But you say it is all right for people to say to their parents,‘ Sorry, I can’t help you. For I have vowed to give to God what I would have given to you.’

你们倒说：‘无论何人对父母说：我所当奉给你的已经作了供献，

你们倒说：‘无论谁对父母说：我所当供奉你的已经作了奉献，

你们倒说：‘无论谁对父母说：我所当供奉你的已经作了奉献，

你们却说，‘人如果把供养父母的钱奉献给上帝，

你们却说：‘人若对父母说：“我应该给你们的，已经作了献给神的礼物”，

你们却说‘如果有人对父亲或母亲说：我本该给你的已经做了圣殿奉献，

你們倒說：『無論何人對父母說：我所當奉給你的已經作了供獻，

你們倒說：『無論誰對父母說：我所當供奉你的已經作了奉獻，

你們倒說：『無論誰對父母說：我所當供奉你的已經作了奉獻，

你們卻說，『人如果把供養父母的錢奉獻給上帝，

你們卻說：‘人若對父母說：“我應該給你們的，已經作了獻給神的禮物”，

你們倒說：『無論何人對父親或母親說：「你可由我得益之物、已經用做獻神禮物了」；

你們卻說『如果有人對父親或母親說：我本該給你的已經做了聖殿奉獻，

爾則曰、若人謂父母云、我所當奉於爾者、已獻於上帝矣、

惟爾則曰、若人對父母云、我所當奉親者、已獻為禮物、

惟爾曰、若人對父母云、爾所當得於我者、已獻為禮物、

汝則曰：「人第對父母云我所當奉親者、已獻為禮物、

But you say that if anyone declares that what might have been used to help their father or mother is‘ devoted to God,’

But suppose people have something that might be used to help their parents. You allow them to say it is instead‘ a gift set apart for God.’

But you say,‘ If anyone tells his father or his mother,“ What you would have gained from me is given to God,”

But you say,‘ Whoever tells his father or mother,“ Whatever benefit you might have received from me is a gift committed to the temple,”

But you say,‘ Whoever says to his father or mother,“ Whatever I have that would help you has been given to God,”

But you say,‘ Whoever says to his father or mother,“ Whatever profit you might have received from me is a gift to God”—

But ye say, Whosoever shall say to his father or his mother, That wherewith thou mightest have been profited by me is given to God;

But you say,‘ Whoever tells his father or mother,“ Whatever benefit you might have received from me is a gift committed to the temple”—

But ye say, Whosoever shall say to[ his] father or[ his] mother,[ It is] a gift, by whatsoever thou mightest be profited by me;

But you say,‘ If someone tells his father or mother,“ Whatever help you would have received from me is given to God,”

But you say,‘ Whoever may tell his father or his mother,“ Whatever help you might otherwise have gotten from me is a gift devoted to God,”

But Peter and John replied,“ Do you think God wants us to obey you rather than him?

“ Blind guides! What sorrow awaits you! For you say that it means nothing to swear‘ by God’s Temple,’ but that it is binding to swear‘ by the gold in the Temple.’Blind fools! Which is more important— the gold or the Temple that makes the gold sacred?And you say that to swear‘ by the altar’ is not binding, but to swear‘ by the gifts on the altar’ is binding.

But Peter and the apostles replied,“ We must obey God rather than any human authority.

For instance, Moses gave you this law from God:‘ Honor your father and mother,’ and‘ Anyone who speaks disrespectfully of father or mother must be put to death.’But you say it is all right for people to say to their parents,‘ Sorry, I can’t help you. For I have vowed to give to God what I would have given to you.’In this way, you let them disregard their needy parents.And so you cancel the word of God in order to hand down your own tradition. And this is only one example among many others.”

But the Lord called me away from my flock and told me,‘ Go and prophesy to my people in Israel.’Now then, listen to this message from the Lord:“ You say,‘ Don’t prophesy against Israel. Stop preaching against my people.’But this is what the Lord says:‘ Your wife will become a prostitute in this city, and your sons and daughters will be killed. Your land will be divided up, and you yourself will die in a foreign land. And the people of Israel will certainly become captives in exile, far from their homeland.’”

Don’t trap yourself by making a rash promise to God and only later counting the cost.

“ 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 the priest.He will assess its value, and his assessment will be final, whether high or low.If you want to buy back the animal, you must pay the value set by the priest, plus 20 percent.“ If someone dedicates a house to the Lord, the priest will come to assess its value. The priest’s assessment will be final, whether high or low.If the person who dedicated the house wants to buy it back, he must pay the value set by the priest, plus 20 percent. Then the house will again be his.“ If someone dedicates to the Lord a piece of his family property, its value will be assessed according to the amount of seed required to plant it— fifty shekels of silver for a field planted with five bushels of barley seed.If the field is dedicated to the Lord in the Year of Jubilee, then the entire assessment will apply.But if the field is dedicated after the Year of Jubilee, the priest will assess the land’s value in proportion to the number of years left until the next Year of Jubilee. Its assessed value is reduced each year.If the person who dedicated the field wants to buy it back, he must pay the value set by the priest, plus 20 percent. Then the field will again be legally his.But if he does not want to buy it back, and it is sold to someone else, the field can no longer be bought back.When the field is released in the Year of Jubilee, it will be holy, a field specially set apart for the Lord. It will become the property of the priests.“ If someone dedicates to the Lord a field he has purchased but which is not part of his family property,the priest will assess its value based on the number of years left until the next Year of Jubilee. On that day he must give the assessed value of the land as a sacred donation to the Lord.In the Year of Jubilee the field must be returned to the person from whom he purchased it, the one who inherited it as family property.( All the payments must be measured by the weight of the sanctuary shekel, which equals twenty gerahs.)“ You may not dedicate a firstborn animal to the Lord, for the firstborn of your cattle, sheep, and goats already belong to him.However, you may buy back the firstborn of a ceremonially unclean animal by paying the priest’s assessment of its worth, plus 20 percent. If you do not buy it back, the priest will sell it at its assessed value.“ However, anything specially set apart for the Lord— whether a person, an animal, or family property— must never be sold or bought back. Anything devoted in this way has been set apart as holy, and it belongs to the Lord.No person specially set apart for destruction may be bought back. Such a person must be put to death.“ One tenth of the produce of the land, whether grain from the fields or fruit from the trees, belongs to the Lord and must be set apart to him as holy.If you want to buy back the Lord’s tenth of the grain or fruit, you must pay its value, plus 20 percent.Count off every tenth animal from your herds and flocks and set them apart for the Lord as holy.You may not pick and choose between good and bad animals, and you may not substitute one for another. But if you do exchange one animal for another, then both the original animal and its substitute will be considered holy and cannot be bought back.”These are the commands that the Lord gave through Moses on Mount Sinai for the Israelites.