Promises Are Important

27 The Lord said to Moses, ² “Tell the people of Israel: ‘Someone might make a special promise to the Lord. He might promise to give himself or another person as a servant to the Lord. That person will then begin to serve the Lord in a special way. The priest must set a certain price for that person. That is the price that would have to be paid to free the person from his special promise to the Lord. ³ The price for a man 20 to 60 years old is about 1¼ pounds of silver. (You must use the measure as set by the Holy Place.) ⁴ The price for a woman 20 to 60 years old is about 12 ounces of silver. ⁵ The price for a man 5 to 20 years old is about 8 ounces of silver. The price for a woman 5 to 20 years old is about 4 ounces of silver. ⁶ The price for a baby boy 1 month to 5 years old is about 2 ounces of silver. For a baby girl the price is about 1½ ounces of silver. ⁷ The price for a man 60 years old or older is about 6 ounces of silver. The price for a woman 60 years old or older is about 4 ounces of silver.

⁸ “‘A person might be too poor to pay the price. If he is, bring him to the priest. The priest will decide how much money the person can afford to pay.

Gifts to the Lord

⁹ “‘Some animals may be used as sacrifices to the Lord. If someone promises to bring one of these animals, it will become holy. ¹⁰ That person must not try to put another animal in its place. He must not try to exchange it for something else. He must not try to exchange a good animal for a bad animal. And he must not exchange a bad animal for a good animal. If he tries to exchange animals, both animals will become holy.

¹¹ “‘Unclean animals cannot be offered as sacrifices to the Lord. Someone might bring one of them to the Lord. If he does, that animal must be brought to the priest. ¹² The priest will decide a price for the animal. The price will be according to whether the animal is good or bad. If the priest decides a price, that is the price for the animal. ¹³ If the person wants to buy back the animal, he must add an additional one-fifth to the price.

Value of a House

¹⁴ “‘A person might give his house as holy to the Lord. If he does, the priest must decide its value. The price will be according to whether the house is good or bad. If the priest decides a price, that is the price for the house. ¹⁵ But the person who gives the house might want to buy it back. If he does, he must add an additional one-fifth to the price. Then the house will belong to him again.

Value of Land

¹⁶ “‘A person might give part of his fields to the Lord. The value of those fields will depend on how much seed is needed to plant them. It will cost about one and one-fourth pounds of silver for each six bushels of barley seed needed. ¹⁷ The person might give his field at the year of Jubilee. Then its value will be what the priest decides. ¹⁸ But he might give his field after the Jubilee. If he does, the priest must decide the exact price. He must count the number of years to the next year of Jubilee. Then he will use that number to decide the exact price. ¹⁹ The person who gave the field might want to buy it back. If he does, he must add one-fifth to that price. Then the field will belong to him again.

²⁰ “‘If he does not buy back the field, it will always belong to the priest. If it is sold to someone else, the first person cannot buy it back. ²¹ But the person might not buy back the land. If he doesn’t, at the year of Jubilee, it will remain holy to the Lord. It will belong to the priest forever. It will become the property of the priests.

²² “‘Someone may give a field he has bought to the Lord. But it may not be a part of his family land. ²³ If he gives a field, the priest must count the years to the next Jubilee. He must decide the price for the land. Then that land will belong to the Lord. ²⁴ At the year of Jubilee, the land will go back to its first owner. It will go back to the family who sold the land.

²⁵ “‘You must use the measure as set by the Holy Place in paying these prices. It weighs two-fifths of an ounce.

Value of Animals

²⁶ “‘People may give cattle and sheep to the Lord. But if an animal is the first one born to its parent, it already belongs to the Lord. So people may not give these animals again. ²⁷ If the animal is unclean, the person must buy it back. The priest will decide the price of the animal. And the person must add one-fifth to that price. If he does not buy it back, the priest must sell it. He will sell it for the price he had decided.

²⁸ “‘There is a special kind of gift that people give to the Lord. It may be a person, animal or field from the family property. That gift cannot be bought back or sold. It is most holy to the Lord.

²⁹ “‘If a person is given for the purpose of being destroyed, he cannot be bought back. He must be put to death.

³⁰ “‘One-tenth of all crops belongs to the Lord. This includes the crops from fields and the fruit from trees. That one-tenth belongs to the Lord. ³¹ A person might want to get back his tenth. If he does, he must add one-fifth to its price and buy it back.

³² “‘The priest will take every tenth animal from a person’s cattle or sheep. It will belong to the Lord. ³³ The owner should not pick out the good animals from the bad. He should not exchange one animal for another. If he does exchange it, both animals will become holy. They cannot be bought back.’”

³⁴ These are the commands the Lord commanded at Mount Sinai. They are for the people of Israel.

