Leviticus 27
Legacy Standard Bible
Holy to Yahweh
27 Then Yahweh spoke to Moses, saying, 2 “Speak to the sons of Israel and say to them, ‘(A)When a man makes a difficult vow, he shall be valued according to your valuation of persons belonging to Yahweh. 3 If your valuation is of the male from twenty years even to sixty years old, then your valuation shall be [a]fifty shekels of silver, according to (B)the shekel of the sanctuary. 4 Or if it is a female, then your valuation shall be thirty shekels. 5 If it be from five years even to twenty years old then your valuation for the male shall be twenty shekels and for the female ten shekels. 6 But if they are from a month even up to five years old, then your valuation shall be (C)five shekels of silver for the male, and for the female your valuation shall be three shekels of silver. 7 If they are from sixty years old and upward, if it is a male, then your valuation shall be fifteen shekels, and for the female ten shekels. 8 But if he is poorer than your valuation, then he shall be [b]presented before the priest, and the priest shall value him; (D)according to [c]the means of the one who vowed, the priest shall value him.
9 ‘Now if it is an animal of the kind which [d]men can bring near as an offering to Yahweh, any such that one gives to Yahweh shall be holy. 10 (E)He shall not replace it or exchange it, a good for a bad, or a bad for a good; or if he does exchange animal for animal, then both it and its substitute shall become holy. 11 If, however, it is any unclean animal of the kind which [e]men do not bring near as an offering to Yahweh, then he shall [f]present the animal before the priest. 12 And the priest shall value it [g]as either good or bad; as you, the priest, value it, so it shall be. 13 But if he should ever wish to redeem it, then he shall add one-fifth of it to your valuation.
14 ‘Now if a man sets his house apart as holy to Yahweh, then the priest shall value it [h]as either good or bad; as the priest values it, so it shall stand. 15 Yet if the one who sets it apart as holy should wish to redeem his house, then he shall add one-fifth of your valuation price to it, so that it may be his.
16 ‘Again, if a man sets apart as holy to Yahweh a portion of the fields of his own possession, then your valuation shall be [i]proportionate to the seed needed for it: a [j]homer of barley seed at [k]fifty shekels of silver. 17 If he sets apart his field as holy from the year of jubilee, according to your valuation it shall stand. 18 If he sets apart his field as holy after the jubilee, however, then the priest shall calculate the price for [l]him [m]proportionate to the years that are left until the year of jubilee; and it shall be deducted from your valuation. 19 If the one who sets it apart as holy should ever wish to redeem the field, then he shall add one-fifth of your valuation price to it so that it may stand as his own. 20 Yet if he will not redeem the field, [n]but has sold the field to another man, it may no longer be redeemed; 21 and it will be that when it [o]reverts in the jubilee, the field shall be holy to Yahweh, like a field that is [p]devoted; (F)it shall be for the priest as his possession. 22 Or if he sets apart as holy to Yahweh a field which he has bought, which is not a portion of the field of his own possession, 23 then the priest shall calculate for [q]him the amount of your valuation up to the year of jubilee; and he shall on that day give your valuation as holy to Yahweh. 24 In the year of jubilee the field shall return to the one from whom he bought it, to whom the possession of the land belongs. 25 Every valuation of yours, moreover, shall be according to (G)the shekel of the sanctuary. The shekel shall be twenty [r]gerahs.
26 ‘(H)However, a firstborn among animals, which as a firstborn belongs to Yahweh, no man may set it apart as holy; whether ox or sheep, it is Yahweh’s. 27 But if it is among the unclean animals, then he shall [s]ransom it according to your valuation and add to it one-fifth of it; and if it is not redeemed, then it shall be sold according to your valuation.
28 ‘Nevertheless, (I)anything which a man [t]devotes to Yahweh out of all that he has, of man or animal or of the fields of his own possession, shall not be sold or redeemed. Anything [u]devoted to destruction is most holy to Yahweh. 29 No [v]one who may have been [w]devoted among men shall be [x]ransomed; he shall surely be put to death.
30 ‘Thus (J)all the tithe of the land, of the seed of the land or of the fruit of the tree, belongs to Yahweh; it is holy to Yahweh. 31 If, therefore, a man wishes to redeem part of his tithe, he shall add to it one-fifth of it. 32 For every tenth part of herd or flock, whatever (K)passes under the rod, the tenth one shall be holy to Yahweh. 33 (L)He shall not inquire whether it is good or bad, nor shall he exchange it; or if he does exchange it, then both it and its substitute shall become holy. It shall not be redeemed.’”
34 (M)These are the commandments which Yahweh commanded Moses for the sons of Israel at Mount Sinai.
