- Leviticus
- <
- 27
- >

27
1 The Lord told Moses, 2 “Tell the Israelites: When you make a special promise to dedicate someone to the Lord, these are the values you are to use. 3 The value of a man aged twenty to sixty is fifty shekels of silver (using the sanctuary shekel standard). 4 The value of a woman is thirty shekels. 5 The value of someone aged five to twenty is twenty shekels for a male and ten shekels for a female. 6 The value of someone aged one month to five years is five shekels of silver for a male and three shekels of silver for a female. 7 The value of someone aged sixty or older is fifteen shekels for a male and ten shekels of silver for a female. 8 However, if when you fulfill your promise you are poorer than the fixed value, you are to present the person before the priest, who will then set the value depending on what you can afford.
9 If when you fulfill your promise you bring an animal that is permitted as an offering to the Lord, the animal given to the Lord shall be considered holy. 10 You are not allowed to replace it or swap it, either for one that is better or one that is worse. However, if you do replace it then both animals become holy.
11 If when you fulfill your promise you bring any unclean animal that is not permitted as an offering to the Lord, then you must show the animal to the priest. 12 The priest will decide its value, whether high or low. Whatever value the priest places on it is final. 13 If you then decide to buy the animal back, you have to add one-fifth to its value in payment.
14 If you dedicate your house as holy to the Lord, then the priest will decide its value, whether high or low. Whatever value the priest places on it remains final. 15 But if you want to buy back your house, you have to add one-fifth to its value in payment. Then it will belong to you again.
16 If you dedicate some of your land to the Lord, then its value shall be determined by the amount of seed required to sow it: fifty shekels of silver for every homer of barley seed used. 17 If you dedicate your field during the Jubilee Year, the value will be the full amount calculated. 18 But if you dedicate your field after the Jubilee, the priest will work out the value depending on the number of years left until the next Jubilee Year, so reducing the value. 19 But if you want to buy your field back, you have to add one-fifth to its value in payment. Then it will belong to you again. 20 But if you don't buy the field back, or if you've already sold it to someone else, it can't ever be bought back. 21 When the Jubilee comes, the field will become holy, in the same way as a field devoted to the Lord. It will become the property of the priests.
22 If you dedicate to the Lord a field you've bought that was not part of your original property, 23 the priest will work out the value until the next Jubilee Year. You will pay on that day the exact value, giving it as a holy offering to the Lord. 24 In the Jubilee Year, ownership of the field shall revert back to the person you bought it from—to the original owner of the land. 25 (All values will use the sanctuary shekel standard of twenty gerahs to the shekel.)
26 No one is allowed to dedicate the firstborn of the livestock, because the firstborn belongs to the Lord. Whether they are cattle, sheep, or goats, they are the Lord's. 27 But if it is an unclean animal, then you can buy it back according to its value, adding on one-fifth extra. If it's not bought back, then it is to be sold according to its value.
28 Anything that you specially dedicate*The word used here and in the next verse is a religious term that means to give something to the Lord (set apart), either by destroying them or presenting them as an offering. to the Lord from what you own, whether it's a person, an animal, or your land, can't be sold or bought back. Anything specially dedicated is most holy to the Lord.
29 No one who is specially dedicated to destruction can be bought back. They must be killed.
30 Tithe from your crops or fruit belongs to the Lord; it is holy to the Lord. 31 If you want to buy back some of your tithe, you must add on one-fifth to its value.
32 When you count your herds and flocks, every tenth animal that passes under the shepherd's rod is holy to the Lord. 33 You must not examine it to see if it's good or bad, and you must not replace it. However, if you do replace it then both animals become holy; they can't be bought back.”
34 These are the laws the Lord gave to Moses for the Israelites on Mount Sinai.

- Leviticus
- <
- 27
- >

*27:28 The word used here and in the next verse is a religious term that means to give something to the Lord (set apart), either by destroying them or presenting them as an offering.

© 2018 Dr. Jonathan Gallagher