The Sabbath of the Seventh Year^(A)

25 And the Lord spoke to Moses on Mount ^(B)Sinai, saying, ² “Speak to the children of Israel, and say to them: ‘When you come into the land which I give you, then the land shall ^(C)keep a sabbath to the Lord. ³ Six years you shall sow your field, and six years you shall prune your vineyard, and gather its fruit; ⁴ but in the ^(D)seventh year there shall be a sabbath of solemn ^(E)rest for the land, a sabbath to the Lord. You shall neither sow your field nor prune your vineyard. ^5 (F)What grows of its own accord of your harvest you shall not reap, nor gather the grapes of your untended vine, for it is a year of rest for the land. ⁶ And the sabbath produce of the land shall be food for you: for you, your male and female servants, your hired man, and the stranger who dwells with you, ⁷ for your livestock and the beasts that are in your land—all its produce shall be for food.

The Year of Jubilee

⁸ ‘And you shall count seven sabbaths of years for yourself, seven times seven years; and the time of the seven sabbaths of years shall be to you forty-nine years. ⁹ Then you shall cause the trumpet of the Jubilee to sound on the tenth day of the seventh month; ^(G)on the Day of Atonement you shall make the trumpet to sound throughout all your land. ¹⁰ And you shall consecrate the fiftieth year, and ^(H)proclaim liberty throughout all the land to all its inhabitants. It shall be a Jubilee for you; ^(I)and each of you shall return to his possession, and each of you shall return to his family. ¹¹ That fiftieth year shall be a Jubilee to you; in it ^(J)you shall neither sow nor reap what grows of its own accord, nor gather the grapes of your untended vine. ¹² For it is the Jubilee; it shall be holy to you; ^(K)you shall eat its produce from the field.

^13 (L)‘In this Year of Jubilee, each of you shall return to his possession. ¹⁴ And if you sell anything to your neighbor or buy from your neighbor’s hand, you shall not ^(M)oppress one another. ^15 (N)According to the number of years after the Jubilee you shall buy from your neighbor, and according to the number of years of crops he shall sell to you. ¹⁶ According to the multitude of years you shall increase its price, and according to the fewer number of years you shall diminish its price; for he sells to you according to the number of the years of the crops. ¹⁷ Therefore ^(O)you shall not ^[a]oppress one another, ^(P)but you shall fear your God; for I am the Lord your God.

Provisions for the Seventh Year

^18 (Q)‘So you shall observe My statutes and keep My judgments, and perform them; ^(R)and you will dwell in the land in safety. ¹⁹ Then the land will yield its fruit, and ^(S)you will eat your fill, and dwell there in safety.

²⁰ ‘And if you say, ^(T)“What shall we eat in the seventh year, since ^(U)we shall not sow nor gather in our produce?” ²¹ Then I will ^(V)command My blessing on you in the ^(W)sixth year, and it will bring forth produce enough for three years. ^22 (X)And you shall sow in the eighth year, and eat ^(Y)old produce until the ninth year; until its produce comes in, you shall eat of the old harvest.

Redemption of Property

²³ ‘The land shall not be sold permanently, for ^(Z)the land is Mine; for you are ^(AA)strangers and sojourners with Me. ²⁴ And in all the land of your possession you shall grant redemption of the land.

^25 (AB)‘If one of your brethren becomes poor, and has sold some of his possession, and if ^(AC)his redeeming relative comes to redeem it, then he may redeem what his brother sold. ²⁶ Or if the man has no one to redeem it, but he himself becomes able to redeem it, ²⁷ then ^(AD)let him count the years since its sale, and restore the remainder to the man to whom he sold it, that he may return to his possession. ²⁸ But if he is not able to have it restored to himself, then what was sold shall remain in the hand of him who bought it until the Year of Jubilee; ^(AE)and in the Jubilee it shall be released, and he shall return to his possession.

²⁹ ‘If a man sells a house in a walled city, then he may redeem it within a whole year after it is sold; within a full year he may redeem it. ³⁰ But if it is not redeemed within the space of a full year, then the house in the walled city shall belong permanently to him who bought it, throughout his generations. It shall not be released in the Jubilee. ³¹ However the houses of villages which have no wall around them shall be counted as the fields of the country. They may be redeemed, and they shall be released in the Jubilee. ³² Nevertheless ^(AF)the cities of the Levites, and the houses in the cities of their possession, the Levites may redeem at any time. ³³ And if a man purchases a house from the Levites, then the house that was sold in the city of his possession shall be released in the Jubilee; for the houses in the cities of the Levites are their possession among the children of Israel. ³⁴ But ^(AG)the field of the common-land of their cities may not be ^(AH)sold, for it is their perpetual possession.

