Loading…

Exodus 30:11–16

The Census Tax

11 The Lord said to Moses, 12 u“When you take the census of the people of Israel, then each shall give va ransom for his life to the Lord when you number them, that there be no plague among them when you number them. 13 Each one who is numbered in the census shall give this: half a shekel2 according to the wshekel of the sanctuary (the xshekel is twenty gerahs),3 yhalf a shekel as an offering to the Lord. 14 Everyone who is numbered in the census, from twenty years old and upward, shall give the Lord’s offering. 15 The rich shall not give more, and the poor shall not give less, than ythe half shekel, when you give the Lord’s offering to make atonement for your lives. 16 You shall take the atonement money from the people of Israel and shall zgive it for the service of the tent of meeting, that it may bring the people of Israel to aremembrance before the Lord, so as to make atonement for your lives.”

Read more Explain verse



Exodus 30:11–16 — The New International Version (NIV)

11 Then the Lord said to Moses, 12 “When you take a census of the Israelites to count them, each one must pay the Lord a ransom for his life at the time he is counted. Then no plague will come on them when you number them. 13 Each one who crosses over to those already counted is to give a half shekel, according to the sanctuary shekel, which weighs twenty gerahs. This half shekel is an offering to the Lord. 14 All who cross over, those twenty years old or more, are to give an offering to the Lord. 15 The rich are not to give more than a half shekel and the poor are not to give less when you make the offering to the Lord to atone for your lives. 16 Receive the atonement money from the Israelites and use it for the service of the tent of meeting. It will be a memorial for the Israelites before the Lord, making atonement for your lives.”

Exodus 30:11–16 — King James Version (KJV 1900)

11 And the Lord spake unto Moses, saying, 12 When thou takest the sum of the children of Israel after their number, then shall they give every man a ransom for his soul unto the Lord, when thou numberest them; that there be no plague among them, when thou numberest them. 13 This they shall give, every one that passeth among them that are numbered, half a shekel after the shekel of the sanctuary: (a shekel is twenty gerahs:) an half shekel shall be the offering of the Lord. 14 Every one that passeth among them that are numbered, from twenty years old and above, shall give an offering unto the Lord. 15 The rich shall not give more, and the poor shall not give less than half a shekel, when they give an offering unto the Lord, to make an atonement for your souls. 16 And thou shalt take the atonement money of the children of Israel, and shalt appoint it for the service of the tabernacle of the congregation; that it may be a memorial unto the children of Israel before the Lord, to make an atonement for your souls.

Exodus 30:11–16 — New Living Translation (NLT)

11 Then the Lord said to Moses, 12 “Whenever you take a census of the people of Israel, each man who is counted must pay a ransom for himself to the Lord. Then no plague will strike the people as you count them. 13 Each person who is counted must give a small piece of silver as a sacred offering to the Lord. (This payment is half a shekel, based on the sanctuary shekel, which equals twenty gerahs.) 14 All who have reached their twentieth birthday must give this sacred offering to the Lord. 15 When this offering is given to the Lord to purify your lives, making you right with him, the rich must not give more than the specified amount, and the poor must not give less. 16 Receive this ransom money from the Israelites, and use it for the care of the Tabernacle. It will bring the Israelites to the Lord’s attention, and it will purify your lives.”

Exodus 30:11–16 — The New King James Version (NKJV)

11 Then the Lord spoke to Moses, saying: 12 “When you take the census of the children of Israel for their number, then every man shall give a ransom for himself to the Lord, when you number them, that there may be no plague among them when you number them. 13 This is what everyone among those who are numbered shall give: half a shekel according to the shekel of the sanctuary (a shekel is twenty gerahs). The half-shekel shall be an offering to the Lord. 14 Everyone included among those who are numbered, from twenty years old and above, shall give an offering to the Lord. 15 The rich shall not give more and the poor shall not give less than half a shekel, when you give an offering to the Lord, to make atonement for yourselves. 16 And you shall take the atonement money of the children of Israel, and shall appoint it for the service of the tabernacle of meeting, that it may be a memorial for the children of Israel before the Lord, to make atonement for yourselves.”

Exodus 30:11–16 — New Century Version (NCV)

11 The Lord said to Moses, 12 “When you count the people of Israel, every person must buy back his life from the Lord so that no terrible things will happen to the people when you number them. 13 Every person who is counted must pay one-fifth of an ounce of silver. (This is set by using one-half of the Holy Place measure, which weighs two-fifths of an ounce.) This amount is a gift to the Lord. 14 Every person who is counted and is twenty years old or older must give this amount to the Lord. 15 A rich person must not give more than one-fifth of an ounce, and a poor person must not give less. You are paying this to the Lord to buy back your lives. 16 Gather from the people of Israel this money paid to buy back their lives, and spend it on things for the service in the Meeting Tent. This payment will remind the Lord that the Israelites’ lives have been bought back.”

Exodus 30:11–16 — American Standard Version (ASV)

11 And Jehovah spake unto Moses, saying, 12 When thou takest the sum of the children of Israel, according to those that are numbered of them, then shall they give every man a ransom for his soul unto Jehovah, when thou numberest them; that there be no plague among them, when thou numberest them. 13 This they shall give, every one that passeth over unto them that are numbered, half a shekel after the shekel of the sanctuary; (the shekel is twenty gerahs), half a shekel for an offering to Jehovah. 14 Every one that passeth over unto them that are numbered, from twenty years old and upward, shall give the offering of Jehovah. 15 The rich shall not give more, and the poor shall not give less, than the half shekel, when they give the offering of Jehovah, to make atonement for your souls. 16 And thou shalt take the atonement money from the children of Israel, and shalt appoint it for the service of the tent of meeting; that it may be a memorial for the children of Israel before Jehovah, to make atonement for your souls.

