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27
Making promises about gifts to Yahweh
1 Yahweh also said to Moses/me, 2 “Tell the Israeli people that this is what I am saying to them: If anyone solemnly promises to dedicate another person to work solely for me, the person who is dedicated to me is allowed to be free from having to do that by someone paying to the priest a fixed amount of money. The money that is given must be calculated by comparing it with the official pieces of silver in the Sacred Tent. 3 These are the amounts that must be paid:
50 pieces of silver for men who are between 20 and 60 years old,
4 30 pieces of silver for adult women who are between 20 and 60 years old,
5 20 pieces of silver for young men who are between five and 20 years old,
ten pieces of silver for young women who are between five and 20 years old,
6 five pieces of silver for boys who are between one month and five years old,
three pieces of silver for girls who are between one month and five years old,
7 15 pieces of silver for men who are more than 60 years old,
ten pieces of silver for women who are more than 60 years old.
8 ‘If anyone who has made such a solemn promise is very poor and unable to pay, to free that person from doing what he had promised, he must take that person to the priest. The priest will set the price for freeing him to be what the person who made that solemn promise is able to pay.
9 ‘If someone solemnly promises to give an animal that is acceptable to be an offering to me, that animal becomes sacred and belongs to me. 10 The person who promised to give it must not give another animal instead of the one that he promised; he must not substitute a bad animal for a good one or even a better one than the one offered. If he would substitute one animal for the other, both animals would belong to me. 11 If the animal that he wishes to dedicate to me is a kind that is unacceptable to be an offering to me, he must take that animal to the priest. 12 The priest will then decide what its value is, according to the animal’s good and bad points. Whatever value the priests sets will be the value of the animal, and that is the price that the priest must pay for the animal. 13 If the man who gave the animal later decides that he wants to buy it back, he must pay to the priest that price plus an additional 20 percent.
14 ‘Similarly, if someone dedicates his house to be a sacred gift to belong to me, the priest will decide how much it is worth, which will depend on whether the house is in good condition. Whatever the priest says that it is worth, that will be its value and that is the price that the priest must pay for it. 15 If the man who dedicated his house to me later wants to buy it back, he must pay that price plus an additional 20 percent, and then the house will belong to him again.
16 ‘If someone dedicates to me some of the property that belongs to him and his family, its value will be determined by the number of bushels of seed that will be needed to plant seeds on that land: Its value will be ten pieces of silver for each bushel of seed. 17 If he dedicates the land during the Year of Celebration, its full value will be that amount. 18 But if he dedicates the field after the Year of Celebration, the priest will count the number of years until the next Year of Celebration, and if there are not many years that remain, the price will be much lower than the full price. 19 If the person who dedicated the field later wants to buy it back, he must pay to the priest the price that the priest says it is worth, plus an added one-fifth, and then the field will belong to that man again. 20 However, if he does not buy it back, or if it has been sold (OR, the priest has sold it) to someone else, that person will never be permitted to buy it back again. 21 In the Year of Celebration, it will become sacred again, and it will be given to the priest.
22 ‘If someone dedicates to me some land that he has bought, land which is not part of the land that his family has always owned, 23 the priest will count the number of years until the next Year of Celebration to determine how much it is worth, and the man must pay that amount to the priest on that day, and then that land will belong to that man again. 24 But in the Year of Celebration, the land will again be owned by the person from whom he bought it, the person whose family had always owned that land. 25 All the silver that is paid must be compared with the official pieces of silver in the Sacred Tent.
26 ‘No one is permitted to dedicate to me the firstborn of any cow or sheep, because the firstborn already belongs to me [DOU]. 27 If someone gives to me a kind of animal that is not acceptable to me, that person may later buy it back by paying what it is worth plus an additional 20 percent of its value. If he does not buy it back, it must be sold (OR, the priest must sell it) for its standard price.
28 ‘However, no slave or animal or family land that someone owns can be sold or bought back after it has been dedicated to me and no price has been paid for it. That kind of gift belongs to me permanently/forever.
29 ‘No person who has done something that I consider to be very wicked is permitted to be freed from being punished; that person must surely be executed.
30 ‘One tenth of all the crops and grain or fruit that is produced on anyone’s land is sacred and belongs to me. 31 If anyone wants to buy back any of that tenth, he must pay to the priest what it is worth plus an additional 20 percent. 32 One of every ten domestic animals belongs to me. When a shepherd counts his animals [MTY] to decide which ones he will give to me, he must mark every tenth one as belonging to me. 33 When he does that, he must not pick out the good ones for himself or leave the bad ones, or substitute bad ones for good ones. If he substitutes one animal for another, both animals will belong to me, and he will not be permitted to buy them back (OR, the shepherd cannot buy them back).’ ”
34 Those are the commands that Yahweh gave to Moses/me on Sinai Mountain to tell to the people.

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© 2008-2017 Ellis W. Deibler, Jr.