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Leviticus 25
New American Standard Bible

The Sabbatical Year and Year of Jubilee

25 The Lord then spoke to Moses on Mount Sinai, saying, 2 “Speak to the sons of Israel and say to them, ‘When you come into the land which I am going to give you, then the land shall have a Sabbath to the Lord. 3 For (A)six years you shall sow your field, and for six years you shall prune your vineyard and gather in its produce, 4 but during (B)the seventh year the land shall have a Sabbath rest, a Sabbath to the Lord; you shall not sow your field nor prune your vineyard. 5 You shall not reap your harvest’s [a]aftergrowth, and you shall not gather your grapes of untrimmed vines; the land shall have a sabbatical year. 6 (C)All of you shall have the Sabbath produce of the land as food; for yourself, your male and female slaves, and your hired worker and your foreign resident, those who live as strangers among you. 7 Even your cattle and the animals that are in your land shall have all its produce to eat.

8 ‘You are also to count off seven Sabbaths of years for yourself, seven times seven years, so that you have the time of the seven Sabbaths of years, that is, forty-nine years. 9 You shall then sound a ram’s horn [b]abroad on (D)the tenth day of the seventh month; on the Day of Atonement you shall sound a horn all through your land. 10 So you shall consecrate the fiftieth year and (E)proclaim [c]a release throughout the land to all its inhabitants. It shall be a jubilee for you, [d]and (F)each of you shall return to his own property, [e]and each of you shall return to his family. 11 You shall have the fiftieth year as a jubilee; you shall not sow, nor harvest its aftergrowth, nor gather grapes from its untrimmed vines. 12 For it is a jubilee; it shall be holy to you. You shall eat its produce from the field.

13 ‘(G)On this year of jubilee each of you shall return to his own property. 14 Furthermore, if you make a sale to your friend, or buy from your friend’s hand, (H)you shall not [f]wrong one another. 15 Corresponding to the number of years after the jubilee, you shall buy from your [g]friend; he is to sell to you according to the number of years of crops. 16 (I)In proportion to [h]a greater number of years you shall increase its price, and in proportion to [i]fewer years you shall decrease its price, because it is the number of crops that he is selling to you. 17 So (J)you shall not [j]wrong one another, but you shall [k]fear your God; for I am the Lord your God.

18 ‘You shall therefore [l]follow My statutes and keep My judgments so as to carry them out, so that (K)you may live securely on the land. 19 Then the land will yield its produce, so that you can eat your fill and live securely on it. 20 But if you say, “(L)What are we going to eat in the seventh year if we do not sow nor gather in our produce?” 21 then (M)I will so order My blessing for you in the sixth year that it will bring forth the produce for three years. 22 When you are sowing the eighth year, you can still eat (N)old things from the produce, eating the old until the ninth year when its produce comes in.

The Law of Redemption

23 ‘The land, moreover, shall not be sold permanently, because (O)the land is Mine; for (P)you are only strangers and residents with Me. 24 So for every [m]piece of your property, you are to provide for the redemption of the land.

25 ‘(Q)If a fellow countryman of yours becomes so poor that he sells part of his property, then his closest [n]redeemer is to come and buy back what his relative has sold. 26 Or in case someone has no redeemer, but [o]recovers to find sufficient means for its redemption, 27 (R)then he shall calculate the years since its sale and refund the balance to the man to whom he sold it, and so return to his property. 28 But if [p]he has not found sufficient means to get it back for himself, then what he has sold shall remain in the hands of its purchaser until the year of jubilee; but at the jubilee it shall [q]revert, so that (S)he may return to his property.

29 ‘Likewise, if a man sells a dwelling house in a walled city, then his redemption right remains valid until a full year after its sale; his right of redemption lasts a full year. 30 But if it is not bought back for him within the space of a full year, then the house that is in the walled city passes permanently to its purchaser throughout his generations; it does not [r]revert in the jubilee. 31 The houses of the villages, however, which have no surrounding wall, shall be regarded [s]as open fields; they have redemption rights and [t]revert in the jubilee. 32 As for the (T)cities of the Levites, the Levites have a permanent right of redemption for the houses of the cities which are their possession. 33 What, therefore, [u]belongs to the Levites may be redeemed, and a house sale [v]in the city of this possession [w]reverts in the jubilee, because the houses of the cities of the Levites are their possession among the sons of Israel. 34 (U)But pasture fields of their cities shall not be sold, for that is their permanent possession.

