Leviticus 27

1 Yahweh also said to Moses/me,

Yahweh spoke to Moses and said,

2 “Tell the Israeli people [that this is what I am saying to them]: If anyone solemnly promises to dedicate another person to [work solely] for me, the person who is dedicated to me is allowed to be free from having to do that by someone paying [to the priest] a fixed amount of money. The money that is given must be calculated by comparing it with the official pieces of silver in the Sacred Tent.

“Speak to the people of Israel and say to them, 'If anyone makes a special vow to Yahweh, use the following valuations.

3 [These are the amounts that must be paid]: 50 pieces of silver for men who are between 20 and 60 years old,

Your standard value for a male from twenty to sixty years old must be fifty shekels of silver, after the shekel of the sanctuary.

4 30 pieces of silver for adult women [who are between 20 and 60 years old],

For a female of the same ages your standard value must be thirty shekels.

5 20 pieces of silver for young men who are between five and 20 years old, ten pieces of silver for young women who are between five and 20 years old,

From five years to twenty years old your standard value for a male must be twenty shekels, and for the female ten shekels.

6 five pieces of silver for boys who are between one month and five years old, three pieces of silver for girls who are between one month and five years old,

From one month old to five years your standard value for a male must be five shekels of silver, and for a female three shekels of silver.

7 15 pieces of silver for men who are more than 60 years old, ten pieces of silver for women who are more than 60 years old.

From sixty years old and up for a male your standard value must be fifteen shekels, and for a female ten shekels.

8 ‘If anyone who has made such a solemn promise is very poor and unable to pay, to free that person from doing what he had promised, he must take that person to the priest. The priest will set the price [for freeing him] to be what the person who made that solemn promise is able to pay.

But if the person making the vow cannot pay the standard value, then the person being given must be presented to the priest, and the priest will value that person by the amount the one making the vow is able to afford.

9 ‘If someone solemnly promises to give an animal that is acceptable to be an offering to me, that animal becomes sacred [and belongs to me].

If someone wants to sacrifice an animal to Yahweh, and if Yahweh accepts it, then that animal will be set apart to him.

10 The person who promised to give it must not give another animal instead of the one that he promised; he must not substitute a bad animal for a good one or even a better one than the one offered. If he would substitute one animal for the other, both animals would belong to me.

The person must not alter or change such an animal, a good one for a bad one or a bad for a good. If he does at all change one animal for another, then both it and the one for which it is exchanged become holy.

11 If the animal that he wishes to dedicate to me is a kind that is unacceptable to be an offering to me, he must take that animal to the priest.

However, if what the person has vowed to give Yahweh is in fact unclean, so that Yahweh will not accept it, then the person must bring the animal to a priest.

12 The priest will then decide what its value is, according to the animal’s good and bad points. Whatever value the priests sets will be the value of the animal, [and that is the price that the priest must pay for the animal].

The priest will value it, by the market value of the animal. Whatever value the priest places on the animal, that will be its value.

13 If the man who gave the animal later decides that he wants to buy it back, he must pay [to the priest] that price plus an additional 20 percent.

If the owner wishes to redeem it, then a fifth of its value is to be added to its redemption price.

14 ‘[Similarly], if someone dedicates his house to be a sacred gift to belong to me, the priest will decide how much it is worth, which will depend on whether the house is in good condition. Whatever the priest says that it is worth, that will be its value [and that is the price that the priest must pay for it].

When a man sets apart his house as a holy gift to Yahweh, then the priest will set its value as either good or bad. Whatever the priest values it, so it will be.

15 If the man who dedicated his house to me later wants to buy it back, he must pay that price plus an additional 20 percent, and then the house will belong to him again.

But if the owner who set apart his home wishes to redeem it, he must add a fifth of its value to its redemption price, and it will belong to him.

16 ‘If someone dedicates to me some of the property that belongs to him and his family, its value will be determined by the number of bushels of seed that will be needed to plant seeds on that land: Its value will be ten pieces of silver for each bushel of seed.

If a man sets apart some of his own land, then the valuation of it will be in proportion to the amount of seed required to plant it—a homer of barley will be valued at fifty shekels of silver.

17 If he dedicates the land during the Year of Celebration, its full value will be that amount.

If he sets apart his field during the year of Jubilee, the valuation of it will stand.

