Leviticus 26

Rewards for Obeying God

1 “ ‘Don’t make idols for yourselves or set up statues or memorials. Don’t put stone statues in your land to bow down to, because I am the Lord your God.

2 
“ ‘Remember my Sabbaths, and respect my Holy Place. I am the Lord.

3 
“ ‘If you remember my laws and commands and obey them,4 I will give you rains at the right season; the land will produce crops, and the trees of the field will produce their fruit.5 Your threshing will continue until the grape harvest, and your grape harvest will continue until it is time to plant. Then you will have plenty to eat and live safely in your land.6 I will give peace to your country; you will lie down in peace, and no one will make you afraid. I will keep harmful animals out of your country, and armies will not pass through it.

7 
“ ‘You will chase your enemies and defeat them, killing them with your sword.8 Five of you will chase a hundred men; a hundred of you will chase ten thousand men. You will defeat your enemies and kill them with your sword.

9 
“ ‘Then I will show kindness to you and let you have many children; I will keep my agreement with you.10 You will have enough crops to last for more than a year. When you harvest the new crops, you will have to throw out the old ones to make room for them.11 Also I will place my Holy Tent among you, and I will not turn away from you.12 I will walk with you and be your God, and you will be my people.13 I am the Lord your God, who brought you out of Egypt, where you were slaves. I broke the heavy weights that were on your shoulders and let you walk proudly again.

Punishment for Not Obeying God

14 “ ‘But if you do not obey me and keep all my commands,15 and if you turn away from my rules and hate my laws, refusing to obey all my commands, you have broken our agreement.16 As a result, I will do this to you: I will cause terrible things to happen to you. I will cause you to have disease and fever that will destroy your eyes and slowly kill you. You will not have success when you plant your seed, and your enemy will eat your crops.17 I will be against you, and your enemies will defeat you. These people who hate you will rule over you, and you will run away even when no one is chasing you.18 “ ‘If after all this you still do not obey me, I will punish you seven times more for your sins.19 I will break your great pride, and I will make the sky like iron and the earth like bronze.20 You will work hard, but it will not help. Your land will not grow any crops, and your trees will not give their fruit.

21 
“ ‘If you still turn against me and refuse to obey me, I will beat you seven times harder. The more you sin, the more you will be punished.22 I will send wild animals to attack you, and they will take your children away from you and destroy your cattle. They will make you so few in number the roads will be empty.

23 
“ ‘If you don’t learn your lesson after all these things, and if you still turn against me,24 I will also turn against you. I will punish you seven more times for your sins.25 You broke my agreement, and I will punish you. I will bring armies against you, and if you go into your cities for safety, I will cause diseases to spread among you so that your enemy will defeat you.26 There will be very little bread to eat; ten women will be able to cook all your bread in one oven. They will measure each piece of bread, and you will eat, but you will still be hungry.

27 
“ ‘If you still refuse to listen to me and still turn against me,28 I will show my great anger; I will punish you seven more times for your sins.29 You will eat the bodies of your sons and daughters.30 I will destroy your places where gods are worshiped and cut down your incense altars. I will pile your dead bodies on the lifeless forms of your idols. I will hate you.31 I will destroy your cities and make your holy places empty, and I will not smell the pleasing smell of your offerings.32 I will make the land empty so that your enemies who come to live in it will be shocked at it.33 I will scatter you among the nations, and I will pull out my sword and destroy you. Your land will become empty, your cities a waste.34 When you are taken to your enemy’s country, your land will finally get its rest. It will enjoy its time of rest all the time it lies empty.35 During the time the land is empty, it will have the rest you should have given it while you lived in it.

36 
“ ‘Those of you who are left alive will lose their courage in the land of their enemies. They will be frightened by the sound of a leaf being blown by the wind. They will run as if someone were chasing them with a sword, and they will fall even when no one is chasing them.37 They will fall over each other, as if someone were chasing them with a sword, even though no one is chasing them. You will not be strong enough to stand up against your enemies.38 You will die among other nations and disappear in your enemies’ countries.39 So those who are left alive will rot away in their enemies’ countries because of their sins. They will also rot away because of their ancestors’ sins.

There Is Always Hope

40 

“ ‘But maybe the people will confess their sins and the sins of their ancestors; maybe they will admit they turned against me and sinned against me,41 which made me turn against them and send them into the land of their enemies. If these disobedient people are sorry for what they did and accept punishment for their sin,42 I will remember my agreement with Jacob, my agreement with Isaac, and my agreement with Abraham, and I will remember the land.43 The land will be left empty by its people, and it will enjoy its time of rest as it lies bare without them. Then those who are left alive will accept the punishment for their sins. They will learn that they were punished because they hated my laws and refused to obey my rules.44 But even though this is true, I will not turn away from them when they are in the land of their enemies. I will not hate them so much that I completely destroy them and break my agreement with them, because I am the Lord their God.45 For their good I will remember the agreement with their ancestors, whom I brought out of the land of Egypt so I could become their God; the other nations saw these things. I am the Lord.’ ”

46 
These are the laws, rules, and teachings the Lord made between himself and the Israelites through Moses at Mount Sinai.

