Leviticus 27

₁The 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:

₈If 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.

₉If 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.

₁₄When 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.

₁₆If 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.

₂₂If 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.

₂₅All 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.

₂₈No one may sell or buy back what he has unconditionally dedicated 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.

₃₀One-tenth of all the produce of the land, whether grain or fruit, belongs to the LORD. ₃₁If a man wishes to buy any of it back, he must pay the standard price plus an additional twenty per cent. ₃₂One out of every ten domestic animals belongs to the LORD. When the animals are counted, every tenth one belongs to the LORD. ₃₃The 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.

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