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Leviticus 24:1-25:46
New International Version

Olive Oil and Bread Set Before the Lord(A)

24 The Lord said to Moses, 2 “Command the Israelites to bring you clear oil of pressed olives for the light so that the lamps may be kept burning continually. 3 Outside the curtain that shields the ark of the covenant law in the tent of meeting, Aaron is to tend the lamps before the Lord from evening till morning, continually. This is to be a lasting ordinance(B) for the generations to come. 4 The lamps on the pure gold lampstand(C) before the Lord must be tended continually.

5 “Take the finest flour and bake twelve loaves of bread,(D) using two-tenths of an ephah[a](E) for each loaf. 6 Arrange them in two stacks, six in each stack, on the table of pure gold(F) before the Lord. 7 By each stack put some pure incense(G) as a memorial[b] portion(H) to represent the bread and to be a food offering presented to the Lord. 8 This bread is to be set out before the Lord regularly,(I) Sabbath after Sabbath,(J) on behalf of the Israelites, as a lasting covenant. 9 It belongs to Aaron and his sons,(K) who are to eat it in the sanctuary area,(L) because it is a most holy(M) part of their perpetual share of the food offerings presented to the Lord.”

A Blasphemer Put to Death

10 Now the son of an Israelite mother and an Egyptian father went out among the Israelites, and a fight broke out in the camp between him and an Israelite. 11 The son of the Israelite woman blasphemed the Name(N) with a curse;(O) so they brought him to Moses.(P) (His mother’s name was Shelomith, the daughter of Dibri the Danite.)(Q) 12 They put him in custody until the will of the Lord should be made clear to them.(R)

13 Then the Lord said to Moses: 14 “Take the blasphemer outside the camp. All those who heard him are to lay their hands on his head, and the entire assembly is to stone him.(S) 15 Say to the Israelites: ‘Anyone who curses their God(T) will be held responsible;(U) 16 anyone who blasphemes(V) the name of the Lord is to be put to death.(W) The entire assembly must stone them. Whether foreigner or native-born, when they blaspheme the Name they are to be put to death.

17 “‘Anyone who takes the life of a human being is to be put to death.(X) 18 Anyone who takes the life of someone’s animal must make restitution(Y)—life for life. 19 Anyone who injures their neighbor is to be injured in the same manner: 20 fracture for fracture, eye for eye, tooth for tooth.(Z) The one who has inflicted the injury must suffer the same injury. 21 Whoever kills an animal must make restitution,(AA) but whoever kills a human being is to be put to death.(AB) 22 You are to have the same law for the foreigner(AC) and the native-born.(AD) I am the Lord your God.’”

23 Then Moses spoke to the Israelites, and they took the blasphemer outside the camp and stoned him.(AE) The Israelites did as the Lord commanded Moses.

The Sabbath Year

25 The Lord said to Moses at Mount Sinai,(AF) 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.(AG) 4 But in the seventh year the land is to have a year of sabbath rest,(AH) a sabbath to the Lord. Do not sow your fields or prune your vineyards.(AI) 5 Do not reap what grows of itself(AJ) or harvest the grapes(AK) of your untended vines.(AL) The land is to have a year of rest. 6 Whatever the land yields during the sabbath year(AM) 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(AN) in your land. Whatever the land produces may be eaten.

The Year of Jubilee(AO)(AP)

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(AQ) sounded everywhere on the tenth day of the seventh month;(AR) on the Day of Atonement(AS) sound the trumpet throughout your land. 10 Consecrate the fiftieth year and proclaim liberty(AT) throughout the land to all its inhabitants. It shall be a jubilee(AU) for you; each of you is to return to your family property(AV) and to your own clan. 11 The fiftieth year shall be a jubilee(AW) for you; do not sow and do not reap what grows of itself or harvest the untended vines.(AX) 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(AY) 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.(AZ) 15 You are to buy from your own people on the basis of the number of years(BA) 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,(BB) because what is really being sold to you is the number of crops. 17 Do not take advantage of each other,(BC) but fear your God.(BD) I am the Lord your God.(BE)

