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Instructions About Vows

27 Then[a] Yahweh spoke to Moses, saying, “Speak to the Israelites,[b] and say[c] to them, ‘When a man makes a vow according to your[d] proper value of persons to Yahweh, if[e] your proper value is for a male[f] from twenty years of age[g] up to[h] sixty years of age,[i] then[j] your proper value shall be fifty shekels of money according to the sanctuary’s shekel. But[k] if it is for a female, then[l] your proper value shall be thirty shekels. And if from five years of age[m] up to[n] twenty years of age,[o] then[p] your proper value shall be twenty shekels for the male and ten shekels for the female. And if from a month of age[q] up to[r] five years of age,[s] then[t] your proper value shall be five shekels of money for the male, and your proper value for the female shall be three shekels of money. And if from sixty years of age[u] and above: if a male, then[v] your proper value shall be fifteen shekels; and for the female, ten shekels. But[w] if he is poorer than your proper value, then[x] he shall present himself before[y] the priest, and the priest shall set a value on him; the priest shall value him according to[z] what the person who made a vow can afford.[aa]

“‘And if it is a domestic animal from which they present an offering for Yahweh, all that he gives from it for Yahweh shall be a holy object. 10 He shall not replace it, nor shall he exchange it, either good with bad or bad with good; and if he indeed exchanges a domestic animal with a domestic animal, then[ab] it and its substitution shall be a holy object.[ac] 11 But[ad] if it is any unclean animal from which they may not present an offering for Yahweh, then[ae] he shall present the animal before[af] the priest. 12 And the priest shall set a value on it, either good or bad;[ag] as the priest sets your proper value, so it shall be. 13 And if he indeed wants to redeem it, then[ah] he shall add a fifth of it onto your proper value.

14 “‘And if a man consecrates his house as a holy object for Yahweh, then[ai] the priest shall set a value on it, either good or bad;[aj] just as the priest sets a value on it, so it shall remain. 15 But[ak] if the one who consecrates it wants to redeem his house, then[al] he shall add a fifth of your proper value’s money onto it, and it shall be his.

16 “‘And if a man consecrates some of[am] his property’s fields[an] for Yahweh, then[ao] your proper value shall be in accordance with its seed requirements:[ap] a homer of barley seed for fifty shekels of money. 17 If he consecrates his field from the Year of Jubilee, it shall stand as your proper value. 18 But[aq] if he consecrates his field after the Jubilee, then[ar] the priest shall calculate the money for him according to the number of years[as] that are left over until the Year of Jubilee; and it shall be deducted from your proper value. 19 And if he indeed redeems the field that is consecrated, then[at] he shall add a fifth of your proper value’s money onto it, and it shall stand for[au] him. 20 And if he does not redeem the field and if he sells the field to another man, it may not be redeemed again, 21 and the field shall be a holy object for Yahweh when it goes out[av] in the Jubilee, like a devoted[aw] field; it shall be the priest’s property.[ax]

22 “‘And if he consecrates for Yahweh his acquired[ay] field that is not the field of his inherited possession, 23 then[az] the priest shall calculate for him the amount[ba] of your proper value until the year of the Jubilee, and he shall give your proper value on that day as a holy object for Yahweh. 24 In the Year of the Jubilee the field shall return to the one who bought it from him, to the one whose property the land is. 25 And every proper value of yours shall be in the sanctuary’s shekel—the shekel shall be twenty gerahs.

26 “‘However, a man shall not consecrate a firstborn among livestock, which belongs as firstborn to Yahweh; whether an ox or[bb] small livestock, it is for Yahweh. 27 And if it is among the unclean animals, then[bc] he shall ransom it according to your proper value, and he shall add a fifth of its value onto it; and if it is not redeemed, then[bd] it shall be sold according to your proper value. 28 However, anything devoted[be] that a man has devoted to Yahweh from all that he has,[bf] from human or[bg] animal, or[bh] from the field of his property, may not be sold, and it may not be redeemed; anything devoted is a most holy thing[bi] for Yahweh. 29 Anyone devoted who is devoted from human beings[bj] cannot be ransomed—he shall surely be put to death.

30 “‘And any tithe of the land from the land’s seed or from the fruit of the trees is for Yahweh; it is a holy object for Yahweh. 31 And if a man indeed redeems from his tithe, he shall add a fifth of its value onto it. 32 As for[bk] every tithe of cattle or[bl] of the flock,[bm] all which crosses under the rod, the tenth shall be a holy object for Yahweh. 33 He shall not inspect between the good and the bad, and he shall not exchange it; but[bn] if he indeed exchanges it, then[bo] it and its substitution shall be[bp] a holy object—it shall not be redeemed.’”

