Leviticus 27

1 Yahweh also said to Moses/me,

And Yahweh 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 sons of Israel and thou shall say unto them—When any man would consecrate and pay a vow by thine estimate of lives unto Yahweh,

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

then shall, thine estimate be for the male from twenty years of age even to sixty years of age, yea thine estimate shall be—fifty shekels of silver by the shekel of the sanctuary;

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

but if it be, a female, then shall thine estimate 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 of age even unto twenty years of age, then shall thine estimate be for 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 shall thine estimate be—for the male, five shekels of silver, —and, for the female, thine estimate [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 of age and upwards, if a male, then shall thine estimate 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, too poor, for thine estimate, then shall he present himself before the priest, and the priest shall estimate him, —according to that which the hand of him who would vow can attain to, shall the priest estimate 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 may bring near an oblation unto Yahweh, all that whereof aught is given to Yahweh, 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—good for bad or bad for good, —but if he, do, change beast for beast, then shall, both it and what was given in exchange for it 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 whereof men may not bring near an oblation to Yahweh, then shall he present 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 estimate it, whether it is good or bad, —according to thine estimate, O priest, 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 should please to redeem, it, then shall he add the fifth part thereof unto thine estimate.

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, any man, would hallow his house to be holy unto Yahweh, then shall the priest estimate it, whether it is 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.

But, if he that halloweth it, would redeem his house, then shall he add the fifth part of the silver of thine estimate thereunto 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 of the field of his possession any man would hallow unto Yahweh, then shall thine estimate be according to the seed thereof, —the seed of a homer of barley, at fifty shekels of silver.

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

If, from the year of jubilee, he would hallow his field, according to thine estimate, shall it 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 after the jubilee he would hallow his field, then shall the priest reckon to him the silver, according to the years that remain, until the year of the jubilee, —and it shall be abated from thine estimate.

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.

But, if he that hath hallowed it should be pleased to redeem, the field, then shall he add the fifth part of the silver of thine estimate thereunto 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.

But if he will not redeem the field, but have sold the field to another man, it shall be redeemable no longer;

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

so shall the field, when it goeth out in the jubilee, be holy unto Yahweh as a devoted, field, —to the priest, shall belong the possession thereof.

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,

If, however, a field that he hath bought, which is not of the fields of his possession, he would hallow unto Yahweh,

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 shall the priest reckon to him the amount of thine estimate until the year of the jubilee, —and he shall give thine estimate, in that day, as holy unto Yahweh.

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 the jubilee, shall the field return unto him from whom he bought it to him whose it was as a possession in the land.

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

And, every estimate of thine, shall be by the holy shekel, —twenty gerahs, make 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 which is born a firstling to Yahweh, among beasts, no man shall hallow it, —whether ox or sheep, unto Yahweh, it belongeth.

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 be among the beasts that are unclean, then shall he ransom it by thine estimate, and add the fifth part of it thereunto, —but, if it is not redeemed, then shall it be sold by thine estimate.

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.

Only no devoted thing which any man shall devote unto Yahweh, of all that belongeth to him, —of man or beast, or of the field of his possession, shall be either sold or redeemed, —as to every devoted thing, most holy, it is unto Yahweh.

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.

As touching any one devoted, who may be devoted from among men he shall not be ransomed, —he must be, surely 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, as for all the tithe of the land whether of the seed of the land, [or] of the fruit of the trees, unto Yahweh, it belongeth, —as something holy unto Yahweh.

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.

But, if any man should be pleased, to redeem, aught of his tithes, the fifth part thereof, shall he add thereunto.

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, as for all the tithe of herd and flock, all that passeth under the rod, the tenth, shall be holy unto Yahweh.

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 examine whether it be good or bad neither shall he change it, —or, if he do in anywise change, it, then shall both, it and what is given in exchange for it, 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 Yahweh commanded Moses for the sons of Israel, —in Mount Sinai.