18 “‘Follow my decrees and be careful to obey my laws,(BF) and you will live safely in the land.(BG) 19 Then the land will yield its fruit,(BH) and you will eat your fill and live there in safety.(BI) 20 You may ask, “What will we eat in the seventh year(BJ) if we do not plant or harvest our crops?” 21 I will send you such a blessing(BK) in the sixth year that the land will yield enough for three years.(BL) 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.(BM)

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

25 “‘If one of your fellow Israelites becomes poor and sells some of their property, their nearest relative(BR) is to come and redeem(BS) what they have sold. 26 If, however, there is no one to redeem it for them but later on they prosper(BT) and acquire sufficient means to redeem it themselves, 27 they are to determine the value for the years(BU) 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.(BV) 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(BW) in the Jubilee, and they can then go back to their property.(BX)

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,(BY) 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.(BZ)

35 “‘If any of your fellow Israelites become poor(CA) and are unable to support themselves among you, help them(CB) as you would a foreigner and stranger, so they can continue to live among you. 36 Do not take interest(CC) or any profit from them, but fear your God,(CD) so that they may continue to live among you. 37 You must not lend them money at interest(CE) 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(CF) and to be your God.(CG)

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

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.

Footnotes

  1. Leviticus 24:5 That is, probably about 7 pounds or about 3.2 kilograms
  2. Leviticus 24:7 Or representative
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Leviticus 24:1-25:46
New King James Version

Care of the Tabernacle Lamps(A)

24 Then the Lord spoke to Moses, saying: 2 (B)“Command the children of Israel that they bring to you pure oil of pressed olives for the light, to make the lamps burn continually. 3 Outside the veil of the Testimony, in the tabernacle of meeting, Aaron shall be in charge of it from evening until morning before the Lord continually; it shall be a statute forever in your generations. 4 He shall [a]be in charge of the lamps on (C)the pure gold lampstand before the Lord continually.

The Bread of the Tabernacle

5 “And you shall take fine flour and bake twelve (D)cakes with it. Two-tenths of an ephah shall be in each cake. 6 You shall set them in two rows, six in a row, (E)on the pure gold table before the Lord. 7 And you shall put pure frankincense on each row, that it may be on the bread for a (F)memorial, an offering made by fire to the Lord. 8 (G)Every Sabbath he shall set it in order before the Lord continually, being taken from the children of Israel by an everlasting covenant. 9 And (H)it shall be for Aaron and his sons, (I)and they shall eat it in a holy place; for it is most holy to him from the offerings of the Lord made by fire, by a perpetual statute.”

The Penalty for Blasphemy

10 Now the son of an Israelite woman, whose father was an Egyptian, went out among the children of Israel; and this Israelite woman’s son and a man of Israel fought each other in the camp. 11 And the Israelite woman’s son (J)blasphemed the name of the Lord and (K)cursed; and so they (L)brought him to Moses. (His mother’s name was Shelomith the daughter of Dibri, of the tribe of Dan.) 12 Then they (M)put him [b]in custody, (N)that [c]the mind of the Lord might be shown to them.

13 And the Lord spoke to Moses, saying, 14 “Take outside the camp him who has cursed; then let all who heard him (O)lay their hands on his head, and let all the congregation stone him.

15 “Then you shall speak to the children of Israel, saying: ‘Whoever curses his God (P)shall [d]bear his sin. 16 And whoever (Q)blasphemes the name of the Lord shall surely be put to death. All the congregation shall certainly stone him, the stranger as well as him who is born in the land. When he blasphemes the name of the Lord, he shall be put to death.

17 (R)‘Whoever kills any man shall surely be put to death. 18 (S)Whoever kills an animal shall make it good, animal for animal.

19 ‘If a man causes disfigurement of his neighbor, as (T)he has done, so shall it be done to him— 20 fracture for (U)fracture, (V)eye for eye, tooth for tooth; as he has caused disfigurement of a man, so shall it be done to him. 21 And whoever kills an animal shall restore it; but whoever kills a man shall be put to death. 22 You shall have (W)the[e] same law for the stranger and for one from your own country; for I am the Lord your God.’ ”

23 Then Moses spoke to the children of Israel; and they took outside the camp him who had cursed, and stoned him with stones. So the children of Israel did as the Lord commanded Moses.

