Keep Your Promises to the Lord

27 The Lord spoke to Moses. He said, 2“Speak to the people of Israel. Tell them, ‘Suppose someone makes a special promise to set a person apart to serve me. Here is how much it will cost to set that person free from the promise to serve.

3“ ‘The cost for a male between the ages of 20 and 60 is 20 ounces of silver. It must be weighed out in keeping with the standard weights that are used in the sacred tent. 4The cost for a female of the same age is 12 ounces of silver.

5“ ‘The cost for a male between the ages of five and 20 is eight ounces of silver. The cost for a female of the same age is four ounces of silver.

6“ ‘The cost for a male between the ages of one month and five years is two ounces of silver. The cost for a female of the same age is one and a fourth ounces of silver.

7“ ‘The cost for a male who is 60 years old or more is six ounces of silver. The cost for a female of the same age is four ounces of silver.

8“ ‘But suppose the one who makes the special promise is too poor to pay the required amount. Then he must bring to the priest the person who will be set free. The priest will decide the right value for that person. It will be based on how much the one who makes the promise can afford.

9“ ‘Suppose what he promised is an animal that I will accept as an offering. Then the animal that is given to me becomes holy. 10The one who makes the promise must not trade it. He must not trade a good animal for a bad one. And he must not trade a bad animal for a good one. Suppose he chooses one animal instead of another. Then both animals become holy.

11“ ‘Suppose the animal he promised is not “clean.” Suppose I will not accept it as an offering. Then the animal must be brought to the priest. 12He will decide whether it is good or bad. Its value will be what he decides it will be. 13Suppose the owner wants to buy the animal back. Then he must add a fifth to its cost.

14“ ‘Suppose a man sets his house apart as something that is holy to me. Then the priest will decide whether it is good or bad. Its value will remain what he decides it will be. 15Suppose the man sets his house apart. And suppose later he wants to buy it back. Then he must add a fifth to its value. The house will belong to him again.

16“ ‘Suppose a man sets apart a piece of his family’s land to me. Then its value must be decided based on the number of seeds that are required to grow a full crop on it. That value will be 20 ounces of silver for every six bushels of barley seeds.

17“ ‘Suppose he sets his field apart during the Year of Jubilee. Then the value that has been decided will not be changed. 18But suppose he sets his field apart after the Year of Jubilee. Then the priest will decide its value based on the number of years that are left until the next Year of Jubilee. The value that was decided will be reduced.

19“ ‘Suppose the man who sets his field apart wants to buy it back. Then he must add a fifth to its value. The field will belong to him again. 20But suppose he does not buy the field back. Instead, suppose he sells it to someone else. Then he can never buy it back.

21“ ‘When the field is set free in the Year of Jubilee, it will become holy. It will be like a field that is set apart to me. It will become the property of the priests.

22“ ‘Suppose a man sets apart to me a field he has bought. And suppose it is not part of his family’s land. 23Then the priest will decide its value based on the number of years that are left until the Year of Jubilee. The man must pay that value on the day it is decided. The money is holy. It is set apart for me.

24“ ‘In the Year of Jubilee the field will go back to the person the man bought it from. That person is the one who had owned the land before.

25“ ‘Every amount of money must be weighed out in keeping with the standard weights that are used in the sacred tent.

26“ ‘But no one can set apart the first male animal that is born to its mother. That animal already belongs to me. It does not matter whether it is an ox or a sheep. It belongs to me.

27“ ‘Suppose it is an animal that is not “clean.” Then the owner may buy it back at the value that has been decided. And he must add a fifth to its value. But suppose he does not buy it back. Then it must be sold at the value that has been decided.

28“ ‘But nothing a man owns and sets apart to me can be sold or bought back. It does not matter whether it is a person or an animal or a family’s land. Everything that is set apart to me is very holy to me.

29“ ‘No one who is set apart in a special way to be destroyed can be bought back. He must be put to death.

30“ ‘A tenth of everything the land produces belongs to me. That includes grain from the soil and fruit from the trees. It is holy. It is set apart for me. 31Suppose a man buys back some of his tenth. Then he must add a fifth of the cost to it.

32“ ‘The whole tenth of his herds and flocks will be holy. They will be set apart for me. That includes every tenth animal that its shepherd marks with his wooden staff. 33The owner must not pick out the good animals from the bad. He must not choose one animal instead of another. But if he does, both animals become holy. They can’t be bought back.’ ”

34The Lord gave Moses all of those commands on Mount Sinai for the people of Israel.