Leviticus 27

1 Yahweh also said to Moses/me,

And the LORD spake unto Moses, saying,

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 unto the children of Israel, and say unto them, When a man shall accomplish a vow, the persons shall be for the LORD by thy estimation.

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

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.

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

And if it be a female, then thy estimation 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 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.

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,

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.

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 it be from sixty years old and upward; if it be a male, then thy estimation shall be fifteen shekels, and for the female ten shekels.

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 he be poorer than thy estimation, then he shall be set before the priest, and the priest shall value him; according to the ability of him that vowed shall the priest value him.

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].

And if it be a beast, whereof men offer an oblation unto the LORD, all that any man giveth of such unto 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 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 both it and that for which it is changed shall 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.

And if it be any unclean beast, of which they do not offer an oblation unto the LORD, then he shall set the beast 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].

and the priest shall value it, whether it be good or bad: as thou the priest valuest it, so shall it be.

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.

But if he will indeed redeem it, then he shall add the fifth part thereof unto thy estimation.

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].

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.

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.

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.

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.

And if a man shall sanctify unto the LORD part of the field of his possession, then thy estimation shall be according to the sowing thereof: the sowing of a homer of barley [shall be valued] at fifty shekels of silver.

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

If he sanctify his field from the year of jubile, according to thy estimation it shall stand.

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 sanctify his field after the jubile, then the priest shall reckon unto him the money according to the years that remain unto the year of jubile, and an abatement shall be made from thy estimation.

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 he that sanctified the field will indeed redeem it, then he shall add the fifth part of the money of thy estimation unto it, and it shall be assured 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.

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:

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

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.

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,

And if he sanctify unto the LORD a field which he hath bought, which is not of the field of his possession;

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 reckon unto him the worth of thy estimation unto the year of jubile: and he shall give thine estimation in that day, as a holy thing unto 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 jubile the field shall return unto him of whom it was bought, even to him to whom the possession of the land belongeth.

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

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

Only the firstling among beasts, which is made a firstling to the LORD, no man shall sanctify it; whether it be ox or 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.

And if it be of an unclean beast, then he shall ransom it according to thine estimation, and shall add unto it the fifth part thereof: or if it be not redeemed, then it shall be sold according to thy estimation.

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.

Notwithstanding, no devoted thing, that a man shall devote unto the LORD of all that he hath, whether of man or beast, or of the field of his possession, shall be sold or redeemed: every devoted thing is most holy unto 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.

None devoted, which shall be devoted of men, shall be ransomed; he shall 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.

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.

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.

And if a man will redeem aught of his tithe, he shall add unto it the fifth part thereof.

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.

And all the tithe of the herd or the flock, whatsoever passeth under the rod, the tenth shall be holy unto 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 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 that for which it is changed shall be holy; it shall not 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, which the LORD commanded Moses for the children of Israel in mount Sinai.