“ Will a mere human being dare to steal from God? But you rob me!“ You ask,‘ How are we robbing you?’“ By holding back your offerings. You also steal from me when you do not bring me a tenth of everything you produce.

人岂可夺取神之物呢？你们竟夺取我的供物。你们却说：‘我们在何事上夺取你的供物呢？’就是你们在当纳的十分之一和当献的供物上。

人岂可抢夺上帝呢？你们竟抢夺我！你们却说：‘我们在何事上抢夺你呢？’其实就是在你们当纳的十分之一奉献和当献的供物上。

人岂可抢夺神呢？你们竟抢夺我！你们却说：‘我们在何事上抢夺你呢？’其实就是在你们当纳的十分之一奉献和当献的供物上。

人怎可抢夺上帝的东西呢？可是你们不但抢夺我的东西，还说，‘我们在何事上抢过你的东西呢？’“你们在十分之一的奉献和其他供物上抢夺我的东西。

人怎可抢夺神之物呢？你们却抢夺属我之物，竟还问：‘我们抢夺了你的什么呢？’就是抢夺了当纳的十分之一和当献的祭物。

难道人会抢夺神吗？你们却抢夺我！你们竟然问：‘我们是怎么抢夺你的呢？’你们是在当纳的十分之一和当献的供物上抢夺我的。

人豈可奪取神之物呢？你們竟奪取我的供物。你們卻說：『我們在何事上奪取你的供物呢？』就是你們在當納的十分之一和當獻的供物上。

人豈可搶奪上帝呢？你們竟搶奪我！你們卻說：『我們在何事上搶奪你呢？』其實就是在你們當納的十分之一奉獻和當獻的供物上。

人豈可搶奪神呢？你們竟搶奪我！你們卻說：『我們在何事上搶奪你呢？』其實就是在你們當納的十分之一奉獻和當獻的供物上。

人怎可搶奪上帝的東西呢？可是你們不但搶奪我的東西，還說，『我們在何事上搶過你的東西呢？』「你們在十分之一的奉獻和其他供物上搶奪我的東西。

人怎可搶奪神之物呢？你們卻搶奪屬我之物，竟還問：‘我們搶奪了你的甚麼呢？’就是搶奪了當納的十分之一和當獻的祭物。

人怎可搶奪上帝之物呢？你們呢、竟搶奪了獻與我之物！卻還問說：「我們在甚麼事上搶奪了獻與你之物呢？」那就是當納的十分之一和當奉的獻物啊。

難道人會搶奪神嗎？你們卻搶奪我！你們竟然問：『我們是怎麼搶奪你的呢？』你們是在當納的十分之一和當獻的供物上搶奪我的。

人可行竊於上帝乎、爾乃行竊於我、爾曰於何行竊於爾、在於輸什一、及獻禮物也、

曰、人豈可欺上帝哉、惟爾欺我、爾曰、何欺爾、曰、不納什一、不獻禮物、

曰、人豈可欺天主哉、惟爾曹欺我、爾曹曰、在何事欺主、答曰、在當納之什一、在當獻之禮物、

“ Will a mere mortal rob God? Yet you rob me.“ But you ask,‘ How are we robbing you?’“ In tithes and offerings.

Will man rob God? Yet you are robbing me. But you say,‘ How have we robbed you?’ In your tithes and contributions.

“ Should people cheat God? Yet you have cheated me!“ But you ask,‘ What do you mean? When did we ever cheat you?’“ You have cheated me of the tithes and offerings due to me.

“ Will a man rob God? Yet you are robbing me!”“ How do we rob you?” you ask.“ By not making the payments of the tenth and the contributions.

“ Would anyone rob God? Yet you are robbing Me! But you say,‘ How have we robbed You?’ In tithes and offerings.

“ Will a man rob God? Yet you have robbed Me! But you say,‘ In what way have we robbed You?’ In tithes and offerings.

Will a man rob God? yet ye rob me. But ye say, Wherein have we robbed thee? In tithes and offerings.

“ Will a man rob God? Yet you are robbing Me!” You ask:“ How do we rob You?”“ By not making the payments of the tenth and the contributions.

Will a man rob God? Yet ye have robbed me. But ye say, Wherein have we robbed thee? In tithes and offerings.

Can a person rob God? You indeed are robbing me, but you say,‘ How are we robbing you?’ In tithes and contributions!

Will a man rob God? Yet you rob me! But you say,‘ How have we robbed you?’ In tithes and offerings.

Honor the Lord with your wealth. Give him the first share of all your crops.Then your storerooms will be so full they can’t hold everything. Your huge jars will spill over with fresh wine.

“ Caesar’s,” they replied. Then he said to them,“ So give back to Caesar what belongs to Caesar. And give back to God what belongs to God.”

Give to everyone what you owe them. Do you owe taxes? Then pay them. Do you owe anything else to the government? Then pay it. Do you owe respect? Then give it. Do you owe honor? Then show it.

Praise the Lord for the glory that belongs to him. Worship the Lord because of his beauty and holiness.

