The Third Book of Moses: Leviticus

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- Chapter 27 -

And the Lord spoke to Moses, saying:

Speak to the children of Israel, and thou shalt say to them: The man that shall have made a vow, and promised his soul to God, shall give the price according to estimation.

If it be a man from twenty years old unto sixty years old, he shall give fifty sides of silver, after the weight of the sanctuary:

If a woman, thirty.

But from the fifth year until the twentieth, a man shall give twenty sicles: a woman ten.

From one month until the fifth year. for a male shall be given five sides: for a female three.

A man that is sixty years old or upward, shall give fifteen aisles: a woman ten.

If he be poor, and not able to pay tile estimation, he shall stand before tile priest: and as much as he shall value him at, and see him able to pay, so much shall he give.

But a beast that may be sacrificed to the Lord, if ally one shall vow, shall be holy,

And cannot be changed, that is to say, neither a better for a worse, nor a worse for a better. And if he shall change it: both that which was changed, and that for which it was changed, shall be consecrated to the Lord.

An unclean beast, which cannot be sacrificed to the Lord, if my man shall vow, shall be brought before the priest:

Who judging whether it be good or bad, shall set the price:

Which if he that offereth it will give, he shall add above the estimation the fifth part.

If a man shall vow his house, and sanctify it to the Lord, the priest shall consider it, whether it be good or bad, and it shall be sold according to the price, which he shall appoint.

But if he that vowed, will redeem it, he shall give the fifth part of the estimation over and above, and shall have the house.

And if he vow the field of his possession, and consecrate it to the Lord, the price shall be rated according to the measure of the seed. If the ground be sowed with thirty bushels of barley, let it be sold for fifty sides of silver.

If he vow his field immediately from the year of jubilee that is beginning, as much as it may be worth, at so much it shall be rated.

But if some time after, the priest shall reckon the money according to the number of years that remain until the jubilee, and the price shall be abated.

And if he that had vowed, will redeem his field, he shall add the fifth part of the money of the estimation, and shall possess it.

And if he will not redeem it, but it be sold to any other man, he that vowed it, may not redeem it any more:

For when the day of jubilee cometh, it shall be sanctified to the Lord, and as a possession consecrated, pertaineth to the right of the priests.

If a field that was bought, and not of a man’s ancestors’ possession, be sanctified to the Lord,

The priest shall reckon the price according to the number of years: unto the jubilee: and he that had vowed, shall give that to the Lord.

But in the jubilee, it shall return to the former owner, who had sold it, and had it in the lot of his possession.

All estimation shall be made according to the side of the sanctuary. A sicle hath twenty obols.

The firstborn, which belong to the Lord, no man may sanctify and vow: whether it be bullock, or sheep, they are the Lord’s.

And if it be an unclean beast, he that offereth it shall redeem it, according to thy estimation, and shall add the fifth part of the price. If he will not redeem it, it shall be sold to another for how much soever it was estimated by thee.

Any thing that is devoted to the Lord, whether it be man, or beast, or field, shall not be sold, neither may it be redeemed. Whatsoever is once consecrated shall be holy of holies to the Lord.

And any consecration that is offered by man, shall not be redeemed, but dying shall die.

Instruction on Tithes

(Deuteronomy 14:22–29; Deuteronomy 26:1–15; Nehemiah 13:10–14)

All tithes of the land, whether of corn, or of the fruits of trees, are the Lord’s, and are sanctified to him.

And if any man will redeem his tithes, he shall add the fifth part of them.

Of all the tithes of oxen, and sheep, and goats, that pass under the shepherd’s rod, every tenth that cometh shall be sanctified to the Lord.

It shall not be chosen neither good nor bad, neither shall it be changed for another. If any man change it: both that which was changed, and that for which it was changed, shall be sanctified to the Lord, and shall not be redeemed.

These are the precepts which the Lord commanded Moses for the children of Israel in mount Sinai.

The LORD spoke to Moses, saying,

“Speak to the children of Israel, and say to them, ‘When a man consecrates a person to the LORD in a vow, according to your valuation,

your valuation of a male from twenty years old to sixty years old shall be fifty shekels of silver, according to the shekel

(a)

of the sanctuary.

