Laws Concerning Gifts to the Lord

27 The Lord gave Moses 2the following regulations for the people of Israel. When a person has been given to the Lord in fulfilment of a special vow, that person may be set free by the payment of the following sums of money, 3–7according to the official standard:

—adult male, twenty to sixty years old: 50 pieces of silver

—adult female: 30 pieces of silver

—young male, five to twenty years old: 20 pieces of silver

—young female: 10 pieces of silver

—infant male under five: 5 pieces of silver

—infant female: 3 pieces of silver

—male above sixty years of age: 15 pieces of silver

—female above sixty: 10 pieces of silver

8 If anyone who made the vow is too poor to pay the standard price, he or she shall bring the person to the priest, and the priest will set a lower price, according to the ability of that person to pay.

9 If the vow concerns an animal that is acceptable as an offering to the Lord, then every gift made to the Lord is sacred, 10and anyone who made the vow may not substitute another animal for it. If he does, both animals belong to the Lord. 11But if the vow concerns a ritually unclean animal, which is not acceptable as an offering to the Lord, the man shall take the animal to the priest. 12The priest shall fix a price for it, according to its good or bad qualities, and the price will be final. 13If the person wishes to buy it back, he must pay the price plus an additional twenty per cent.

14 When someone dedicates his house to the Lord, the priest shall fix the price according to its good or bad points, and the price will be final. 15If the one who dedicated the house wishes to buy it back, he must pay the price plus an additional twenty per cent.

16 If someone dedicates part of his land to the Lord, the price shall be fixed according to the amount of seed it takes to sow it, at the rate of ten pieces of silver for every twenty kilogrammes of barley. 17If he dedicates the land immediately after a Year of Restoration, the full price applies. 18If he dedicates it later, the priest shall estimate the cash value according to the number of years left until the next Year of Restoration, and fix a reduced price. 19If the one who dedicated the field wishes to buy it back, he or she must pay the price plus an additional twenty per cent. 20If they sell the field to someone else without first buying it back from the Lord, they lose the right to buy it back. 21At the next Year of Restoration the field will become the Lord’s permanent property; it shall belong to the priests.

22 If someone dedicates to the Lord a field that he has bought, 23the priest shall estimate its value according to the number of years until the next Year of Restoration, and the person must pay the price that very day; the money belongs to the Lord. 24At the Year of Restoration the field shall be returned to the original owner or to his descendants.

25 All prices shall be fixed according to the official standard. 26The firstborn of an animal already belongs to the Lord, so no one may dedicate it to him as a freewill offering. A calf, a lamb, or a kid belongs to the Lord, 27but the firstborn of an unclean animal may be bought back at the standard price plus an additional twenty per cent. If it is not bought back, it may be sold to someone else at the standard price.

28 *No one may sell or buy back what he has unconditionally dedicatedo to the Lord, whether it is a human being, an animal, or land. It belongs permanently to the Lord. 29Not even a human being who has been unconditionally dedicated may be bought back; he must be put to death.

30 *One-tenth of all the produce of the land, whether grain or fruit, belongs to the Lord. 31*If a man wishes to buy any of it back, he must pay the standard price plus an additional twenty per cent. 32*One out of every ten domestic animals belongs to the Lord. When the animals are counted, every tenth one belongs to the Lord. 33*The owner may not arrange the animals so that the poor animals are chosen, and he may not make any substitutions. If he does substitute one animal for another, then both animals will belong to the Lord and may not be bought back.

34 These are the commands that the Lord gave Moses on Mount Sinai for the people of Israel.