The Sabbath of the Seventh Year(X)

25 And the Lord spoke to Moses on Mount (Y)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 (Z)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 (AA)seventh year there shall be a sabbath of solemn (AB)rest for the land, a sabbath to the Lord. You shall neither sow your field nor prune your vineyard. 5 (AC)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; (AD)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 (AE)proclaim liberty throughout all the land to all its inhabitants. It shall be a Jubilee for you; (AF)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 (AG)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; (AH)you shall eat its produce from the field.

13 (AI)‘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 (AJ)oppress one another. 15 (AK)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 (AL)you shall not [f]oppress one another, (AM)but you shall fear your God; for I am the Lord your God.

Provisions for the Seventh Year

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

20 ‘And if you say, (AQ)“What shall we eat in the seventh year, since (AR)we shall not sow nor gather in our produce?” 21 Then I will (AS)command My blessing on you in the (AT)sixth year, and it will bring forth produce enough for three years. 22 (AU)And you shall sow in the eighth year, and eat (AV)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 (AW)the land is Mine; for you are (AX)strangers and sojourners with Me. 24 And in all the land of your possession you shall grant redemption of the land.

25 (AY)‘If one of your brethren becomes poor, and has sold some of his possession, and if (AZ)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 (BA)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; (BB)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 (BC)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 (BD)the field of the common-land of their cities may not be (BE)sold, for it is their perpetual possession.

Lending to the Poor

35 ‘If one of your brethren becomes poor, and [g]falls into poverty among you, then you shall (BF)help him, like a stranger or a sojourner, that he may live with you. 36 (BG)Take no usury or interest from him; but (BH)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 (BI)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 (BJ)with him—and shall return to his own family. He shall return to the possession of his fathers. 42 For they are (BK)My servants, whom I brought out of the land of Egypt; they shall not be sold as slaves. 43 (BL)You shall not rule over him (BM)with [h]rigor, but you (BN)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 (BO)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 (BP)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.

Footnotes

  1. Leviticus 24:4 arrange or set in order
  2. Leviticus 24:12 under guard
  3. Leviticus 24:12 Lit. it might be declared to them from the mouth of the Lord
  4. Leviticus 24:15 be responsible for
  5. Leviticus 24:22 one standard of judgment
  6. Leviticus 25:17 mistreat
  7. Leviticus 25:35 Lit. his hand fails
  8. Leviticus 25:43 severity
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Leviticus 24:1-25:46
New American Standard Bible

The Lamp and the Bread of the Sanctuary

24 Then the Lord spoke to Moses, saying, 2 “Command the sons of Israel that they bring to you (A)clear oil from beaten olives for the [a]light, to make a lamp [b]burn continually. 3 Outside the veil of the testimony in the tent of meeting, Aaron shall keep it in order from evening to morning before the Lord continually; it shall be a permanent statute throughout your generations. 4 He shall keep the lamps in order on the (B)pure gold lampstand before the Lord continually.

5 “(C)Then you shall take fine flour and bake twelve [c]cakes with it; [d]two-tenths of an ephah shall be in each cake. 6 And you shall set them in two rows, six to a row, on the (D)pure gold table before the Lord. 7 You shall put pure frankincense on each row so that it may be (E)a memorial portion for the bread, an offering by fire to the Lord. 8 (F)Every Sabbath day he shall set it in order before the Lord (G)continually; it is an everlasting covenant [e]for the sons of Israel. 9 And (H)it shall be for Aaron and his sons, and they shall eat it in a holy place; for it is most holy to him from the Lord’s offerings by fire, his portion forever.”

10 Now the son of an Israelite woman—his father was an Egyptian—went out among the sons of Israel; and the Israelite woman’s son and an Israelite man had a fight within the camp. 11 And the son of the Israelite woman blasphemed the (I)Name and cursed. So they brought him to Moses. (Now his mother’s name was Shelomith, the daughter of Dibri, of the tribe of Dan.) 12 Then they put him in custody, waiting for Moses to give them a clear decision in accordance with (J)the command of the Lord.

