Redeeming what is the Lord’s
1 The Lordsaid to Moses,
2 ‘Speak to the Israelites and say to them: “If anyone makes a special vow to dedicate a person to the Lordby giving the equivalent value,
3 set the value of a male between the ages of twenty and sixty at fifty shekelsof silver, according to the sanctuary shekel;
4 for a female, set her value at thirty shekels;
5 for a person between the ages of five and twenty, set the value of a male at twenty shekelsand of a female at ten shekels;
6 for a person between one month and five years, set the value of a male at five shekelsof silver and that of a female at three shekelsof silver;
7 for a person sixty years old or more, set the value of a male at fifteen shekelsand of a female at ten shekels.
8 If anyone making the vow is too poor to pay the specified amount, the person being dedicated is to be presented to the priest, who will set the value according to what the one making the vow can afford.
9 ‘ “If what they vowed is an animal that is acceptable as an offering to the Lord, such an animal given to the Lordbecomes holy.
10 They must not exchange it or substitute a good one for a bad one, or a bad one for a good one; 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 – 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 the animal, a fifth must be added to its value.
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, they must add a fifth to its value, and the house will again become theirs.
16 ‘ “If anyone dedicates to the Lordpart 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 homerof 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, the priest will determine the value according to the number of years that remain 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, 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, it will become holy, like a field devoted to the Lord; it will become priestly property.
22 ‘ “If anyone dedicates to the Lorda 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, 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, the one whose land it was.
25 Every value is to be set according to the sanctuary shekel, twenty gerahs to the shekel.
26 ‘ “No one, however, may dedicate the firstborn of an animal, since the firstborn already belongs to the Lord; whether an oxor a sheep, it is the Lord’s.
27 If it is one of the unclean animals, 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 devotesto the Lord– whether a human being or an animal or family land – may be sold or redeemed; everything so devoted is most holy to the Lord.
29 ‘ “No one devoted to destructionmay be ransomed; they are to be put to death.
30 ‘ “A tithe of everything from the land, whether grain from the soil or fruit from the trees, belongs to the Lord; it is holy to the Lord.
31 Whoever would redeem any of their tithe must add a fifth of the value to it.
32 Every tithe of the herd and flock – every tenth animal that passes under the shepherd’s rod – will be holy to the Lord.
33 No one may pick out the good from the bad or make any substitution. If anyone does make a substitution, both the animal and its substitute become holy and cannot be redeemed.” ’
34 These are the commands the Lordgave Moses at Mount Sinai for the Israelites.
Footnotes for the Book of Leviticus
a2Orrepresentative; also in verses 9 and 16
a6Orpurification offering; here and throughout this chapter
b11That is, probably about 1.6 kilograms
c12Orrepresentative
d15That is, about 12 grams
e19Oroffering; atonement has been made for their
a7Orpurification offering; also in verse 37
b21A few Hebrew manuscripts, Samaritan Pentateuch, Syriac and Targum (see 5:2); most Hebrew manuscriptsany unclean, detestable thing
c25Oroffering is
a2Orpurification offering; here and throughout this chapter
b4The Hebrew word can include both male and female; also in verses 18 and 19.
a13The precise identification of some of the birds, insects and animals in this chapter is uncertain.
a2The Hebrew word fordefiling skin disease, traditionally translated ‘leprosy’, was used for various diseases affecting the skin; here and throughout verses 3-46.
b2Ordescendants
c45Orclothes, uncover their head
a15Orpurification offering; also in verse 30
b31Ormy tabernacle
a3The Hebrew word can include both male and female.
b7Orthe demons
c11Oratonement by the life in the blood
a4Orunclean as a leader among his people
b10Ornot uncover his head
a13That is, probably about 3.2 kilograms; also in verse 17
b13That is, about 1 litre
c19Orpurification offering
d27Orand fast; similarly in verses 29 and 32
e38OrThese festivals are in addition to the Lord’s Sabbaths, and these offerings are
a11Ormy tabernacle
b30Oryour funeral offerings
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