Promises Are Important

27 The Lord said to Moses, ²“Tell the people of Israel: A person might make a special promise to the Lord. That person might promise to give a person to the Lord. {That person will then serve the Lord in a special way.} The priest must set a price for that person. {People will have to pay that price if they want to buy the person back from the Lord.} ³The price for a man from 20 to 60 years old is 50 shekels* of silver. (You must use the official measure* for the silver.) ⁴The price for a woman {that is 20 to 60 years old} is 30 shekels. ⁵The price for a man from 5 to 20 years old is 20 shekels. The price for a woman {from 5 to 20 years old} is 10 shekels. ⁶The price for a baby boy from one month to five years old is 5 shekels. For a baby girl, the price is 3 shekels. ⁷The price for a man who is 60 years old or older is 15 shekels. The price for a woman is 10 shekels. ⁸“If a person is too poor to pay the price, then bring that person to the priest. The priest will decide how much money the person can afford to pay.

Gifts to the Lord

⁹“Some animals can be used as sacrifices to the Lord. If a person brings one of those animals, then that animal will become holy. ¹⁰{That person promises to give that animal to the Lord,} so that person must not try to put another animal in its place. He must not try to change it for something else. He must not try to change a good animal for a bad animal. He must not change a bad animal for a good animal. If that person does try to change animals, then both animals will become holy—{both animals will belong to the Lord}. ¹¹“Some animals can’t be offered as sacrifices to the Lord. If a person brings one of those unclean* animals to the Lord, then that animal must be brought to the priest. ¹²The priest will decide a price for that animal. It does not make any difference if the animal is good or bad. If the priest decides on a price, then that is the price for the animal. ¹³If the person wants to buy back the animal,* then he must add a fifth to the price.

The Value of a House

¹⁴“Now if a person dedicates his house as holy to the Lord, then the priest must decide its price. It does not make any difference if the house is good or bad. If the priest decides on a price, then that is the price for the house. ¹⁵But if the person who gave the house wants to get it back, then he must add a fifth to the price. Then the house will belong to that person.

Value of Property

¹⁶“If a person dedicates part of his fields to the Lord, the value of those fields will depend on how much seed is needed to plant it. It will be 50 shekels* of silver for each homer* of barley seed. ¹⁷If the person gives his field to God during the year of Jubilee,* then its value will be whatever the priest decides. ¹⁸But if the person gives his field after the Jubilee, then the priest must calculate its exact price. He must count the number of years to the next year of Jubilee. Then he must use that number to decide the price. ¹⁹If the person who gave the field wants to buy back the field, then he must add a fifth to that price. Then the field will again belong to that person. ²⁰If the person does not buy back the field, {then the field will always belong to the priests}. If the land is sold to someone else, then that first person can’t buy back the land. ²¹If the person did not buy back the land, then at the year of Jubilee, the field will remain holy to the Lord—it will belong to the priest forever! It will be like land that was given completely to the Lord. ²²“If a person dedicates to the Lord a field that he has bought, and it is not a part of his family’s property,* ²³then the priest must count the years to the year of Jubilee* and decide the price for the land. Then that land will belong to the Lord. ²⁴At the year of Jubilee, the land will go to the original owner. It will go back to the family that owns the land. ²⁵“You must use the official measure* in paying those prices. The shekel by that measure weighs 20 gerahs.*

Value of Animals

²⁶“People can give cows and sheep as special gifts to the Lord. But if the animal is the firstborn, then that animal already belongs to the Lord. So people can’t give those animals as special gifts. ²⁷{People must give firstborn animals to the Lord.} But if the firstborn animal is an unclean* animal, then the person must buy back that animal. The priest will decide the price of the animal, and the person must add a fifth to that price. If the person does not buy back that animal, then the priest must sell the animal for the price he decided.

Special Gifts

²⁸“There is a special kind of gift* that people give to the Lord. That gift belongs only to the Lord. That gift cannot be bought back or sold. That gift belongs to the Lord. That type of gift includes people, animals, and fields from the family property. ²⁹“If that special kind of gift* to the Lord is a person, then that person cannot be bought back. That person must be killed. ³⁰“A tenth of all crops belong to the Lord. This means the crops from fields and the fruit from trees—a tenth belongs to the Lord. ³¹So if a person wants to get back his tenth, he must add a fifth to its price {and then buy it back}. ³²“{The priests will} take every tenth animal from a person’s cows or sheep. Every tenth animal will belong to the Lord. ³³The owner should not worry if the chosen animal is good or bad. He should not change the animal for another animal. If he decides to change it for another animal, then both animals will belong to the Lord. That animal can’t be bought back.” ³⁴Those are the commands that the Lord gave Moses at Mount Sinai for the people of Israel.

shekels A shekel is 2/5 of an ounce. official measure Literally, “holy shekel,” the official standard of measure used in the tabernacle or temple. unclean Not pure or not acceptable to God for worship. buy back the animal See Exodus 13:1–16 for the laws about giving to God or “buying back” firstborn children or animals. homer A dry measure equal to about 6 bushels. Jubilee The word comes from the Hebrew word for the horn that was blown at this time. See Leviticus 25:9. family’s property That is, land that was owned originally by his family and family group. official measure Literally, “holy shekel,” the official standard of measure used in the tabernacle or temple. gerahs A gerah is 1/50 of an ounce. unclean Not pure or not acceptable to God for worship. special kind of gift This usually means things taken in war. Those things (gifts) belonged only to the Lord, so they could not be used for anything else.