13 Then the Lord spoke to Moses, saying, 14 “Bring the one who has cursed outside the camp, and have all who heard him (K)lay their hands on his head; then (L)have all the congregation stone him. 15 You shall also speak to the sons of Israel, saying, ‘(M)If anyone curses his God, then he will bear the responsibility for his sin. 16 Moreover, the one who (N)blasphemes the name of the Lord must be put to death; all the congregation shall certainly stone him. The stranger as well as the native, when he blasphemes the Name, shall be put to death.

An Eye for an Eye

17 ‘Now (O)if someone [f]takes any human life, he must be put to death. 18 But (P)the one who [g]takes the life of an animal shall make restitution, life for life. 19 If someone injures his neighbor, just as he has done, so shall it be done to him: 20 (Q)fracture for fracture, (R)eye for eye, tooth for tooth; just as he has injured a person, so shall it be [h]inflicted on him. 21 So the one who [i]kills an animal shall make restitution, but (S)the one who [j]kills a person shall be put to death. 22 There shall be only (T)one [k]standard for you; it shall be for the stranger as well as the native, for I am the Lord your God.’” 23 Then Moses spoke to the sons of Israel, and they brought the one who had cursed outside the camp, and stoned him with stones. So the sons of Israel did just as the Lord had commanded Moses.

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 (U)six years you shall sow your field, and for six years you shall prune your vineyard and gather in its produce, 4 but during (V)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 [l]aftergrowth, and you shall not gather your grapes of untrimmed vines; the land shall have a sabbatical year. 6 (W)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 [m]abroad on (X)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 (Y)proclaim [n]a release throughout the land to all its inhabitants. It shall be a jubilee for you, [o]and (Z)each of you shall return to his own property, [p]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 ‘(AA)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, (AB)you shall not [q]wrong one another. 15 Corresponding to the number of years after the jubilee, you shall buy from your friend; he is to sell to you according to the number of years of crops. 16 (AC)In proportion to [r]a greater number of years you shall increase its price, and in proportion to [s]fewer years you shall decrease its price, because it is the number of crops that he is selling to you. 17 So (AD)you shall not [t]wrong one another, but you shall [u]fear your God; for I am the Lord your God.

18 ‘You shall therefore [v]follow My statutes and keep My judgments so as to carry them out, so that (AE)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, “(AF)What are we going to eat in the seventh year if we do not sow nor gather in our produce?” 21 then (AG)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 (AH)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 (AI)the land is Mine; for (AJ)you are only strangers and residents with Me. 24 So for every [w]piece of your property, you are to provide for the redemption of the land.

25 ‘(AK)If a fellow countryman of yours becomes so poor that he sells part of his property, then his closest [x]redeemer is to come and buy back what his relative has sold. 26 Or in case someone has no redeemer, but [y]recovers to find sufficient means for its redemption, 27 (AL)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 [z]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 [aa]revert, so that (AM)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 [ab]revert in the jubilee. 31 The houses of the villages, however, which have no surrounding wall, shall be regarded [ac]as open fields; they have redemption rights and [ad]revert in the jubilee. 32 As for the (AN)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, [ae]belongs to the Levites may be redeemed, and a house sale [af]in the city of this possession [ag]reverts in the jubilee, because the houses of the cities of the Levites are their possession among the sons of Israel. 34 (AO)But pasture fields of their cities shall not be sold, for that is their permanent possession.

Of Poor Countrymen

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

39 ‘Now (AT)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, (AU)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 (AV)You shall not rule over him with [al]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. (AW)But in respect to your countrymen, the sons of Israel, you shall not rule with [am]severity over one another.

