuation for a male shall be fifteen shekels, and for a female ten shekels. And if someone is too poor to pay the valuation, then he shall be made to stand before the priest, and the priest shall value him; the priest shall value him according to what the vower can afford.

“If the vow[f] is an animal that may be offered as an offering to the Lord, all of it that he gives to the Lord is holy. 10 (CI)He shall not exchange it or make a substitute for it, good for bad, or bad for good; and if he does in fact substitute one animal for another, then both it and the substitute shall be holy. 11 And if it is any unclean animal that may not be offered as an offering to the Lord, then he shall stand the animal before the priest, 12 and the priest shall value it as either good or bad; as the priest values it, so it shall be. 13 (CJ)But if he wishes to redeem it, he shall add a (CK)fifth to the valuation.

Footnotes

  1. Leviticus 25:55 Or slaves
  2. Leviticus 26:11 Hebrew tabernacle
  3. Leviticus 26:26 Hebrew staff
  4. Leviticus 26:34 Or pay for; twice in this verse; also verse 43
  5. Leviticus 27:3 A shekel was about 2/5 ounce or 11 grams
  6. Leviticus 27:9 Hebrew it

47 “‘If a foreigner residing among you becomes rich and any of your fellow Israelites become poor and sell themselves(A) to the foreigner or to a member of the foreigner’s clan, 48 they retain the right of redemption(B) after they have sold themselves. One of their relatives(C) may redeem them: 49 An uncle or a cousin or any blood relative in their clan may redeem them. Or if they prosper,(D) they may redeem themselves. 50 They and their buyer are to count the time from the year they sold themselves up to the Year of Jubilee.(E) The price for their release is to be based on the rate paid to a hired worker(F) for that number of years. 51 If many years remain, they must pay for their redemption a larger share of the price paid for them. 52 If only a few years remain until the Year of Jubilee, they are to compute that and pay for their redemption accordingly.(G) 53 They are to be treated as workers hired from year to year; you must see to it that those to whom they owe service do not rule over them ruthlessly.(H)

54 “‘Even if someone is not redeemed in any of these ways, they and their children are to be released in the Year of Jubilee, 55 for the Israelites belong to me as servants. They are my servants, whom I brought out of Egypt.(I) I am the Lord your God.(J)

Reward for Obedience

26 “‘Do not make idols(K) or set up an image(L) or a sacred stone(M) for yourselves, and do not place a carved stone(N) in your land to bow down before it. I am the Lord your God.

“‘Observe my Sabbaths(O) and have reverence for my sanctuary.(P) I am the Lord.

“‘If you follow my decrees and are careful to obey(Q) my commands, I will send you rain(R) in its season,(S) and the ground will yield its crops and the trees their fruit.(T) Your threshing will continue until grape harvest and the grape harvest will continue until planting, and you will eat all the food you want(U) and live in safety in your land.(V)

“‘I will grant peace in the land,(W) and you will lie down(X) and no one will make you afraid.(Y) I will remove wild beasts(Z) from the land, and the sword will not pass through your country. You will pursue your enemies,(AA) and they will fall by the sword before you. Five(AB) of you will chase a hundred, and a hundred of you will chase ten thousand, and your enemies will fall by the sword before you.(AC)

“‘I will look on you with favor and make you fruitful and increase your numbers,(AD) and I will keep my covenant(AE) with you. 10 You will still be eating last year’s harvest when you will have to move it out to make room for the new.(AF) 11 I will put my dwelling place[a](AG) among you, and I will not abhor you.(AH) 12 I will walk(AI) among you and be your God,(AJ) and you will be my people.(AK) 13 I am the Lord your God,(AL) who brought you out of Egypt(AM) so that you would no longer be slaves to the Egyptians; I broke the bars of your yoke(AN) and enabled you to walk with heads held high.

Punishment for Disobedience

14 “‘But if you will not listen to me and carry out all these commands,(AO) 15 and if you reject my decrees and abhor my laws(AP) and fail to carry out all my commands and so violate my covenant,(AQ) 16 then I will do this to you: I will bring on you sudden terror, wasting diseases and fever(AR) that will destroy your sight and sap your strength.(AS) You will plant seed in vain, because your enemies will eat it.(AT) 17 I will set my face(AU) against you so that you will be defeated(AV) by your enemies;(AW) those who hate you will rule over you,(AX) and you will flee even when no one is pursuing you.(AY)

18 “‘If after all this you will not listen to me,(AZ) I will punish(BA) you for your sins seven times over.(BB) 19 I will break down your stubborn pride(BC) and make the sky above you like iron and the ground beneath you like bronze.(BD) 20 Your strength will be spent in vain,(BE) because your soil will not yield its crops, nor will the trees of your land yield their fruit.(BF)

21 “‘If you remain hostile(BG) toward me and refuse to listen to me, I will multiply your afflictions seven times over,(BH) as your sins deserve. 22 I will send wild animals(BI) against you, and they will rob you of your children, destroy your cattle and make you so few(BJ) in number that your roads will be deserted.(BK)

23 “‘If in spite of these things you do not accept my correction(BL) but continue to be hostile toward me, 24 I myself will be hostile(BM) toward you and will afflict you for your sins seven times over. 25 And I will bring the sword(BN) on you to avenge(BO) the breaking of the covenant. When you withdraw into your cities, I will send a plague(BP) among you, and you will be given into enemy hands. 26 When I cut off your supply of bread,(BQ) ten women will be able to bake your bread in one oven, and they will dole out the bread by weight. You will eat, but you will not be satisfied.