“ The Israelites will give me a tenth of everything they produce. And I will give it to the Levites. They serve at the tent of meeting. I will give them the tenth for the work they do there.From now on the Israelites must not go near the tent of meeting. If they do, they will be punished for their sin. They will die.The Levites will do the work at the tent of meeting. They will be responsible for any sins connected with the tent. This is a law that will last for all time to come. The Levites will not receive any share among the Israelites.Instead, I will give the Levites the tenth as their share. It is the tenth that the Israelites bring me as an offering. That is why I said the Levites would not have any share of land among the Israelites.”The Lord said to Moses,“ Speak to the Levites. Say to them,‘ You will receive the tenth from the Israelites. I will give it to you as your share. When I do, you must give a tenth of that tenth as an offering to the Lord.Your offering will be considered as if you gave grain from a threshing floor. It will be considered as juice from a winepress.In that way, you also will bring an offering to the Lord. You will bring it from the tenth you receive from the Israelites. You must give the Lord’ s part to the priest Aaron. You must bring it from the tenth you receive.You must bring to the Lord a part of everything given to you. It must be the best and holiest part.’“ Say to the Levites,‘ You must bring the best part. Then it will be considered as if you gave grain from a threshing floor. It will be considered as juice from a winepress.You and your families can eat the rest of it anywhere. It is your pay for your work at the tent of meeting.Bring the best part of what you receive. Then you will not be guilty of holding anything back. You will not make the holy offerings of the Israelites“ unclean.” You will not die.’ ”

Then Jesus said to them,“ Give back to Caesar what belongs to Caesar. And give back to God what belongs to God.” They were amazed at him.

You say that people should not commit adultery. But you commit adultery! You hate statues of gods. But you rob temples!

He said to them,“ Then give back to Caesar what belongs to Caesar. And give back to God what belongs to God.”

“ 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.

You say,‘ What a heavy load our work is!’ And you turn up your nose. You act as if you hate working for me,” says the Lord who rules over all.“ You bring animals that have been hurt. Or you bring disabled or sick animals. Then you dare to offer them to me as sacrifices! Should I accept them from you?” says the Lord.

Israel has sinned. I made a covenant with them. I commanded them to keep it. But they have broken it. They have taken some of the things that had been set apart to me in a special way to be destroyed. They have stolen. They have lied. They have taken the things they stole and have put them with their own things.

Eliashib the priest had been put in charge of the storerooms in the house of our God. He had worked closely with Tobiah.He had also provided a large room for Tobiah. It had been used to store the grain offerings. The incense and the objects for the temple had been put there. And a tenth of the grain, olive oil and fresh wine had been kept there. That’s what the Law required for the Levites. That’s also what it required for the musicians and the men who guarded the temple gates. The gifts for the priests had been kept there too.But I wasn’t in Jerusalem while all of that was going on. I had returned to the Persian King Artaxerxes, the king of Babylon. I went to him in the 32nd year of his rule. Some time later I asked him to let me return to Jerusalem.When I got back, I learned about the evil thing Eliashib had done. He had provided a room for Tobiah. It was in the courtyards of God’s house.So I was very unhappy. I threw all of Tobiah’s things out of the room.I gave orders to make the rooms pure and“ clean” again. Then I put the supplies from God’s house back into them. That included the grain offerings and the incense.I also learned that the shares the Levites were supposed to receive hadn’t been given to them. So all the Levites and musicians had to leave their regular temple duties. They had to go back and farm their own fields.I gave a warning to the officials. I asked them,“ Why aren’t you taking care of God’s house?” Then I brought the Levites and musicians together. I stationed them in their proper places. I put them back to work.All the people of Judah brought a tenth of the grain, olive oil and fresh wine. They took it to the storerooms.I put some men in charge of the storerooms. They were Shelemiah, Zadok and Pedaiah. Shelemiah was a priest. Zadok was a teacher of the law. And Pedaiah was a Levite. I made Hanan their assistant. He was the son of Zakkur. Zakkur was the son of Mattaniah. I knew that these men could be trusted. They were put in charge of handing out the supplies to the other Levites.You are my God. Remember me because of what I’ve done. I’ve worked faithfully for your temple and its services. So please don’t forget the good things I’ve done.

You sacrifice blind animals to me. Isn’t that wrong? You sacrifice disabled or sick animals. Isn’t that wrong? Try offering them to your governor! Would he be pleased with you? Would he accept you?” says the Lord who rules over all.

“ Suppose someone is unfaithful to me and sins. And they do it without meaning to. Here is how they sin against me or my priests. They refuse to give the priests one of the holy things set apart for them. Then they must bring me a ram from the flock. It must not have any flaws. It must be worth the required amount of silver. The silver must be weighed out in keeping with the standard weights that are used in the sacred tent. The ram is a guilt offering. It will pay for their sin.They must also pay for the holy thing they refused to give. They must add a fifth of its value to it. They must give all of it to the priest. The priest will pay for their sin with the ram. It is a guilt offering. And they will be forgiven.