Of Poor Countrymen

35 ‘(V)Now in case a countryman of yours becomes poor and his [x]means among you falter, then you are to sustain him, like a stranger or a resident, so that he may live with you. 36 (W)Do not take [y]any kind of interest from him, but [z]fear your God, so that your countryman may live with you. 37 You shall not give him your silver at interest, nor your food [aa]for profit. 38 (X)I am the Lord your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt to give you the land of Canaan, and (Y)to be your God.

39 ‘Now (Z)if a countryman of yours becomes so poor with regard to you that he sells himself to you, you shall not subject him to a slave’s service. 40 He shall be with you as a hired worker, (AA)as if he were a foreign resident; he shall serve with you up to the year of jubilee. 41 He shall then leave you, he and his sons with him, and shall go back to his family, so that he may return to the property of his forefathers. 42 For they are My servants whom I brought out from the land of Egypt; they are not to be sold in a slave sale. 43 (AB)You shall not rule over him with [ab]severity, but are to revere your God. 44 As for your male and female slaves whom you may have—you may acquire male and female slaves from the pagan nations that are around you. 45 You may also acquire them from the sons of the foreign residents who reside among you, and from their families who are with you, whom they will have produced in your land; they also may become your possession. 46 You may also pass them on as an inheritance to your sons after you, to receive as a possession; you can use them as permanent slaves. (AC)But in respect to your countrymen, the sons of Israel, you shall not rule with [ac]severity over one another.

Of Redeeming a Person Who Is Poor

47 ‘Now if the [ad]means of a stranger or of a foreign resident with you becomes sufficient, and a countryman of yours becomes poor in relation to him and sells himself to a stranger who is residing with you, or to the descendants of a stranger’s family, 48 then he shall have redemption right after he has been sold. One of his brothers may redeem him, 49 or his uncle, or his uncle’s son may redeem him, or one of his blood relatives from his family may redeem him; or [ae](AD)if he prospers, he may redeem himself. 50 He then, with his purchaser, shall calculate from the year when he sold himself to him up to the year of jubilee; and the price of his sale shall correspond to the number of years calculated. It is like the days of a hired worker that he will be with him. 51 If there are still many years remaining, (AE)he shall refund part of his purchase price in proportion to them for his own redemption; 52 but if few years remain until the year of jubilee, he shall so calculate with him. In proportion to his years he is to refund the amount for his redemption. 53 He shall be with him like a worker hired year by year; (AF)he shall not rule over him with [af]severity in your sight. 54 Even if he is not redeemed by [ag]these means, (AG)he shall still leave in the year of jubilee, he and his sons with him. 55 For the sons of Israel are My servants; they are My servants whom I brought out from the land of Egypt. I am the Lord your God.

Footnotes

  1. Leviticus 25:5 Lit growth from spilled kernels
  2. Leviticus 25:9 Lit signal
  3. Leviticus 25:10 Or freedom
  4. Leviticus 25:10 Or when
  5. Leviticus 25:10 Or when
  6. Leviticus 25:14 Lit oppress
  7. Leviticus 25:15 Lit friend’s hands
  8. Leviticus 25:16 Lit the multitude of
  9. Leviticus 25:16 Lit the years being few
  10. Leviticus 25:17 Lit oppress
  11. Leviticus 25:17 Or revere
  12. Leviticus 25:18 Lit do My
  13. Leviticus 25:24 Lit land
  14. Leviticus 25:25 I.e., male relative to act in his behalf
  15. Leviticus 25:26 Lit his hand reaches
  16. Leviticus 25:28 Lit his hand has not found sufficient to
  17. Leviticus 25:28 Lit go out
  18. Leviticus 25:30 Lit go out
  19. Leviticus 25:31 Lit according to
  20. Leviticus 25:31 Lit go out
  21. Leviticus 25:33 Lit is from
  22. Leviticus 25:33 Lit and
  23. Leviticus 25:33 Lit goes out
  24. Leviticus 25:35 Lit hand
  25. Leviticus 25:36 Prob. interest on money and food loans
  26. Leviticus 25:36 Or revere
  27. Leviticus 25:37 Lit at interest
  28. Leviticus 25:43 Or violence
  29. Leviticus 25:46 Or violence
  30. Leviticus 25:47 Lit hand...reaches
  31. Leviticus 25:49 Lit his hand has reached and he
  32. Leviticus 25:53 Or violence
  33. Leviticus 25:54 Or these years
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Leviticus 25
New International Version

