Vayikra (Lev) 27
27
1(RY: vi; LY: iv) Adonai said to Moshe, 2“Tell the people of Isra’el, ‘If someone makes a clearly defined vow to Adonai to give him an amount equal to the value of a human being, 3the value you are to assign to a man between the ages of twenty and sixty years is to be fifty shekels of silver [one-and-a-quarter pounds], with the sanctuary shekel being the standard, 4if a woman, thirty shekels. 5If it is a child five to twenty years old, assign a value of twenty shekels for a boy and ten for a girl; 6if a baby one month to five years of age, five shekels for a boy and three for a girl; 7if a person past sixty, fifteen shekels for a man and ten for a woman. 8If the person is too poor to be evaluated, set him before the cohen, who will assign him a value in keeping with the means of the person who made the vow.
9“‘If the vow is for the value of an animal of the kind used when people bring an offering to Adonai, all that a person gives of such animals to Adonai will be holy. 10He is not to exchange or replace it by substituting a good animal for a bad one or vice versa; if he does make such a substitution, both the original animal and the one replacing it will be holy. 11If the animal is an unclean one, such as may not be used in an offering to Adonai, he must set it before the cohen; 12and the cohen is to set a value on it in relation to its good and bad points; the value set by you the cohen will stand. 13But if the person making the vow wishes to redeem the animal, he must add one-fifth to your valuation.
14“‘When a person consecrates his house to be holy for Adonai, the cohen is to set a value on it in relation to its good and bad points; the value set by the cohen will stand. 15If the consecrator wishes to redeem his house, he must add one-fifth to the value you have set on it; and it will revert to him.
(RY: vii, LY: v) 16“‘If a person consecrates to Adonai part of a field belonging to his tribe’s possession, you are to value it according to its production, with five bushels of barley being valued at fifty shekels of silver [one-and-a-quarter pounds]. 17If he consecrates his field during the year of yovel, this valuation will stand. 18But if he consecrates his field after the yovel, then the cohen is to calculate the price according to the years remaining till the next yovel, with a corresponding reduction from your valuation. 19If the one consecrating the field wishes to redeem it, he must add one-fifth to your valuation, and the field will be set aside to revert to him. 20If the seller does not wish to redeem the field, or if [the treasurer for the cohanim] has already sold the field to someone else, it can no longer be redeemed. 21But when the purchaser has to vacate the field in the yovel, it will become holy to Adonai, like a field unconditionally consecrated; it will belong to the cohanim.
(LY: vi) 22“‘If he consecrates to Adonai a field which he has bought, a field which is not part of his tribe’s possession, 23then the cohen is to calculate its value according to the years remaining until the year of yovel; and the man will on that same day pay this amount; since it is holy to Adonai. 24In the year of yovel the field will revert to the person from whom it was bought, that is, to the person to whose tribal possession it belongs.
25“‘All your valuations are to be according to the sanctuary shekel [two-fifths of an ounce], twenty gerahs to the shekel.
26“‘However, the firstborn among animals, since it is already born as a firstborn for Adonai, no one can consecrate — neither ox nor sheep — since it belongs to Adonai already. 27But if it is an unclean animal, he may redeem it at the price at which you value it and add one-fifth; or if he does not redeem it, it is to be sold at the price at which you value it. 28However, nothing consecrated unconditionally which a person may consecrate to Adonai out of all he owns — person, animal or field he possesses — is to be sold or redeemed; because everything consecrated unconditionally is especially holy to Adonai. (LY: vii) 29No person who has been sentenced to die, and thus unconditionally consecrated, can be redeemed; he must be put to death.
30“‘All the tenth given from the land, whether from planted seed or fruit from trees, belongs to Adonai; it is holy to Adonai. 31If someone wants to redeem any of his tenth, he must add to it one-fifth.
(Maftir) 32“‘All the tenth from the herd or the flock, whatever passes under the shepherd’s crook, the tenth one will be holy to Adonai. 33The owner is not to inquire whether the animal is good or bad, and he cannot exchange it; if he does exchange it, both it and the one he substituted for it will be holy; it cannot be redeemed.’”
34These are the mitzvot which Adonai gave to Moshe for the people of Isra’el on Mount Sinai.
Haftarah B’chukkotai: Yirmeyahu (Jeremiah) 16:19–17:14
B’rit Hadashah suggested readings for Parashah B’chukkotai: Yochanan (John) 14:15–21; 15:10–12; 1 Yochanan (1 John)
Hazak, hazak, v’nit’chazek!
Be strong, be strong, and let us be strengthened!
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Learn More About Complete Jewish BibleLeviticus 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®)
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