Leviticus 27

Promises Are Important

1 The Lord said to Moses,2 “Speak to the people of Israel and tell them: ‘If someone makes a special promise to give a person as a servant to the Lord by paying a price that is the same value as that person,3 the price for a man twenty to sixty years old is about one and one-fourth pounds of silver. (You must use the measure as set by the Holy Place.)4 The price for a woman twenty to sixty years old is about twelve ounces of silver.5 The price for a man five to twenty years old is about eight ounces of silver; for a woman it is about four ounces of silver.6 The price for a baby boy one month to five years old is about two ounces of silver; for a baby girl the price is about one and one-half ounces of silver.7 The price for a man sixty years old or older is about six ounces of silver; for a woman it is about four ounces of silver.

8 
“ ‘If anyone is too poor to pay the price, bring him to the priest, and the priest will set the price. The priest will decide how much money the person making the vow can afford to pay.

Gifts to the Lord

9 

“ ‘Some animals may be used as sacrifices to the Lord. If someone promises to bring one of these to the Lord, it will become holy.10 That person must not try to put another animal in its place or exchange it, a good animal for a bad one, or a bad animal for a good one. If this happens, both animals will become holy.11 “ ‘Unclean animals cannot be offered as sacrifices to the Lord, and if someone brings one of them to the Lord, that animal must be brought to the priest.12 The priest will decide a price for the animal, according to whether it is good or bad; as the priest decides, that is the price for the animal.13 If the person wants to buy back the animal, an additional one-fifth must be added to the price.

Value of a House

14 “ ‘If a person gives a house as holy to the Lord, the priest must decide its value, according to whether the house is good or bad; as the priest decides, that is the price for the house.15 But if the person who gives the house wants to buy it back, an additional one-fifth must be added to the price. Then the house will belong to that person again.

Value of Land

16 “ ‘If a person gives some family property to the Lord, the value of the fields will depend on how much seed is needed to plant them. It will cost about one and one-fourth pounds of silver for each six bushels of barley seed needed.17 If the person gives a field at the year of Jubilee, its value will stay at what the priest has decided.18 But if the person gives the field after the Jubilee, the priest must decide the exact price by counting the number of years to the next year of Jubilee. Then he will subtract that number from its value.19 If the person who gave the field wants to buy it back, one-fifth must be added to that price, and the field will belong to the first owner again.

20 
“ ‘If the person does not buy back the field, or if it is sold to someone else, the first person cannot ever buy it back.21 When the land is released at the year of Jubilee, it will become holy to the Lord, like land specially given to him. It will become the property of the priests.

22 
“ ‘If someone gives to the Lord a field he has bought, which is not a part of his family land,23 the priest must count the years to the next Jubilee. He must decide the price for the land, and the price must be paid on that day. Then that land will be holy to the Lord.24 At the year of Jubilee, the land will go back to its first owner, to the family who sold the land.

25 
“ ‘You must use the measure as set by the Holy Place in paying these prices; it weighs two-fifths of an ounce.

Value of Animals

26 

“ ‘If an animal is the first one born to its parent, it already belongs to the Lord, so people may not give it again. If it is a cow or a sheep, it is the Lord’s.27 If the animal is unclean, the person must buy it back for the price set by the priest, and the person must add one-fifth to that price. If it is not bought back, the priest must sell it for the price he had decided.

28 
“ ‘There is a special kind of gift that people set apart to give to the Lord ; it may be a person, animal, or field from the family property. That gift cannot be bought back or sold. Every special kind of gift is most holy to the Lord.

29 
“ ‘If anyone is given for the purpose of being destroyed, he cannot be bought back; he must be put to death.

30 
“ ‘One-tenth of all crops belongs to the Lord, including the crops from fields and the fruit from trees. That one-tenth is holy to the Lord.31 If a person wants to get back that tenth, one-fifth must be added to its price.

32 
“ ‘The priest will take every tenth animal from a person’s herd or flock, and it will be holy to the Lord.33 The owner should not pick out the good animals from the bad or exchange one animal for another. If that happens, both animals will become holy; they cannot be bought back.’ ”

34 
These are the commands the Lord gave to Moses at Mount Sinai for the people of Israel.

Numbers 1

The People of Israel Are Counted

1 The Lord spoke to Moses in the Meeting Tent in the Desert of Sinai. This was on the first day of the second month in the second year after the Israelites left Egypt. He said to Moses:2 “You and Aaron must count all the people of Israel by families and family groups, listing the name of each man.3 You and Aaron must count every man twenty years old or older who will serve in the army of Israel, and list them by their divisions.4 One man from each tribe, the leader of his family, will help you.