Lending to the Poor

³⁵ ‘If one of your brethren becomes poor, and ^[b]falls into poverty among you, then you shall ^(AI)help him, like a stranger or a sojourner, that he may live with you. ^36 (AJ)Take no usury or interest from him; but ^(AK)fear your God, that your brother may live with you. ³⁷ You shall not lend him your money for usury, nor lend him your food at a profit. ^38 (AL)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.

The Law Concerning Slavery

³⁹ ‘And if one of your brethren who dwells by you becomes poor, and sells himself to you, you shall not compel him to serve as a slave. ⁴⁰ As a hired servant and a sojourner he shall be with you, and shall serve you until the Year of Jubilee. ⁴¹ And then he shall depart from you—he and his children ^(AM)with him—and shall return to his own family. He shall return to the possession of his fathers. ⁴² For they are ^(AN)My servants, whom I brought out of the land of Egypt; they shall not be sold as slaves. ^43 (AO)You shall not rule over him ^(AP)with ^[c]rigor, but you ^(AQ)shall fear your God. ⁴⁴ And as for your male and female slaves whom you may have—from the nations that are around you, from them you may buy male and female slaves. ⁴⁵ Moreover you may buy ^(AR)the children of the strangers who dwell among you, and their families who are with you, which they beget in your land; and they shall become your property. ⁴⁶ And ^(AS)you may take them as an inheritance for your children after you, to inherit them as a possession; they shall be your permanent slaves. But regarding your brethren, the children of Israel, you shall not rule over one another with rigor.

⁴⁷ ‘Now if a sojourner or stranger close to you becomes rich, and one of your brethren who dwells by him becomes poor, and sells himself to the stranger or sojourner close to you, or to a member of the stranger’s family, ⁴⁸ after he is sold he may be redeemed again. One of his brothers may redeem him; ⁴⁹ or his uncle or his uncle’s son may redeem him; or anyone who is near of kin to him in his family may redeem him; or if he is able he may redeem himself. ⁵⁰ Thus he shall reckon with him who bought him: The price of his release shall be according to the number of years, from the year that he was sold to him until the Year of Jubilee; it shall be ^(AT)according to the time of a hired servant for him. ⁵¹ If there are still many years remaining, according to them he shall repay the price of his redemption from the money with which he was bought. ⁵² And if there remain but a few years until the Year of Jubilee, then he shall reckon with him, and according to his years he shall repay him the price of his redemption. ⁵³ He shall be with him as a yearly hired servant, and he shall not rule with rigor over him in your sight. ⁵⁴ And if he is not redeemed in these years, then he shall be released in the Year of Jubilee—he and his children with him. ⁵⁵ For the children of Israel are servants to Me; they are My servants whom I brought out of the land of Egypt: I am the Lord your God.

Jeremiah Buys a Field

32 The word that came to Jeremiah from the Lord ^(A)in the tenth year of Zedekiah king of Judah, which was the eighteenth year of Nebuchadnezzar. ² For then the king of Babylon’s army besieged Jerusalem, and Jeremiah the prophet was shut up ^(B)in the court of the prison, which was in the king of Judah’s house. ³ For Zedekiah king of Judah had shut him up, saying, “Why do you ^(C)prophesy and say, ‘Thus says the Lord: ^(D)“Behold, I will give this city into the hand of the king of Babylon, and he shall take it; ⁴ and Zedekiah king of Judah ^(E)shall not escape from the hand of the Chaldeans, but shall surely be delivered into the hand of the king of Babylon, and shall speak with him ^[a]face to face, and see him ^(F)eye to eye; ⁵ then he shall ^(G)lead Zedekiah to Babylon, and there he shall be ^(H)until I visit him,” says the Lord; ^(I)“though you fight with the Chaldeans, you shall not succeed” ’?”

⁶ And Jeremiah said, “The word of the Lord came to me, saying, ⁷ ‘Behold, Hanamel the son of Shallum your uncle will come to you, saying, “Buy my field which is in Anathoth, for the ^(J)right of redemption is yours to buy it.” ’ ⁸ Then Hanamel my uncle’s son came to me in the court of the prison according to the word of the Lord, and said to me, ‘Please buy my field that is in Anathoth, which is in the country of Benjamin; for the right of inheritance is yours, and the redemption yours; buy it for yourself.’ Then I knew that this was the word of the Lord. ⁹ So I bought the field from Hanamel, the son of my uncle who was in Anathoth, and ^(K)weighed out to him the money—seventeen shekels of silver. ¹⁰ And I signed the ^[b]deed and sealed it, took witnesses, and weighed the money on the scales. ¹¹ So I took the purchase deed, both that which was sealed according to the law and custom, and that which was open; ¹² and I gave the purchase deed to ^(L)Baruch the son of Neriah, son of Mahseiah, in the presence of Hanamel my uncle’s son, and in the presence of the ^(M)witnesses who signed the purchase deed, before all the Jews who sat in the court of the prison.

