The Sabbath Year

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

The Year of Jubilee^(J)(K)

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

³⁵ “‘If any of your fellow Israelites become poor^(AV) and are unable to support themselves among you, help them^(AW) as you would a foreigner and stranger, so they can continue to live among you. ³⁶ Do not take interest^(AX) or any profit from them, but fear your God,^(AY) so that they may continue to live among you. ³⁷ You must not lend them money at interest^(AZ) or sell them food at a profit. ³⁸ I am the Lord your God, who brought you out of Egypt to give you the land of Canaan^(BA) and to be your God.^(BB)

³⁹ “‘If any of your fellow Israelites become poor and sell themselves to you, do not make them work as slaves.^{(BC) 40} They are to be treated as hired workers^(BD) or temporary residents among you; they are to work for you until the Year of Jubilee. ⁴¹ Then they and their children are to be released, and they will go back to their own clans and to the property^(BE) of their ancestors.^{(BF) 42} Because the Israelites are my servants, whom I brought out of Egypt,^(BG) they must not be sold as slaves. ⁴³ Do not rule over them ruthlessly,^(BH) but fear your God.^(BI)

⁴⁴ “‘Your male and female slaves are to come from the nations around you; from them you may buy slaves. ⁴⁵ You may also buy some of the temporary residents living among you and members of their clans born in your country, and they will become your property. ⁴⁶ You can bequeath them to your children as inherited property and can make them slaves for life, but you must not rule over your fellow Israelites ruthlessly.

⁴⁷ “‘If a foreigner residing among you becomes rich and any of your fellow Israelites become poor and sell themselves^(BJ) to the foreigner or to a member of the foreigner’s clan, ⁴⁸ they retain the right of redemption^(BK) after they have sold themselves. One of their relatives^(BL) may redeem them: ⁴⁹ An uncle or a cousin or any blood relative in their clan may redeem them. Or if they prosper,^(BM) they may redeem themselves. ⁵⁰ They and their buyer are to count the time from the year they sold themselves up to the Year of Jubilee.^(BN) The price for their release is to be based on the rate paid to a hired worker^(BO) for that number of years. ⁵¹ If many years remain, they must pay for their redemption a larger share of the price paid for them. ⁵² If only a few years remain until the Year of Jubilee, they are to compute that and pay for their redemption accordingly.^{(BP) 53} They are to be treated as workers hired from year to year; you must see to it that those to whom they owe service do not rule over them ruthlessly.^(BQ)

⁵⁴ “‘Even if someone is not redeemed in any of these ways, they and their children are to be released in the Year of Jubilee, ⁵⁵ for the Israelites belong to me as servants. They are my servants, whom I brought out of Egypt.^(BR) I am the Lord your God.^(BS)

Reward for Obedience

26 “‘Do not make idols^(A) or set up an image^(B) or a sacred stone^(C) for yourselves, and do not place a carved stone^(D) in your land to bow down before it. I am the Lord your God.

² “‘Observe my Sabbaths^(E) and have reverence for my sanctuary.^(F) I am the Lord.

³ “‘If you follow my decrees and are careful to obey^(G) my commands, ⁴ I will send you rain^(H) in its season,^(I) and the ground will yield its crops and the trees their fruit.^{(J) 5} Your threshing will continue until grape harvest and the grape harvest will continue until planting, and you will eat all the food you want^(K) and live in safety in your land.^(L)

⁶ “‘I will grant peace in the land,^(M) and you will lie down^(N) and no one will make you afraid.^(O) I will remove wild beasts^(P) from the land, and the sword will not pass through your country. ⁷ You will pursue your enemies,^(Q) and they will fall by the sword before you. ⁸ Five^(R) of you will chase a hundred, and a hundred of you will chase ten thousand, and your enemies will fall by the sword before you.^(S)

⁹ “‘I will look on you with favor and make you fruitful and increase your numbers,^(T) and I will keep my covenant^(U) with you. ¹⁰ You will still be eating last year’s harvest when you will have to move it out to make room for the new.^{(V) 11} I will put my dwelling place^[a](W) among you, and I will not abhor you.^{(X) 12} I will walk^(Y) among you and be your God,^(Z) and you will be my people.^{(AA) 13} I am the Lord your God,^(AB) who brought you out of Egypt^(AC) so that you would no longer be slaves to the Egyptians; I broke the bars of your yoke^(AD) and enabled you to walk with heads held high.

