Leviticus 25
Christian Standard Bible
Sabbath Years and Jubilee
25 The Lord spoke to Moses on Mount Sinai: 2 “Speak to the Israelites and tell them: When you enter the land I am giving you, the land will observe a Sabbath to the Lord. 3 You may sow your field for six years, and you may prune your vineyard and gather its produce for six years. 4 But there will be a Sabbath of complete rest(A) for the land in the seventh year, a Sabbath to the Lord: you are not to sow your field or prune your vineyard. 5 You are not to reap what grows by itself from your crop, or harvest the grapes of your untended vines. It is to be a year of complete rest for the land. 6 Whatever the land produces during the Sabbath year can be food for you—for yourself, your male or female slave, and the hired worker or alien who resides with you. 7 All of its growth may serve as food for your livestock and the wild animals in your land.
8 “You are to count seven sabbatical years, seven times seven years, so that the time period of the seven sabbatical years amounts to forty-nine. 9 Then you are to sound a ram’s horn loudly in the seventh month, on the tenth day of the month; you will sound it throughout your land on the Day of Atonement.(B) 10 You are to consecrate the fiftieth year and proclaim freedom in the land for all its inhabitants. It will be your Jubilee,(C) when each of you is to return to his property and each of you to his clan. 11 The fiftieth year will be your Jubilee; you are not to sow, reap what grows by itself, or harvest its untended vines. 12 It is to be holy to you because it is the Jubilee; you may only eat its produce directly from the field.
13 “In this Year of Jubilee, each of you will return to his property. 14 If you make a sale to your neighbor or a purchase from him, do not cheat(D) one another. 15 You are to make the purchase from your neighbor based on the number of years since the last Jubilee. He is to sell to you based on the number of remaining harvest years. 16 You are to increase its price in proportion to a greater amount of years, and decrease its price in proportion to a lesser amount of years, because what he is selling to you is a number of harvests. 17 You are not to cheat one another, but fear your God, for I am the Lord your God.
18 “You are to keep my statutes and ordinances and carefully observe them, so that you may live securely in the land.(E) 19 Then the land will yield its fruit, so that you can eat, be satisfied, and live securely in the land. 20 If you wonder, ‘What will we eat in the seventh year if we don’t sow or gather our produce?’ 21 I will appoint my blessing for you in the sixth year, so that it will produce a crop sufficient for three years. 22 When you sow in the eighth year, you will be eating from the previous harvest. You will be eating this until the ninth year when its harvest comes in.
23 “The land is not to be permanently sold because it is mine, and you are only aliens and temporary residents on my land.[a](F) 24 You are to allow the redemption of any land you occupy. 25 If your brother becomes destitute and sells part of his property, his nearest relative may come and redeem what his brother has sold. 26 If a man has no family redeemer, but he prospers[b] and obtains enough to redeem his land, 27 he may calculate the years since its sale, repay the balance to the man he sold it to, and return to his property. 28 But if he cannot obtain enough to repay him, what he sold will remain in the possession of its purchaser until the Year of Jubilee. It is to be released at the Jubilee, so that he may return to his property.
29 “If a man sells a residence in a walled city, his right of redemption will last until a year has passed after its sale; his right of redemption will last a year. 30 If it is not redeemed by the end of a full year, then the house in the walled city is permanently transferred to its purchaser throughout his generations. It is not to be released on the Jubilee. 31 But houses in settlements that have no walls around them are to be classified as open fields. The right to redeem such houses stays in effect, and they are to be released at the Jubilee.
32 “Concerning the Levitical cities,(G) the Levites always have the right to redeem houses in the cities they possess. 33 Whatever property one of the Levites can redeem[c]—a house sold in a city they possess—is to be released at the Jubilee, because the houses in the Levitical cities are their possession among the Israelites. 34 The open pastureland around their cities may not be sold, for it is their permanent possession.
