14-16 “You get every Totally-Devoted gift. Every firstborn that is offered to God, whether animal or person, is yours. Except you don’t get the firstborn itself, but its redemption price; firstborn humans and ritually unclean animals are bought back and you get the redemption price. When the firstborn is a month old it must be redeemed at the redemption price of five shekels of silver, using the standard of the Sanctuary shekel, which weighs twenty gerahs.

17-19 “On the other hand, you don’t redeem a firstborn ox, sheep, or goat—they are holy. Instead splash their blood on the Altar and burn their fat as a Fire-Gift, a pleasing fragrance to God. But you get the meat, just as you get the breast from the Wave-Offering and the right thigh. All the holy offerings that the People of Israel set aside for God, I’m turning over to you and your children. That’s the standard rule and includes both you and your children—a Covenant-of-Salt, eternal and unchangeable before God.”

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16 When they are a month old,(A) you must redeem them at the redemption price set at five shekels[a](B) of silver, according to the sanctuary shekel,(C) which weighs twenty gerahs.(D)

17 “But you must not redeem the firstborn of a cow, a sheep or a goat; they are holy.(E) Splash their blood(F) against the altar and burn their fat(G) as a food offering, an aroma pleasing to the Lord.(H) 18 Their meat is to be yours, just as the breast of the wave offering(I) and the right thigh are yours.(J)

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Footnotes

  1. Numbers 18:16 That is, about 2 ounces or about 58 grams