Leviticus 27

Redemption of Vowed People

1 The Lord spoke to Moses:2 “Speak to the Israelites and tell them, ‘When a man makes a special votive offeringt based on the conversion value of persons to the Lord,t3 the conversion value of the malet from twenty years old up to sixty years oldt is fifty shekels by the standard of the sanctuary shekel.t4 If the person is a female, the conversion value is thirty shekels.5 If the person is from five years old up to twenty years old, the conversion value of the male is twenty shekels, and for the female ten shekels.6 If the person is one month old up to five years old, the conversion value of the male is five shekels of silver,t and for the female the conversion value is three shekels of silver.7 If the person is from sixty years old and older, if he is a male the conversion value is fifteen shekels, and for the female ten shekels.

8 If he is too poor to pay the conversion value, he must stand the person before the priest and the priest will establish his conversion value;t according to what the man who made the vow can afford,t the priest will establish his conversion value.

Redemption of Vowed Animals

9 “‘If what is vowed is a kind of animal from which an offering may be presentedt to the Lord, anything which he gives to the Lord from this kind of animalt will be holy.10 He must not replace or exchange it, good for bad or bad for good, and if he does indeed exchange one animal for another animal, then both the original animalt and its substitute will be holy.11 If what is vowed is an unclean animal from which an offering must not be presented to the Lord, then he must stand the animal before the priest,12 and the priest will establish its conversion value,t whether good or bad. According to the assessed conversion value of the priest, thus it will be.

13 If, however, the person who made the vow redeems the animal,t he must add one fifth tot its conversion value.

Redemption of Vowed Houses

14 “‘If a man consecrates his house as holy to the Lord, the priest will establish its conversion value, whether good or bad. Just as the priest establishes its conversion value, thus it will stand.t

15 If the one who consecrates it redeems his house, he must add to it one fifth of its conversion value in silver, and it will belong to him.t

Redemption of Vowed Fields

16 “‘If a man consecrates to the Lord some of his own landed property, the conversion value must be calculated in accordance with the amount of seed needed to sow it,t a homer of barley seed being priced at fifty shekels of silver.t17 If he consecrates his field in the jubilee year,t the conversion value will stand,18 but ift he consecrates his field after the jubilee, the priest will calculate the pricet for him according to the years that are left until the next jubilee year, and it will be deducted from the conversion value.19 If, however, the one who consecrated the field redeems it,t he must add to it one fifth of the conversion pricet and it will belong to him.t20 If he does not redeem the field, but sellst the field to someone else, he may never redeem it.

21 When it revertst in the jubilee, the field will be holy to the Lord like a permanently dedicated field;t it will become the priest’s property.t
22 “‘If he consecrates to the Lord a field he has purchased,t which is not part of his own landed property,23 the priest will calculate for him the amount of its conversion value until the jubilee year, and he must payt the conversion value on that jubilee day as something that is holy to the Lord.24 In the jubilee year the field will return to the one from whom he bought it, the one to whom it belongs as landed property.

25 Every conversion value must be calculated by the standard of the sanctuary shekel;t twenty gerahs to the shekel.

Redemption of the Firstborn

26 “‘Surely no man may consecrate a firstborn that already belongs to the Lord as a firstborn among the animals; whether it is an ox or a sheep, it belongs to the Lord.t

27 If, however,t it is among the unclean animals, he may ransom it according tot its conversion value and must add one fifth to it, but if it is not redeemed it must be sold according to its conversion value.

Things Permanently Dedicated to the Lord

28 “‘Surely anything which a man permanently dedicates to the Lordt from all that belongs to him, whether from people, animals, or his landed property, must be neither sold nor redeemed; anything permanently dedicated is most holy to the Lord.

29 Any human being who is permanently dedicatedt must not be ransomed; such a person must be put to death.

Redemption of the Tithe

30 “‘Any tithet of the land, from the grain of the land or from the fruit of the trees, belongs to the Lord; it is holy to the Lord.31 If a man redeemst part of his tithe, however, he must add one fifth to it.t32 All the tithe of herd or flock, everything which passes under the rod, the tenth one will be holy to the Lord.s

33 The ownert must not examine the animals to distinguish between good and bad, and he must not exchange it. If, however, he does exchange it,t both the original animalt and its substitute will be holy.t It must not be redeemed.’”

Final Colophon

34 These are the commandments which the Lord commanded Moses to tell the Israelitest at Mount Sinai.

LEVITICUS 27

Making Promises //to the [Lord]

1 The [Lord] told Moses

2 to say to the community of Israel:
If you ever want to free someone who has been promised to me,

3-7 you may do so by paying the following amounts, weighed according to the official standards:
50 pieces of silver for men
ages 20 to 60,
and 30 pieces for women;
20 pieces of silver
for young men ages 5 to 20,
and 10 pieces
for young women;
15 pieces of silver for men
ages 60 and above
and 10 pieces for women;
5 pieces of silver for boys
ages 1 month to 5 years,
and 3 pieces for girls.

8 If you have promised to give someone to me and can't afford to pay the full amount for that person's release, you will be taken to a priest, and he will decide how much you can afford.
9 If you promise to sacrifice an animal to me, it becomes holy, and there is no way you can set it free. 10 If you try to substitute any other animal, no matter how good, for the one you promised, they will both become holy and must be sacrificed. 11 Donkeys are unfit for sacrifice, so if you promise me a donkey, t you must bring it to the priest, 12 and let him determine its value.

13 But if you want to buy it back, you must pay an additional 20 percent.
14 If you promise a house to me, a priest will set the price, whatever the condition of the house.

15 But if you decide to buy it back, you must pay an additional 20 percent.
16 If you promise part of your family's land to me, its value must be determined by the amount of seed needed to plant the land, and the rate will be ten pieces of silver for every 20 kilograms of seed. 17 If this promise is made in the Year of Celebration, t the land will be valued at the full price. 18 But any time after that, the price will be figured according to the number of years before the next Year of Celebration. 19 If you decide to buy back the land, you must pay the price plus an additional 20 percent, 20 but you cannot buy it back once someone else has bought it.

21 When the Year of Celebration comes, the land becomes holy because it belongs to me, and it will be given to the priests.
22 If you promise me a field that you have bought, 23 its value will be decided by a priest, according to the number of years before the next Year of Celebration, and the money you pay will be mine. 24 However, on the next Year of Celebration, the land will go back to the family of its original owner.

25 Every price will be set by the official standards.

Various Offerings

The [Lord] said:

27 If you promise me a donkey, t you may buy it back by adding an additional 20 percent to its value. If you don't buy it back, it can be sold to someone else for whatever a priest has said it is worth.
28  t Anything that you completely dedicate to me must be completely destroyed.t It cannot be bought back or sold. Every person, animal, and piece of property that you dedicate completely is only for me.

29 In fact, any humans who have been promised to me in this way must be put to death.
30  t Ten percent of everything you harvest is holy and belongs to me, whether it grows in your fields or on your fruit trees.

31 If you want to buy back this part of your harvest, you may do so by paying what it is worth plus an additional 20 percent.
32 When you count your flocks and herds, one out of ten of every newborn animalt is holy and belongs to me,

33 no matter how good or bad it is. If you substitute one animal for another, both of them become holy, and neither can be bought back.
34 Moses was on Mount Sinai when the [Lord] gave him these laws for the people of Israel.