Leviticus 26:14-46, Leviticus 27:1-34 NIRV

Leviticus 26:14-46

Punishment for Not Obeying the Lord

“ ‘On the other hand, suppose you do not listen to me. Suppose you do not carry out all my commands. Suppose you say no to my rules and turn away from my laws. And suppose you break my covenant by failing to carry out all my commands. Then here is what I will do to you. All at once I will bring terror on you. I will send sicknesses that will make you weak. I will send fever that will destroy your sight. It will slowly take your strength away. When you plant seeds, it will not do you any good. Instead, your enemies will eat what you have planted. I will turn against you. Then your enemies will win the battle over you. Those who hate you will rule over you. You will run away even when no one is chasing you.

“ ‘After all that, suppose you still will not listen to me. Then I will punish you for your sins seven times. I will break down your stubborn pride. I will make the sky above you like iron, and it will not rain. I will make the ground under you like bronze, and you will not be able to farm it. You will work with all your strength, but it will not do you any good. That is because your soil will not produce any crops. The trees of your land will not bear any fruit.

“ ‘Suppose you continue to be my enemy. And suppose you still refuse to listen to me. Then I will multiply your troubles many times because of your sins. I will send wild animals against you. They will kill your children. They will destroy your cattle. There will be so few of you left that your roads will be deserted.

“ ‘After all those things, suppose you still do not accept my warnings. And suppose you continue to be my enemy. Then I myself will be your enemy. I will make you suffer again and again for your sins. I will send war against you to punish you for breaking my covenant. When you go back into your cities, I will send a plague among you. You will be handed over to your enemies. I will cut off your supply of bread. Ten women will need only one oven to bake your bread. They will weigh out the bread piece by piece. Even when you eat all of it, it will not be enough to satisfy you.

“ ‘After all that, suppose you still do not listen to me. And suppose you continue to be my enemy. Then I will be angry with you. I will be your enemy. I myself will again punish you for your sins over and over. You will eat the dead bodies of your sons. You will also eat the dead bodies of your daughters. I will destroy the high places where you worship other gods. I will pull down your incense altars. I will pile up your dead bodies on the lifeless statues of your gods. And I will turn away from you. I will completely destroy your cities. I will destroy your places of worship. The pleasant smell of your offerings will not give me any delight. I myself will destroy your land so completely that your enemies who live there will be shocked. I will scatter you among the nations. I will pull out my sword and hunt you down. Your land and your cities will be completely destroyed. Then the deserted land will enjoy its sabbath years. It will rest. It will not be farmed. It will enjoy its sabbaths. But you will become prisoners in the country of your enemies. The land will rest the whole time it is deserted. It was not able to rest during the sabbaths you lived in it.

“ ‘Some of you will be left in the lands of your enemies. I will fill your hearts with fear. The sound of a leaf blown by the wind will scare you away. You will run as if you were escaping from swords. You will fall down, even though no one is chasing you. You will trip over one another as if you were running away from the battle. You will run away, even though no one is chasing you. You will not be able to stand and fight against your enemies. While you are still scattered among the nations, you will die. The lands of your enemies will destroy you. You who are left in those lands will become weaker and weaker. You will die because of your sins and the sins of your people who lived before you.

“ ‘But suppose you admit that both you and your people who lived before you have sinned. You admit the evil and dishonest things you have done against me. And you admit you have become my enemy. What you did made me become your enemy. I let your enemies take you into their land. But suppose you stop being stubborn. You stop being proud. And you pay for your sin. Then I will remember my covenant with Jacob. I will remember my covenant with Isaac. I will remember my covenant with Abraham. I will remember what I said to them about the land. You will leave the land. It will enjoy its sabbaths while it lies deserted because you are not there. You will pay for your sins because you said no to my laws. You turned away from my rules. But even after all that, I will not say no to you or turn away from you. I will not destroy you completely in the land of your enemies. I will not break my covenant with you. I am the Lord your God. Because of you, I will remember the covenant I made with the people of Israel who lived before you. I brought them out of Egypt to be their God. The nations saw me do it. I am the Lord.’ ”

These are the orders, the laws and the rules of the covenant the Lord made on Mount Sinai. He made it between himself and the Israelites through Moses.