The Sabbath Year

25 The Lord said to Moses at Mount Sinai,(A) 2 “Speak to the Israelites and say to them: ‘When you enter the land I am going to give you, the land itself must observe a sabbath to the Lord. 3 For six years sow your fields, and for six years prune your vineyards and gather their crops.(B) 4 But in the seventh year the land is to have a year of sabbath rest,(C) a sabbath to the Lord. Do not sow your fields or prune your vineyards.(D) 5 Do not reap what grows of itself(E) or harvest the grapes(F) of your untended vines.(G) The land is to have a year of rest. 6 Whatever the land yields during the sabbath year(H) will be food for you—for yourself, your male and female servants, and the hired worker and temporary resident who live among you, 7 as well as for your livestock and the wild animals(I) in your land. Whatever the land produces may be eaten.

The Year of Jubilee(J)(K)

8 “‘Count off seven sabbath years—seven times seven years—so that the seven sabbath years amount to a period of forty-nine years. 9 Then have the trumpet(L) sounded everywhere on the tenth day of the seventh month;(M) on the Day of Atonement(N) sound the trumpet throughout your land. 10 Consecrate the fiftieth year and proclaim liberty(O) throughout the land to all its inhabitants. It shall be a jubilee(P) for you; each of you is to return to your family property(Q) and to your own clan. 11 The fiftieth year shall be a jubilee(R) for you; do not sow and do not reap what grows of itself or harvest the untended vines.(S) 12 For it is a jubilee and is to be holy for you; eat only what is taken directly from the fields.

13 “‘In this Year of Jubilee(T) everyone is to return to their own property.

14 “‘If you sell land to any of your own people or buy land from them, do not take advantage of each other.(U) 15 You are to buy from your own people on the basis of the number of years(V) since the Jubilee. And they are to sell to you on the basis of the number of years left for harvesting crops. 16 When the years are many, you are to increase the price, and when the years are few, you are to decrease the price,(W) because what is really being sold to you is the number of crops. 17 Do not take advantage of each other,(X) but fear your God.(Y) I am the Lord your God.(Z)

18 “‘Follow my decrees and be careful to obey my laws,(AA) and you will live safely in the land.(AB) 19 Then the land will yield its fruit,(AC) and you will eat your fill and live there in safety.(AD) 20 You may ask, “What will we eat in the seventh year(AE) if we do not plant or harvest our crops?” 21 I will send you such a blessing(AF) in the sixth year that the land will yield enough for three years.(AG) 22 While you plant during the eighth year, you will eat from the old crop and will continue to eat from it until the harvest of the ninth year comes in.(AH)

23 “‘The land(AI) must not be sold permanently, because the land is mine(AJ) and you reside in my land as foreigners(AK) and strangers. 24 Throughout the land that you hold as a possession, you must provide for the redemption(AL) of the land.

25 “‘If one of your fellow Israelites becomes poor and sells some of their property, their nearest relative(AM) is to come and redeem(AN) what they have sold. 26 If, however, there is no one to redeem it for them but later on they prosper(AO) and acquire sufficient means to redeem it themselves, 27 they are to determine the value for the years(AP) since they sold it and refund the balance to the one to whom they sold it; they can then go back to their own property.(AQ) 28 But if they do not acquire the means to repay, what was sold will remain in the possession of the buyer until the Year of Jubilee. It will be returned(AR) in the Jubilee, and they can then go back to their property.(AS)

29 “‘Anyone who sells a house in a walled city retains the right of redemption a full year after its sale. During that time the seller may redeem it. 30 If it is not redeemed before a full year has passed, the house in the walled city shall belong permanently to the buyer and the buyer’s descendants. It is not to be returned in the Jubilee. 31 But houses in villages without walls around them are to be considered as belonging to the open country. They can be redeemed, and they are to be returned in the Jubilee.

