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
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.
