Leviticus 27
The Voice
27 The Eternal One gave Moses the rules regarding the fulfillment of vows.
Now there is nothing to suggest that God requires His people to make vows; but when they do, they must be taken seriously. So if a person pledges to give God something in exchange for His help or blessing on a matter, then that person is bound to keep his promise. It would be better not to make a vow in the first place than to make it and not fulfill it.
Eternal One: 2 Go, talk with the Israelites and tell them that whenever someone makes a special vow to Me regarding the value of a human being, 3 the proper value of a 20- to 60-year-old male is 20 ounces of silver, according to the sanctuary weights. 4 The proper value of a female of those ages is 12 ounces. 5 If the person is 5 to 20 years old, the proper value for the male is 8 ounces; for the female 4 ounces. 6 But if the person is anywhere from one month to 5 years old, the proper value is 2 ounces of silver for males and 1¼ ounces of silver for females. 7 If the person is 60 years old or older, it is to be 6 ounces for the male and 4 ounces for the female. 8 If someone cannot afford these prices, then bring him to stand before the priest, and the priest will assess the situation and value him according to what the person can afford.
9 Whenever someone vows to give an animal that is acceptable as an offering to Me, then that animal is sacred and is the property of the sanctuary. 10 Whoever makes the vow should not switch one animal for another, a good animal for a bad, or vice versa. If someone does switch one for another, then both animals are considered sacred. 11 But if the vow involves an animal that is impure and not acceptable as an offering to Me, he needs to bring the animal before the priest. 12 The priest will determine its value—either high or low—and whatever he determines will be its price. 13 If the owner desires to buy the animal back from the sanctuary, he must pay that price plus ⅕.
Animals that are unclean according to the law are not be donated in fulfillment of a vow because they are not acceptable as sacrifices. They are taken to the market and sold; the money gained from the sale supports the priests and their service.
Eternal One: 14 If a man dedicates his house as a sacred gift to Me, the priest will determine its value—either high or low—and whatever he determines will be its price. 15 If the person who dedicates his house desires to buy it back, he must pay that price plus ⅕, and the house will be his once again.
16 If a man dedicates any piece of his property to Me, the value fixed must be in proportion to the amount of seed it requires for planting. Six bushels of barley seed is worth 20 ounces of silver. 17 If he dedicates his field during the year of jubilee, the fixed value still stands. 18 If he dedicates his field after the jubilee year, the priest will determine its value according to how many years remain until the jubilee and reduce it accordingly. 19 If the person who dedicates the property desires to buy it back, he must pay that price plus ⅕; then the piece of land will be his once again. 20 If he decides not to buy the property back, or if he has sold it to another person, then he forfeits the right to redeem it. 21 If the original owner releases the field in the jubilee, it must be treated as a holy gift dedicated to Me; then it will become the property of the priests.
22 If someone dedicates land to Me that he has bought and is not part of his ancestral lands, 23 then the priest will determine its value according to how many years remain until the jubilee. The man must pay that amount as his sacred gift to Me. 24 In the jubilee year, the property will revert back to the one who sold it, its original owner; it will be his once again.
25 All of your assessments should be based on the sanctuary’s weights: the basic unit is ⅖ of an ounce.
26 Firstborn animals already belong to Me, so no one is allowed to dedicate any firstborn animal—be it an ox or a sheep. It is already Mine. 27 If it is an impure animal—unsuitable as a sacrifice—then the person making the vow may redeem it for its value plus ⅕. If the owner decides not to redeem it, then it must be sold for its proper value and the sanctuary will keep the proceeds.
28 Surely nothing devoted to Me as an irrevocable vow, regardless of what it is—a person, an animal, or a piece of property—can be sold or bought back; it must be destroyed. Anything devoted in this way is most holy to Me and cannot be put to another use. 29 No person who is devoted irrevocably to Me[a] can be redeemed. He must be put to death.
30 One-tenth of everything the land produces—seeds from the ground and fruits from the trees—belongs to Me and is sacred to Me. 31 If a man desires to buy back a portion of My ⅒, he must pay its value plus ⅕. 32 Regarding your livestock, ⅒ of the herd or flock must be set apart for Me as holy. As you count them, every tenth animal that passes beneath the shepherd’s rod belongs to Me. 33 It does not matter whether the animals are good or bad, and one must not think about switching or replacing one for another. If he does, then the original and the replacement are both sacred and cannot be redeemed.
34 These are the commandments the Eternal gave to Moses for the people of Israel at Mount Sinai.
Footnotes
Leviticus 27
Legacy Standard Bible
Holy to Yahweh
27 Then Yahweh spoke to Moses, saying, 2 “Speak to the sons of Israel and say to them, ‘(A)When a man makes a difficult vow, he shall be valued according to your valuation of persons belonging to Yahweh. 3 If your valuation is of the male from twenty years even to sixty years old, then your valuation shall be [a]fifty shekels of silver, according to (B)the shekel of the sanctuary. 4 Or if it is a female, then your valuation shall be thirty shekels. 5 If it be from five years even to twenty years old then your valuation for the male shall be twenty shekels and for the female ten shekels. 6 But if they are from a month even up to five years old, then your valuation shall be (C)five shekels of silver for the male, and for the female your valuation shall be three shekels of silver. 7 If they are from sixty years old and upward, if it is a male, then your valuation shall be fifteen shekels, and for the female ten shekels. 8 But if he is poorer than your valuation, then he shall be [b]presented before the priest, and the priest shall value him; (D)according to [c]the means of the one who vowed, the priest shall value him.