Footnotes

  1. Leviticus 24:2 Or luminary
  2. Leviticus 24:2 Lit ascend
  3. Leviticus 24:5 I.e., ring-shaped bread loaves
  4. Leviticus 24:5 About 0.13 cubic feet or 0.004 cubic meters
  5. Leviticus 24:8 Lit from
  6. Leviticus 24:17 Lit strikes
  7. Leviticus 24:18 Lit strikes
  8. Leviticus 24:20 Lit given
  9. Leviticus 24:21 Lit strikes down
  10. Leviticus 24:21 Lit strikes down
  11. Leviticus 24:22 Lit judgment
  12. Leviticus 25:5 Lit growth from spilled kernels
  13. Leviticus 25:9 Lit signal
  14. Leviticus 25:10 Or freedom
  15. Leviticus 25:10 Or when
  16. Leviticus 25:10 Or when
  17. Leviticus 25:14 Lit oppress
  18. Leviticus 25:16 Lit the multitude of
  19. Leviticus 25:16 Lit the years being few
  20. Leviticus 25:17 Lit oppress
  21. Leviticus 25:17 Or revere
  22. Leviticus 25:18 Lit do My
  23. Leviticus 25:24 Lit land
  24. Leviticus 25:25 I.e., male relative to act in his behalf
  25. Leviticus 25:26 Lit his hand reaches
  26. Leviticus 25:28 Lit his hand has not found sufficient to
  27. Leviticus 25:28 Lit go out
  28. Leviticus 25:30 Lit go out
  29. Leviticus 25:31 Lit according to
  30. Leviticus 25:31 Lit go out
  31. Leviticus 25:33 Lit is from
  32. Leviticus 25:33 Lit and
  33. Leviticus 25:33 Lit goes out
  34. Leviticus 25:35 Lit hand
  35. Leviticus 25:36 Prob. interest on money and food loans
  36. Leviticus 25:36 Or revere
  37. Leviticus 25:37 Lit at interest
  38. Leviticus 25:43 Or violence
  39. Leviticus 25:46 Or violence
Close NLT

Leviticus 24:1-25:46
New Living Translation

Pure Oil and Holy Bread

24 The Lord said to Moses, 2 “Command the people of Israel to bring you pure oil of pressed olives for the light, to keep the lamps burning continually. 3 This is the lampstand that stands in the Tabernacle, in front of the inner curtain that shields the Ark of the Covenant.[a] Aaron must keep the lamps burning in the Lord’s presence all night. This is a permanent law for you, and it must be observed from generation to generation. 4 Aaron and the priests must tend the lamps on the pure gold lampstand continually in the Lord’s presence.

5 “You must bake twelve flat loaves of bread from choice flour, using four quarts[b] of flour for each loaf. 6 Place the bread before the Lord on the pure gold table, and arrange the loaves in two stacks, with six loaves in each stack. 7 Put some pure frankincense near each stack to serve as a representative offering, a special gift presented to the Lord. 8 Every Sabbath day this bread must be laid out before the Lord as a gift from the Israelites; it is an ongoing expression of the eternal covenant. 9 The loaves of bread will belong to Aaron and his descendants, who must eat them in a sacred place, for they are most holy. It is the permanent right of the priests to claim this portion of the special gifts presented to the Lord.”

An Example of Just Punishment

10 One day a man who had an Israelite mother and an Egyptian father came out of his tent and got into a fight with one of the Israelite men. 11 During the fight, this son of an Israelite woman blasphemed the Name of the Lord[c] with a curse. So the man was brought to Moses for judgment. His mother was Shelomith, the daughter of Dibri of the tribe of Dan. 12 They kept the man in custody until the Lord’s will in the matter should become clear to them.

13 Then the Lord said to Moses, 14 “Take the blasphemer outside the camp, and tell all those who heard the curse to lay their hands on his head. Then let the entire community stone him to death. 15 Say to the people of Israel: Those who curse their God will be punished for their sin. 16 Anyone who blasphemes the Name of the Lord must be stoned to death by the whole community of Israel. Any native-born Israelite or foreigner among you who blasphemes the Name of the Lord must be put to death.

17 “Anyone who takes another person’s life must be put to death.

18 “Anyone who kills another person’s animal must pay for it in full—a live animal for the animal that was killed.

19 “Anyone who injures another person must be dealt with according to the injury inflicted— 20 a fracture for a fracture, an eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth. Whatever anyone does to injure another person must be paid back in kind.

21 “Whoever kills an animal must pay for it in full, but whoever kills another person must be put to death.

