Kindness for Poor Brothers

35 “If your brother becomes poor and cannot maintain himself with you, (A)you shall support him as though he were a stranger and a sojourner, and he shall live with you. 36 (B)Take no interest from him or profit, but (C)fear your God, that your brother may live beside you. 37 (D)You shall not lend him your money at interest, nor give him your food for profit. 38 (E)I am the Lord your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt to give you the land of Canaan, and to be your God.

39 (F)“If your brother becomes poor beside you and sells himself to you, you shall not make him serve as a slave: 40 he shall be with you as a hired worker and as a sojourner. He shall serve with you until the year of the jubilee. 41 (G)Then he shall go out from you, (H)he and his children with him, and go back to his own clan and return (I)to the possession of his fathers. 42 For they are (J)my servants,[a] whom I brought out of the land of Egypt; they shall not be sold as slaves. 43 (K)You shall not rule over him (L)ruthlessly but (M)shall fear your God. 44 As for your male and female slaves whom you may have: you may buy male and female slaves from among the nations that are around you. 45 (N)You may also buy from among the strangers who sojourn with you and their clans that are with you, who have been born in your land, and they may be your property. 46 You may bequeath them to your sons after you to inherit as a possession forever. You may make slaves of them, but over your brothers the people of Israel (O)you shall not rule, one over another ruthlessly.

Redeeming a Poor Man

47 “If a stranger or sojourner with you becomes rich, and (P)your brother beside him becomes poor and sells himself to the stranger or sojourner with you or to a member of the stranger's clan, 48 then after he is sold he may be redeemed. One of his brothers may redeem him, 49 or his uncle or his cousin may (Q)redeem him, or a close relative from his clan may redeem him. Or if he (R)grows rich he may redeem himself. 50 He shall calculate with his buyer from the year when he sold himself to him until the year of jubilee, and the price of his sale shall vary with the number of years. The time he was with his owner shall be (S)rated as the time of a hired worker. 51 If there are still many years left, he shall pay proportionately for his redemption some of his sale price. 52 If there remain but a few years until the year of jubilee, he shall calculate and pay for his redemption in proportion to his years of service. 53 He shall treat him as a worker hired year by year. (T)He shall not rule ruthlessly over him in your sight. 54 And if he is not redeemed by these means, then (U)he and his children with him shall be released in the year of jubilee. 55 For it is (V)to me that the people of Israel are servants.[b] They are my servants whom I brought out of the land of Egypt: I am the Lord your God.

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Footnotes

  1. Leviticus 25:42 Hebrew slaves
  2. Leviticus 25:55 Or slaves

35 “‘If any of your fellow Israelites become poor(A) and are unable to support themselves among you, help them(B) as you would a foreigner and stranger, so they can continue to live among you. 36 Do not take interest(C) or any profit from them, but fear your God,(D) so that they may continue to live among you. 37 You must not lend them money at interest(E) or sell them food at a profit. 38 I am the Lord your God, who brought you out of Egypt to give you the land of Canaan(F) and to be your God.(G)

39 “‘If any of your fellow Israelites become poor and sell themselves to you, do not make them work as slaves.(H) 40 They are to be treated as hired workers(I) or temporary residents among you; they are to work for you until the Year of Jubilee. 41 Then they and their children are to be released, and they will go back to their own clans and to the property(J) of their ancestors.(K) 42 Because the Israelites are my servants, whom I brought out of Egypt,(L) they must not be sold as slaves. 43 Do not rule over them ruthlessly,(M) but fear your God.(N)

44 “‘Your male and female slaves are to come from the nations around you; from them you may buy slaves. 45 You may also buy some of the temporary residents living among you and members of their clans born in your country, and they will become your property. 46 You can bequeath them to your children as inherited property and can make them slaves for life, but you must not rule over your fellow Israelites ruthlessly.

47 “‘If a foreigner residing among you becomes rich and any of your fellow Israelites become poor and sell themselves(O) to the foreigner or to a member of the foreigner’s clan, 48 they retain the right of redemption(P) after they have sold themselves. One of their relatives(Q) may redeem them: 49 An uncle or a cousin or any blood relative in their clan may redeem them. Or if they prosper,(R) they may redeem themselves. 50 They and their buyer are to count the time from the year they sold themselves up to the Year of Jubilee.(S) The price for their release is to be based on the rate paid to a hired worker(T) for that number of years. 51 If many years remain, they must pay for their redemption a larger share of the price paid for them. 52 If only a few years remain until the Year of Jubilee, they are to compute that and pay for their redemption accordingly.(U) 53 They are to be treated as workers hired from year to year; you must see to it that those to whom they owe service do not rule over them ruthlessly.(V)

54 “‘Even if someone is not redeemed in any of these ways, they and their children are to be released in the Year of Jubilee, 55 for the Israelites belong to me as servants. They are my servants, whom I brought out of Egypt.(W) I am the Lord your God.(X)

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