Leviticus 25
Legacy Standard Bible
The Sabbatical Year
25 Yahweh then spoke to Moses [a]at Mount Sinai, saying, 2 “Speak to the sons of Israel and say to them, ‘When you come into the land which I am giving to you, then the land shall have a sabbath to Yahweh. 3 (A)Six years you shall sow your field, and 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 Yahweh; you shall not sow your field nor prune your vineyard. 5 [b]What grows of its own accord from your harvest you shall not reap, and your grapes of untrimmed vines you shall not gather; the land shall have a sabbatical year. 6 (C)And the sabbath produce of the land shall be for food; for you and your male and female slaves and your hired man and your foreign resident, those who sojourn with you. 7 Even your cattle and the beasts that are in your land shall have all its produce to eat.
The Year of Jubilee
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, namely, forty-nine years. 9 You shall then sound a ram’s horn 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 You shall thus set apart as holy the fiftieth year and (E)proclaim [c]a release through the land to all its inhabitants. It shall be a jubilee for you, [d]and (F)each of you shall return to his own possession of land, [e]and each of you shall return to his family. 11 You shall have the fiftieth year as a jubilee; you shall not sow; you shall not reap what grows of its own accord; you shall not gather in from its untrimmed vines. 12 For it is a jubilee; it shall be holy to you. You shall eat its produce out of the field.
13 ‘(G)On this year of jubilee, each of you shall return to his own possession of land. 14 If you make a sale, moreover, to your companion or buy from your friend’s hand, (H)you shall not mistreat one another. 15 Corresponding to the number of years after the jubilee, you shall buy from your [f]companion; he is to sell to you according to the number of years of produce. 16 (I)In proportion to the [g]extent of the years you shall increase its price, and in proportion to the fewness of the years you shall diminish its price, for it is the number of crops it produces that he is selling to you. 17 So (J)you shall not mistreat one another, but you shall [h]fear your God; for I am Yahweh your God.
18 ‘You shall thus observe My statutes and keep My judgments, so as to do them, that (K)you may live securely on the land. 19 Then the land will yield its fruit, so that you can eat your fill and live securely on it. 20 But if you say, “(L)What are we going to eat on the seventh year [i]if we do not sow or gather in our produce?” 21 then (M)I will command My blessing for you in the sixth year that it will bring forth the produce for three years. 22 So you shall sow the eighth year and eat (N)old things from that produce, eating the old until the ninth year when its produce comes in.
The Redemption of Land
23 ‘The land, moreover, shall not be sold permanently, for (O)the land is Mine; for (P)you are but sojourners and foreign residents with Me. 24 Thus for every [j]piece of land of your possession, you shall provide for the redemption of the land.
25 ‘(Q)If a brother of yours becomes so poor he has to sell part of his possession of land, then his nearest kinsman redeemer is to come and redeem what his brother has sold. 26 Or in case a man has no kinsman redeemer, but [k]recovers his means and finds sufficient payment for its redemption, 27 (R)then he shall calculate the years since its sale and return the balance to the man to whom he sold it, and so return to his possession of land. 28 But if [l]he has not found sufficient means to return it to 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 [m]revert, that (S)he may return to his possession of land.
29 ‘Likewise, if a man sells a house for habitation in a walled city, then his redemption right remains valid until a full year from its sale; his right of redemption lasts a full year. 30 But if it is not redeemed 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 [n]revert in the jubilee. 31 The houses of the villages, however, which have no surrounding wall, shall be considered [o]as open fields; they have redemption rights and [p]revert in the jubilee. 32 As for (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, [q]belongs to the Levites may be redeemed, and a house sale [r]in the city of [s]their possession [t]reverts in the jubilee, for 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 perpetual possession.
Redemption Rights for Poor Brothers
35 ‘(V)Now if a brother of yours becomes poor and his [u]means with regard to you falter, then you are to sustain him, like a sojourner or a foreign resident, that he may live with you. 36 (W)Do not take [v]usurious interest from him, but fear your God, that your brother may live with you. 37 You shall not give him your silver at interest nor your food for gain. 38 (X)I am Yahweh 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 ‘(Z)If a brother 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 man, as (AA)if he were a foreign resident; he shall serve with you until the year of jubilee. 41 He shall then go out from you, he and his sons with him, and shall return to his family, that he may return to the possession of the land of his fathers. 42 For they are My slaves whom I brought out from the land of Egypt; they shall not be sold in a slave sale. 43 (AB)You shall not have dominion over him with brutality, but you shall fear your God. 44 As for your male and female slaves whom you may have—you may acquire male and female slaves from the nations that are around you. 45 And also you may acquire from the sons of the foreign residents who sojourn among you, from them and their families who are with you; as for those whom they have begotten in your land, they also may become your possession. 46 You may even give them 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 brothers, the sons of Israel, you shall not have dominion over one another with brutality.
