1You shall make no idols nor carved image, nor rear you up a standing image, nor shall you set up any image of stone in your land, to bow down to one: for I am the LORD your God.
2You shall keep My sabbaths, and reverence My sanctuary: I am the LORD.
3If you walk in My statutes, and keep My commandments, and do them;
4Then I will give you rain in due season, and the land shall yield her increase, and the trees of the field shall yield their fruit.
5And your threshing shall reach until the next vintage, and the vintage shall reach until the sowing time: and you shall eat your bread to the full, and dwell in your land safely.
6And I will give peace in the land, and you shall lie down, and none shall make you afraid: and I will rid evil beasts out of the land, nor shall the sword go through your land.
7And you shall chase your enemies, and they shall fall before you by the sword.
8And five of you shall chase a hundred, and a hundred of you shall put ten thousand to flight: and your enemies shall fall before you by the sword.
9For I will look with favor upon you, and make you fruitful, and multiply you, and establish My covenant with you.
10And you shall eat old store, and clear out the old to make room for the new.
11And I will set My tabernacle among you: and I shall not abhor you.
12And I will walk among you, and will be your God, and you shall be My people.
13I am the LORD your God, Who brought you out of the land of Egypt, that you should not be their slaves; and I have broken the yoke on your neck, and let you go upright.
14But if you will not listen to Me, and will not do all these commandments;
15And if you despise My statutes, or if your soul abhors My judgments, so that you will not obey all My commandments, but break My covenant:
16I also will do this to you; I will appoint over you terror, consumption, and the burning fever, that shall consume the eyes, and cause sadness of heart: and you shall sow your seed in vain, for your enemies shall eat its yield.
17And I will turn against you, and you shall be slain before your enemies: those that hate you shall reign over you; and you shall flee when no one pursues you.
18And if you still will not, for all this, listen to Me, then I will punish you seven times more for your sins.
19And I will break the pride of your power; and I will make your sky like iron, and your earth like bronze:
20And your strength shall be exhausted in vain: for your land shall not yield its increase, nor shall the trees of the land yield their fruit.
21And if you remain hostile to Me, and will not listen to Me; I will bring seven times more plagues upon you according to your sins.
22I will also send wild beasts among you, which shall rob you of your children, and destroy your cattle, and make you so few in number that your highways shall become deserted.
23And if you will not be reformed by Me by these measures, but remain hostile to Me;
24Then will I also be hostile to you, and will punish you yet seven times for your sins.
25And I will bring a sword upon you, that shall avenge the breaking of My covenant: and when you retreat within your cities, I will send the pestilence among you; and you shall be delivered into the hand of the enemy.
26And when I have broken the supply of your food, ten women shall bake your bread in one oven, and they shall deliver your bread again by weight: and you shall eat, and not be satisfied.
27And if you will not for all this listen to Me, but remain hostile to Me;
28Then I will also be hostile to you in fury; and I will chastise you seven times for your sins.
29And you shall eat the flesh of your sons and your daughters.
30And I will destroy your high places, cut down your images, and throw your carcasses upon those of your feckless, inanimate idols, and I shall despise you.
31And I will lay your cities waste, and destroy your places of pagan worship, and I will not smell the savor of your sweet aromas.
32And I will devastate the land: and your enemies who dwell there shall be astonished at it.
33And I will scatter you among the heathen, and will draw out a sword after you: and your land shall be desolate, and your cities waste.
34Then the land shall enjoy her sabbaths, as long as it lies fallow and deserted, while you are in your enemies' land - then shall the land rest, and enjoy her sabbaths.
35As long as it lies desolate it shall rest; because it did not rest in your sabbaths, when you dwelt in it.
36And I will send a faintness into their hearts of those that are left alive of you in the lands of their enemies; and the sound of a rustling leaf shall chase them; and they shall flee, as fleeing from a sword; and they shall fall when no one is in pursuit.
