Leviticus 24-27

Contemporary English Version

Caring for the Lamps

(Exodus 27.20,21)

24 The Lord told Moses ² to say to the community of Israel:

You must supply the purest olive oil for the lamps in the sacred tent, so they will keep burning. ^3-4 Aaron will set up the gold lampstand in the holy place of the sacred tent. Then he will light the seven lamps that must be kept burning there in my presence, every night from now on. This law will never change.

The Sacred Bread

The Lord said:

^5 (A) Use your finest flour to bake twelve loaves of bread about two kilograms each, ⁶ then take them into the sacred tent and lay them on the gold table in two rows of six loaves. ⁷ Alongside each row put some pure incense that will be sent up by fire in place of the bread as an offering to me. ⁸ Aaron must lay fresh loaves on the table each Sabbath, and priests in all generations must continue this practice as part of Israel's agreement with me. ^9 (B) This bread will always belong to Aaron and his family; it is very holy because it was offered to me, and it must be eaten in a holy place.^[a]

Punishment for Cursing the Lord

^10-11 Shelomith, the daughter of Dibri from the tribe of Dan, had married an Egyptian, and they had a son. One day their son got into a fight with an Israelite man in camp and cursed the name of the Lord. So the young man was dragged off to Moses, ¹² who had him guarded while everyone waited for the Lord to tell them what to do.

¹³ Finally, the Lord said to Moses:

¹⁴ This man has cursed me! Take him outside the camp and tell the witnesses to lay their hands on his head. Then command the whole community of Israel to stone him to death. ^15-16 And warn the others that everyone else who curses me will die in the same way, whether they are Israelites by birth or foreigners living among you.

^17 (C) Death is also the penalty for murder, ¹⁸ but the killing of an animal that belongs to someone else requires only that the animal be replaced. ¹⁹ Personal injuries to others must be dealt with in keeping with the crime— ^20 (D) a broken bone for a broken bone, an eye for an eye, or a tooth for a tooth. ²¹ It's possible to pay the owner for an animal that has been killed, but death is the penalty for murder. ^22 (E) I am the Lord your God, and I demand equal justice both for you Israelites and for those foreigners who live among you.

²³ When Moses finished speaking, the people did what the Lord had told Moses, and they stoned to death the man who had cursed the Lord.

The Seventh Year

(Deuteronomy 15.1-11)

25 ^(F) When Moses was on Mount Sinai, the Lord told him ² to say to the community of Israel:

After you enter the land that I am giving you, it must be allowed to rest one year out of every seven. ³ You may raise grain and grapes for six years, ⁴ but the seventh year you must let your fields and vineyards rest in honor of me, your Lord. ⁵ This is to be a time of complete rest for your fields and vineyards, so don't harvest anything they produce. ^6-7 However, you and your slaves and your hired workers, as well as any domestic or wild animals, may eat whatever grows on its own.

The Year of Celebration

The Lord said to his people:

⁸ Once every 49 years ⁹ on the tenth day of the seventh month,^[b] which is also the Great Day of Forgiveness,^[c] trumpets are to be blown everywhere in the land. ¹⁰ This fiftieth year^[d] is sacred—it is a time of freedom and of celebration when everyone will receive back their original property, and slaves will return home to their families. ¹¹ This is a year of complete celebration, so don't plant any seed or harvest what your fields or vineyards produce. ¹² In this time of sacred celebration you may eat only what grows on its own.

¹³ During this year, all property must go back to its original owner. ^14-15 So when you buy or sell farmland, the price is to be determined by the number of crops it can produce before the next Year of Celebration. Don't try to cheat. ¹⁶ If it is a long time before the next Year of Celebration, the price will be higher, because what is really being sold are the crops that the land can produce. ¹⁷ I am the Lord your God, so obey me and don't cheat anyone.

^18-19 If you obey my laws and teachings, you will live safely in the land and enjoy its abundant crops. ²⁰ Don't ever worry about what you will eat during the seventh year when you are forbidden to plant or harvest. ²¹ I will see to it that you harvest enough in the sixth year to last for three years. ²² In the eighth year you will live on what you harvested in the sixth year, but in the ninth year you will eat what you plant and harvest in the eighth year.

²³ No land may be permanently bought or sold. It all belongs to me—it isn't your land, and you only live there for a little while.

²⁴ When property is being sold, the original owner must be given the first chance to buy it.

²⁵ If any of you Israelites become so poor that you are forced to sell your property, your closest relative must buy it back, ²⁶ if that relative has the money. Later, if you can afford to buy it, ²⁷ you must pay enough to make up for what the present owner will lose on it before the next Year of Celebration, when the property would become yours again. ²⁸ But if you don't have the money to pay the present owner a fair price, you will have to wait until the Year of Celebration, when the property will once again become yours.