9 ‘Now if it is an animal of the kind which [d]men can bring near as an offering to Yahweh, any such that one gives to Yahweh shall be holy. 10 (E)He shall not replace it or exchange it, a good for a bad, or a bad for a good; or if he does exchange animal for animal, then both it and its substitute shall become holy. 11 If, however, it is any unclean animal of the kind which [e]men do not bring near as an offering to Yahweh, then he shall [f]present the animal before the priest. 12 And the priest shall value it [g]as either good or bad; as you, the priest, value it, so it shall be. 13 But if he should ever wish to redeem it, then he shall add one-fifth of it to your valuation.
14 ‘Now if a man sets his house apart as holy to Yahweh, then the priest shall value it [h]as either good or bad; as the priest values it, so it shall stand. 15 Yet if the one who sets it apart as holy should wish to redeem his house, then he shall add one-fifth of your valuation price to it, so that it may be his.
16 ‘Again, if a man sets apart as holy to Yahweh a portion of the fields of his own possession, then your valuation shall be [i]proportionate to the seed needed for it: a [j]homer of barley seed at [k]fifty shekels of silver. 17 If he sets apart his field as holy from the year of jubilee, according to your valuation it shall stand. 18 If he sets apart his field as holy after the jubilee, however, then the priest shall calculate the price for [l]him [m]proportionate to the years that are left until the year of jubilee; and it shall be deducted from your valuation. 19 If the one who sets it apart as holy should ever wish to redeem the field, then he shall add one-fifth of your valuation price to it so that it may stand as his own. 20 Yet if he will not redeem the field, [n]but has sold the field to another man, it may no longer be redeemed; 21 and it will be that when it [o]reverts in the jubilee, the field shall be holy to Yahweh, like a field that is [p]devoted; (F)it shall be for the priest as his possession. 22 Or if he sets apart as holy to Yahweh a field which he has bought, which is not a portion of the field of his own possession, 23 then the priest shall calculate for [q]him the amount of your valuation up to the year of jubilee; and he shall on that day give your valuation as holy to Yahweh. 24 In the year of jubilee the field shall return to the one from whom he bought it, to whom the possession of the land belongs. 25 Every valuation of yours, moreover, shall be according to (G)the shekel of the sanctuary. The shekel shall be twenty [r]gerahs.
26 ‘(H)However, a firstborn among animals, which as a firstborn belongs to Yahweh, no man may set it apart as holy; whether ox or sheep, it is Yahweh’s. 27 But if it is among the unclean animals, then he shall [s]ransom it according to your valuation and add to it one-fifth of it; and if it is not redeemed, then it shall be sold according to your valuation.
28 ‘Nevertheless, (I)anything which a man [t]devotes to Yahweh out of all that he has, of man or animal or of the fields of his own possession, shall not be sold or redeemed. Anything [u]devoted to destruction is most holy to Yahweh. 29 No [v]one who may have been [w]devoted among men shall be [x]ransomed; he shall surely be put to death.
30 ‘Thus (J)all the tithe of the land, of the seed of the land or of the fruit of the tree, belongs to Yahweh; it is holy to Yahweh. 31 If, therefore, a man wishes to redeem part of his tithe, he shall add to it one-fifth of it. 32 For every tenth part of herd or flock, whatever (K)passes under the rod, the tenth one shall be holy to Yahweh. 33 (L)He shall not inquire whether it is good or bad, nor shall he exchange it; or if he does exchange it, then both it and its substitute shall become holy. It shall not be redeemed.’”
34 (M)These are the commandments which Yahweh commanded Moses for the sons of Israel at Mount Sinai.
Footnotes
- Leviticus 27:3 Approx. 1.25 lb. or 550 gm, a shekel was approx. 0.4 oz. or 11 gm
- Leviticus 27:8 Lit made to stand
- Leviticus 27:8 Lit what the hand reaches
- Leviticus 27:9 Lit they
- Leviticus 27:11 Lit they
- Leviticus 27:11 Lit make the animal stand
- Leviticus 27:12 Lit between
- Leviticus 27:14 Lit between
- Leviticus 27:16 Lit according to its seed
- Leviticus 27:16 A homer was approx. 6.5 bu. or 230 l
- Leviticus 27:16 Approx. 1.25 lb. or 0.55 kg
- Leviticus 27:18 Or it
- Leviticus 27:18 Lit according to the years
- Leviticus 27:20 Or if he
- Leviticus 27:21 Lit goes out
- Leviticus 27:21 Lit possession
- Leviticus 27:23 Or it
- Leviticus 27:25 A gerah was approx. 0.025 oz. or 0.7 gm
- Leviticus 27:27 Or redeem
- Leviticus 27:28 Or banned
- Leviticus 27:28 Or put under the ban
- Leviticus 27:29 Or banned
- Leviticus 27:29 Or put under the ban
- Leviticus 27:29 Or redeemed
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