Immerse: Beginnings Full Volume - Flipbook - Page 209
26:40–27:11
L e v itic u s
197
“But at last my people will confess their sins and the sins of their ancestors for betraying me and being hostile toward me. When I have turned
their hostility back on them and brought them to the land of their enemies,
then at last their stubborn hearts will be humbled, and they will pay for
their sins. Then I will remember my covenant with Jacob and my covenant
with Isaac and my covenant with Abraham, and I will remember the land.
For the land must be abandoned to enjoy its years of Sabbath rest as it lies
deserted. At last the people will pay for their sins, for they have continually
rejected my regulations and despised my decrees.
“But despite all this, I will not utterly reject or despise them while they
are in exile in the land of their enemies. I will not cancel my covenant with
them by wiping them out, for I am the Lord their God. For their sakes I
will remember my ancient covenant with their ancestors, whom I brought
out of the land of Egypt in the sight of all the nations, that I might be their
God. I am the Lord.”
These are the decrees, regulations, and instructions that the Lord
gave through Moses on Mount Sinai as evidence of the relationship between himself and the Israelites.
The Lord said to Moses, “Give the following instructions to the people
of Israel. If anyone makes a special vow to dedicate someone to the Lord
by paying the value of that person, here is the scale of values to be used.
A man between the ages of twenty and sixty is valued at fifty shekels
of silver, as measured by the sanctuary shekel. A woman of that age is
valued at thirty shekels of silver. A boy between the ages of five and
twenty is valued at twenty shekels of silver; a girl of that age is valued
at ten shekels of silver. A boy between the ages of one month and five
years is valued at five shekels of silver; a girl of that age is valued at three
shekels of silver. A man older than sixty is valued at fifteen shekels of
silver; a woman of that age is valued at ten shekels of silver. If you desire
to make such a vow but cannot afford to pay the required amount, take
the person to the priest. He will determine the amount for you to pay
based on what you can afford.
“If your vow involves giving an animal that is acceptable as an offering
to the Lord, any gift to the Lord will be considered holy. You may not
exchange or substitute it for another animal—neither a good animal for
a bad one nor a bad animal for a good one. But if you do exchange one
animal for another, then both the original animal and its substitute will be
considered holy. If your vow involves an unclean animal—one that is not
acceptable as an offering to the Lord—then you must bring the animal to