The People of Israel Are Counted

1 The Lord spoke to Moses in the Meeting Tent. This was in the Desert of Sinai. It was on the first day of the second month. This was in the second year after the people of Israel left Egypt. The Lord said to Moses: ² “Count all the people of Israel. List the name of each man with his family and family group. ³ You and Aaron must count all the men of Israel 20 years old or older. They will serve in the army of Israel. List them by their divisions. ⁴ One man from each tribe will help you. He is to be the leader of his family. ⁵ These are the names of the men who will help you:

¹⁶ All these men were chosen by the people to be leaders of their tribes. They were the leaders of their family groups.

¹⁷ Moses and Aaron took these men who had been picked. ¹⁸ And Moses and Aaron called all the people of Israel together. This was the first day of the second month. Then the people were listed by their families and family groups. All the men who were 20 years old or older were listed by name. ¹⁹ Moses did exactly what the Lord had commanded. Moses listed the people while they were in the Desert of Sinai.

²⁰ The tribe of Reuben was counted. Reuben was the first son born to Israel. All the men 20 years old or older who were able to serve in the army were listed. They were each listed by name with their families and family groups. ²¹ The tribe of Reuben totaled 46,500 men.

²² The tribe of Simeon was counted. All the men 20 years old or older who were able to serve in the army were listed. They were each listed by name with their families and family groups. ²³ The tribe of Simeon totaled 59,300 men.

²⁴ The tribe of Gad was counted. All the men 20 years old or older who were able to serve in the army were listed. They were listed by name with their families and family groups. ²⁵ The tribe of Gad totaled 45,650 men.

²⁶ The tribe of Judah was counted. All the men 20 years old or older who were able to serve in the army were listed. They were listed by name with their families and family groups. ²⁷ The tribe of Judah totaled 74,600 men.

²⁸ The tribe of Issachar was counted. All the men 20 years old or older who were able to serve in the army were listed. They were listed by name with their families and family groups. ²⁹ The tribe of Issachar totaled 54,400 men.

³⁰ The tribe of Zebulun was counted. All the men 20 years old or older who were able to serve in the army were listed. They were listed by name with their families and family groups. ³¹ The tribe of Zebulun totaled 57,400 men.

³² The tribe of Ephraim was counted. (Ephraim was a son of Joseph.) All the men 20 years old or older who were able to serve in the army were listed. They were listed by name with their families and family groups. ³³ The tribe of Ephraim totaled 40,500 men.

³⁴ The tribe of Manasseh was counted. (Manasseh was also a son of Joseph.) All the men 20 years old or older who were able to serve in the army were listed. They were listed by name with their families and family groups. ³⁵ The tribe of Manasseh totaled 32,200 men.

³⁶ The tribe of Benjamin was counted. All the men 20 years old or older who were able to serve in the army were listed. They were listed by name with their families and family groups. ³⁷ The tribe of Benjamin totaled 35,400 men.

³⁸ The tribe of Dan was counted. All the men 20 years old or older who were able to serve in the army were listed. They were listed by name with their families and family groups. ³⁹ The tribe of Dan totaled 62,700 men.

⁴⁰ The tribe of Asher was counted. All the men 20 years old or older who were able to serve in the army were listed. They were listed by name with their families and family groups. ⁴¹ The tribe of Asher totaled 41,500 men.

⁴² The tribe of Naphtali was counted. All the men 20 years old or older who were able to serve in the army were listed. They were listed by name with their families and family groups. ⁴³ The tribe of Naphtali totaled 53,400 men.

⁴⁴ Moses, Aaron and the 12 leaders of Israel counted these men. There was 1 leader from each of the families. ⁴⁵ Every man of Israel 20 years old or older who was able to serve in the army was counted. Each man was listed with his family. ⁴⁶ The total number of men was 603,550.

⁴⁷ The families from the tribe of Levi were not listed with the others. ⁴⁸ The Lord had told Moses: ⁴⁹ “Do not count the tribe of Levi or include them with the other Israelites. ⁵⁰ But make the Levites responsible for the Holy Tent of the Agreement. They must take care of it and everything that is with it. They must carry the Holy Tent and everything in it. They must take care of it and make their camp around it. ⁵¹ Any time the Holy Tent is moved, the Levites must take it down. Any time it is set up, the Levites must do it. If anyone else goes near the Holy Tent, he will be put to death. ⁵² The Israelites will make their camps in separate divisions, each man near his family flag. ⁵³ But the Levites must make their camp around the Holy Tent of the Agreement. Then I will not be angry with the Israelites. The Levites will take care of the Holy Tent of the Agreement.”

⁵⁴ So the Israelites did everything the Lord commanded Moses.