Leviticus 27

Laws About Vows

1 The Lord spoke to Moses, saying,2 "Speak to the people of Israel and say to them, If anyone makes a special vow to the Lord involving the valuation of persons,3 then the valuation of a male from twenty years old up to sixty years old shall be fifty shekelst of silver, according to the shekel of the sanctuary.4 If the person is a female, the valuation shall be thirty shekels.5 If the person is from five years old up to twenty years old, the valuation shall be for a male twenty shekels, and for a female ten shekels.6 If the person is from a month old up to five years old, the valuation shall be for a male five shekels of silver, and for a female the valuation shall be three shekels of silver.7 And if the person is sixty years old or over, then the valuation for a male shall be fifteen shekels, and for a female ten shekels.8 And if someone is too poor to pay the valuation, then he shall be made to stand before the priest, and the priest shall value him; the priest shall value him according to what the vower can afford.

9 "If the vowt is an animal that may be offered as an offering to the Lord, all of it that he gives to the Lord is holy.10 He shall not exchange it or make a substitute for it, good for bad, or bad for good; and if he does in fact substitute one animal for another, then both it and the substitute shall be holy.11 And if it is any unclean animal that may not be offered as an offering to the Lord, then he shall stand the animal before the priest,12 and the priest shall value it as either good or bad; as the priest values it, so it shall be.13 But if he wishes to redeem it, he shall add a fifth to the valuation.

14 "When a man dedicates his house as a holy gift to the Lord, the priest shall value it as either good or bad; as the priest values it, so it shall stand.15 And if the donor wishes to redeem his house, he shall add a fifth to the valuation price, and it shall be his.

16 "If a man dedicates to the Lord part of the land that is his possession, then the valuation shall be in proportion to its seed. A homert of barley seed shall be valued at fifty shekels of silver.17 If he dedicates his field from the year of jubilee, the valuation shall stand,18 but if he dedicates his field after the jubilee, then the priest shall calculate the price according to the years that remain until the year of jubilee, and a deduction shall be made from the valuation.19 And if he who dedicates the field wishes to redeem it, then he shall add a fifth to its valuation price, and it shall remain his.20 But if he does not wish to redeem the field, or if he has sold the field to another man, it shall not be redeemed anymore.21 But the field, when it is released in the jubilee, shall be a holy gift to the Lord, like a field that has been devoted. The priest shall be in possession of it.22 If he dedicates to the Lord a field that he has bought, which is not a part of his possession,23 then the priest shall calculate the amount of the valuation for it up to the year of jubilee, and the man shall give the valuation on that day as a holy gift to the Lord.24 In the year of jubilee the field shall return to him from whom it was bought, to whom the land belongs as a possession.25 Every valuation shall be according to the shekel of the sanctuary: twenty gerahst shall make a shekel.

26 "But a firstborn of animals, which as a firstborn belongs to the Lord, no man may dedicate; whether ox or sheep, it is the Lord's.27 And if it is an unclean animal, then he shall buy it back at the valuation, and add a fifth to it; or, if it is not redeemed, it shall be sold at the valuation.

28 "But no devoted thing that a man devotes to the Lord, of anything that he has, whether man or beast, or of his inherited field, shall be sold or redeemed; every devoted thing is most holy to the Lord.29 No one devoted, who is to be devoted for destructiont from mankind, shall be ransomed; he shall surely be put to death.

30 "Every tithe of the land, whether of the seed of the land or of the fruit of the trees, is the Lord's; it is holy to the Lord.31 If a man wishes to redeem some of his tithe, he shall add a fifth to it.32 And every tithe of herds and flocks, every tenth animal of all that pass under the herdsman's staff, shall be holy to the Lord.33 One shall not differentiate between good or bad, neither shall he make a substitute for it; and if he does substitute for it, then both it and the substitute shall be holy; it shall not be redeemed."

34 These are the commandments that the Lord commanded Moses for the people of Israel on Mount Sinai.

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.