If she is a female, then your valuation shall be thirty shekels.

If the person is from five years old to twenty years old, then your valuation shall be for a male twenty shekels, and for a female ten shekels.

If the person is from a month old to five years old, then your valuation shall be for a male five shekels of silver, and for a female your valuation shall be three shekels of silver.

If the person is from sixty years old and upward; if he is a male, then your valuation shall be fifteen shekels, and for a female ten shekels.

But if he is poorer than your valuation, then he shall be set before the priest, and the priest shall assign a value to him. The priest shall assign a value according to his ability to pay.

“‘If it is an animal of which men offer an offering to the LORD, all that any man gives of such to the LORD becomes holy.

He shall not alter it, nor exchange it, a good for a bad, or a bad for a good. If he shall at all exchange animal for animal, then both it and that for which it is exchanged shall be holy.

If it is any unclean animal, of which they do not offer as an offering to the LORD, then he shall set the animal before the priest;

and the priest shall evaluate it, whether it is good or bad. As the priest evaluates it, so it shall be.

But if he will indeed redeem it, then he shall add the fifth part of it to its valuation.

“‘When a man dedicates his house to be holy to the LORD, then the priest shall evaluate it, whether it is good or bad. As the priest evaluates it, so it shall stand.

If he who dedicates it will redeem his house, then he shall add the fifth part of the money of your valuation to it, and it shall be his.

“‘If a man dedicates to the LORD part of the field of his possession, then your valuation shall be according to the seed for it. The sowing of a homer

(b)

of barley shall be valued at fifty shekels

(c)

of silver.

If he dedicates his field from the Year of Jubilee, according to your valuation it shall stand.

But if he dedicates his field after the Jubilee, then the priest shall reckon to him the money according to the years that remain to the Year of Jubilee; and an abatement shall be made from your valuation.

If he who dedicated the field will indeed redeem it, then he shall add the fifth part of the money of your valuation to it, and it shall remain his.

If he will not redeem the field, or if he has sold the field to another man, it shall not be redeemed any more;

but the field, when it goes out in the Jubilee, shall be holy to the LORD, as a devoted field. It shall be owned by the priests.

“‘If he dedicates a field to the LORD which he has bought, which is not of the field of his possession,

then the priest shall reckon to him the worth of your valuation up to the Year of Jubilee; and he shall give your valuation on that day, as a holy thing to the LORD.

In the Year of Jubilee the field shall return to him from whom it was bought, even to him to whom the possession of the land belongs.

All your valuations shall be according to the shekel of the sanctuary: twenty gerahs

(d)

to the shekel.(e)

“‘However the firstborn among animals, which belongs to the LORD as a firstborn, no man may dedicate, whether an ox or a sheep. It is the LORD’s.

If it is an unclean animal, then he shall buy it back according to your valuation, and shall add to it the fifth part of it; or if it isn’t redeemed, then it shall be sold according to your valuation.

“‘Notwithstanding, no devoted thing that a man devotes to the LORD of all that he has, whether of man or animal, or of the field of his possession, shall be sold or redeemed. Everything that is permanently devoted is most holy to the LORD.

“‘No one devoted to destruction, who shall be devoted from among men, shall be ransomed. He shall surely be put to death.

Instruction on Tithes

(Deuteronomy 14:22–29; Deuteronomy 26:1–15; Nehemiah 13:10–14)

“‘All the tithe of the land, whether of the seed of the land or of the fruit of the trees, is the LORD’s. It is holy to the LORD.

If a man redeems anything of his tithe, he shall add a fifth part to it.

All the tithe of the herds or the flocks, whatever passes under the rod, the tenth shall be holy to the LORD.

He shall not examine whether it is good or bad, neither shall he exchange it. If he exchanges it at all, then both it and that for which it is exchanged shall be holy. It shall not be redeemed.’”

These are the commandments which the LORD commanded Moses for the children of Israel on Mount Sinai.

Footnotes

(a)27:3 A shekel is about 10 grams or about 0.35 ounces.

(b)27:16 1 homer is about 220 liters or 6 bushels

(d)27:25 A gerah is about 0.5 grams or about 7.7 grains.

(e)27:25 A shekel is about 10 grams or about 0.35 ounces.