¹³ “Then I charged ^(N)Baruch before them, saying, ¹⁴ ‘Thus says the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel: “Take these deeds, both this purchase deed which is sealed and this deed which is open, and put them in an earthen vessel, that they may last many days.” ¹⁵ For thus says the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel: “Houses and fields and vineyards shall be ^(O)possessed again in this land.” ’

Jeremiah Prays for Understanding

¹⁶ “Now when I had delivered the purchase deed to Baruch the son of Neriah, I prayed to the Lord, saying: ¹⁷ ‘Ah, Lord God! Behold, ^(P)You have made the heavens and the earth by Your great power and outstretched arm. ^(Q)There is nothing too ^[c]hard for You. ¹⁸ You show ^(R)lovingkindness to thousands, and repay the iniquity of the fathers into the bosom of their children after them—the Great, ^(S)the Mighty God, whose name is ^(T)the Lord of hosts. ¹⁹ You are ^(U)great in counsel and mighty in ^[d]work, for Your ^(V)eyes are open to all the ways of the sons of men, ^(W)to give everyone according to his ways and according to the fruit of his doings. ²⁰ You have set signs and wonders in the land of Egypt, to this day, and in Israel and among other men; and You have made Yourself ^(X)a name, as it is this day. ²¹ You ^(Y)have brought Your people Israel out of the land of Egypt with signs and wonders, with a strong hand and an outstretched arm, and with great terror; ²² You have given them this land, of which You swore to their fathers to give them—^(Z)“a land flowing with milk and honey.” ²³ And they came in and took possession of it, but ^(AA)they have not obeyed Your voice or walked in Your law. They have done nothing of all that You commanded them to do; therefore You have caused all this calamity to come upon them.

²⁴ ‘Look, the siege mounds! They have come to the city to take it; and the city has been given into the hand of the Chaldeans who fight against it, because of ^(AB)the sword and famine and pestilence. What You have spoken has happened; there You see it! ²⁵ And You have said to me, O Lord God, “Buy the field for money, and take witnesses”!—yet the city has been given into the hand of the Chaldeans.’ ”

God’s Assurance of the People’s Return

²⁶ Then the word of the Lord came to Jeremiah, saying, ²⁷ “Behold, I am the Lord, the ^(AC)God of all flesh. Is there anything too hard for Me? ²⁸ Therefore thus says the Lord: ‘Behold, I will give this city into the hand of the Chaldeans, into the hand of Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon, and he shall take it. ²⁹ And the Chaldeans who fight against this city shall come and ^(AD)set fire to this city and burn it, with the houses ^(AE)on whose roofs they have offered incense to Baal and poured out drink offerings to other gods, to provoke Me to anger; ³⁰ because the children of Israel and the children of Judah ^(AF)have done only evil before Me from their youth. For the children of Israel have provoked Me only to anger with the work of their hands,’ says the Lord. ³¹ ‘For this city has been to Me a provocation of My anger and My fury from the day that they built it, even to this day; ^(AG)so I will remove it from before My face ³² because of all the evil of the children of Israel and the children of Judah, which they have done to provoke Me to anger—^(AH)they, their kings, their princes, their priests, ^(AI)their prophets, the men of Judah, and the inhabitants of Jerusalem. ³³ And they have turned to Me the ^(AJ)back, and not the face; though I taught them, ^(AK)rising up early and teaching them, yet they have not listened to receive instruction. ³⁴ But they ^(AL)set their abominations in ^[e]the house which is called by My name, to defile it. ³⁵ And they built the high places of Baal which are in the Valley of the Son of Hinnom, to ^(AM)cause their sons and their daughters to pass through the fire to ^(AN)Molech, ^(AO)which I did not command them, nor did it come into My mind that they should do this abomination, to cause Judah to sin.’

³⁶ “Now therefore, thus says the Lord, the God of Israel, concerning this city of which you say, ‘It shall be delivered into the hand of the king of Babylon by the sword, by the famine, and by the pestilence: ³⁷ Behold, I will ^(AP)gather them out of all countries where I have driven them in My anger, in My fury, and in great wrath; I will bring them back to this place, and I will cause them ^(AQ)to dwell safely. ³⁸ They shall be ^(AR)My people, and I will be their God; ³⁹ then I will ^(AS)give them one heart and one way, that they may fear Me forever, for the good of them and their children after them. ⁴⁰ And ^(AT)I will make an everlasting covenant with them, that I will not turn away from doing them good; but ^(AU)I will put My fear in their hearts so that they will not depart from Me. ⁴¹ Yes, ^(AV)I will rejoice over them to do them good, and ^(AW)I will ^[f]assuredly plant them in this land, with all My heart and with all My soul.’

