God

Rather, for their sakes, I will remember the covenant of their ancestors whom I brought out of the land of Egypt -with the nations watching -so that I might be their God; I am ADONAI.'"

These are the laws, rulings and teachings that ADONAI himself gave to the people of Isra'el on Mount Sinai through Moshe.

ADONAI said to Moshe,

"Tell the people of Isra'el, 'If someone makes a clearly defined vow to ADONAI to give him an amount equal to the value of a human being,

"'If the vow is for the value of an animal of the kind used when people bring an offering to ADONAI, all that a person gives of such animals to ADONAI will be holy.

If the animal is an unclean one, such as may not be used in an offering to ADONAI, he must set it before the cohen;

"'When a person consecrates his house to be holy for ADONAI, the cohen is to set a value on it in relation to its good and bad points; the value set by the cohen will stand.

"'If a person consecrates to ADONAI part of a field belonging to his tribe's possession, you are to value it according to its production, with five bushels of barley being valued at fifty shekels of silver [one-and-a-quarter pounds].

But when the purchaser has to vacate the field in the yovel, it will become holy to ADONAI, like a field unconditionally consecrated; it will belong to the cohanim.

"'If he consecrates to ADONAI a field which he has bought, a field which is not part of his tribe's possession,

then the cohen is to calculate its value according to the years remaining until the year of yovel; and the man will on that same day pay this amount; since it is holy to ADONAI.

"'However, the firstborn among animals, since it is already born as a firstborn for ADONAI, no one can consecrate -neither ox nor sheep -since it belongs to ADONAI already.

However, nothing consecrated unconditionally which a person may consecrate to ADONAI out of all he owns - person, animal or field he possesses -is to be sold or redeemed; because everything consecrated unconditionally is especially holy to ADONAI.

"'All the tenth given from the land, whether from planted seed or fruit from trees, belongs to ADONAI; it is holy to ADONAI.

"'All the tenth from the herd or the flock, whatever passes under the shepherd's crook, the tenth one will be holy to ADONAI.

These are the mitzvot which ADONAI gave to Moshe for the people of Isra'el on Mount Sinai.

ADONAI spoke to Moshe in the Sinai Desert, in the tent of meeting, on the first day of the second month of the second year after they had left the land of Egypt. He said,

Moshe counted them in the Sinai Desert, just as ADONAI had ordered him.

because ADONAI had told Moshe,

This is what the people of Isra'el did - they did everything that ADONAI had ordered Moshe.

ADONAI said to Moshe and Aharon,

But, as ADONAI ordered Moshe, the L'vi'im were not counted with the rest of Isra'el.

The people of Isra'el did everything ADONAI had ordered Moshe: they set up camp under their banners, and they set out, each according to his family and clan.

These are the descendants of Aharon and Moshe as of the day when ADONAI spoke with Moshe on Mount Sinai.

But Nadav and Avihu died in the presence of ADONAI when they offered unauthorized fire before ADONAI in the Sinai Desert, and they had no children; El'azar and Itamar served as cohanim in the presence of Aharon their father.