Daily Bread

Redeeming What Is the Lord’s

27 The Lord said to Moses, ² “Speak to the Israelites and say to them: ‘If anyone makes a special vow^(A) to dedicate a person to the Lord by giving the equivalent value, ³ set the value of a male between the ages of twenty and sixty at fifty shekels^[a] of silver, according to the sanctuary shekel^[b];^{(B) 4} for a female, set her value at thirty shekels^[c]; ⁵ for a person between the ages of five and twenty, set the value of a male at twenty shekels^[d](C) and of a female at ten shekels^[e]; ⁶ for a person between one month and five years, set the value of a male at five shekels^[f](D) of silver and that of a female at three shekels^[g] of silver; ⁷ for a person sixty years old or more, set the value of a male at fifteen shekels^[h] and of a female at ten shekels. ⁸ If anyone making the vow is too poor to pay^(E) the specified amount, the person being dedicated is to be presented to the priest, who will set the value^(F) 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,^(G) such an animal given to the Lord becomes holy.^{(H) 10} They must not exchange it or substitute a good one for a bad one, or a bad one for a good one;^(I) 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^(J)—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^(K) the animal, a fifth must be added to its value.^(L)

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,^(M) they must add a fifth to its value, and the house will again become theirs.

¹⁶ “‘If anyone dedicates to the Lord part 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 homer^[i] of 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,^(N) the priest will determine the value according to the number of years that remain^(O) 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,^(P) 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,^(Q) it will become holy,^(R) like a field devoted to the Lord;^(S) it will become priestly property.

²² “‘If anyone dedicates to the Lord a 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,^(T) 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,^(U) the one whose land it was. ²⁵ Every value is to be set according to the sanctuary shekel,^(V) twenty gerahs^(W) to the shekel.

²⁶ “‘No one, however, may dedicate the firstborn of an animal, since the firstborn already belongs to the Lord;^(X) whether an ox^[j] or a sheep, it is the Lord’s. ²⁷ If it is one of the unclean animals,^(Y) 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 devotes^[k](Z) to the Lord—whether a human being or an animal or family land—may be sold or redeemed; everything so devoted is most holy^(AA) to the Lord.

²⁹ “‘No person devoted to destruction^[l] may be ransomed; they are to be put to death.^(AB)

³⁰ “‘A tithe^(AC) of everything from the land, whether grain from the soil or fruit from the trees, belongs to the Lord; it is holy^(AD) to the Lord. ³¹ Whoever would redeem^(AE) any of their tithe must add a fifth of the value^(AF) to it. ³² Every tithe of the herd and flock—every tenth animal that passes under the shepherd’s rod^(AG)—will be holy to the Lord. ³³ No one may pick out the good from the bad or make any substitution.^(AH) If anyone does make a substitution, both the animal and its substitute become holy and cannot be redeemed.^(AI)’”

³⁴ These are the commands the Lord gave Moses at Mount Sinai^(AJ) for the Israelites.^(AK)