⁴² “For thus says the Lord: ^(AX)‘Just as I have brought all this great calamity on this people, so I will bring on them all the good that I have promised them. ⁴³ And fields will be bought in this land ^(AY)of which you say, “It is desolate, without man or beast; it has been given into the hand of the Chaldeans.” ⁴⁴ Men will buy fields for money, sign deeds and seal them, and take witnesses, in ^(AZ)the land of Benjamin, in the places around Jerusalem, in the cities of Judah, in the cities of the mountains, in the cities of the ^[g]lowland, and in the cities of the ^[h]South; for ^(BA)I will cause their captives to return,’ says the Lord.”

Boaz Redeems Ruth

4 Now Boaz went up to the gate and sat down there; and behold, ^(A)the close relative of whom Boaz had spoken came by. So Boaz said, “Come aside, ^[a]friend, sit down here.” So he came aside and sat down. ² And he took ten men of ^(B)the elders of the city, and said, “Sit down here.” So they sat down. ³ Then he said to the close relative, “Naomi, who has come back from the country of Moab, sold the piece of land ^(C)which belonged to our brother Elimelech. ⁴ And I thought to ^[b]inform you, saying, ^(D)‘Buy it back ^(E)in the presence of the inhabitants and the elders of my people. If you will redeem it, redeem it; but if ^[c]you will not redeem it, then tell me, that I may know; ^(F)for there is no one but you to redeem it, and I am next after you.’ ”

And he said, “I will redeem it.”

⁵ Then Boaz said, “On the day you buy the field from the hand of Naomi, you must also buy it from Ruth the Moabitess, the wife of the dead, ^(G)to ^[d]perpetuate the name of the dead through his inheritance.”

^6 (H)And the close relative said, “I cannot redeem it for myself, lest I ruin my own inheritance. You redeem my right of redemption for yourself, for I cannot redeem it.”

^7 (I)Now this was the custom in former times in Israel concerning redeeming and exchanging, to confirm anything: one man took off his sandal and gave it to the other, and this was a confirmation in Israel.

⁸ Therefore the close relative said to Boaz, “Buy it for yourself.” So he took off his sandal. ⁹ And Boaz said to the elders and all the people, “You are witnesses this day that I have bought all that was Elimelech’s, and all that was Chilion’s and Mahlon’s, from the hand of Naomi. ¹⁰ Moreover, Ruth the Moabitess, the widow of Mahlon, I have acquired as my wife, to perpetuate the name of the dead through his inheritance, ^(J)that the name of the dead may not be cut off from among his brethren and from ^[e]his position at the gate. You are witnesses this day.”

¹¹ And all the people who were at the gate, and the elders, said, “We are witnesses. ^(K)The Lord make the woman who is coming to your house like Rachel and Leah, the two who ^(L)built the house of Israel; and may you prosper in ^(M)Ephrathah and be famous in ^(N)Bethlehem. ¹² May your house be like the house of ^(O)Perez, ^(P)whom Tamar bore to Judah, because of ^(Q)the offspring which the Lord will give you from this young woman.”

Descendants of Boaz and Ruth^(R)

¹³ So Boaz ^(S)took Ruth and she became his wife; and when he went in to her, ^(T)the Lord gave her conception, and she bore a son. ¹⁴ Then ^(U)the women said to Naomi, “Blessed be the Lord, who has not left you this day without a ^[f]close relative; and may his name be famous in Israel! ¹⁵ And may he be to you a restorer of life and a ^[g]nourisher of your old age; for your daughter-in-law, who loves you, who is ^(V)better to you than seven sons, has borne him.” ¹⁶ Then Naomi took the child and laid him on her bosom, and became a nurse to him. ^17 (W)Also the neighbor women gave him a name, saying, “There is a son born to Naomi.” And they called his name Obed. He is the father of Jesse, the father of David.

^18 (X)Now this is the genealogy of Perez: ^(Y)Perez begot Hezron; ¹⁹ Hezron begot Ram, and Ram begot Amminadab; ²⁰ Amminadab begot ^(Z)Nahshon, and Nahshon begot ^(AA)Salmon;^{[h] 21} Salmon begot Boaz, and Boaz begot Obed; ²² Obed begot Jesse, and Jesse begot ^(AB)David.