11 Then Yahweh told Mosheh: 12 Whenever you take a census of the Israeli men, each man must pay a ransom to Yahweh for his life when they’re counted, and then the counting won’t cause a plague among them. 13 As each man crosses over to stand with those who’ve been counted, he must pay give a half-shekel coin as an offering to me. (That’s half of the official shekel weight of 12 grams.)[ref] 14 Every man who’s twenty or older must pay this contribution to me when he’s counted—15 the wealthy aren’t expected to pay more, and the poor must not pass less than this amount when they pay this ransom to me to make atonement for your lives. 16 Then you must take that money from the Israelis and use it for work on the sacred tent—it will be a reminder to me that you all have made atonement for your lives.