Rules concerning Assessments

27 Again, the Lord spoke to Moses, saying, “Speak to the sons of Israel and say to them, ‘(A)When someone makes an explicit vow, he shall be valued according to your assessment of persons belonging to the Lord. If your assessment is of a male from twenty years even to sixty years old, then your assessment shall be fifty shekels of silver, by (B)the shekel of the sanctuary. Or if [a]the person is a female, then your assessment shall be thirty shekels. And if the person is from five years even to twenty years old, then your assessment for a male shall be twenty shekels, and for a female, ten shekels. But if the person is from a month even up to five years old, then your assessment shall be (C)five shekels of silver for a male, and for a female your assessment shall be three shekels of silver. If the person is from sixty years old and upward, if a male, then your assessment shall be fifteen shekels, and for a female, ten shekels. But if he is poorer than your assessment, then he shall be presented before the priest, and the priest shall assess him; (D)according to [b]the means of the one who vowed, the priest shall assess him.

‘Now if it is an animal of the kind that [c]one can present as an offering to the Lord, any such animal that one gives to the Lord shall be holy. 10 (E)He shall not replace it nor exchange it, a good for a bad, or a bad for a good; yet if he does exchange animal for animal, then both it and its substitute shall become holy. 11 If, however, it is any unclean animal of the kind which [d]one does not present as an offering to the Lord, then he shall place the animal before the priest. 12 And the priest shall assess it [e]as either good or bad; as you, the priest, assess it, so shall it be. 13 But if he should ever want to redeem it, then he shall add a fifth of it to your assessment.

14 ‘Now if someone consecrates his house as holy to the Lord, then the priest shall assess it [f]as either good or bad; as the priest assesses it, so shall it stand. 15 Yet if the one who consecrates it should want to redeem his house, then he shall add a fifth of your assessment price to it, so that it may be his.

16 ‘Again, if someone consecrates to the Lord part of the field of his own property, then your assessment shall be [g]proportionate to the seed needed for it: a [h]homer of barley seed at fifty shekels of silver. 17 If he consecrates his field as of the year of jubilee, according to your assessment it shall stand. 18 If he consecrates his field after the jubilee, however, then the priest shall calculate the price for [i]him [j]proportionate to the years that are left until the year of jubilee; and it shall be deducted from your assessment. 19 If the one who consecrates it should ever want to redeem the field, then he shall add a fifth of your assessment price to it, so that it may belong to him. 20 Yet if he does not redeem the field, [k]but has sold the field to another person, it may no longer be redeemed; 21 and when it [l]reverts in the jubilee, the field shall be holy to the Lord, like a field banned from secular use; (F)it shall be for the priest as his property. 22 Or if he consecrates to the Lord a field which he has bought, which is not a part of the field of his own property, 23 then the priest shall calculate for [m]him the amount of your assessment up to the year of jubilee; and he shall on that day give your assessment as holy to the Lord. 24 In the year of jubilee the field shall return to the one from whom he bought it, to whom the possession of the land belongs. 25 Every assessment of yours, moreover, shall be by (G)the shekel of the sanctuary. The shekel shall be twenty gerahs.

26 (H)However, a firstborn among animals, which as a firstborn belongs to the Lord, no one may consecrate; whether ox or sheep, it is the Lords. 27 But if it is among the unclean animals, then he shall [n]redeem it according to your assessment and add to it a fifth of it; and if it is not redeemed, then it shall be sold according to your assessment.

28 ‘Nevertheless, (I)[o]anything which someone sets apart to the Lord for [p]destruction out of all that he has, of man or animal or of the field of his own property, shall not be sold nor redeemed. Anything set apart for destruction is most holy to the Lord. 29 No [q]one who may have been [r]set apart among mankind shall be ransomed; he must be put to death.

30 ‘Now (J)all the tithe of the land, of the seed of the land or of the fruit of the tree, is the Lords; it is holy to the Lord. 31 If, therefore, someone should ever want to redeem part of his tithe, he shall add to it a fifth of it. 32 For every tenth part of herd or flock, whatever (K)passes under the rod, the tenth one shall be holy to the Lord. 33 (L)He is not to be concerned whether it is good or bad, nor shall he exchange it; yet if he does exchange it, then both it and its substitute shall become holy. It shall not be redeemed.’”

34 (M)These are the commandments which the Lord commanded Moses for the sons of Israel on Mount Sinai.

Footnotes

  1. Leviticus 27:4 Lit she
  2. Leviticus 27:8 Lit what the hand reaches
  3. Leviticus 27:9 Lit they
  4. Leviticus 27:11 Lit they
  5. Leviticus 27:12 Lit between
  6. Leviticus 27:14 Lit between good
  7. Leviticus 27:16 Lit according to its seed
  8. Leviticus 27:16 About 7.7 cubic feet or 0.22 cubic meters
  9. Leviticus 27:18 Or it
  10. Leviticus 27:18 Lit according to the years
  11. Leviticus 27:20 Or if he
  12. Leviticus 27:21 Lit goes out
  13. Leviticus 27:23 Or it
  14. Leviticus 27:27 Or ransom
  15. Leviticus 27:28 Lit anything banned
  16. Leviticus 27:28 I.e., as an offering
  17. Leviticus 27:29 Lit one devoted; or banned
  18. Leviticus 27:29 Lit put under the ban

