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Pentateuch · WORLD ENGLISH BIBLE

Leviticus 27

Holiness, sacrifice, priesthood, purity, atonement, and life near God's presence.

Old Testament

Leviticus 27

1The LORD spoke to Moses, saying,

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

3your valuation of a male from twenty years old to sixty years old shall be fifty shekels of silver, according to the shekel of the sanctuary.

4If she is a female, then your valuation shall be thirty shekels.

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

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

7If the person is from sixty years old and upward; if he is a male, then your valuation shall be fifteen shekels, and for a female ten shekels.

8But if he is poorer than your valuation, then he shall be set before the priest, and the priest shall assign a value to him. The priest shall assign a value according to his ability to pay.

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

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

11If it is any unclean animal, of which they do not offer as an offering to the LORD, then he shall set the animal before the priest;

12and the priest shall evaluate it, whether it is good or bad. As the priest evaluates it, so it shall be.

13But if he will indeed redeem it, then he shall add the fifth part of it to its valuation.

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

15If he who dedicates it will redeem his house, then he shall add the fifth part of the money of your valuation to it, and it shall be his.

16“‘If a man dedicates to the LORD part of the field of his possession, then your valuation shall be according to the seed for it. The sowing of a homer of barley shall be valued at fifty shekels of silver.

17If he dedicates his field from the Year of Jubilee, according to your valuation it shall stand.

18But if he dedicates his field after the Jubilee, then the priest shall reckon to him the money according to the years that remain to the Year of Jubilee; and an abatement shall be made from your valuation.

19If he who dedicated the field will indeed redeem it, then he shall add the fifth part of the money of your valuation to it, and it shall remain his.

20If he will not redeem the field, or if he has sold the field to another man, it shall not be redeemed any more;

21but the field, when it goes out in the Jubilee, shall be holy to the LORD, as a devoted field. It shall be owned by the priests.

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

23then the priest shall reckon to him the worth of your valuation up to the Year of Jubilee; and he shall give your valuation on that day, as a holy thing to the LORD.

24In the Year of Jubilee the field shall return to him from whom it was bought, even to him to whom the possession of the land belongs.

25All your valuations shall be according to the shekel of the sanctuary: twenty gerahs to the shekel.

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

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

28“‘Notwithstanding, no devoted thing that a man devotes to the LORD of all that he has, whether of man or animal, or of the field of his possession, shall be sold or redeemed. Everything that is permanently devoted is most holy to the LORD.

29“‘No one devoted to destruction, who shall be devoted from among men, shall be ransomed. He shall surely be put to death.

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

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

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

33He shall not examine whether it is good or bad, neither shall he exchange it. If he exchanges it at all, then both it and that for which it is exchanged shall be holy. It shall not be redeemed.’”

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

READ IN CONTEXT

Before applying this chapter

Holiness, sacrifice, priesthood, purity, atonement, and life near God's presence. Read Leviticus 27 within the complete Leviticus overview, and use the contextual Bible reading guide before forming a personal application. Chapter divisions aid navigation, but the literary unit may begin earlier or continue into the next chapter.

Observe first

Mark repeated words, changes of speaker, commands, promises, contrasts, questions, and the relationship between paragraphs.

Apply responsibly

Distinguish description from command and immediate audience from later readers before forming a personal application.

TEXT-DERIVED READING NOTES

What to notice in Leviticus 27

Leviticus 27 contains 34 verses and about 897 words in this translation. These observations come from the chapter itself; they are prompts for close reading, not claims about its only possible meaning.

The opening movement

Verse 1 begins: “The LORD spoke to Moses, saying,” Ask what situation, voice, image, or argument this opening establishes for everything that follows.

The closing movement

Verse 34 closes: “These are the commandments which the LORD commanded Moses for the children of Israel on Mount Sinai.” Compare the ending with the opening and note what changed, resolved, intensified, or remained open.

Vocabulary worth tracing

Recurring or prominent content words include valuation, field, priest, according, shekels, holy. Follow where each word appears and whether its meaning shifts with the speaker or setting.

COMMON QUESTIONS

About Leviticus 27

Which Bible translation is shown here?+

This page reproduces the World English Bible Protestant edition (WEBP), a modern-English translation dedicated to the public domain.

How should I cite a specific verse?+

Use the book, chapter, and verse—for example, Leviticus 27:1—and name the World English Bible if the wording matters. Each verse number above is a direct anchor link.

Does the chapter number define the complete literary unit?+

Not always. Chapter and verse numbers were added for navigation. Check the paragraphs, scenes, poetic stanzas, or argument before and after this chapter.

A SMALL NEXT STEP

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