Read More of Leviticus 26

Leviticus 27:1-34

Keep Your Promises to the Lord

The Lord said to Moses, “Speak to the Israelites. Tell them, ‘Suppose someone makes a special promise to set a person apart to serve the Lord. Here is how much it will cost to set that person free from the promise to serve. The cost for a male between the ages of twenty and sixty is 20 ounces of silver. It must be weighed out in keeping with the standard weights that are used in the sacred tent. The cost for a female of the same age is 12 ounces of silver. The cost for a male between the ages of five and twenty is 8 ounces of silver. The cost for a female of the same age is 4 ounces of silver. The cost for a male between the ages of one month and five years is 2 ounces of silver. The cost for a female of the same age is 1 ounce of silver. The cost for a male who is sixty years old or more is 6 ounces of silver. The cost for a female of the same age is 4 ounces of silver. But suppose the one who makes the special promise is too poor to pay the required amount. Then they must bring to the priest the person who will be set free. The priest will decide the right value for that person. It will be based on how much the one who makes the promise can afford.

“ ‘Suppose what they promised is an animal that the Lord will accept as an offering. Then the animal given to the Lord becomes holy. The one who makes the promise must not trade it. They must not trade a good animal for a bad one. And they must not trade a bad animal for a good one. Suppose they choose one animal instead of another. Then both animals become holy. Suppose the animal they promised is not “clean.” Suppose the Lord will not accept it as an offering. Then the animal must be brought to the priest. He will decide whether it is good or bad. Its value will be what he decides it will be. Suppose the owner wants to buy the animal back. Then a fifth must be added to its cost.

“ ‘Suppose someone sets apart their house as something holy to the Lord. Then the priest will decide whether it is good or bad. Its value will remain what he decides it will be. Suppose the person sets apart their house. And suppose later they want to buy it back. Then they must add a fifth to its value. The house will belong to them again.

“ ‘Suppose someone sets apart a piece of their family’s land to the Lord. Then here is how its value must be decided. It must be based on the number of seeds that are required to grow a full crop on it. That value will be 20 ounces of silver for every 300 pounds of barley seeds. Suppose they set apart their field during the Year of Jubilee. Then the value that has been decided will not be changed. But suppose they set apart their field after the Year of Jubilee. Then here is how the priest will decide its value. It will be based on the number of years that are left until the next Year of Jubilee. The value decided will be reduced. Suppose the one who set apart their field wants to buy it back. Then they must add a fifth to its value. The field will belong to them again. But suppose they do not buy back the field. Instead, suppose they sell it to someone else. Then they can never buy it back. When the field is set free in the Year of Jubilee, it will become holy. It will be like a field set apart to the Lord. It will become the property of the priests.

“ ‘Suppose someone sets apart to the Lord a field they have bought. And suppose it is not part of their family’s land. Then here is how the priest will decide its value. It will be based on the number of years that are left until the Year of Jubilee. The owner must pay that value on the day it is decided. The money is holy. It is set apart for the Lord. In the Year of Jubilee the field will go back to the person it was bought from. That person is the one who had owned the land before. Every amount of money must be weighed out in keeping with the standard weights used in the sacred tent.

“ ‘But no one can set apart the first male animal born to its mother. That animal already belongs to the Lord. It does not matter whether it is an ox or a sheep. It belongs to the Lord. Suppose it is an “unclean” animal. Then the owner may buy it back at the value that has been decided. And they must add a fifth to its value. But suppose it is not bought back. Then it must be sold at the value that has been decided.

“ ‘But nothing a person owns and sets apart to the Lord can be sold or bought back. It does not matter whether it is a human being or an animal or a family’s land. Everything set apart to the Lord is very holy to him.

“ ‘No one set apart in a special way to be destroyed can be bought back. They must be put to death.

“ ‘A tenth of everything the land produces belongs to the Lord. That includes grain from the soil and fruit from the trees. It is holy. It is set apart for him. Suppose someone wants to buy back some of their tenth. Then they must add a fifth of the cost to it. Every tenth part of herds and flocks will be holy. They will be set apart for the Lord. That includes every tenth animal that its shepherd marks with his wooden staff. No one may pick out the good animals from the bad. They must not choose one animal instead of another. But if anyone does, both animals become holy. They can’t be bought back.’ ”

The Lord gave Moses all these commands on Mount Sinai for the Israelites.

Read More of Leviticus 27