Leviticus 27

1 Yahweh also said to Moses/me,

Then the LORD said to Moses,

2 “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.

“Speak to the Israelites and say to them, ‘When someone makes a special vow to the LORD involving the value of persons,

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

if the valuation concerns a male from twenty to sixty years of age, then your valuation shall be fifty shekels of silver, according to the sanctuary shekel.

4 30 pieces of silver for adult women [who are between 20 and 60 years old],

Or if it is a female, then your valuation shall be thirty shekels.

5 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,

And if the person is from five to twenty years of age, then your valuation for the male shall be twenty shekels, and for the female ten shekels.

6 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,

Now if the person is from one month to five years of age, then your valuation for the male shall be five shekels of silver, and for the female three shekels of silver.

7 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.

And if the person is sixty years of age or older, then your valuation shall be fifteen shekels for the male and ten shekels for the female.

8 ‘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.

But if the one making the vow is too poor to pay the valuation, he is to present the person before the priest, who shall set the value according to what the one making the vow can afford.

9 ‘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].

If he vows an animal that may be brought as an offering to the LORD, any such animal given to the LORD shall be holy.

10 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.

He must not replace it or exchange it, either good for bad or bad for good. But if he does substitute one animal for another, both that animal and its substitute will be holy.

11 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.

But if the vow involves any of the unclean animals that may not be brought as an offering to the LORD, the animal must be presented before the priest.

12 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].

The priest shall set its value, whether high or low; as the priest values it, the price will be set.

13 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.

If, however, the owner decides to redeem the animal, he must add a fifth to its value.

14 ‘[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].

Now if a man consecrates his house as holy to the LORD, then the priest shall value it either as good or bad. The price will stand just as the priest values it.

15 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.

But if he who consecrated his house redeems it, he must add a fifth to the assessed value, and it will belong to him.

16 ‘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.

If a man consecrates to the LORD a parcel of his land, then your valuation shall be proportional to the seed required for it—fifty shekels of silver for every homer of barley seed.

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

If he consecrates his field during the Year of Jubilee, the price will stand according to your valuation.

18 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].

But if he consecrates his field after the Jubilee, the priest is to calculate the price in proportion to the years left until the next Year of Jubilee, so that your valuation will be reduced.

19 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.

And if the one who consecrated the field decides to redeem it, he must add a fifth to the assessed value, and it shall belong to him.

20 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.

If, however, he does not redeem the field, or if he has sold it to another man, it may no longer be redeemed.

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

When the field is released in the Jubilee, it will become holy, like a field devoted to the LORD; it becomes the property of the priests.

22 ‘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,

Now if a man consecrates to the LORD a field he has purchased, which is not a part of his own property,

23 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].

then the priest shall calculate for him the value up to the Year of Jubilee, and the man shall pay the assessed value on that day as a sacred offering to the LORD.

24 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.

In the Year of Jubilee the field shall return to the one from whom it was bought—the original owner of the land.

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

Every valuation will be according to the sanctuary shekel, twenty gerahs to the shekel.

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

But no one may consecrate a firstborn of the livestock, because a firstborn belongs to the LORD. Whether it is an ox or a sheep, it is the LORD’s.

27 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.

But if it is among the unclean animals, then he may redeem it according to your valuation and add a fifth of its value. If it is not redeemed, then it shall be sold according to your valuation.

28 ‘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.

Nothing that a man sets apart to the LORD from all he owns—whether a man, an animal, or his inherited land—can be sold or redeemed; everything so devoted is most holy to the LORD.

29 ‘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.

No person set apart for destruction may be ransomed; he must surely be put to death.

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

Thus any tithe from the land, whether from the seed of the land or the fruit of the trees, belongs to the LORD; it is holy to the LORD.

31 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.

If a man wishes to redeem part of his tithe, he must add a fifth to its value.

32 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.

Every tenth animal from the herd or flock that passes under the shepherd’s rod will be holy to the LORD.

33 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).’”

He must not inspect whether it is good or bad, and he shall not make any substitution. But if he does make a substitution, both the animal and its substitute shall become holy; they cannot be redeemed.’”

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

These are the commandments that the LORD gave to Moses for the Israelites on Mount Sinai.