Footnotes
- Leviticus 27:3 Approx. 1.25 lb. or 550 gm, a shekel was approx. 0.4 oz. or 11 gm
- Leviticus 27:8 Lit made to stand
- Leviticus 27:8 Lit what the hand reaches
- Leviticus 27:9 Lit they
- Leviticus 27:11 Lit they
- Leviticus 27:11 Lit make the animal stand
- Leviticus 27:12 Lit between
- Leviticus 27:14 Lit between
- Leviticus 27:16 Lit according to its seed
- Leviticus 27:16 A homer was approx. 6.5 bu. or 230 l
- Leviticus 27:16 Approx. 1.25 lb. or 0.55 kg
- Leviticus 27:18 Or it
- Leviticus 27:18 Lit according to the years
- Leviticus 27:20 Or if he
- Leviticus 27:21 Lit goes out
- Leviticus 27:21 Lit possession
- Leviticus 27:23 Or it
- Leviticus 27:25 A gerah was approx. 0.025 oz. or 0.7 gm
- Leviticus 27:27 Or redeem
- Leviticus 27:28 Or banned
- Leviticus 27:28 Or put under the ban
- Leviticus 27:29 Or banned
- Leviticus 27:29 Or put under the ban
- Leviticus 27:29 Or redeemed
Leviticus 27
New International Reader's Version
Keep Your Promises to the Lord
27 The Lord said to Moses, 2 “Speak to the Israelites. Tell them, ‘Suppose someone makes a special promise to set a person apart to serve the Lord. Here is how much it will cost to set that person free from the promise to serve. 3 The cost for a male between the ages of twenty and sixty is 20 ounces of silver. It must be weighed out in keeping with the standard weights that are used in the sacred tent. 4 The cost for a female of the same age is 12 ounces of silver. 5 The cost for a male between the ages of five and twenty is 8 ounces of silver. The cost for a female of the same age is 4 ounces of silver. 6 The cost for a male between the ages of one month and five years is 2 ounces of silver. The cost for a female of the same age is 1 ounce of silver. 7 The cost for a male who is sixty years old or more is 6 ounces of silver. The cost for a female of the same age is 4 ounces of silver. 8 But suppose the one who makes the special promise is too poor to pay the required amount. Then they must bring to the priest the person who will be set free. The priest will decide the right value for that person. It will be based on how much the one who makes the promise can afford.
9 “ ‘Suppose what they promised is an animal that the Lord will accept as an offering. Then the animal given to the Lord becomes holy. 10 The one who makes the promise must not trade it. They must not trade a good animal for a bad one. And they must not trade a bad animal for a good one. Suppose they choose one animal instead of another. Then both animals become holy. 11 Suppose the animal they promised is not “clean.” Suppose the Lord will not accept it as an offering. Then the animal must be brought to the priest. 12 He will decide whether it is good or bad. Its value will be what he decides it will be. 13 Suppose the owner wants to buy the animal back. Then a fifth must be added to its cost.
14 “ ‘Suppose someone sets apart their house as something holy to the Lord. Then the priest will decide whether it is good or bad. Its value will remain what he decides it will be. 15 Suppose the person sets apart their house. And suppose later they want to buy it back. Then they must add a fifth to its value. The house will belong to them again.
16 “ ‘Suppose someone sets apart a piece of their family’s land to the Lord. Then here is how its value must be decided. It must be based on the number of seeds that are required to grow a full crop on it. That value will be 20 ounces of silver for every 300 pounds of barley seeds. 17 Suppose they set apart their field during the Year of Jubilee. Then the value that has been decided will not be changed. 18 But suppose they set apart their field after the Year of Jubilee. Then here is how the priest will decide its value. It will be based on the number of years that are left until the next Year of Jubilee. The value decided will be reduced. 19 Suppose the one who set apart their field wants to buy it back. Then they must add a fifth to its value. The field will belong to them again. 20 But suppose they do not buy back the field. Instead, suppose they sell it to someone else. Then they can never buy it back. 21 When the field is set free in the Year of Jubilee, it will become holy. It will be like a field set apart to the Lord. It will become the property of the priests.
22 “ ‘Suppose someone sets apart to the Lord a field they have bought. And suppose it is not part of their family’s land. 23 Then here is how the priest will decide its value. It will be based on the number of years that are left until the Year of Jubilee. The owner must pay that value on the day it is decided. The money is holy. It is set apart for the Lord. 24 In the Year of Jubilee the field will go back to the person it was bought from. That person is the one who had owned the land before. 25 Every amount of money must be weighed out in keeping with the standard weights used in the sacred tent.
26 “ ‘But no one can set apart the first male animal born to its mother. That animal already belongs to the Lord. It does not matter whether it is an ox or a sheep. It belongs to the Lord. 27 Suppose it is an “unclean” animal. Then the owner may buy it back at the value that has been decided. And they must add a fifth to its value. But suppose it is not bought back. Then it must be sold at the value that has been decided.
28 “ ‘But nothing a person owns and sets apart to the Lord can be sold or bought back. It does not matter whether it is a human being or an animal or a family’s land. Everything set apart to the Lord is very holy to him.
29 “ ‘No one set apart in a special way to be destroyed can be bought back. They must be put to death.
30 “ ‘A tenth of everything the land produces belongs to the Lord. That includes grain from the soil and fruit from the trees. It is holy. It is set apart for him. 31 Suppose someone wants to buy back some of their tenth. Then they must add a fifth of the cost to it. 32 Every tenth part of herds and flocks will be holy. They will be set apart for the Lord. That includes every tenth animal that its shepherd marks with his wooden staff. 33 No one may pick out the good animals from the bad. They must not choose one animal instead of another. But if anyone does, both animals become holy. They can’t be bought back.’ ”
34 The Lord gave Moses all these commands on Mount Sinai for the Israelites.
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