Redeeming What Is the Lord’s

27 The Lord said to Moses, “Speak to the Israelites and say to them: ‘If anyone makes a special vow(A) to dedicate a person to the Lord by giving the equivalent value, set the value of a male between the ages of twenty and sixty at fifty shekels[a] of silver, according to the sanctuary shekel[b];(B) for a female, set her value at thirty shekels[c]; for a person between the ages of five and twenty, set the value of a male at twenty shekels[d](C) and of a female at ten shekels[e]; for a person between one month and five years, set the value of a male at five shekels[f](D) of silver and that of a female at three shekels[g] of silver; for a person sixty years old or more, set the value of a male at fifteen shekels[h] and of a female at ten shekels. If anyone making the vow is too poor to pay(E) the specified amount, the person being dedicated is to be presented to the priest, who will set the value(F) according to what the one making the vow can afford.

“‘If what they vowed is an animal that is acceptable as an offering to the Lord,(G) such an animal given to the Lord becomes holy.(H) 10 They must not exchange it or substitute a good one for a bad one, or a bad one for a good one;(I) if they should substitute one animal for another, both it and the substitute become holy. 11 If what they vowed is a ceremonially unclean animal(J)—one that is not acceptable as an offering to the Lord—the animal must be presented to the priest, 12 who will judge its quality as good or bad. Whatever value the priest then sets, that is what it will be. 13 If the owner wishes to redeem(K) the animal, a fifth must be added to its value.(L)

14 “‘If anyone dedicates their house as something holy to the Lord, the priest will judge its quality as good or bad. Whatever value the priest then sets, so it will remain. 15 If the one who dedicates their house wishes to redeem it,(M) they must add a fifth to its value, and the house will again become theirs.

16 “‘If anyone dedicates to the Lord part of their family land, its value is to be set according to the amount of seed required for it—fifty shekels of silver to a homer[i] of barley seed. 17 If they dedicate a field during the Year of Jubilee, the value that has been set remains. 18 But if they dedicate a field after the Jubilee,(N) the priest will determine the value according to the number of years that remain(O) until the next Year of Jubilee, and its set value will be reduced. 19 If the one who dedicates the field wishes to redeem it,(P) they must add a fifth to its value, and the field will again become theirs. 20 If, however, they do not redeem the field, or if they have sold it to someone else, it can never be redeemed. 21 When the field is released in the Jubilee,(Q) it will become holy,(R) like a field devoted to the Lord;(S) it will become priestly property.

22 “‘If anyone dedicates to the Lord a field they have bought, which is not part of their family land, 23 the priest will determine its value up to the Year of Jubilee,(T) and the owner must pay its value on that day as something holy to the Lord. 24 In the Year of Jubilee the field will revert to the person from whom it was bought,(U) the one whose land it was. 25 Every value is to be set according to the sanctuary shekel,(V) twenty gerahs(W) to the shekel.

26 “‘No one, however, may dedicate the firstborn of an animal, since the firstborn already belongs to the Lord;(X) whether an ox[j] or a sheep, it is the Lord’s. 27 If it is one of the unclean animals,(Y) it may be bought back at its set value, adding a fifth of the value to it. If it is not redeemed, it is to be sold at its set value.

28 “‘But nothing that a person owns and devotes[k](Z) to the Lord—whether a human being or an animal or family land—may be sold or redeemed; everything so devoted is most holy(AA) to the Lord.

29 “‘No person devoted to destruction[l] may be ransomed; they are to be put to death.(AB)

30 “‘A tithe(AC) of everything from the land, whether grain from the soil or fruit from the trees, belongs to the Lord; it is holy(AD) to the Lord. 31 Whoever would redeem(AE) any of their tithe must add a fifth of the value(AF) to it. 32 Every tithe of the herd and flock—every tenth animal that passes under the shepherd’s rod(AG)—will be holy to the Lord. 33 No one may pick out the good from the bad or make any substitution.(AH) If anyone does make a substitution, both the animal and its substitute become holy and cannot be redeemed.(AI)’”

34 These are the commands the Lord gave Moses at Mount Sinai(AJ) for the Israelites.(AK)

Footnotes

  1. Leviticus 27:3 That is, about 1 1/4 pounds or about 575 grams; also in verse 16
  2. Leviticus 27:3 That is, about 2/5 ounce or about 12 grams; also in verse 25
  3. Leviticus 27:4 That is, about 12 ounces or about 345 grams
  4. Leviticus 27:5 That is, about 8 ounces or about 230 grams
  5. Leviticus 27:5 That is, about 4 ounces or about 115 grams; also in verse 7
  6. Leviticus 27:6 That is, about 2 ounces or about 58 grams
  7. Leviticus 27:6 That is, about 1 1/4 ounces or about 35 grams
  8. Leviticus 27:7 That is, about 6 ounces or about 175 grams
  9. Leviticus 27:16 That is, probably about 300 pounds or about 135 kilograms
  10. Leviticus 27:26 The Hebrew word can refer to either male or female.
  11. Leviticus 27:28 The Hebrew term refers to the irrevocable giving over of things or persons to the Lord.
  12. Leviticus 27:29 The Hebrew term refers to the irrevocable giving over of things or persons to the Lord, often by totally destroying them.