Vows and Redemptions

¹YHWH spoke to Moses, saying,

²“Speak to the children of Israel, and say to them, ‘When a man consecrates a person to YHWH in a vow, according to your valuation,

³your valuation of a male between twenty and sixty years old is to be fifty shekels of silver, according to the shekel of the sanctuary.[#27:3 A shekel is about 10 grams or about 0.35 ounces.]

⁴If female, then your valuation is to be thirty shekels.

⁵If the person is between five and twenty years old, then your valuation is to be twenty shekels for a male and ten shekels for a female.

⁶If the person is between a month old and five years old, then your valuation is to be five shekels of silver for a male, three shekels of silver for a female.

⁷If the person is sixty years old or older, then your valuation is to be fifteen shekels for a male, and ten shekels for a female.

⁸But anyone is too poor to pay your valuation, then the person must be set before the priest, and the priest is to assign a value to the one who vowed according to their ability to pay.

⁹“‘If it is an animal of which men offer an offering to YHWH, all that any man gives of such to YHWH becomes holy.

¹⁰He must not alter it, nor exchange it, a good for a bad, or a bad for a good. If he does exchange animal for animal, then both it and that for which it is exchanged will be holy.

¹¹If it is any unclean animal which may not be offered as an offering to YHWH, then the animal must be presented to the priest,

¹²and the priest is to value whether it is good or bad. Whatever the priest values it, that it will be.

¹³If the owner redeems it, then a fifth must be added to its value.

¹⁴“‘When a man dedicates his house to be holy to YHWH, then the priest is to evaluate whether it is good or bad. As the priest evaluates it, so it will stand.

¹⁵If the one who dedicates it redeems their house, then they must add a fifth of value to it, and it will be theirs.

¹⁶“‘If someone dedicates a part of their field to YHWH, then your valuation will be according to the seed needed for it. The sowing of a homer of barley should be valued at fifty shekels of silver.[#27:16 1 homer is about 220 liters or 6 bushels; #27:16 A shekel is about 10 grams or about 0.35 ounces.]

¹⁷If they dedicate their field from the Year of Jubilee, your valuation of it will stand.

¹⁸But if they dedicate a field after the Jubilee, then the priest is to calculate the value according to the years that remain until the next Year of Jubilee and a deduction made from your valuation.

¹⁹If the one who dedicated the field redeems it, the value must be increased by a fifth, and it will remain theirs.

²⁰If they do not redeem the field, or if the field is sold to someone else, it may no longer be redeemed.

²¹When the field is released in the Jubilee, it will be holy to YHWH like a devoted field. It will be owned by the priests.

²²“‘If he dedicates a field to YHWH which he has bought, which is not of the field of his possession,

²³then the priest is to calculate for them the worth of your valuation up to the Year of Jubilee. The owner is to pay your valuation on that day, as a holy thing to YHWH.

²⁴In the Year of Jubilee the field will return to the one from whom it was bought, the one to whom the land belongs.

²⁵All your valuations must be set according to the shekel of the sanctuary: twenty gerahs to the shekel.[#27:25 A gerah is about 0.5 grams or about 7.7 grains.; #27:25 A shekel is about 10 grams or about 0.35 ounces.]

²⁶“‘However the firstborn among animals, which belongs to YHWH as a firstborn, no man may dedicate, whether an ox or a sheep. It is YHWH’s.

²⁷If it is an unclean animal, then he must buy it back according to your valuation and add to it the fifth part of it. If it isn’t redeemed, then it is to be sold according to your valuation.

²⁸“‘ Nevertheless, nothing that a man devotes to YHWH from all he has, whether of man or animal, or of the field of his possession, may be sold or redeemed. Everything that is permanently devoted is most holy to YHWH.

²⁹“‘No one devoted to destruction is to be ransomed. They must be executed-executed.

³⁰“‘All the tithe of the land, whether of the seed of the land or of the fruit of the trees, is YHWH’s. It is holy to YHWH.

³¹If a man redeems anything of his tithe, he must add a fifth part to it.

³²All the tithe of the herds or the flocks, whatever passes under the rod, the tenth will be holy to YHWH.

³³He is not to examine whether it is good or bad or exchange it. If he exchanges it at all, then both it and what it is exchanged for are holy. It can not be redeemed.’”

³⁴These are the commandments which YHWH commanded Moses for the children of Israel on Mount Sinai.