34 These are the commands that Yahweh commanded Moses for the Israelites[bq] on Mount Sinai.[br]

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Footnotes

  1. Leviticus 27:1 Or “And”
  2. Leviticus 27:2 Literally “sons/children of Israel”
  3. Leviticus 27:2 Or “and you shall say”
  4. Leviticus 27:2 Singular when modifying “proper value” throughout the entire chapter
  5. Leviticus 27:3 Or “and”
  6. Leviticus 27:3 Hebrew “the male”
  7. Leviticus 27:3 Literally “a son of twenty years”
  8. Leviticus 27:3 Or “and up to”
  9. Leviticus 27:3 Literally “a son of sixty years”
  10. Leviticus 27:3 Or “and”
  11. Leviticus 27:4 Or “And”
  12. Leviticus 27:4 Or “and”
  13. Leviticus 27:5 Literally “a son of five years”
  14. Leviticus 27:5 Or “and up to”
  15. Leviticus 27:5 Literally “a son of twenty years”
  16. Leviticus 27:5 Or “and”
  17. Leviticus 27:6 Literally “a son of a month”
  18. Leviticus 27:6 Or “and up to”
  19. Leviticus 27:6 Literally “a son of five years”
  20. Leviticus 27:6 Or “and”
  21. Leviticus 27:7 Literally “a son of sixty years”
  22. Leviticus 27:7 Or “and”
  23. Leviticus 27:8 Or “And”
  24. Leviticus 27:8 Or “and”
  25. Leviticus 27:8 Literally “to the faces of”
  26. Leviticus 27:8 Literally “on a mouth of”
  27. Leviticus 27:8 Literally “his hand produces”
  28. Leviticus 27:10 Or “and”
  29. Leviticus 27:10 Literally “it shall be and its substitution shall be holy”
  30. Leviticus 27:11 Or “And”
  31. Leviticus 27:11 Or “and”
  32. Leviticus 27:11 Literally “to the faces of”
  33. Leviticus 27:12 Literally “between good and between bad”
  34. Leviticus 27:13 Or “and”
  35. Leviticus 27:14 Or “and”
  36. Leviticus 27:14 Literally “between good and between bad”
  37. Leviticus 27:15 Or “And”
  38. Leviticus 27:15 Or “and”
  39. Leviticus 27:16 Literally “from”
  40. Leviticus 27:16 Collective singular; Hebrew “field”
  41. Leviticus 27:16 Or “and”
  42. Leviticus 27:16 Literally “to the number of its seed”
  43. Leviticus 27:18 Or “And”
  44. Leviticus 27:18 Or “and”
  45. Leviticus 27:18 Literally “on the mouth of the years”
  46. Leviticus 27:19 Or “and”
  47. Leviticus 27:19 Or “remain for” or “belong to”
  48. Leviticus 27:21 Or “is released” or “reverts”
  49. Leviticus 27:21 Or “permanently set apart”; a different Hebrew word than previously translated “consecrated” in this chapter
  50. Leviticus 27:21 Literally “to/for the priest it shall be his property”
  51. Leviticus 27:22 Or “purchased”
  52. Leviticus 27:23 Or “and”
  53. Leviticus 27:23 Literally “number”
  54. Leviticus 27:26 Literally “whether” or “if”
  55. Leviticus 27:27 Or “and”
  56. Leviticus 27:27 Or “and”
  57. Leviticus 27:28 Or “permanently set apart”; a different Hebrew word than previously translated “consecrated” in this chapter
  58. Leviticus 27:28 Literally “from all that is for him”
  59. Leviticus 27:28 Or “and”
  60. Leviticus 27:28 Or “and”
  61. Leviticus 27:28 Literally “a holy thing of holy things”
  62. Leviticus 27:29 Literally “the human”
  63. Leviticus 27:32 Or “And”
  64. Leviticus 27:32 Or “and”
  65. Leviticus 27:32 The Hebrew term refers collectively to both sheep and goats (small livestock animals)
  66. Leviticus 27:33 Or “and”
  67. Leviticus 27:33 Or “and”
  68. Leviticus 27:33 Literally “it shall be and its substitution shall be”
  69. Leviticus 27:34 Literally “sons/children of Israel”
  70. Leviticus 27:34 Literally “the mountain of Sinai”

Redemption of Gifts Offered to the Lord

27 The Lord said to Moses, “Give the following instructions to the people of Israel. If anyone makes a special vow to dedicate someone to the Lord by paying the value of that person, here is the scale of values to be used. A man between the ages of twenty and sixty is valued at fifty shekels[a] of silver, as measured by the sanctuary shekel. A woman of that age is valued at thirty shekels[b] of silver. A boy between the ages of five and twenty is valued at twenty shekels of silver; a girl of that age is valued at ten shekels[c] of silver. A boy between the ages of one month and five years is valued at five shekels of silver; a girl of that age is valued at three shekels[d] of silver. A man older than sixty is valued at fifteen shekels of silver; a woman of that age is valued at ten shekels[e] of silver. If you desire to make such a vow but cannot afford to pay the required amount, take the person to the priest. He will determine the amount for you to pay based on what you can afford.