32 “‘The Levites always have the right to redeem their houses in the Levitical towns,(AT) which they possess. 33 So the property of the Levites is redeemable—that is, a house sold in any town they hold—and is to be returned in the Jubilee, because the houses in the towns of the Levites are their property among the Israelites. 34 But the pastureland belonging to their towns must not be sold; it is their permanent possession.(AU)

35 “‘If any of your fellow Israelites become poor(AV) and are unable to support themselves among you, help them(AW) as you would a foreigner and stranger, so they can continue to live among you. 36 Do not take interest(AX) or any profit from them, but fear your God,(AY) so that they may continue to live among you. 37 You must not lend them money at interest(AZ) 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(BA) and to be your God.(BB)

39 “‘If any of your fellow Israelites become poor and sell themselves to you, do not make them work as slaves.(BC) 40 They are to be treated as hired workers(BD) 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(BE) of their ancestors.(BF) 42 Because the Israelites are my servants, whom I brought out of Egypt,(BG) they must not be sold as slaves. 43 Do not rule over them ruthlessly,(BH) but fear your God.(BI)

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(BJ) to the foreigner or to a member of the foreigner’s clan, 48 they retain the right of redemption(BK) after they have sold themselves. One of their relatives(BL) may redeem them: 49 An uncle or a cousin or any blood relative in their clan may redeem them. Or if they prosper,(BM) 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.(BN) The price for their release is to be based on the rate paid to a hired worker(BO) 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.(BP) 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.(BQ)

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.(BR) I am the Lord your God.(BS)

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Leviticus 25
Contemporary English Version

The Seventh Year

(Deuteronomy 15.1-11)

25 (A) When Moses was on Mount Sinai, the Lord told him 2 to say to the community of Israel:

After you enter the land that I am giving you, it must be allowed to rest one year out of every seven. 3 You may raise grain and grapes for six years, 4 but the seventh year you must let your fields and vineyards rest in honor of me, your Lord. 5 This is to be a time of complete rest for your fields and vineyards, so don't harvest anything they produce. 6-7 However, you and your slaves and your hired workers, as well as any domestic or wild animals, may eat whatever grows on its own.

The Year of Celebration

The Lord said to his people:

8 Once every 49 years 9 on the tenth day of the seventh month,[a] which is also the Great Day of Forgiveness,[b] trumpets are to be blown everywhere in the land. 10 This fiftieth year[c] is sacred—it is a time of freedom and of celebration when everyone will receive back their original property, and slaves will return home to their families. 11 This is a year of complete celebration, so don't plant any seed or harvest what your fields or vineyards produce. 12 In this time of sacred celebration you may eat only what grows on its own.

13 During this year, all property must go back to its original owner. 14-15 So when you buy or sell farmland, the price is to be determined by the number of crops it can produce before the next Year of Celebration. Don't try to cheat. 16 If it is a long time before the next Year of Celebration, the price will be higher, because what is really being sold are the crops that the land can produce. 17 I am the Lord your God, so obey me and don't cheat anyone.

18-19 If you obey my laws and teachings, you will live safely in the land and enjoy its abundant crops. 20 Don't ever worry about what you will eat during the seventh year when you are forbidden to plant or harvest. 21 I will see to it that you harvest enough in the sixth year to last for three years. 22 In the eighth year you will live on what you harvested in the sixth year, but in the ninth year you will eat what you plant and harvest in the eighth year.

23 No land may be permanently bought or sold. It all belongs to me—it isn't your land, and you only live there for a little while.

24 When property is being sold, the original owner must be given the first chance to buy it.

25 If any of you Israelites become so poor that you are forced to sell your property, your closest relative must buy it back, 26 if that relative has the money. Later, if you can afford to buy it, 27 you must pay enough to make up for what the present owner will lose on it before the next Year of Celebration, when the property would become yours again. 28 But if you don't have the money to pay the present owner a fair price, you will have to wait until the Year of Celebration, when the property will once again become yours.

29 If you sell a house in a walled city, you have only one year in which to buy it back. 30 If you don't buy it back before that year is up, it becomes the permanent property of the one who bought it, and it will not be returned to you in the Year of Celebration. 31 But a house out in a village may be bought back at any time just like a field. And it must be returned to its original owner in the Year of Celebration. 32 If any Levites own houses inside a walled city, they will always have the right to buy them back. 33 And any houses that they do not buy back will be returned to them in the Year of Celebration, because these homes are their permanent property among the people of Israel. 34 No pastureland owned by the Levi tribe can ever be sold; it is their permanent possession.

Help for the Poor

The Lord said:

35 (B) If any of your people become poor and unable to support themselves, you must help them, just as you are supposed to help foreigners who live among you. 36-37 (C) Don't take advantage of them by charging any kind of interest or selling them food for profit. Instead, honor me by letting them stay where they now live. 38 Remember—I am the Lord your God! I rescued you from Egypt and gave you the land of Canaan, so that I would be your God.