²⁹ If you sell a house in a walled city, you have only one year in which to buy it back. ³⁰ If you don't buy it back before that year is up, it becomes the permanent property of the one who bought it, and it will not be returned to you in the Year of Celebration. ³¹ But a house out in a village may be bought back at any time just like a field. And it must be returned to its original owner in the Year of Celebration. ³² If any Levites own houses inside a walled city, they will always have the right to buy them back. ³³ And any houses that they do not buy back will be returned to them in the Year of Celebration, because these homes are their permanent property among the people of Israel. ³⁴ No pastureland owned by the Levi tribe can ever be sold; it is their permanent possession.

Help for the Poor

The Lord said:

^35 (G) If any of your people become poor and unable to support themselves, you must help them, just as you are supposed to help foreigners who live among you. ^36-37 (H) Don't take advantage of them by charging any kind of interest or selling them food for profit. Instead, honor me by letting them stay where they now live. ³⁸ Remember—I am the Lord your God! I rescued you from Egypt and gave you the land of Canaan, so that I would be your God.

^39 (I) Suppose some of your people become so poor that they have to sell themselves and become your slaves. ⁴⁰ Then you must treat them as servants, rather than as slaves. And in the Year of Celebration they are to be set free, ⁴¹ so they and their children may return home to their families and property. ⁴² I brought them out of Egypt to be my servants, not to be sold as slaves. ⁴³ So obey me, and don't be cruel to the poor.

⁴⁴ If you want slaves, buy them from other nations ⁴⁵ or from the foreigners who live in your own country, and make them your property. ⁴⁶ You can own them, and even leave them to your children when you die, but do not make slaves of your own people or be cruel to them.

⁴⁷ Even if some of you Israelites become so much in debt that you must sell yourselves to foreigners in your country, ⁴⁸ you still have the right to be set free by a relative, such as a brother ⁴⁹ or uncle or cousin, or some other family member. In fact, if you ever get enough money, you may buy your own freedom ⁵⁰ by paying your owner for the number of years you would still be a slave before the next Year of Celebration. ^51-52 The longer the time until then, the more you will have to pay. ⁵³ And even while you are the slaves of foreigners in your own country, your people must make sure that you are not mistreated. ⁵⁴ If you cannot gain your freedom in any of these ways, both you and your children will still be set free in the Year of Celebration. ⁵⁵ People of Israel, I am the Lord your God, and I brought you out of Egypt to be my own servants.

Blessings for Obeying the Lord

The Lord said:

26 ^(J) I am the Lord your God! So don't make or worship idols or images. ² Respect the Sabbath and honor the place where I am worshiped, because I am the Lord.

^3 (K) Faithfully obey my laws, ⁴ and I will send rain to make your crops grow and your trees produce fruit. ⁵ Your harvest of grain and grapes will be so abundant, that you won't know what to do with it all. You will eat and be satisfied, and you will live in safety. ⁶ I will bless your country with peace, and you will rest without fear. I will wipe out the dangerous animals and protect you from enemy attacks. ⁷ You will chase and destroy your enemies, ⁸ even if there are only 5 of you and 100 of them, or only 100 of you and 10,000 of them. ⁹ I will treat you with such kindness that your nation will grow strong, and I will also keep my promises to you. ¹⁰ Your barns will overflow with grain each year. ¹¹ I will live among you and never again look on you with disgust. ^12 (L) I will walk with you—I will be your God, and you will be my people. ¹³ I am the Lord your God, and I rescued you from Egypt, so that you would never again be slaves. I have set you free; now walk with your heads held high.

Punishment for Disobeying the Lord

The Lord said:

^14-15 (M) If you disobey me and my laws, and if you break our agreement, ¹⁶ I will punish you terribly, and you will be ruined. You will be struck with incurable diseases and with fever that leads to blindness and depression. Your enemies will eat the crops you plant, ¹⁷ and I will turn from you and let you be destroyed by your attackers. You will even run at the very rumor of attack. ¹⁸ Then, if you still refuse to obey me, I will punish you seven times for each of your sins, ¹⁹ until your pride is completely crushed. I will hold back the rain, so the sky above you will be like iron, and the ground beneath your feet will be like copper. ²⁰ All of your hard work will be for nothing—and there will be no harvest of grain or fruit.

²¹ If you keep rebelling against me, I'll punish you seven times worse, just as your sins deserve! ²² I'll send wild animals to attack you, and they will gobble up your children and livestock. So few of you will be left that your roads will be deserted.

²³ If you remain my enemies after this, ²⁴ I'll remain your enemy and punish you even worse. ²⁵ War will break out because you broke our agreement, and if you escape to your walled cities, I'll punish you with horrible diseases, and you will be captured by your enemies. ²⁶ You will have such a shortage of bread, that ten women will be able to bake their bread in the same oven. Each of you will get only a few crumbs, and you will go hungry.