27 “‘If in spite of this you still do not listen to me(BR) but continue to be hostile toward me, 28 then in my anger(BS) I will be hostile(BT) toward you, and I myself will punish you for your sins seven times over.(BU) 29 You will eat(BV) the flesh of your sons and the flesh of your daughters.(BW) 30 I will destroy your high places,(BX) cut down your incense altars(BY) and pile your dead bodies[b] on the lifeless forms of your idols,(BZ) and I will abhor(CA) you. 31 I will turn your cities into ruins(CB) and lay waste(CC) your sanctuaries,(CD) and I will take no delight in the pleasing aroma of your offerings.(CE) 32 I myself will lay waste the land,(CF) so that your enemies who live there will be appalled.(CG) 33 I will scatter(CH) you among the nations(CI) and will draw out my sword(CJ) and pursue you. Your land will be laid waste,(CK) and your cities will lie in ruins.(CL) 34 Then the land will enjoy its sabbath years all the time that it lies desolate(CM) and you are in the country of your enemies;(CN) then the land will rest and enjoy its sabbaths. 35 All the time that it lies desolate, the land will have the rest(CO) it did not have during the sabbaths you lived in it.

36 “‘As for those of you who are left, I will make their hearts so fearful in the lands of their enemies that the sound of a windblown leaf(CP) will put them to flight.(CQ) They will run as though fleeing from the sword, and they will fall, even though no one is pursuing them.(CR) 37 They will stumble over one another(CS) as though fleeing from the sword, even though no one is pursuing them. So you will not be able to stand before your enemies.(CT) 38 You will perish(CU) among the nations; the land of your enemies will devour you.(CV) 39 Those of you who are left will waste away in the lands of their enemies because of their sins; also because of their ancestors’(CW) sins they will waste away.(CX)

40 “‘But if they will confess(CY) their sins(CZ) and the sins of their ancestors(DA)—their unfaithfulness and their hostility toward me, 41 which made me hostile(DB) toward them so that I sent them into the land of their enemies—then when their uncircumcised hearts(DC) are humbled(DD) and they pay(DE) for their sin, 42 I will remember my covenant with Jacob(DF) and my covenant with Isaac(DG) and my covenant with Abraham,(DH) and I will remember the land. 43 For the land will be deserted(DI) by them and will enjoy its sabbaths while it lies desolate without them. They will pay for their sins because they rejected(DJ) my laws and abhorred my decrees.(DK) 44 Yet in spite of this, when they are in the land of their enemies,(DL) I will not reject them or abhor(DM) them so as to destroy them completely,(DN) breaking my covenant(DO) with them. I am the Lord their God. 45 But for their sake I will remember(DP) the covenant with their ancestors whom I brought out of Egypt(DQ) in the sight of the nations to be their God. I am the Lord.’”

46 These are the decrees, the laws and the regulations that the Lord established at Mount Sinai(DR) between himself and the Israelites through Moses.(DS)

Redeeming What Is the Lord’s

27 The Lord said to Moses, “Speak to the Israelites and say to them: ‘If anyone makes a special vow(DT) to dedicate a person to the Lord by giving the equivalent value, set the value of a male between the ages of twenty and sixty at fifty shekels[c] of silver, according to the sanctuary shekel[d];(DU) for a female, set her value at thirty shekels[e]; for a person between the ages of five and twenty, set the value of a male at twenty shekels[f](DV) and of a female at ten shekels[g]; for a person between one month and five years, set the value of a male at five shekels[h](DW) of silver and that of a female at three shekels[i] of silver; for a person sixty years old or more, set the value of a male at fifteen shekels[j] and of a female at ten shekels. If anyone making the vow is too poor to pay(DX) the specified amount, the person being dedicated is to be presented to the priest, who will set the value(DY) according to what the one making the vow can afford.

“‘If what they vowed is an animal that is acceptable as an offering to the Lord,(DZ) such an animal given to the Lord becomes holy.(EA) 10 They must not exchange it or substitute a good one for a bad one, or a bad one for a good one;(EB) if they should substitute one animal for another, both it and the substitute become holy. 11 If what they vowed is a ceremonially unclean animal(EC)—one that is not acceptable as an offering to the Lord—the animal must be presented to the priest, 12 who will judge its quality as good or bad. Whatever value the priest then sets, that is what it will be. 13 If the owner wishes to redeem(ED) the animal, a fifth must be added to its value.(EE)

Footnotes

  1. Leviticus 26:11 Or my tabernacle
  2. Leviticus 26:30 Or your funeral offerings
  3. Leviticus 27:3 That is, about 1 1/4 pounds or about 575 grams; also in verse 16
  4. Leviticus 27:3 That is, about 2/5 ounce or about 12 grams; also in verse 25
  5. Leviticus 27:4 That is, about 12 ounces or about 345 grams
  6. Leviticus 27:5 That is, about 8 ounces or about 230 grams
  7. Leviticus 27:5 That is, about 4 ounces or about 115 grams; also in verse 7
  8. Leviticus 27:6 That is, about 2 ounces or about 58 grams
  9. Leviticus 27:6 That is, about 1 1/4 ounces or about 35 grams
  10. Leviticus 27:7 That is, about 6 ounces or about 175 grams