5 These are the names of the men who will help you:
from the tribe of Reuben—Elizur son of Shedeur;

6 
from the tribe of Simeon—Shelumiel son of Zurishaddai;

7 
from the tribe of Judah—Nahshon son of Amminadab;

8 
from the tribe of Issachar—Nethanel son of Zuar;

9 
from the tribe of Zebulun—Eliab son of Helon;10 from the tribe of Ephraim son of Joseph—Elishama son of Ammihud;from the tribe of Manasseh son of Joseph—Gamaliel son of Pedahzur;11 from the tribe of Benjamin—Abidan son of Gideoni;12 from the tribe of Dan—Ahiezer son of Ammishaddai;13 from the tribe of Asher—Pagiel son of Ocran;14 from the tribe of Gad—Eliasaph son of Deuel;15 from the tribe of Naphtali—Ahira son of Enan.”16 These were the men chosen from the people to be leaders of their tribes, the heads of Israel’s family groups.17 Moses and Aaron took these men who had been picked18 and called all the people of Israel together on the first day of the second month. Then the people were listed by their families and family groups, and all the men who were twenty years old or older were listed by name.19 Moses did exactly what the Lord had commanded and listed the people while they were in the Desert of Sinai.

20 
The tribe of Reuben, the first son born to Israel, was counted; all the men twenty years old or older who were able to serve in the army were listed by name with their families and family groups.21 The tribe of Reuben totaled 46,500 men.

22 
The tribe of Simeon was counted; all the men twenty years old or older who were able to serve in the army were listed by name with their families and family groups.23 The tribe of Simeon totaled 59,300 men.

24 
The tribe of Gad was counted; all the men twenty years old or older who were able to serve in the army were listed by name with their families and family groups.25 The tribe of Gad totaled 45,650 men.

26 
The tribe of Judah was counted; all the men twenty years old or older who were able to serve in the army were listed by name with their families and family groups.27 The tribe of Judah totaled 74,600 men.

28 
The tribe of Issachar was counted; all the men twenty years old or older who were able to serve in the army were listed by name with their families and family groups.29 The tribe of Issachar totaled 54,400 men.

30 
The tribe of Zebulun was counted; all the men twenty years old or older who were able to serve in the army were listed by name with their families and family groups.31 The tribe of Zebulun totaled 57,400 men.

32 
The tribe of Ephraim, a son of Joseph, was counted; all the men twenty years old or older who were able to serve in the army were listed by name with their families and family groups.33 The tribe of Ephraim totaled 40,500 men.

34 
The tribe of Manasseh, also a son of Joseph, was counted; all the men twenty years old or older who were able to serve in the army were listed by name with their families and family groups.35 The tribe of Manasseh totaled 32,200 men.

36 
The tribe of Benjamin was counted; all the men twenty years old or older who were able to serve in the army were listed by name with their families and family groups.37 The tribe of Benjamin totaled 35,400 men.

38 
The tribe of Dan was counted; all the men twenty years old or older who were able to serve in the army were listed by name with their families and family groups.39 The tribe of Dan totaled 62,700 men.

40 
The tribe of Asher was counted; all the men twenty years old or older who were able to serve in the army were listed by name with their families and family groups.41 The tribe of Asher totaled 41,500 men.

42 
The tribe of Naphtali was counted; all the men twenty years old or older who were able to serve in the army were listed by name with their families and family groups.43 The tribe of Naphtali totaled 53,400 men.

44 
Moses, Aaron, and the twelve leaders of Israel, one from each of the families, counted these men.45 Every man of Israel twenty years old or older who was able to serve in the army was counted and listed with his family.46 The total number of men was 603,550.

47 
The families from the tribe of Levi were not listed with the others, because48 the Lord had told Moses:49 “Do not count the tribe of Levi or include them with the other Israelites.50 Instead put the Levites in charge of the Holy Tent of the Agreement and everything that is with it. They must carry the Holy Tent and everything in it, and they must take care of it and make their camp around it.51 Any time the Holy Tent is moved, the Levites must take it down, and any time it is set up, the Levites must do it. Anyone else who goes near the Holy Tent will be put to death.52 The Israelites will make their camps in separate divisions, each family near its flag.53 But the Levites must make their camp around the Holy Tent of the Agreement so that I will not be angry with the Israelites. The Levites will take care of the Holy Tent of the Agreement.”

54 
So the Israelites did everything just as the Lord commanded Moses.