18 But if he dedicates the field after the Year of Celebration, the priest will count the number of years until the next Year of Celebration, and if there are not many years that remain, the price will be much lower [than the full price].

But if he sets apart his field after the year of Jubilee, then the priest must calculate the value of the field by the number of years that remain until the next year of Jubilee, and the valuation of it must be reduced.

19 If the person who dedicated the field later wants to buy it back, he must pay [to the priest] the price that the priest says it is worth, plus an added one-fifth, and then the field will belong to that man again.

If the man who set apart the field wishes to redeem it, then he must add a fifth to the valuation, and it will belong to him.

20 However, if he does not buy it back, or if it has been sold (OR, the priest has sold it) to someone else, that person will never be permitted to buy it back again.

If he does not redeem the field, or if he has sold the field to another man, it cannot be redeemed any more.

21 In the Year of Celebration, it will become sacred again, and it will be given to the priest.

Instead, the field, when it is released in the year of Jubilee, will be a holy gift to Yahweh, like the field that has been completely given to Yahweh. It will belong to the priest.

22 ‘If someone dedicates to me some land that he has bought, land which is not part of the land that his family has always owned,

If a man sets apart a field that he has bought, but that field is not part of his family's land,

23 the priest will count the number of years until the next Year of Celebration to determine how much it is worth, and the man must pay that amount to the priest on that day, [and then that land will belong to that man again].

then the priest will figure the valuation of it up to the year of Jubilee, and the man must pay its value on that day as a holy gift to Yahweh.

24 But in the Year of Celebration, the land will again be owned by the person from whom he bought it, the person whose family had always owned that land.

In the year of Jubilee, the field will return to the man from whom it was bought, to the land's owner.

25 All the silver that is paid must be compared with the official pieces of silver in the Sacred Tent.

All the valuations must be set by the weight of the sanctuary shekel. Twenty gerahs must be the equivalent of one shekel.

26 ‘No one is permitted to dedicate to me the firstborn of any cow or sheep, because the firstborn already belongs to me [DOU].

No one may set apart the firstborn among animals, since the firstborn already belongs to Yahweh; whether ox or sheep, it is Yahweh's.

27 If someone gives to me a kind of animal that is not acceptable to me, that person may later buy it back by paying what it is worth plus an additional 20 percent of its value. If he does not buy it back, it must be sold (OR, the priest must sell it) for its standard price.

If it is an unclean animal, then the owner may buy it back at the valuation of it, and a fifth must be added to that value. If the animal is not redeemed, then it is to be sold at the set value.

28 ‘However, no slave or animal or family land that someone owns can be sold or bought back after it has been dedicated to me [and no price has been paid for it]. That kind of gift belongs to me permanently/forever.

But nothing that a man devotes to Yahweh, from all that he has, whether human or animal, or his family land, may be sold or redeemed. Everything that is devoted is very holy to Yahweh.

29 ‘No person who has [done something that I consider to be very wicked] is permitted to be freed [from being punished]; that person must surely be executed.

No ransom may be paid for the person who is devoted for destruction. That person must be put to death.

30 ‘One tenth of all the crops and grain or fruit that is produced on anyone’s land is sacred and belongs to me.

All the tithe of the land, whether grain grown on the land or fruit from the trees, is Yahweh's. It is holy to Yahweh.

31 If anyone wants to buy back any of that tenth, he must pay [to the priest] what it is worth plus an additional 20 percent.

If a man redeems any of his tithe, he must add a fifth to its value.

32 One of every ten domestic animals belongs to me. When a shepherd counts his animals [MTY] [to decide which ones he will give to me], he must mark every tenth one as belonging to me.

As for every tenth of the herd or the flock, whatever passes under the shepherd's rod, one-tenth must be set apart to Yahweh.

33 When he does that, he must not pick out the good ones for himself or leave the bad ones, or substitute bad ones for good ones. If he substitutes one animal for another, both animals will belong to me, and he will not be permitted to buy them back (OR, the shepherd cannot buy them back).’”

The shepherd must not search for the better or the worse animals, and he must not substitute one for another. If he changes it at all, then both it and that for which it is changed will be holy. It cannot be redeemed.'”

34 Those are the commands that Yahweh gave to Moses/me on Sinai Mountain [to tell to the people].

These are the commandments that Yahweh gave at Mount Sinai to Moses for the people of Israel.