35 “If your brother becomes destitute and cannot sustain himself among[d] you, you are to support him as an alien or temporary resident, so that he can continue to live among you. 36 Do not profit or take interest from him,(H) but fear your God and let your brother live among you. 37 You are not to lend him your silver with interest or sell him your food for profit. 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 your brother among you becomes destitute and sells himself to you,(I) you must not force him to do slave labor. 40 Let him stay with you as a hired worker or temporary resident; he may work for you until the Year of Jubilee. 41 Then he and his children are to be released from you, and he may return to his clan and his ancestral property.(J) 42 They are not to be sold as slaves,[e] because they are my servants[f] that I brought out of the land of Egypt. 43 You are not to rule over them harshly(K) but fear your God. 44 Your male and female slaves are to be from the nations around you; you may purchase male and female slaves. 45 You may also purchase them from the aliens residing with you, or from their families living among you—those born in your land. These may become your property. 46 You may leave them to your sons after you to inherit as property; you can make them slaves for life. But concerning your brothers, the Israelites, you must not rule over one another harshly.
47 “If an alien or temporary resident living among you prospers, but your brother living near him becomes destitute and sells himself to the alien living among you, or to a member of the resident alien’s clan, 48 he has the right of redemption after he has been sold. One of his brothers may redeem him. 49 His uncle or cousin may redeem him, or any of his close relatives from his clan may redeem him. If he prospers, he may redeem himself. 50 The one who purchased him is to calculate the time from the year he sold himself to him until the Year of Jubilee. The price of his sale will be determined by the number of years. It will be set for him like the daily wages of a hired worker. 51 If many years are still left, he must pay his redemption price in proportion to them based on his purchase price. 52 If only a few years remain until the Year of Jubilee, he will calculate and pay the price of his redemption in proportion to his remaining years. 53 He will stay with him like a man hired year by year. A resident alien is not to rule over him harshly in your sight. 54 If he is not redeemed in any of these ways, he and his children are to be released at the Year of Jubilee. 55 For the Israelites are my servants.(L) They are my servants that I brought out of the land of Egypt; I am the Lord your God.
Leviticus 25
New Revised Standard Version Updated Edition
The Sabbatical Year
25 The Lord spoke to Moses on Mount Sinai, saying, 2 “Speak to the Israelites and say to them: When you enter the land that I am giving you, the land shall observe a Sabbath for the Lord.(A) 3 Six years you shall sow your field, and six years you shall prune your vineyard and gather in their yield, 4 but in the seventh year there shall be a Sabbath of complete rest for the land, a Sabbath for the Lord: you shall not sow your field or prune your vineyard. 5 You shall not reap the aftergrowth of your harvest or gather the grapes of your unpruned vine: it shall be a year of complete rest for the land. 6 You may eat what the land yields during its Sabbath—you, your male and female slaves, your hired and your bound laborers who live with you,(B) 7 for your livestock also, and for the wild animals in your land all its yield shall be for food.
The Year of Jubilee
8 “You shall count off seven weeks[a] of years, seven times seven years, so that the period of seven weeks of years gives forty-nine years. 9 Then you shall have the trumpet sounded loud; on the tenth day of the seventh month—on the Day of Atonement—you shall have the trumpet sounded throughout all your land.(C) 10 And you shall hallow the fiftieth year, and you shall proclaim liberty throughout the land to all its inhabitants. It shall be a Jubilee for you: you shall return, every one of you, to your property and every one of you to your family.(D) 11 That fiftieth year shall be a Jubilee for you: you shall not sow or reap the aftergrowth or harvest the unpruned vines. 12 For it is a Jubilee; it shall be holy to you: you shall eat only what the field itself produces.
13 “In this year of Jubilee you shall return, every one of you, to your property.(E) 14 When you make a sale to your neighbor or buy from your neighbor, you shall not cheat one another.(F) 15 When you buy from your neighbor, you shall pay only for the number of years until the Jubilee; the seller shall charge you only for the remaining crop years.(G) 16 If the years are more, you shall increase the price, and if the years are fewer, you shall diminish the price, for it is a certain number of harvests that are being sold to you. 17 You shall not cheat one another, but you shall fear your God, for I am the Lord your God.(H)
18 “You shall observe my statutes and faithfully keep my ordinances, so that you may live on the land securely.(I) 19 The land will yield its fruit, and you will eat your fill and live on it securely. 20 Should you ask, ‘What shall we eat in the seventh year, if we may not sow or gather in our crop?’(J) 21 I will order my blessing for you in the sixth year, so that it will yield a crop for three years. 22 When you sow in the eighth year, you will be eating from the old crop; until the ninth year, when its produce comes in, you shall eat the old.(K) 23 The land shall not be sold in perpetuity, for the land is mine; with me you are but aliens and tenants.(L) 24 Throughout the land that you hold, you shall provide for the redemption of the land.