²⁷ Then if you don't stop rebelling, ²⁸ I'll really get furious and punish you terribly for your sins! ²⁹ In fact, you will be so desperate for food that you will eat your own children. ³⁰ I'll destroy your shrines and tear down your incense altars, leaving your dead bodies piled on top of your idols. And you will be disgusting to me. ³¹ I'll wipe out your towns and your places of worship and will no longer be pleased with the smell of your sacrifices. ³² Your land will become so desolate that even your enemies who settle there will be shocked when they see it. ³³ After I destroy your towns and ruin your land with war, I'll scatter you among the nations.

^34-35 While you are prisoners in foreign lands, your own land will enjoy years of rest and refreshment, as it should have done each seventh year when you lived there. ^36-37 In the land of your enemies, you will tremble at the rustle of a leaf, as though it were a sword. And you will become so weak that you will stumble and fall over each other, even when no one is chasing you. ³⁸ Many of you will die in foreign lands, ³⁹ and others of you will waste away in sorrow as the result of your sins and the sins of your ancestors.

^40-41 Then suppose you realize that I turned against you and brought you to the land of your enemies because both you and your ancestors had stubbornly sinned against me. If you humbly confess what you have done and start living right, ^42 (N) I'll keep the promise I made to your ancestors Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. I will bless your land ⁴³ and let it rest during the time that you are in a foreign country, paying for your rebellion against me and my laws.

^44 (O) No matter what you have done, I am still the Lord your God, and I will never completely reject you or become absolutely disgusted with you there in the land of your enemies. ⁴⁵ While nations watched, I rescued your ancestors from Egypt so that I would be their God. Yes, I am your Lord, and I will never forget our agreement.

⁴⁶ Moses was on Mount Sinai when the Lord gave him these laws and teachings for the people of Israel.

Making Promises to the Lord

27 The Lord told Moses ² to say to the community of Israel:

If you ever want to free someone who has been promised to me, ^3-7 you may do so by paying the following amounts, weighed according to the official standards:

⁸ If you have promised to give someone to me and can't afford to pay the full amount for that person's release, you will be taken to a priest, and he will decide how much you can afford.

⁹ If you promise to sacrifice an animal to me, it becomes holy, and there is no way you can set it free. ¹⁰ If you try to substitute any other animal, no matter how good, for the one you promised, they will both become holy and must be sacrificed. ¹¹ Donkeys are unfit for sacrifice, so if you promise me a donkey,^[e] you must bring it to the priest, ¹² and let him determine its value. ¹³ But if you want to buy it back, you must pay an additional 20 percent.

¹⁴ If you promise a house to me, a priest will set the price, whatever the condition of the house. ¹⁵ But if you decide to buy it back, you must pay an additional 20 percent.

¹⁶ If you promise part of your family's land to me, its value must be determined by the amount of seed needed to plant the land, and the rate will be ten pieces of silver for every 20 kilograms of seed. ¹⁷ If this promise is made in the Year of Celebration,^[f] the land will be valued at the full price. ¹⁸ But any time after that, the price will be figured according to the number of years before the next Year of Celebration. ¹⁹ If you decide to buy back the land, you must pay the price plus an additional 20 percent, ²⁰ but you cannot buy it back once someone else has bought it. ²¹ When the Year of Celebration comes, the land becomes holy because it belongs to me, and it will be given to the priests.

²² If you promise me a field that you have bought, ²³ its value will be decided by a priest, according to the number of years before the next Year of Celebration, and the money you pay will be mine. ²⁴ However, on the next Year of Celebration, the land will go back to the family of its original owner. ²⁵ Every price will be set by the official standards.

Various Offerings

The Lord said:

²⁶ All first-born animals of your flocks and herds are already mine, and so you cannot promise any of them to me. ²⁷ If you promise me a donkey,^[g] you may buy it back by adding an additional 20 percent to its value. If you don't buy it back, it can be sold to someone else for whatever a priest has said it is worth.

^28 (P) Anything that you completely dedicate to me must be completely destroyed.^[h] It cannot be bought back or sold. Every person, animal, and piece of property that you dedicate completely is only for me. ²⁹ In fact, any humans who have been promised to me in this way must be put to death.

^30 (Q) Ten percent of everything you harvest is holy and belongs to me, whether it grows in your fields or on your fruit trees. ³¹ If you want to buy back this part of your harvest, you may do so by paying what it is worth plus an additional 20 percent.

³² When you count your flocks and herds, one out of ten of every newborn animal^[i] is holy and belongs to me, ³³ no matter how good or bad it is. If you substitute one animal for another, both of them become holy, and neither can be bought back.

³⁴ Moses was on Mount Sinai when the Lord gave him these laws for the people of Israel.