39 (D) Suppose some of your people become so poor that they have to sell themselves and become your slaves. 40 Then you must treat them as servants, rather than as slaves. And in the Year of Celebration they are to be set free, 41 so they and their children may return home to their families and property. 42 I brought them out of Egypt to be my servants, not to be sold as slaves. 43 So obey me, and don't be cruel to the poor.

44 If you want slaves, buy them from other nations 45 or from the foreigners who live in your own country, and make them your property. 46 You can own them, and even leave them to your children when you die, but do not make slaves of your own people or be cruel to them.

47 Even if some of you Israelites become so much in debt that you must sell yourselves to foreigners in your country, 48 you still have the right to be set free by a relative, such as a brother 49 or uncle or cousin, or some other family member. In fact, if you ever get enough money, you may buy your own freedom 50 by paying your owner for the number of years you would still be a slave before the next Year of Celebration. 51-52 The longer the time until then, the more you will have to pay. 53 And even while you are the slaves of foreigners in your own country, your people must make sure that you are not mistreated. 54 If you cannot gain your freedom in any of these ways, both you and your children will still be set free in the Year of Celebration. 55 People of Israel, I am the Lord your God, and I brought you out of Egypt to be my own servants.

Footnotes

  1. 25.9 seventh month: See the note at 16.29.
  2. 25.9 Great Day of Forgiveness: See the note at 16.34.
  3. 25.10 fiftieth year: The year following seven periods of seven years.
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Leviticus 25
The Message

“The Land Will Observe a Sabbath to God”

25 1-7 God spoke to Moses at Mount Sinai: “Speak to the People of Israel. Tell them, When you enter the land which I am going to give you, the land will observe a Sabbath to God. Sow your fields, prune your vineyards, and take in your harvests for six years. But the seventh year the land will take a Sabbath of complete and total rest, a Sabbath to God; you will not sow your fields or prune your vineyards. Don’t reap what grows of itself; don’t harvest the grapes of your untended vines. The land gets a year of complete and total rest. But you can eat from what the land volunteers during the Sabbath year—you and your men and women servants, your hired hands, and the foreigners who live in the country, and, of course, also your livestock and the wild animals in the land can eat from it. Whatever the land volunteers of itself can be eaten.

“The Fiftieth Year Is Your Jubilee Year”

8-12 “Count off seven Sabbaths of years—seven times seven years: Seven Sabbaths of years adds up to forty-nine years. Then sound loud blasts on the ram’s horn on the tenth day of the seventh month, the Day of Atonement. Sound the ram’s horn all over the land. Sanctify the fiftieth year; make it a holy year. Proclaim freedom all over the land to everyone who lives in it—a Jubilee for you: Each person will go back to his family’s property and reunite with his extended family. The fiftieth year is your Jubilee year: Don’t sow; don’t reap what volunteers itself in the fields; don’t harvest the untended vines because it’s the Jubilee and a holy year for you. You’re permitted to eat from whatever volunteers itself in the fields.

13 “In this year of Jubilee everyone returns home to his family property.

14-17 “If you sell or buy property from one of your countrymen, don’t cheat him. Calculate the purchase price on the basis of the number of years since the Jubilee. He is obliged to set the sale price on the basis of the number of harvests remaining until the next Jubilee. The more years left, the more money; you can raise the price. But the fewer years left, the less money; decrease the price. What you are buying and selling in fact is the number of crops you’re going to harvest. Don’t cheat each other. Fear your God. I am God, your God.

18-22 “Keep my decrees and observe my laws and you will live secure in the land. The land will yield its fruit; you will have all you can eat and will live safe and secure. Do I hear you ask, ‘What are we going to eat in the seventh year if we don’t plant or harvest?’ I assure you, I will send such a blessing in the sixth year that the land will yield enough for three years. While you plant in the eighth year, you will eat from the old crop and continue until the harvest of the ninth year comes in.

23-24 “The land cannot be sold permanently because the land is mine and you are foreigners—you’re my tenants. You must provide for the right of redemption for any of the land that you own.

25-28 “If one of your brothers becomes poor and has to sell any of his land, his nearest relative is to come and buy back what his brother sold. If a man has no one to redeem it but he later prospers and earns enough for its redemption, he is to calculate the value since he sold it and refund the balance to the man to whom he sold it; he can then go back to his own land. If he doesn’t get together enough money to repay him, what he sold remains in the possession of the buyer until the year of Jubilee. In the Jubilee it will be returned and he can go back and live on his land.

