Leviticus 27
1 The Lord spoke to Moses: 2 “Speak to the Israelites and tell them, ‘When a man makes a special votive offering based on the conversion value of a person to the Lord, 3 the conversion value of the male from twenty years old up to sixty years old is fifty shekels by the standard of the sanctuary shekel. 4 If the person is a female, the conversion value is thirty shekels. 5 If the person is from five years old up to twenty years old, the conversion value of the male is twenty shekels, and for the female ten shekels. 6 If the person is one month old up to five years old, the conversion value of the male is five shekels of silver, and for the female the conversion value is three shekels of silver. 7 If the person is from sixty years old and older, if he is a male the conversion value is fifteen shekels, and for the female ten shekels. 8 If the person making the votive offering is too poor to pay the conversion value, he must stand the person before the priest and the priest will establish his conversion value; according to what the man who made the votive offering can afford, the priest will establish his conversion value.
9 “‘If what is vowed is a kind of animal from which an offering may be presented to the Lord, anything which he gives to the Lord from this kind of animal will be holy. 10 He must not replace or exchange it, good for bad or bad for good, and if he does indeed exchange one animal for another animal, then both the original animal and its substitute will be holy. 11 If what is vowed is an unclean animal from which an offering must not be presented to the Lord, then he must stand the animal before the priest, 12 and the priest will establish its conversion value, whether good or bad. According to the conversion value assessed by the priest, thus it will be. 13 If, however, the person who made the vow redeems the animal, he must add one-fifth to its conversion value.
14 “‘If a man consecrates his house as holy to the Lord, the priest will establish its conversion value, whether good or bad. Just as the priest establishes its conversion value, thus it will stand. 15 If the one who consecrates it redeems his house, he must add to it one-fifth of its conversion value in silver, and it will belong to him.
16 “‘If a man consecrates to the Lord some of his own landed property, the conversion value must be calculated in accordance with the amount of seed needed to sow it, a homer of barley seed being priced at fifty shekels of silver. 17 If he consecrates his field in the Jubilee year, the conversion value will stand, 18 but if he consecrates his field after the Jubilee, the priest will calculate the price for him according to the years that are left until the next Jubilee year, and it will be deducted from the conversion value. 19 If, however, the one who consecrated the field redeems it, he must add to it one-fifth of the conversion price and it will belong to him. 20 If he does not redeem the field, but sells the field to someone else, he may never redeem it. 21 When it reverts in the Jubilee, the field will be holy to the Lord like a permanently dedicated field; it will become the priest’s property.
22 “‘If he consecrates to the Lord a field he has purchased, which is not part of his own landed property, 23 the priest will calculate for him the amount of its conversion value until the Jubilee year, and he must pay the conversion value on that Jubilee day as something that is holy to the Lord. 24 In the Jubilee year the field will return to the one from whom he bought it, the one to whom it belongs as landed property. 25 Every conversion value must be calculated by the standard of the sanctuary shekel; twenty gerahs to the shekel.
26 “‘Surely no man may consecrate a firstborn that already belongs to the Lord as a firstborn among the animals; whether it is an ox or a sheep, it belongs to the Lord. 27 If, however, it is among the unclean animals, he may ransom it according to its conversion value and must add one-fifth to it, but if it is not redeemed it must be sold according to its conversion value.
28 “‘Surely anything that a man permanently dedicates to the Lord from all that belongs to him, whether from people, animals, or his landed property, must be neither sold nor redeemed; anything permanently dedicated is most holy to the Lord. 29 Any human being who is permanently dedicated to the Lord must not be ransomed; such a person must be put to death.
30 “‘Any tithe of the land, from the grain of the land or from the fruit of the trees, belongs to the Lord; it is holy to the Lord. 31 If a man redeems part of his tithe, however, he must add one-fifth to it. 32 All the tithe of herds or flocks, everything which passes under the rod, the tenth one will be holy to the Lord. 33 The owner must not examine the animals to distinguish between good and bad, and he must not exchange it. If, however, he does exchange it, both the original animal and its substitute will be holy and must not be redeemed.’”
34 These are the commandments which the Lord commanded Moses to tell the Israelites at Mount Sinai.
Psalms 34
1 I will praise the Lord at all times;
my mouth will continually praise him.
2 I will boast in the Lord;
let the oppressed hear and rejoice.
3 Magnify the Lord with me.
Let us praise his name together.
4 I sought the Lord’s help and he answered me;
he delivered me from all my fears.
5 Look to him and be radiant;
do not let your faces be ashamed.
