Leviticus 27

1 YHWH spoke to Moses, saying,

The Lord told Moses,

2 "Speak to the children of Israel, and say to them, 'When a man makes a vow, the persons shall be for YHWH by your valuation.

“Tell the Israelites: When you make a special promise to dedicate someone to the Lord, these are the values you are to use.

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

The value of a man aged twenty to sixty is fifty shekels of silver, (using the sanctuary shekel standard).

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

The value of a woman is thirty shekels.

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

The value of someone aged five to twenty is twenty shekels for a male and ten shekels for a female.

6 If the person is from a month old even 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.

The value of someone aged one month to five years is five shekels of silver for a male and three shekels of silver for a female.

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

The value of someone aged sixty or older is fifteen shekels for a male and ten shekels of silver for a female.

8 But if he is poorer than your valuation, then he shall be set before the priest, and the priest shall value him; according to the ability of him who vowed shall the priest value him.

However, if when you fulfill your promise you are poorer than the fixed value, you are to present the person before the priest, who will then set the value depending on what you can afford.

9 "'If it is an animal, of which men offer an offering to YHWH, all that any man gives of such to YHWH becomes holy.

If when you fulfill your promise you bring an animal that is permitted as an offering to the Lord, the animal given to the Lord shall be considered holy.

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 animal for animal, then both it and that for which it is changed shall be holy.

You are not allowed to replace it or swap it, either for one that is better or one that is worse. However, if you do replace it then both animals become holy.

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

If when you fulfill your promise you bring any unclean animal that is not permitted as an offering to the Lord, then you must show the animal to the priest.

12 and the priest shall value it, whether it is good or bad. As you the priest values it, so shall it be.

The priest will decide its value, whether high or low. Whatever value the priest places on it is final.

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

If you then decide to buy the animal back, you have to add one fifth to its value in payment.

14 "'When a man dedicates his house to be holy to YHWH, then the priest shall evaluate it, whether it is good or bad: as the priest shall evaluate it, so shall it stand.

If you dedicate your house as holy to the Lord, then the priest will decide its value, whether high or low. Whatever value the priest places on it remains final.

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.

But if you want to buy back your house, you have to add one fifth to its value in payment. Then it will belong to you again.

16 "'If a man dedicates to YHWH 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 you dedicate some of your land to the Lord, then its value shall be determined by the amount of seed required to sow it: fifty shekels of silver for every homer of barley seed used.

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

If you dedicate your field during the Jubilee Year, the value will be the full amount calculated.

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 you dedicate your field after the Jubilee, the priest will work out the value depending on the number of years left until the next Jubilee Year, so reducing the value.

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.

But if you want to buy your field back, you have to add one fifth to its value in payment. Then it will belong to you 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;

But if you don't buy the field back, or if you've already sold it to someone else, it can't ever be bought back.

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

When the Jubilee comes, the field will become holy, in the same way as a field devoted to the Lord. It will become the property of the priests.

22 "'If he dedicates to YHWH a field which he has bought, which is not of the field of his possession,

If you dedicate to the Lord a field you've bought that was not part of your original property,

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 YHWH.

the priest will work out the value until the next Jubilee Year. You will pay on that day the exact value, giving it as a holy offering to the Lord.

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.

In the Jubilee Year, ownership the field shall revert back to the person you bought it from—to the original owner of the land.

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

(All values will use the sanctuary shekel standard of twenty gerahs to the shekel.)

26 "'Only the firstborn among animals, which is made a firstborn to YHWH, no man may dedicate it; whether an ox or sheep, it is YHWH's.

No one is allowed to dedicate the firstborn of the livestock, because the firstborn belong to the Lord. Whether they are cattle, sheep, or goats, they are the Lord's.

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.

But if it is an unclean animal, then you can buy it back according to its value, adding on one fifth extra. If it's not bought back, then it is to be sold according to its value.

28 "'Notwithstanding, no devoted thing, that a man shall devote to YHWH of all that he has, whether of man or animal, or of the field of his possession, shall be sold or redeemed: every devoted thing is most holy to YHWH.

Anything that you specially dedicate to the Lord from what you own, whether it's a person, an animal, or your land, can't be sold or bought back. Anything specially dedicated if most holy to the Lord.

29 "'No one devoted, who shall be devoted from among men, shall be ransomed; he shall surely be put to death.

No one who is specially dedicated to destruction can be bought back. They must be killed.

30 "'All the tithe of the land, whether of the seed of the land or of the fruit of the trees, is YHWH's. It is holy to YHWH.

Tithe from your crops or fruit belongs to the Lord; it is holy to the Lord.

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

If you want to buy back some of your tithe, you must add on one fifth to its value.

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

When you count your herds and flocks, every tenth animal that passes under the shepherd's rod is holy to the Lord.

33 He shall not search whether it is good or bad, neither shall he change it: and if he changes it at all, then both it and that for which it is changed shall be holy. It shall not be redeemed.'"

You must not examine it to see if it's good or bad, and you must not replace it. However, if you do replace it then both animals become holy; they can't be bought back.”

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

These are the laws the Lord gave to Moses for the Israelites on Mount Sinai.