29-31 “If a man sells a house in a walled city, he retains the right to buy it back for a full year after the sale. At any time during that year he can redeem it. But if it is not redeemed before the full year has passed, it becomes the permanent possession of the buyer and his descendants. It is not returned in the Jubilee. However, houses in unwalled villages are treated the same as fields. They can be redeemed and have to be returned at the Jubilee.

32-34 “As to the Levitical cities, houses in the cities owned by the Levites are always subject to redemption. Levitical property is always redeemable if it is sold in a town that they hold and reverts to them in the Jubilee, because the houses in the towns of the Levites are their property among the People of Israel. The pastures belonging to their cities may not be sold; they are their permanent possession.

35-38 “If one of your brothers becomes indigent and cannot support himself, help him, the same as you would a foreigner or a guest so that he can continue to live in your neighborhood. Don’t gouge him with interest charges; out of reverence for your God help your brother to continue to live with you in the neighborhood. Don’t take advantage of his plight by running up big interest charges on his loans, and don’t give him food for profit. I am your God who brought you out of Egypt to give you the land of Canaan and to be your God.

39-43 “If one of your brothers becomes indigent and has to sell himself to you, don’t make him work as a slave. Treat him as a hired hand or a guest among you. He will work for you until the Jubilee, after which he and his children are set free to go back to his clan and his ancestral land. Because the People of Israel are my servants whom I brought out of Egypt, they must never be sold as slaves. Don’t tyrannize them; fear your God.

44-46 “The male and female slaves which you have are to come from the surrounding nations; you are permitted to buy slaves from them. You may also buy the children of foreign workers who are living among you temporarily and from their clans which are living among you and have been born in your land. They become your property. You may will them to your children as property and make them slaves for life. But you must not tyrannize your brother Israelites.

47-53 “If a foreigner or temporary resident among you becomes rich and one of your brothers becomes poor and sells himself to the foreigner who lives among you or to a member of the foreigner’s clan, he still has the right of redemption after he has sold himself. One of his relatives may buy him back. An uncle or cousin or any close relative of his extended family may redeem him. Or, if he gets the money together, he can redeem himself. What happens then is that he and his owner count out the time from the year he sold himself to the year of Jubilee; the buy-back price is set according to the wages of a hired hand for that number of years. If many years remain before the Jubilee, he must pay back a larger share of his purchase price, but if only a few years remain until the Jubilee, he is to calculate his redemption price accordingly. He is to be treated as a man hired from year to year. You must make sure that his owner does not tyrannize him.

54-55 “If he is not redeemed in any of these ways, he goes free in the year of Jubilee, he and his children, because the People of Israel are my servants, my servants whom I brought out of Egypt. I am God, your God.

* * *

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Leviticus 25
English Standard Version

The Sabbath Year

25 (A)The Lord spoke to Moses on Mount Sinai, saying, 2 “Speak to the people of Israel and say to them, When you come into (B)the land that I give you, the land shall keep a Sabbath to the Lord. 3 For six years you shall sow your field, and for six years you shall prune your vineyard and gather in its fruits, 4 but in the seventh year there shall be a Sabbath of solemn rest for the land, a Sabbath to the Lord. You shall not sow your field or prune your vineyard. 5 (C)You shall not reap what grows of itself in your harvest, or gather the grapes of your undressed vine. It shall be a year of solemn rest for the land. 6 The Sabbath of the land[a] shall provide food for you, for yourself and for your male and female slaves[b] and for your hired worker and the sojourner who lives with you, 7 and for your cattle and for the wild animals that are in your land: (D)all its yield shall be for food.