6 This oppressed man cried out and the Lord heard;
he saved him from all his troubles.
7 The angel of the Lord camps around
the Lord’s loyal followers and delivers them.
8 Taste and see that the Lord is good.
How blessed is the one who takes shelter in him.
9 Fear the Lord, you chosen people of his,
for those who fear him lack nothing.
10 Even young lions sometimes lack food and are hungry,
but those who seek the Lord lack no good thing.
11 Come children. Listen to me.
I will teach you what it means to fear the Lord.
12 Do you want to really live?
Would you love to live a long, happy life?
13 Then make sure you don’t speak evil words
or use deceptive speech.
14 Turn away from evil and do what is right.
Strive for peace and promote it.
15 The Lord pays attention to the godly
and hears their cry for help.
16 But the Lord opposes evildoers
and wipes out all memory of them from the earth.
17 The godly cry out and the Lord hears;
he saves them from all their troubles.
18 The Lord is near the brokenhearted;
he delivers those who are discouraged.
19 The godly face many dangers,
but the Lord saves them from each one of them.
20 He protects all his bones;
not one of them is broken.
21 Evil people self-destruct;
those who hate the godly are punished.
22 The Lord rescues his servants;
all who take shelter in him escape punishment.
Ecclesiastes 10
1 One dead fly makes the perfumer’s ointment give off a rancid stench,
so a little folly can outweigh much wisdom.
2 A wise person’s good sense protects him,
but a fool’s lack of sense leaves him vulnerable.
3 Even when a fool walks along the road he lacks sense,
and shows everyone what a fool he is.
4 If the anger of the ruler flares up against you, do not resign from your position,
for a calm response can undo great offenses.
5 I have seen another misfortune on the earth:
It is an error a ruler makes.
6 Fools are placed in many positions of authority,
while wealthy men sit in lowly positions.
7 I have seen slaves on horseback
and princes walking on foot like slaves.
8 One who digs a pit may fall into it,
and one who breaks through a wall may be bitten by a snake.
9 One who quarries stones may be injured by them;
one who splits logs may be endangered by them.
10 If an iron axhead is blunt and a workman does not sharpen its edge,
he must exert a great deal of effort;
so wisdom has the advantage of giving success.
11 If the snake should bite before it is charmed,
the snake charmer is in trouble.
12 The words of a wise person win him favor,
but the words of a fool are self-destructive.
13 At the beginning his words are foolish
and at the end his talk is wicked madness,
14 yet a fool keeps on babbling.
No one knows what will happen;
who can tell him what will happen in the future?
15 The toil of a stupid fool wears him out,
because he does not even know the way to the city.
16 Woe to you, O land, when your king is childish,
and your princes feast in the morning.
17 Blessed are you, O land, when your king is the son of nobility,
and your princes feast at the proper time—with self-control and not in drunkenness.
18 Because of laziness the roof caves in,
and because of idle hands the house leaks.
19 Feasts are made for laughter,
and wine makes life merry,
but money is the answer for everything.
20 Do not curse a king even in your thoughts,
and do not curse the rich while in your bedroom;
for a bird might report what you are thinking,
or some winged creature might repeat your words.
Titus 2
1 But as for you, communicate the behavior that goes with sound teaching. 2 Older men are to be temperate, dignified, self-controlled, sound in faith, in love, and in endurance. 3 Older women likewise are to exhibit behavior fitting for those who are holy, not slandering, not slaves to excessive drinking, but teaching what is good. 4 In this way they will train the younger women to love their husbands, to love their children, 5 to be self-controlled, pure, fulfilling their duties at home, kind, being subject to their own husbands, so that the message of God may not be discredited. 6 Encourage younger men likewise to be self-controlled, 7 showing yourself to be an example of good works in every way. In your teaching show integrity, dignity, 8 and a sound message that cannot be criticized, so that any opponent will be at a loss, because he has nothing evil to say about us. 9 Slaves are to be subject to their own masters in everything, to do what is wanted and not talk back, 10 not pilfering, but showing all good faith, in order to bring credit to the teaching of God our Savior in everything.
11 For the grace of God has appeared, bringing salvation to all people. 12 It trains us to reject godless ways and worldly desires and to live self-controlled, upright, and godly lives in the present age, 13 as we wait for the happy fulfillment of our hope in the glorious appearing of our great God and Savior, Jesus Christ. 14 He gave himself for us to set us free from every kind of lawlessness and to purify for himself a people who are truly his, who are eager to do good. 15 So communicate these things with the sort of exhortation or rebuke that carries full authority. Don’t let anyone look down on you.