25 “If anyone of your kin falls into difficulty and sells a piece of property, then the next of kin shall come and redeem what the relative has sold.(M) 26 If the person has no one to redeem it but then prospers and finds sufficient means to do so, 27 the years since its sale shall be computed and the difference refunded to the person to whom it was sold, and the property shall be returned.(N) 28 But if there are not sufficient means to recover it, what was sold shall remain with the purchaser until the year of Jubilee; in the Jubilee it shall be released, and the property shall be returned.(O)
29 “If anyone sells a dwelling house in a walled city, it may be redeemed until a year has elapsed since its sale; the right of redemption shall be one year. 30 If it is not redeemed before a full year has elapsed, a house that is in a walled city shall pass in perpetuity to the purchaser, throughout the generations; it shall not be released in the Jubilee. 31 But houses in villages that have no walls around them shall be classed as open country; they may be redeemed, and they shall be released in the Jubilee. 32 As for the cities of the Levites, the Levites shall forever have the right of redemption of the houses in the cities belonging to them.(P) 33 Whatever property of the Levites that may be redeemed, that is, houses sold in a city belonging to them, shall be released in the Jubilee, for the houses in the cities of the Levites are their possession among the Israelites. 34 But the pasturelands around their cities may not be sold, for that is their possession for all time.
35 “If any of your kin fall into difficulty and become dependent on you,[b] you shall support them; they shall live with you as though resident aliens.(Q) 36 Do not take interest in advance or otherwise make a profit from them, but fear your God; let them live with you.(R) 37 You shall not lend them your money at interest taken in advance or provide them food at a profit. 38 I am the Lord your God who brought you out of the land of Egypt, to give you the land of Canaan, to be your God.(S)
39 “If any who are dependent on you become so impoverished that they sell themselves to you, you shall not make them serve as slaves.(T) 40 They shall remain with you as hired or bound laborers. They shall serve with you until the year of the Jubilee. 41 Then they and their children with them shall go out from your authority; they shall go back to their own family and return to their ancestral property.(U) 42 For they are my servants whom I brought out of the land of Egypt; they shall not be sold as slaves are sold. 43 You shall not rule over them with harshness but shall fear your God.(V) 44 As for the male and female slaves whom you may have, it is from the nations around you that you may acquire male and female slaves. 45 You may also acquire them from among the aliens residing with you and from their families who are with you who have been born in your land; they may be your property.(W) 46 You may keep them as a possession for your children after you, for them to inherit as property. These you may treat as slaves, but as for your fellow Israelites, no one shall rule over the other with harshness.(X)
47 “If resident aliens among you prosper, and if any of your kin fall into difficulty with one of them and sell themselves to an alien or to a branch of the alien’s family, 48 even after they have sold themselves they shall have the right of redemption; one of their brothers may redeem them,(Y) 49 or their uncle or their uncle’s son may redeem them, or anyone of their family who is of their own flesh may redeem them, or if they prosper they may redeem themselves.(Z) 50 They shall compute with the purchaser the total from the year when they sold themselves to the alien until the Jubilee year; the price of the sale shall be applied to the number of years: the time they were with the owner shall be rated as the time of a hired laborer.(AA) 51 If many years remain, they shall pay for their redemption in proportion to the purchase price,(AB) 52 and if few years remain until the Jubilee year, they shall compute thus: according to the years involved they shall make payment for their redemption. 53 As a laborer hired by the year they shall be under the alien’s authority, who shall not, however, rule with harshness over them in your sight. 54 And if they have not been redeemed in any of these ways, they and their children with them shall go out in the Jubilee year. 55 For to me the Israelites are servants; they are my servants whom I brought out from the land of Egypt: I am the Lord your God.
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New Revised Standard Version, Updated Edition. Copyright © 2021 National Council of Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.