The Year of Jubilee

8 “You shall count seven weeks[c] of years, seven times seven years, so that the time of the seven weeks of years shall give you forty-nine years. 9 Then you shall sound (E)the loud trumpet on the tenth day of the seventh month. (F)On the Day of Atonement you shall sound the trumpet throughout all your land. 10 And you shall consecrate the fiftieth year, and (G)proclaim liberty throughout the land to all its inhabitants. It shall be a jubilee for you, when each of you shall return to his property and each of (H)you shall return to his clan. 11 That fiftieth year shall be a jubilee for you; in it (I)you shall neither sow nor reap (J)what grows of itself nor gather the grapes from the undressed vines. 12 For it is a jubilee. It shall be holy to you. (K)You may eat the produce of the field.[d]

13 (L)“In this year of jubilee each of you shall return to his property. 14 And if you make a sale to your neighbor or buy from your neighbor, (M)you shall not wrong one another. 15 (N)You shall pay your neighbor according to the number of years after the jubilee, and he shall sell to you according to the number of years for crops. 16 If the years are many, you shall increase the price, and if the years are few, you shall reduce the price, for it is the number of the crops that he is selling to you. 17 (O)You shall not wrong one another, but you shall fear your God, for I am the Lord your God.

18 (P)“Therefore you shall do my statutes and keep my rules and perform them, and then (Q)you will dwell in the land securely. 19 (R)The land will yield its fruit, and (S)you will eat your fill (T)and dwell in it securely. 20 And if you say, (U)‘What shall we eat in the seventh year, if (V)we may not sow or gather in our crop?’ 21 I will (W)command my blessing on you in the sixth year, so that it will produce a crop sufficient for three years. 22 (X)When you sow in the eighth year, you will be eating some of (Y)the old crop; you shall eat the old until the ninth year, when its crop arrives.

Redemption of Property

23 “The land shall not be sold in perpetuity, for (Z)the land is mine. For you are strangers and sojourners with me. 24 And in all the country you possess, you shall allow a redemption of the land.

25 “If your brother becomes poor and sells part of his property, (AA)then his nearest redeemer shall come and redeem what his brother has sold. 26 If a man has no one to redeem it and then himself becomes prosperous and finds sufficient means to redeem it, 27 let (AB)him calculate the years since he sold it and pay back the balance to the man to whom he sold it, and then return to his property. 28 But if he does not have sufficient means to recover it, then what he sold shall remain in the hand of the buyer until the year of jubilee. In the jubilee it shall (AC)be released, and (AD)he shall return to his property.

29 “If a man sells a dwelling house in a walled city, he may redeem it within a year of its sale. For a full year he shall have the right of redemption. 30 If it is not redeemed within a full year, then the house in the walled city shall belong in perpetuity to the buyer, throughout his generations; (AE)it shall not be released in the jubilee. 31 But the houses of the villages that have no wall around them shall be classified with the fields of the land. They may be redeemed, and (AF)they shall be released in the jubilee. 32 As for (AG)the cities of the Levites, the Levites may redeem at any time the houses in the cities they possess. 33 And if one of the Levites exercises his right of redemption, then the house that was sold in a city they possess shall be released in the jubilee. For the houses in the cities of the Levites are their possession among the people of Israel. 34 But the fields (AH)of pastureland belonging to their cities may not be sold, for that is their possession forever.

Kindness for Poor Brothers

35 “If your brother becomes poor and cannot maintain himself with you, (AI)you shall support him as though he were a stranger and a sojourner, and he shall live with you. 36 (AJ)Take no interest from him or profit, but (AK)fear your God, that your brother may live beside you. 37 (AL)You shall not lend him your money at interest, nor give him your food for profit. 38 (AM)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 (AN)“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 (AO)Then he shall go out from you, (AP)he and his children with him, and go back to his own clan and return (AQ)to the possession of his fathers. 42 For they are (AR)my servants,[e] whom I brought out of the land of Egypt; they shall not be sold as slaves. 43 (AS)You shall not rule over him (AT)ruthlessly but (AU)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 (AV)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 (AW)you shall not rule, one over another ruthlessly.

Redeeming a Poor Man

47 “If a stranger or sojourner with you becomes rich, and (AX)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 (AY)redeem him, or a close relative from his clan may redeem him. Or if he (AZ)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 (BA)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. (BB)He shall not rule ruthlessly over him in your sight. 54 And if he is not redeemed by these means, then (BC)he and his children with him shall be released in the year of jubilee. 55 For it is (BD)to me that the people of Israel are servants.[f] They are my servants whom I brought out of the land of Egypt: I am the Lord your God.

Footnotes

  1. Leviticus 25:6 That is, the Sabbath produce of the land
  2. Leviticus 25:6 Or servants
  3. Leviticus 25:8 Or Sabbaths
  4. Leviticus 25:12 Or countryside
  5. Leviticus 25:42 Hebrew slaves
  6. Leviticus 25:55 Or slaves
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Leviticus 24
Leviticus 26
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