Leviticus 27
27
Promises Are Important
1The 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, 3the 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.) 4The price for a woman twenty to sixty years old is about twelve ounces of silver. 5The 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. 6The 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. 7The 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. 10That 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. 12The 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. 13If 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. 15But 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. 17If the person gives a field at the year of Jubilee, its value will stay at what the priest has decided. 18But 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. 19If 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. 21When 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, 23the 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. 24At 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. 27If 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. 31If 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. 33The 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.’ ”
34These are the commands the Lord gave to Moses at Mount Sinai for the people of Israel.
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The Holy Bible, New Century Version, Copyright © 2005 Thomas Nelson. All rights reserved.
Leviticus 27
27
Making Promises to the Lord
1The Lord told Moses 2to say to the community of Israel:
If you ever want to free someone who has been promised to me, 3-7you may do so by paying the following amounts, weighed according to the official standards:
50 pieces of silver for men
ages 20 to 60,
and 30 pieces for women;
20 pieces of silver
for young men ages 5 to 20,
and 10 pieces
for young women;
15 pieces of silver for men
ages 60 and above
and 10 pieces for women;
5 pieces of silver for boys
ages 1 month to 5 years,
and 3 pieces for girls.
8If you have promised to give someone to me and can't afford to pay the full amount for that person's release, you will be taken to a priest, and he will decide how much you can afford.
9If you promise to sacrifice an animal to me, it becomes holy, and there is no way you can set it free. 10If you try to substitute any other animal, no matter how good, for the one you promised, they will both become holy and must be sacrificed. 11Donkeys are unfit for sacrifice, so if you promise me a donkey,#27.11 Donkeys … donkey: The Hebrew text has “If you promise me an unclean animal,” which probably refers to a donkey (see Exodus 13.13; 34.20). you must bring it to the priest, 12and let him determine its value. 13But if you want to buy it back, you must pay an additional 20 percent.
14If you promise a house to me, a priest will set the price, whatever the condition of the house. 15But if you decide to buy it back, you must pay an additional 20 percent.
16If you promise part of your family's land to me, its value must be determined by the amount of seed needed to plant the land, and the rate will be ten pieces of silver for every 20 kilograms of seed. 17If this promise is made in the Year of Celebration,#27.17 Year of Celebration: See 25.8-34. the land will be valued at the full price. 18But any time after that, the price will be figured according to the number of years before the next Year of Celebration. 19If you decide to buy back the land, you must pay the price plus an additional 20 percent, 20but you cannot buy it back once someone else has bought it. 21When the Year of Celebration comes, the land becomes holy because it belongs to me, and it will be given to the priests.
22If you promise me a field that you have bought, 23its value will be decided by a priest, according to the number of years before the next Year of Celebration, and the money you pay will be mine. 24However, on the next Year of Celebration, the land will go back to the family of its original owner. 25Every price will be set by the official standards.
Various Offerings
The Lord said:
26All first-born animals of your flocks and herds are already mine, and so you cannot promise any of them to me. 27If you promise me a donkey,#27.27 donkey: See the note at 27.11. you may buy it back by adding an additional 20 percent to its value. If you don't buy it back, it can be sold to someone else for whatever a priest has said it is worth.
28 #
Nu 18.14. Anything that you completely dedicate to me must be completely destroyed.#27.28 completely dedicate … completely destroyed: In order to show that something belonged completely to the Lord and could not be used by anyone else, it was destroyed. This law most often applied to towns and people captured in war (see Joshua 6.16,17). It cannot be bought back or sold. Every person, animal, and piece of property that you dedicate completely is only for me. 29In fact, any humans who have been promised to me in this way must be put to death.
30 #
Nu 18.21; Dt 14.22-29. Ten percent of everything you harvest is holy and belongs to me, whether it grows in your fields or on your fruit trees. 31If you want to buy back this part of your harvest, you may do so by paying what it is worth plus an additional 20 percent.
32When you count your flocks and herds, one out of ten of every newborn animal#27.32 one out of ten of every newborn animal: Or “one out of every ten animals.” is holy and belongs to me, 33no matter how good or bad it is. If you substitute one animal for another, both of them become holy, and neither can be bought back.
34Moses was on Mount Sinai when the Lord gave him these laws for the people of Israel.
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Contemporary English Version, Second Edition (CEV®)
© 2006 American Bible Society. All rights reserved.