Exodus 30:11–16 — 1890 Darby Bible (DARBY)

11 And Jehovah spoke to Moses, saying, 12 When thou shalt take the sum of the children of Israel according to those of them that are numbered, then shall they give every man a ransom for his soul to Jehovah on their being numbered, that there be no plague among them on their being numbered. 13 This shall they give—every one that passeth among them that are numbered—half a shekel after the shekel of the sanctuary, —twenty gerahs the shekel; a half shekel shall be the heave-offering for Jehovah. 14 Every one that passeth among those that are numbered, from twenty years old and above, shall give the heave-offering of Jehovah. 15 The rich shall not give more, and the poor shall not give less than half a shekel, when ye give the heave-offering of Jehovah, to make atonement for your souls. 16 And thou shalt take the atonement-money of the children of Israel, and devote it to the service of the tent of meeting; and it shall be a memorial to the children of Israel before Jehovah, to make atonement for your souls.

Exodus 30:11–16 — GOD’S WORD Translation (GW)

11 Then the Lord said to Moses, 12 “When you take a census of the Israelites, each person must pay the Lord a ransom for his life when he is counted. Then no plague will happen to them when they are counted. 13 As each person is counted, he must give one-fifth of an ounce of silver using the standard weight of the holy place.This one-fifth of an ounce of silver is a contribution to the Lord. 14 Everyone counted who is at least 20 years old must give this contribution to the Lord. 15 The rich must not give more than one-fifth of an ounce of silver, and the poor must not give less. This contribution is given to make peace with the Lord and make your lives acceptable to the Lord. 16 Take the money the Israelites give to make peace with the Lord, and use it to pay the expenses of the tent of meeting. It will be a reminder for the Israelites in the Lord’s presence that the sins in their lives are removed.” 

Exodus 30:11–16 — The Holman Christian Standard Bible (HCSB)

11 The Lord spoke to Moses: 12 “When you take a census of the Israelites to register them, each of the men must pay a ransom for himself to the Lord as they are registered. Then no plague will come on them as they are registered. 13 Everyone who is registered must pay half a shekel according to the sanctuary shekel (20 gerahs to the shekel). This half shekel is a contribution to the Lord. 14 Each man who is registered, 20 years old or more, must give this contribution to the Lord. 15 The wealthy may not give more and the poor may not give less than half a shekel when giving the contribution to the Lord to atone for your lives. 16 Take the atonement money from the Israelites and use it for the service of the tent of meeting. It will serve as a reminder for the Israelites before the Lord to atone for your lives.”

Exodus 30:11–16 — The New Revised Standard Version (NRSV)

11 The Lord spoke to Moses: 12 When you take a census of the Israelites to register them, at registration all of them shall give a ransom for their lives to the Lord, so that no plague may come upon them for being registered. 13 This is what each one who is registered shall give: half a shekel according to the shekel of the sanctuary (the shekel is twenty gerahs), half a shekel as an offering to the Lord. 14 Each one who is registered, from twenty years old and upward, shall give the Lord’s offering. 15 The rich shall not give more, and the poor shall not give less, than the half shekel, when you bring this offering to the Lord to make atonement for your lives. 16 You shall take the atonement money from the Israelites and shall designate it for the service of the tent of meeting; before the Lord it will be a reminder to the Israelites of the ransom given for your lives.

Exodus 30:11–16 — The Lexham English Bible (LEB)

11 And Yahweh spoke to Moses, saying, 12 “When you take a census of the Israelites to count them, they will each give the ransom of his life for Yahweh when counting them, and a plague will not be among them when counting them. 13 This they will give, everyone who is counted, the half shekel, according to the sanctuary shekel, which is twenty gerahs per shekel. The half shekel is a contribution for Yahweh. 14 Everyone who is counted from twenty years old and above will give the contribution of Yahweh. 15 The rich will not give more, and the poor will not give less than the half shekel to give the contribution of Yahweh to make atonement for their lives. 16 And you will take the atonement money from the Israelites and give it to the service of the tent of assembly, and it will be as a memorial for the Israelites before Yahweh to make atonement for your lives.”

Exodus 30:11–16 — New International Reader’s Version (1998) (NIrV)

11 Then the Lord spoke to Moses. He said, 12 “When you make a list of the people of Israel and count them, they must pay me for their lives at the time they are counted. Then a plague will not come on them when you count them.

13 “Each one who is counted must pay a fifth of an ounce of silver. It must be weighed out in keeping with the standard weights that are used in the sacred tent. The payment is an offering to me. 14 Each one who is counted must be 20 years old or more. He must give an offering to me.

15 “When you make the offering, rich people must not give more than a fifth of an ounce of silver. And poor people must not give less. The offering you give to me will pay for your lives.

16 “Receive the money from the people of Israel. Use it for any purpose in the Tent of Meeting. It will remind the people that they are paying me for their lives.”

Exodus 30:11–16 — New American Standard Bible: 1995 Update (NASB95)

11 The Lord also spoke to Moses, saying,

12 When you take a census of the sons of Israel to number them, then each one of them shall give a ransom for himself to the Lord, when you number them, so that there will be no plague among them when you number them.

13 This is what everyone who is numbered shall give: half a shekel according to the shekel of the sanctuary (the shekel is twenty gerahs), half a shekel as a contribution to the Lord.

14 Everyone who is numbered, from twenty years old and over, shall give the contribution to the Lord.

15 “The rich shall not pay more and the poor shall not pay less than the half shekel, when you give the contribution to the Lord to make atonement for yourselves.

16 “You shall take the atonement money from the sons of Israel and shall give it for the service of the tent of meeting, that it may be a memorial for the sons of Israel before the Lord, to make atonement for yourselves.”


A service of Logos Bible Software