Leviticus 27

Chapter 27

Redemption of Gifts Offered to the LORD

1 The LORD said to Moses,2 “Give the following instructions to the people of Israel. If anyone makes a special vow to dedicate someone to the LORD by paying the value of that person,3 here is the scale of values to be used. A man between the ages of twenty and sixty is valued at fifty shekelst of silver, as measured by the sanctuary shekel.4 A woman of that age is valued at thirty shekelst of silver.5 A boy between the ages of five and twenty is valued at twenty shekels of silver; a girl of that age is valued at ten shekelst of silver.6 A boy between the ages of one month and five years is valued at five shekels of silver; a girl of that age is valued at three shekelst of silver.7 A man older than sixty is valued at fifteen shekels of silver; a woman of that age is valued at ten shekelst of silver.

8 If you desire to make such a vow but cannot afford to pay the required amount, take the person to the priest. He will determine the amount for you to pay based on what you can afford.
9 “If your vow involves giving an animal that is acceptable as an offering to the LORD, any gift to the LORD will be considered holy.10 You may not exchange or substitute it for another animal—neither a good animal for a bad one nor a bad animal for a good one. But if you do exchange one animal for another, then both the original animal and its substitute will be considered holy.11 If your vow involves an unclean animal—one that is not acceptable as an offering to the LORD—then you must bring the animal to the priest.12 He will assess its value, and his assessment will be final, whether high or low.

13 If you want to buy back the animal, you must pay the value set by the priest, plus 20 percent.
14 “If someone dedicates a house to the LORD, the priest will come to assess its value. The priest’s assessment will be final, whether high or low.

15 If the person who dedicated the house wants to buy it back, he must pay the value set by the priest, plus 20 percent. Then the house will again be his.
16 “If someone dedicates to the LORD a piece of his family property, its value will be assessed according to the amount of seed required to plant it—fifty shekels of silver for a field planted with five bushels of barley seed.t17 If the field is dedicated to the LORD in the Year of Jubilee, then the entire assessment will apply.18 But if the field is dedicated after the Year of Jubilee, the priest will assess the land’s value in proportion to the number of years left until the next Year of Jubilee. Its assessed value is reduced each year.19 If the person who dedicated the field wants to buy it back, he must pay the value set by the priest, plus 20 percent. Then the field will again be legally his.20 But if he does not want to buy it back, and it is sold to someone else, the field can no longer be bought back.

21 When the field is released in the Year of Jubilee, it will be holy, a field specially set apartt for the LORD. It will become the property of the priests.
22 “If someone dedicates to the LORD a field he has purchased but which is not part of his family property,23 the priest will assess its value based on the number of years left until the next Year of Jubilee. On that day he must give the assessed value of the land as a sacred donation to the LORD.24 In the Year of Jubilee the field must be returned to the person from whom he purchased it, the one who inherited it as family property.

25 (All the payments must be measured by the weight of the sanctuary shekel,t which equals twenty gerahs.)
26 “You may not dedicate a firstborn animal to the LORD, for the firstborn of your cattle, sheep, and goats already belong to him.

27 However, you may buy back the firstborn of a ceremonially unclean animal by paying the priest’s assessment of its worth, plus 20 percent. If you do not buy it back, the priest will sell it at its assessed value.
28 “However, anything specially set apart for the LORD—whether a person, an animal, or family property—must never be sold or bought back. Anything devoted in this way has been set apart as holy, and it belongs to the LORD.

29 No person specially set apart for destruction may be bought back. Such a person must be put to death.
30 “One-tenth of the produce of the land, whether grain from the fields or fruit from the trees, belongs to the LORD and must be set apart to him as holy.31 If you want to buy back the LORD’s tenth of the grain or fruit, you must pay its value, plus 20 percent.32 Count off every tenth animal from your herds and flocks and set them apart for the LORD as holy.

33 You may not pick and choose between good and bad animals, and you may not substitute one for another. But if you do exchange one animal for another, then both the original animal and its substitute will be considered holy and cannot be bought back.”

34 These are the commands that the LORD gave through Moses on Mount Sinai for the Israelites.

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.