22 “This same standard applies both to native-born Israelites and to the foreigners living among you. I am the Lord your God.”

23 After Moses gave all these instructions to the Israelites, they took the blasphemer outside the camp and stoned him to death. The Israelites did just as the Lord had commanded Moses.

The Sabbath Year

25 While Moses was on Mount Sinai, the Lord said to him, 2 “Give the following instructions to the people of Israel. When you have entered the land I am giving you, the land itself must observe a Sabbath rest before the Lord every seventh year. 3 For six years you may plant your fields and prune your vineyards and harvest your crops, 4 but during the seventh year the land must have a Sabbath year of complete rest. It is the Lord’s Sabbath. Do not plant your fields or prune your vineyards during that year. 5 And don’t store away the crops that grow on their own or gather the grapes from your unpruned vines. The land must have a year of complete rest. 6 But you may eat whatever the land produces on its own during its Sabbath. This applies to you, your male and female servants, your hired workers, and the temporary residents who live with you. 7 Your livestock and the wild animals in your land will also be allowed to eat what the land produces.

The Year of Jubilee

8 “In addition, you must count off seven Sabbath years, seven sets of seven years, adding up to forty-nine years in all. 9 Then on the Day of Atonement in the fiftieth year,[d] blow the ram’s horn loud and long throughout the land. 10 Set this year apart as holy, a time to proclaim freedom throughout the land for all who live there. It will be a jubilee year for you, when each of you may return to the land that belonged to your ancestors and return to your own clan. 11 This fiftieth year will be a jubilee for you. During that year you must not plant your fields or store away any of the crops that grow on their own, and don’t gather the grapes from your unpruned vines. 12 It will be a jubilee year for you, and you must keep it holy. But you may eat whatever the land produces on its own. 13 In the Year of Jubilee each of you may return to the land that belonged to your ancestors.

14 “When you make an agreement with your neighbor to buy or sell property, you must not take advantage of each other. 15 When you buy land from your neighbor, the price you pay must be based on the number of years since the last jubilee. The seller must set the price by taking into account the number of years remaining until the next Year of Jubilee. 16 The more years until the next jubilee, the higher the price; the fewer years, the lower the price. After all, the person selling the land is actually selling you a certain number of harvests. 17 Show your fear of God by not taking advantage of each other. I am the Lord your God.

18 “If you want to live securely in the land, follow my decrees and obey my regulations. 19 Then the land will yield large crops, and you will eat your fill and live securely in it. 20 But you might ask, ‘What will we eat during the seventh year, since we are not allowed to plant or harvest crops that year?’ 21 Be assured that I will send my blessing for you in the sixth year, so the land will produce a crop large enough for three years. 22 When you plant your fields in the eighth year, you will still be eating from the large crop of the sixth year. In fact, you will still be eating from that large crop when the new crop is harvested in the ninth year.

Redemption of Property

23 “The land must never be sold on a permanent basis, for the land belongs to me. You are only foreigners and tenant farmers working for me.

24 “With every purchase of land you must grant the seller the right to buy it back. 25 If one of your fellow Israelites falls into poverty and is forced to sell some family land, then a close relative should buy it back for him. 26 If there is no close relative to buy the land, but the person who sold it gets enough money to buy it back, 27 he then has the right to redeem it from the one who bought it. The price of the land will be discounted according to the number of years until the next Year of Jubilee. In this way the original owner can then return to the land. 28 But if the original owner cannot afford to buy back the land, it will remain with the new owner until the next Year of Jubilee. In the jubilee year, the land must be returned to the original owners so they can return to their family land.

29 “Anyone who sells a house inside a walled town has the right to buy it back for a full year after its sale. During that year, the seller retains the right to buy it back. 30 But if it is not bought back within a year, the sale of the house within the walled town cannot be reversed. It will become the permanent property of the buyer. It will not be returned to the original owner in the Year of Jubilee. 31 But a house in a village—a settlement without fortified walls—will be treated like property in the countryside. Such a house may be bought back at any time, and it must be returned to the original owner in the Year of Jubilee.