Kindness Toward a Poor Sojourner
47 ‘Now if the [w]means of a sojourner or of a foreign resident with you becomes sufficient, and a brother of yours becomes so poor with regard to him as to sell himself to a sojourner who resides with you or to the descendants of a sojourner’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 [x](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. It is like the days of a hired man that he shall be with him. 51 If there are still many years, (AE)he shall return part of his purchase price in proportion to them for his own redemption; 52 and if few years remain until the year of jubilee, he shall so calculate with him. In proportion to his years he shall return the amount for his redemption. 53 Like a man hired year by year he shall be with him; (AF)he shall not have dominion over him with brutality in your sight. 54 Even if he is not redeemed by [y]these means, (AG)he shall still go out in the year of jubilee, he and his sons with him. 55 For the sons of Israel are My slaves; they are My slaves whom I brought out from the land of Egypt. I am Yahweh your God.
Footnotes
- Leviticus 25:1 Or on
- Leviticus 25:5 Lit The growth from spilled kernels
- Leviticus 25:10 Or liberty
- Leviticus 25:10 Or when
- Leviticus 25:10 Or when
- Leviticus 25:15 Lit companion’s hands
- Leviticus 25:16 Lit multitude
- Leviticus 25:17 Or reverence
- Leviticus 25:20 Or behold
- Leviticus 25:24 Lit land
- Leviticus 25:26 Lit his hand reaches
- Leviticus 25:28 Lit his hand has not found sufficient to
- Leviticus 25:28 Lit go out
- Leviticus 25:30 Lit go out
- Leviticus 25:31 Lit according to
- Leviticus 25:31 Lit go out
- Leviticus 25:33 Lit is from
- Leviticus 25:33 Lit and
- Leviticus 25:33 Lit his
- Leviticus 25:33 Lit goes out
- Leviticus 25:35 Lit hand
- Leviticus 25:36 Lit interest and usury
- Leviticus 25:47 Lit hand...reaches
- Leviticus 25:49 Lit if his hand has reached and
- Leviticus 25:54 Or these years
Leviticus 25
American Standard Version
25 And Jehovah spake unto Moses in mount Sinai, saying, 2 Speak unto the children of Israel, and say unto them, When ye come into the land which I give you, then shall the land keep a sabbath unto Jehovah. 3 Six years thou shalt sow thy field, and six years thou shalt prune thy vineyard, and gather in the fruits thereof; 4 but in the seventh year shall be a sabbath of solemn rest for the land, a sabbath unto Jehovah: thou shalt neither sow thy field, nor prune thy vineyard. 5 That which groweth of itself of thy harvest thou shalt not reap, and the grapes of thy undressed vine thou shalt not gather: it shall be a year of solemn rest for the land. 6 And the sabbath of the land shall be for food for you; for thee, and for thy servant and for thy maid, and for thy hired servant and for thy stranger, who sojourn with thee. 7 And for thy cattle, and for the beasts that are in thy land, shall all the increase thereof be for food.
8 And thou shalt number seven sabbaths of years unto thee, seven times seven years; and there shall be unto thee the days of seven sabbaths of years, even forty and nine years. 9 Then shalt thou send abroad the loud trumpet on the tenth day of the seventh month; in the day of atonement shall ye send abroad the trumpet throughout all your land. 10 And ye shall hallow the fiftieth year, and proclaim liberty throughout the land unto all the inhabitants thereof: it shall be a jubilee unto you; and ye shall return every man unto his possession, and ye shall return every man unto his family. 11 A jubilee shall that fiftieth year be unto you: ye shall not sow, neither reap that which groweth of itself in it, nor gather the grapes in it of the undressed vines. 12 For it is a jubilee; it shall be holy unto you: ye shall eat the increase thereof out of the field.
13 In this year of jubilee ye shall return every man unto his possession. 14 And if thou sell aught unto thy neighbor, or buy of thy neighbor’s hand, ye shall not wrong one another. 15 According to the number of years after the jubilee thou shalt buy of thy neighbor, and according unto the number of years of the crops he shall sell unto thee. 16 According to the multitude of the years thou shalt increase the price thereof, and according to the fewness of the years thou shalt diminish the price of it; for the number of the crops doth he sell unto thee. 17 And ye shall not wrong one another; but thou shalt fear thy God: for I am Jehovah your God.
