Leviticus 27

1 And the LORD spake unto Moses, saying,

Yahweh also said to Moses/me,

2 Speak unto the children of Israel, and say unto them, When a man shall make a singular vow, the persons [shall be] for the LORD by thy estimation.

“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 And thy estimation shall be of the male from twenty years old even unto sixty years old, even thy estimation shall be fifty shekels of silver, after 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 And if it [be] a female, then thy estimation shall be thirty shekels.

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

5 And if [it be] from five years old even unto twenty years old, then thy estimation shall be of the male twenty shekels, and for the 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 And if [it be] from a month old even unto five years old, then thy estimation shall be of the male five shekels of silver, and for the female thy estimation [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 And if [it be] from sixty years old and above; if [it be] a male, then thy estimation shall be fifteen shekels, and for the 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 be poorer than thy estimation, then he shall present himself before the priest, and the priest shall value him; according to his ability that vowed shall the priest value him.

‘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 And if [it be] a beast, whereof men bring an offering unto the LORD, all that [any man] giveth of such unto the LORD shall be 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 change it, a good for a bad, or a bad for a good: and if he shall at all change beast for beast, then it and the exchange thereof 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 And if [it be] any unclean beast, of which they do not offer a sacrifice unto the LORD, then he shall present the beast 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 value it, whether it be good or bad: as thou valuest it, [who art] the priest, so shall it 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 at all redeem it, then he shall add a fifth [part] thereof unto thy estimation.

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 And when a man shall sanctify his house [to be] holy unto the LORD, then the priest shall estimate it, whether it be good or bad: as the priest shall estimate it, so shall it 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 And if he that sanctified it will redeem his house, then he shall add the fifth [part] of the money of thy estimation unto 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 And if a man shall sanctify unto the LORD [some part] of a field of his possession, then thy estimation shall be according to the seed thereof: an homer of barley seed [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 sanctify his field from the year of jubile, according to thy estimation it shall stand.

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

18 But if he sanctify his field after the jubile, then the priest shall reckon unto him the money according to the years that remain, even unto the year of the jubile, and it shall be abated from thy estimation.

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 And if he that sanctified the field will in any wise redeem it, then he shall add the fifth [part] of the money of thy estimation unto it, and it shall be assured to him.

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 And if he will not redeem the field, or if he have 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 goeth out in the jubile, shall be holy unto the LORD, as a field devoted; the possession thereof shall be the priest’s.

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

22 And if [a man] sanctify unto the LORD a field which he hath bought, which [is] not of the fields 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 unto him the worth of thy estimation, [even] unto the year of the jubile: and he shall give thine estimation in that day, [as] a holy thing unto 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 the jubile the field shall return unto him of whom it was bought, [even] to him to whom the possession of the land [did belong].

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 And all thy estimations shall be according to the shekel of the sanctuary: twenty gerahs shall be the shekel.

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

26 Only the firstling of the beasts, which should be the LORD’s firstling, no man shall sanctify it; whether [it be] ox, or 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 And if [it be] of an unclean beast, then he shall redeem [it] according to thine estimation, and shall add a fifth [part] of it thereto: or if it be not redeemed, then it shall be sold according to thy estimation.

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 shall devote unto the LORD of all that he hath, [both] of man and beast, and of the field of his possession, shall be sold or redeemed: every devoted thing [is] most holy unto 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 None devoted, which shall be devoted of men, shall be redeemed; [but] 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 And all the tithe of the land, [whether] of the seed of the land, [or] of the fruit of the tree, [is] the LORD’s: [it is] holy unto 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 And if a man will at all redeem [ought] of his tithes, he shall add thereto the fifth [part] thereof.

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 And concerning the tithe of the herd, or of the flock, [even] of whatsoever passeth under the rod, the tenth shall be holy unto 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 search whether it be good or bad, neither shall he change it: and if he change it at all, then both it and the change thereof 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 in mount Sinai.

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