32 “The Levites always have the right to buy back a house they have sold within the towns allotted to them. 33 And any property that is sold by the Levites—all houses within the Levitical towns—must be returned in the Year of Jubilee. After all, the houses in the towns reserved for the Levites are the only property they own in all Israel. 34 The open pastureland around the Levitical towns may never be sold. It is their permanent possession.

Redemption of the Poor and Enslaved

35 “If one of your fellow Israelites falls into poverty and cannot support himself, support him as you would a foreigner or a temporary resident and allow him to live with you. 36 Do not charge interest or make a profit at his expense. Instead, show your fear of God by letting him live with you as your relative. 37 Remember, do not charge interest on money you lend him or make a profit on food you sell him. 38 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 “If one of your fellow Israelites falls into poverty and is forced to sell himself to you, do not treat him as a slave. 40 Treat him instead as a hired worker or as a temporary resident who lives with you, and he will serve you only until the Year of Jubilee. 41 At that time he and his children will no longer be obligated to you, and they will return to their clans and go back to the land originally allotted to their ancestors. 42 The people of Israel are my servants, whom I brought out of the land of Egypt, so they must never be sold as slaves. 43 Show your fear of God by not treating them harshly.

44 “However, you may purchase male and female slaves from among the nations around you. 45 You may also purchase the children of temporary residents who live among you, including those who have been born in your land. You may treat them as your property, 46 passing them on to your children as a permanent inheritance. You may treat them as slaves, but you must never treat your fellow Israelites this way.

Footnotes

  1. 24:3 Hebrew in the Tent of Meeting, outside the inner curtain of the Testimony; see note on 16:13.
  2. 24:5 Hebrew 2⁄10 of an ephah [4.4 liters].
  3. 24:11 Hebrew the Name; also in 24:16b.
  4. 25:9 Hebrew on the tenth day of the seventh month, on the Day of Atonement; see 23:27a and the note there.
Listen to Leviticus 24:1-25:46
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Leviticus 24:1-25:46
The Message

Light and Bread

24 1-4 God spoke to Moses: “Order the People of Israel to bring you virgin olive oil for light so that the lamps may be kept burning continually. Aaron is in charge of keeping these lamps burning in front of the curtain that screens The Testimony in the Tent of Meeting from evening to morning continually before God. This is a perpetual decree down through the generations. Aaron is responsible for keeping the lamps burning continually on the Lampstand of pure gold before God.

5-9 “Take fine flour and bake twelve loaves of bread, using about four quarts of flour to a loaf. Arrange them in two rows of six each on the Table of pure gold before God. Along each row spread pure incense, marking the bread as a memorial; it is a gift to God. Regularly, every Sabbath, this bread is to be set before God, a perpetual covenantal response from Israel. The bread then goes to Aaron and his sons, who are to eat it in a Holy Place. It is their most holy share from the gifts to God. This is a perpetual decree.”

* * *

10-12 One day the son of an Israelite mother and an Egyptian father went out among the Israelites. A fight broke out in the camp between him and an Israelite. The son of the Israelite woman blasphemed the Name of God and cursed. They brought him to Moses. His mother’s name was Shelomith, daughter of Dibri of the tribe of Dan. They put him in custody waiting for God’s will to be revealed to them.

13-16 Then God spoke to Moses: “Take the blasphemer outside the camp. Have all those who heard him place their hands on his head; then have the entire congregation stone him. Then tell the Israelites, Anyone who curses God will be held accountable; anyone who blasphemes the Name of God must be put to death. The entire congregation must stone him. It makes no difference whether he is a foreigner or a native, if he blasphemes the Name, he will be put to death.

17-22 “Anyone who hits and kills a fellow human must be put to death. Anyone who kills someone’s animal must make it good—a life for a life. Anyone who injures his neighbor will get back the same as he gave: fracture for fracture, eye for eye, tooth for tooth. What he did to hurt that person will be done to him. Anyone who hits and kills an animal must make it good, but whoever hits and kills a fellow human will be put to death. And no double standards: the same rule goes for foreigners and natives. I am God, your God.”

23 Moses then spoke to the People of Israel. They brought the blasphemer outside the camp and stoned him. The People of Israel followed the orders God had given Moses.

“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.

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