¹¹ And the Lord spake unto Moses, saying,

¹² When thou takest the sum of the children of Israel after their number, then shall they give every man a ransom for his soul unto the Lord, when thou numberest them; that there be no plague among them, when thou numberest them.

¹³ This they shall give, every one that passeth among them that are numbered, half a shekel after the shekel of the sanctuary: (a shekel is twenty gerahs:) an half shekel shall be the offering of the Lord.

¹⁴ Every one that passeth among them that are numbered, from twenty years old and above, shall give an offering unto the Lord.

¹⁵ The rich shall not give more, and the poor shall not give less than half a shekel, when they give an offering unto the Lord, to make an atonement for your souls.

¹⁶ And thou shalt take the atonement money of the children of Israel, and shalt appoint it for the service of the tabernacle of the congregation; that it may be a memorial unto the children of Israel before the Lord, to make an atonement for your souls.

²⁶ A bekah for every man, that is, half a shekel, after the shekel of the sanctuary, for every one that went to be numbered, from twenty years old and upward, for six hundred thousand and three thousand and five hundred and fifty men.

³² Also we made ordinances for us, to charge ourselves yearly with the third part of a shekel for the service of the house of our God;

2 And it came to pass in those days, that there went out a decree from Caesar Augustus that all the world should be taxed.