Chapter 27

Rules concerning Valuations

1 Again, the Lord spoke to Moses, saying,

2 “Speak to the sons of Israel and say to them, ‘aWhen a man makes a difficult vow, he shall be valued according to your valuation of persons belonging to the Lord.

3 ‘If your valuation is of the male from twenty years even to sixty years old, then your valuation shall be fifty shekels of silver, after athe shekel of the sanctuary.

4 ‘Or if it is a female, then your valuation shall be thirty shekels.

5 ‘If it be from five years even to twenty years old then your valuation for the male shall be twenty shekels and for the female ten shekels.

6 ‘But if they are from a month even up to five years old, then your valuation shall be afive shekels of silver for the male, and for the female your valuation shall be three shekels of silver.

7 ‘If they are from sixty years old and upward, if it is a male, then your valuation shall be fifteen shekels, and for the female ten shekels.

8 ‘But if he is poorer than your valuation, then he shall be placed before the priest and the priest shall value him; aaccording to 1the means of the one who vowed, the priest shall value him.

9 ‘Now if it is an animal of the kind which 1men can present as an offering to the Lord, any such that one gives to the Lord shall be holy.

10 ‘aHe shall not replace it or exchange it, a good for a bad, or a bad for a good; or if he does exchange animal for animal, then both it and its substitute shall become holy.

11 ‘If, however, it is any unclean animal of the kind which 1men do not present as an offering to the Lord, then he shall place the animal before the priest.

12 ‘The priest shall value it 1as either good or bad; as you, the priest, value it, so it shall be.

13 ‘But if he should ever wish to redeem it, then he shall add one-fifth of it to your valuation.

14 ‘Now if a man consecrates his house as holy to the Lord, then the priest shall value it 1as either good or bad; as the priest values it, so it shall stand.

15 ‘Yet if the one who consecrates it should wish to redeem his house, then he shall add one-fifth of your valuation price to it, so that it may be his.

16 ‘Again, if a man consecrates to the Lord part of the fields of his own property, then your valuation shall be 1proportionate to the seed needed for it: a homer of barley seed at fifty shekels of silver.

17 ‘If he consecrates his field as of the year of jubilee, according to your valuation it shall stand.

18 ‘If he consecrates his field after the jubilee, however, then the priest shall calculate the price for 1him 2proportionate to the years that are left until the year of jubilee; and it shall be deducted from your valuation.

19 ‘If the one who consecrates it should ever wish to redeem the field, then he shall add one-fifth of your valuation price to it, so that it may pass to him.

20 ‘Yet if he will not redeem the field, 1but has sold the field to another man, it may no longer be redeemed;

21 and when it 1reverts in the jubilee, the field shall be holy to the Lord, like a field 2set apart; ait shall be for the priest as his 3property.

22 ‘Or if he consecrates to the Lord a field which he has bought, which is not a part of the field of his own 1property,

23 then the priest shall calculate for 1him the amount of your valuation up to the year of jubilee; and he shall on that day give your valuation as holy to the Lord.

24 ‘In the year of jubilee the field shall return to the one from whom he bought it, to whom the possession of the land belongs.

25 ‘Every valuation of yours, moreover, shall be after athe shekel of the sanctuary. The shekel shall be twenty gerahs.

26 ‘aHowever, a firstborn among animals, which as a firstborn belongs to the Lord, no man may consecrate it; whether ox or sheep, it is the Lord’s.

27 ‘But if it is among the unclean animals, then he shall 1redeem it according to your valuation and add to it one-fifth of it; and if it is not redeemed, then it shall be sold according to your valuation.

28 ‘Nevertheless, aanything which a man 1sets apart to the Lord out of all that he has, of man or animal or of the fields of his own property, shall not be sold or redeemed. Anything 2devoted to destruction is most holy to the Lord.

29 ‘No 1one who may have been 2set apart among men shall be ransomed; he shall surely be put to death.

30 ‘Thus aall the tithe of the land, of the seed of the land or of the fruit of the tree, is the Lord’s; it is holy to the Lord.

31 ‘If, therefore, a man wishes to redeem part of his tithe, he shall add to it one-fifth of it.

32 ‘For every tenth part of herd or flock, whatever apasses under the rod, the tenth one shall be holy to the Lord.

33 ‘aHe is not to be concerned whether it is good or bad, nor shall he exchange it; or if he does exchange it, then both it and its substitute shall become holy. It shall not be redeemed.’ ”

34 aThese are the commandments which the Lord commanded Moses for the sons of Israel at Mount Sinai.