Leviticus 27

1 Yahweh also said to Moses/me,

And the LORD spoke to 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 to the children of Israel, and say to them, When a man shall make a singular 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 to 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 [shall 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 shall be] from five years old even to 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 shall be] from a month old even to 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 shall be] from sixty years old and above; if 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 shall 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.

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 shall be] a beast of which men bring an offering to the LORD, all that [any man] giveth of such 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 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 of it 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 shall be] any unclean beast, of which they do not offer a sacrifice to the LORD, then he shall 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 value it, whether it be good or bad: as thou valuest it, [who art] the 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 will at all redeem it, then he shall add a fifth [part] of it to 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 to the LORD, then the priest shall 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.

And if he that sanctified it will redeem his house, then he shall add the fifth [part] of the money of thy estimation to 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 to the LORD [some part] of a field of his possession, then thy estimation shall be according to the seed of it: a homer of barley seed [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 shall sanctify his field from the year of jubilee, 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 shall sanctify his field after the jubilee, then the priest shall reckon to him the money according to the years that remain, even to the year of the jubilee, and it shall be abated 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 in any wise redeem it, then he shall add the fifth [part] of the money of thy estimation to 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 shall 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 jubilee, shall be holy to the LORD, as a field devoted: the possession of it 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 [a man] shall sanctify to the LORD a field which he hath bought, which [is] not of the fields 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 to him the worth of thy estimation, [even] to the year of the jubilee, and he shall give thy estimation in that day, [as] a holy thing 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 the jubilee, the field shall return to him of whom it was bought, [even] to him to whom the possession of the land [belonged].

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 of the beasts, which should be the LORD'S firstling, no man shall sanctify it; whether 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 shall be] of an unclean beast, then he shall redeem [it], according to thy estimation, and shall add to it a fifth [part] of it: or if it shall 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 to 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 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.

None devoted, which shall be devoted by men, shall be redeemed: [but] 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 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.

And if a man will at all redeem [aught] of his tithes, he shall add to it the fifth [part] of it.

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 concerning the tithe of the herd, or of the flock, [even] of whatever passeth under the rod, the tenth shall 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 shall not search whether it is good or bad, neither shall he change it: and if he shall change it at all, then both it and the change of it 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.