18 Wherefore ye shall do my statutes, and keep mine ordinances and do them; and ye shall dwell in the land in safety. 19 And the land shall yield its fruit, and ye shall eat your fill, and dwell therein in safety. 20 And if ye shall say, What shall we eat the seventh year? behold, we shall not sow, nor gather in our increase; 21 then I will command my blessing upon you in the sixth year, and it shall bring forth fruit for the three years. 22 And ye shall sow the eighth year, and eat of the fruits, the old store; until the ninth year, until its fruits come in, ye shall eat the old store.
23 And the land shall not be sold in perpetuity; for the land is mine: for ye are strangers and sojourners with me. 24 And in all the land of your possession ye shall grant a redemption for the land. 25 If thy brother be waxed poor, and sell some of his possession, then shall his kinsman that is next unto him come, and shall redeem that which his brother hath sold. 26 And if a man have no one to redeem it, and he be waxed rich and find sufficient to redeem it; 27 then let him reckon the years of the sale thereof, and restore the overplus unto the man to whom he sold it; and he shall return unto his possession. 28 But if he be not able to get it back for himself, then that which he hath sold shall remain in the hand of him that hath bought it until the year of jubilee: and in the jubilee it shall go out, and he shall return unto his possession.
29 And if a man sell a dwelling-house in a walled city, then he may redeem it within a whole year after it is sold; for a full year shall he have the right of redemption. 30 And if it be not redeemed within the space of a full year, then the house that is in the walled city shall be made sure in perpetuity to him that bought it, throughout his generations: it shall not go out in the jubilee. 31 But the houses of the villages which have no wall round about them shall be reckoned with the fields of the country: they may be redeemed, and they shall go out in the jubilee. 32 Nevertheless the cities of the Levites, the houses of the cities of their possession, may the Levites redeem at any time. 33 And [a]if one of the Levites redeem, then the house that was sold, and the city of his possession, shall go out in the jubilee; for the houses of the cities of the Levites are their possession among the children of Israel. 34 But the field of the [b]suburbs of their cities may not be sold; for it is their perpetual possession.
35 And if thy brother be waxed poor, and his hand fail with thee; then thou shalt [c]uphold him: as a stranger and a sojourner shall he live with thee. 36 Take thou no interest of him or increase, but fear thy God; that thy brother may live with thee. 37 Thou shalt not give him thy money upon interest, nor give him thy victuals for increase. 38 I am Jehovah your God, who brought you forth out of the land of Egypt, to give you the land of Canaan, and to be your God.
39 And if thy brother be waxed poor with thee, and sell himself unto thee; thou shalt not make him to serve as a bondservant. 40 As a hired servant, and as a sojourner, he shall be with thee; he shall serve with thee unto the year of jubilee: 41 then shall he go out from thee, he and his children with him, and shall return unto his own family, and unto the possession of his fathers shall he return. 42 For they are my servants, whom I brought forth out of the land of Egypt: they shall not be sold as bondmen. 43 Thou shalt not rule over him with rigor, but shalt fear thy God. 44 And as for thy bondmen, and thy bondmaids, whom thou shalt have; of the nations that are round about you, of them shall ye buy bondmen and bondmaids. 45 Moreover of the children of the strangers that sojourn among you, of them shall ye buy, and of their families that are with you, which they have begotten in your land: and they shall be your possession. 46 And ye shall make them an inheritance for your children after you, to hold for a possession; of them shall ye take your bondmen for ever: but over your brethren the children of Israel ye shall not rule, one over another, with rigor.
47 And if a stranger or sojourner with thee be waxed rich, and thy brother be waxed poor beside him, and sell himself unto the stranger or sojourner with thee, or to the stock of the stranger’s family; 48 after that he is sold he may be redeemed: one of his brethren may redeem him; 49 or his uncle, or his uncle’s son, may redeem him, or any that is nigh of kin unto him of his family may redeem him; or if he be waxed rich, he may redeem himself. 50 And he shall reckon with him that bought him from the year that he sold himself to him unto the year of jubilee: and the price of his sale shall be according unto the number of years; according to the time of a hired servant shall he be with him. 51 If there be yet many years, according unto them he shall give back the price of his redemption out of the money that he was bought for. 52 And if there remain but few years unto the year of jubilee, then he shall reckon with him; according unto his years shall he give back the price of his redemption. 53 As a servant hired year by year shall he be with him: he shall not rule with rigor over him in thy sight. 54 And if he be not redeemed [d]by these means, then he shall go out in the year of jubilee, he, and his children with him. 55 For unto me the children of Israel are servants; they are my servants whom I brought forth out of the land of Egypt: I am Jehovah your God.
Footnotes
- Leviticus 25:33 Or, if a man redeem from the Levites. Or, according to Vulgate, if they have not been redeemed
- Leviticus 25:34 Or, pasture lands
- Leviticus 25:35 Or, relieve
- Leviticus 25:54 Or, in these years
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