Leviticus 27

1 The LORD spoke to Moses, saying,

Yahweh also said to Moses/me,

2 “Speak to the children of Israel, and say to them, ‘When a man consecrates a person to the LORD in a vow, according to your valuation,

“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.

3 your valuation of a male from twenty years old to sixty years old shall be fifty shekels of silver, according to the shekel of the sanctuary.

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

4 If she is a female, then your valuation shall be thirty shekels.

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

5 If the person is from five years old to twenty years old, then your valuation shall be for a male twenty shekels, and for a female ten shekels.

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,

6 If the person is from a month old to five years old, then your valuation shall be for a male five shekels of silver, and for a female your valuation shall be three shekels of silver.

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,

7 If the person is from sixty years old and upward; if he is a male, then your valuation shall be fifteen shekels, and for a female ten shekels.

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.

8 But if he is poorer than your valuation, then he shall be set before the priest, and the priest shall assign a value to him. The priest shall assign a value according to his ability to pay.

‘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.

9 “‘If it is an animal of which men offer an offering to the LORD, all that any man gives of such to the LORD becomes holy.

‘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].

10 He shall not alter it, nor exchange it, a good for a bad, or a bad for a good. If he shall at all exchange animal for animal, then both it and that for which it is exchanged shall be holy.

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.

11 If it is any unclean animal, of which they do not offer as an offering to the LORD, then he shall set the animal before the priest;

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.

12 and the priest shall evaluate it, whether it is good or bad. As the priest evaluates it, so it shall be.

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].

13 But if he will indeed redeem it, then he shall add the fifth part of it to its valuation.

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.

14 “‘When a man dedicates his house to be holy to the LORD, then the priest shall evaluate it, whether it is good or bad. As the priest evaluates it, so it shall stand.

‘[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].

15 If he who dedicates it will redeem his house, then he shall add the fifth part of the money of your valuation to it, and it shall be his.

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.

16 “‘If a man dedicates to the LORD part of the field of his possession, then your valuation shall be according to the seed for it. The sowing of a homer of barley shall be valued at fifty shekels of silver.

‘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.

17 If he dedicates his field from the Year of Jubilee, according to your valuation it shall stand.

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

18 But if he dedicates his field after the Jubilee, then the priest shall reckon to him the money according to the years that remain to the Year of Jubilee; and an abatement shall be made from your valuation.

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].

19 If he who dedicated the field will indeed redeem it, then he shall add the fifth part of the money of your valuation to it, and it shall remain his.

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.

20 If he will not redeem the field, or if he has sold the field to another man, it shall not be redeemed any more;

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.

21 but the field, when it goes out in the Jubilee, shall be holy to the LORD, as a devoted field. It shall be owned by the priests.

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

22 “‘If he dedicates a field to the LORD which he has bought, which is not of the field of his possession,

‘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,

23 then the priest shall reckon to him the worth of your valuation up to the Year of Jubilee; and he shall give your valuation on that day, as a holy thing to the LORD.

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].

24 In the Year of Jubilee the field shall return to him from whom it was bought, even to him to whom the possession of the land belongs.

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.

25 All your valuations shall be according to the shekel of the sanctuary: twenty gerahs to the shekel.

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

26 “‘However the firstborn amongst animals, which belongs to the LORD as a firstborn, no man may dedicate, whether an ox or a sheep. It is the LORD’s.

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

27 If it is an unclean animal, then he shall buy it back according to your valuation, and shall add to it the fifth part of it; or if it isn’t redeemed, then it shall be sold according to your valuation.

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.

28 “‘Notwithstanding, no devoted thing that a man devotes to the LORD of all that he has, whether of man or animal, or of the field of his possession, shall be sold or redeemed. Everything that is permanently devoted is most holy to the LORD.

‘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.

29 “‘No one devoted to destruction, who shall be devoted from amongst men, shall be ransomed. He shall surely be put to death.

‘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.

30 “‘All the tithe of the land, whether of the seed of the land or of the fruit of the trees, is the LORD’s. It is holy to the LORD.

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

31 If a man redeems anything of his tithe, he shall add a fifth part to it.

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.

32 All the tithe of the herds or the flocks, whatever passes under the rod, the tenth shall be holy to the LORD.

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.

33 He shall not examine whether it is good or bad, neither shall he exchange it. If he exchanges it at all, then both it and that for which it is exchanged shall be holy. It shall not be redeemed.’”

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).’”

34 These are the commandments which the LORD commanded Moses for the children of Israel on Mount Sinai.

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