“If your vow involves giving an animal that is acceptable as an offering to the Lord, any gift to the Lord will be considered holy. 10 You may not exchange or substitute it for another animal—neither a good animal for a bad one nor a bad animal for a good one. But if you do exchange one animal for another, then both the original animal and its substitute will be considered holy. 11 If your vow involves an unclean animal—one that is not acceptable as an offering to the Lord—then you must bring the animal to the priest. 12 He will assess its value, and his assessment will be final, whether high or low. 13 If you want to buy back the animal, you must pay the value set by the priest, plus 20 percent.

14 “If someone dedicates a house to the Lord, the priest will come to assess its value. The priest’s assessment will be final, whether high or low. 15 If the person who dedicated the house wants to buy it back, he must pay the value set by the priest, plus 20 percent. Then the house will again be his.

16 “If someone dedicates to the Lord a piece of his family property, its value will be assessed according to the amount of seed required to plant it—fifty shekels of silver for a field planted with five bushels of barley seed.[f] 17 If the field is dedicated to the Lord in the Year of Jubilee, then the entire assessment will apply. 18 But if the field is dedicated after the Year of Jubilee, the priest will assess the land’s value in proportion to the number of years left until the next Year of Jubilee. Its assessed value is reduced each year. 19 If the person who dedicated the field wants to buy it back, he must pay the value set by the priest, plus 20 percent. Then the field will again be legally his. 20 But if he does not want to buy it back, and it is sold to someone else, the field can no longer be bought back. 21 When the field is released in the Year of Jubilee, it will be holy, a field specially set apart[g] for the Lord. It will become the property of the priests.

22 “If someone dedicates to the Lord a field he has purchased but which is not part of his family property, 23 the priest will assess its value based on the number of years left until the next Year of Jubilee. On that day he must give the assessed value of the land as a sacred donation to the Lord. 24 In the Year of Jubilee the field must be returned to the person from whom he purchased it, the one who inherited it as family property. 25 (All the payments must be measured by the weight of the sanctuary shekel,[h] which equals twenty gerahs.)

26 “You may not dedicate a firstborn animal to the Lord, for the firstborn of your cattle, sheep, and goats already belong to him. 27 However, you may buy back the firstborn of a ceremonially unclean animal by paying the priest’s assessment of its worth, plus 20 percent. If you do not buy it back, the priest will sell it at its assessed value.

28 “However, anything specially set apart for the Lord—whether a person, an animal, or family property—must never be sold or bought back. Anything devoted in this way has been set apart as holy, and it belongs to the Lord. 29 No person specially set apart for destruction may be bought back. Such a person must be put to death.

30 “One-tenth of the produce of the land, whether grain from the fields or fruit from the trees, belongs to the Lord and must be set apart to him as holy. 31 If you want to buy back the Lord’s tenth of the grain or fruit, you must pay its value, plus 20 percent. 32 Count off every tenth animal from your herds and flocks and set them apart for the Lord as holy. 33 You may not pick and choose between good and bad animals, and you may not substitute one for another. But if you do exchange one animal for another, then both the original animal and its substitute will be considered holy and cannot be bought back.”

34 These are the commands that the Lord gave through Moses on Mount Sinai for the Israelites.

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Footnotes

  1. 27:3 Or 20 ounces [570 grams].
  2. 27:4 Or 12 ounces [342 grams].
  3. 27:5 Or A boy . . . 8 ounces [228 grams] of silver; a girl . . . 4 ounces [114 grams].
  4. 27:6 Or A boy . . . 2 ounces [57 grams] of silver; a girl . . . 1.2 ounces [34 grams].
  5. 27:7 Or A man . . . 6 ounces [171 grams] of silver; a woman . . . 4 ounces [114 grams].
  6. 27:16 Hebrew 50 shekels [20 ounces or 570 grams] of silver for a homer [220 liters] of barley seed.
  7. 27:21 The Hebrew term used here refers to the complete consecration of things or people to the Lord, either by destroying them or by giving them as an offering; also in 27:28, 29.
  8. 27:25 Each shekel was about 0.4 ounces [11 grams] in weight.