37And they shall stumble upon one another, as if before a sword, when no one pursues: and you shall have no power to stand before your enemies.
38And you shall perish among the nations, and the land of your enemies shall devour you.
39And they who are left of you shall pine away in their iniquity in your enemies' lands; as well as in the iniquities of their fathers.
40If they shall confess their sins, and the iniquity of their fathers, with their trespass which they trespassed against Me, and that also they have walked been hostile toward Me;
41And that I also been hostile toward them, and have exiled them into the land of their enemies; if then their uncircumcised hearts are humbled, and accept the punishment for their iniquity:
42Then will I remember My covenant with Jacob, and My covenant with Isaac, and My covenant with Abraham; and I will remember the land.
43The land shall also be abandoned by them, and shall enjoy its sabbaths, while it lies dormant without them: and they shall humbly accept the punishment for their iniquity: because they had despised My judgments, and had disdain for My statutes.
44And yet, in spite of all that, when they are in the land of their enemies, I will not completely reject them, nor will I cancel My covenant that I made with them, to utterly destroy them, and break My covenant with them: for I am the LORD their God.
45But for their sakes I will remember the covenant with their ancestors, that I brought out of the land of Egypt in plain view of the surrounding nations, that I might be their God: I am the LORD.”
46These are the statutes and ordinances and laws, which the LORD made between Himself and the children of Israel though Moses on Mount Sinai. This final chapter of Leviticus is a departure from the preceding 26 chapters where God instructs Moses regarding the laws, statutes, and ordinances that He rightfully expected His people to abide by. Obedience to them was not optional! God was preparing His people to occupy the land He had promised them; and gave them these laws so that they would not follow the pagan customs or behavior of its previous occupants – the ones that, because of their evil ways, God would drive out before the Israelites. Those first 26 chapters dealt with detailed compulsory offerings and laws that were given to them for their own good. Those same laws also give us deeper appreciation for the grace we now enjoy – being no longer under “law”, but “grace” – unmerited favor and liberty purchased for us by His Son, and our Savior, Jesus Christ. And while we do not live under those rigid laws, they still have value, offering us wisdom and guidance for a godly life. But this final chapter is unlike the others: what it prescribes is strictly voluntary. Leviticus 27 deals with God’s rules for vows we may choose to make to Him of our own volition – we are under no obligation to make any of them – but if we do, we are most certainly obligated to fulfil any that we voluntarily make; and He gives Moses the rules for these vows. These vows may dedicate the person making the vow, his children, or others - which could include servants, slaves, or even animals or inanimate property such as fields or houses. Verses 2-8 are the rules for vows dedicating a person, or persons, to the LORD. Those rules call for estimating the value of the persons being dedicated by the vow. The possessive pronoun “your” in “by your valuation” in verse 2 refers to Moses. The rules call for the person making the vow to pay the estimated value. It also seemed to provide for “redeeming”, “reversing” or “buying back” the person or thing that was dedicated by the vow – but at a cost higher than the initial valuation. God seems to have made this provision in anticipation of well-meaning people who are “caught up in the moment” and offer something that they may not be willing or able to fulfil – to save them from their own impetuosity - because to promise something to God and then renege is not taken lightly by God. (Eccles.5:2-5) The Bible has many examples of vows made to the LORD and fulfilled. Here are two: In I Sam.1:11, Hannah, the barren wife of Elkanah, petitioned the LORD for a son; and she made such a vow to the LORD, dedicating her yet unconceived and unborn son to the service of the LORD. Then, as soon as he was born and weaned, she brought him (Samuel) to Eli, the priest in the sanctuary in Shiloh, where he then served (see I Sam.3:1). However, that passage makes no mention of an estimation of value, as set forth here in Lev.27. In Judges 11:29-40, we have the story of Jephthah, who made a rash vow – and fulfilled it at a painful cost. Easy Reader Bible: Purple Letter Edition © 2023 by Jim Musser. Used by Permission. All rights Reserved. Bible Hub |
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