Punishment for Disobedience

¹⁴ “‘But if you will not listen to me and carry out all these commands,^{(AE) 15} and if you reject my decrees and abhor my laws^(AF) and fail to carry out all my commands and so violate my covenant,^{(AG) 16} then I will do this to you: I will bring on you sudden terror, wasting diseases and fever^(AH) that will destroy your sight and sap your strength.^(AI) You will plant seed in vain, because your enemies will eat it.^{(AJ) 17} I will set my face^(AK) against you so that you will be defeated^(AL) by your enemies;^(AM) those who hate you will rule over you,^(AN) and you will flee even when no one is pursuing you.^(AO)

¹⁸ “‘If after all this you will not listen to me,^(AP) I will punish^(AQ) you for your sins seven times over.^{(AR) 19} I will break down your stubborn pride^(AS) and make the sky above you like iron and the ground beneath you like bronze.^{(AT) 20} Your strength will be spent in vain,^(AU) because your soil will not yield its crops, nor will the trees of your land yield their fruit.^(AV)

²¹ “‘If you remain hostile^(AW) toward me and refuse to listen to me, I will multiply your afflictions seven times over,^(AX) as your sins deserve. ²² I will send wild animals^(AY) against you, and they will rob you of your children, destroy your cattle and make you so few^(AZ) in number that your roads will be deserted.^(BA)

²³ “‘If in spite of these things you do not accept my correction^(BB) but continue to be hostile toward me, ²⁴ I myself will be hostile^(BC) toward you and will afflict you for your sins seven times over. ²⁵ And I will bring the sword^(BD) on you to avenge^(BE) the breaking of the covenant. When you withdraw into your cities, I will send a plague^(BF) among you, and you will be given into enemy hands. ²⁶ When I cut off your supply of bread,^(BG) ten women will be able to bake your bread in one oven, and they will dole out the bread by weight. You will eat, but you will not be satisfied.

²⁷ “‘If in spite of this you still do not listen to me^(BH) but continue to be hostile toward me, ²⁸ then in my anger^(BI) I will be hostile^(BJ) toward you, and I myself will punish you for your sins seven times over.^{(BK) 29} You will eat^(BL) the flesh of your sons and the flesh of your daughters.^{(BM) 30} I will destroy your high places,^(BN) cut down your incense altars^(BO) and pile your dead bodies^[b] on the lifeless forms of your idols,^(BP) and I will abhor^(BQ) you. ³¹ I will turn your cities into ruins^(BR) and lay waste^(BS) your sanctuaries,^(BT) and I will take no delight in the pleasing aroma of your offerings.^{(BU) 32} I myself will lay waste the land,^(BV) so that your enemies who live there will be appalled.^{(BW) 33} I will scatter^(BX) you among the nations^(BY) and will draw out my sword^(BZ) and pursue you. Your land will be laid waste,^(CA) and your cities will lie in ruins.^{(CB) 34} Then the land will enjoy its sabbath years all the time that it lies desolate^(CC) and you are in the country of your enemies;^(CD) then the land will rest and enjoy its sabbaths. ³⁵ All the time that it lies desolate, the land will have the rest^(CE) it did not have during the sabbaths you lived in it.

³⁶ “‘As for those of you who are left, I will make their hearts so fearful in the lands of their enemies that the sound of a windblown leaf^(CF) will put them to flight.^(CG) They will run as though fleeing from the sword, and they will fall, even though no one is pursuing them.^{(CH) 37} They will stumble over one another^(CI) as though fleeing from the sword, even though no one is pursuing them. So you will not be able to stand before your enemies.^{(CJ) 38} You will perish^(CK) among the nations; the land of your enemies will devour you.^{(CL) 39} Those of you who are left will waste away in the lands of their enemies because of their sins; also because of their ancestors’^(CM) sins they will waste away.^(CN)

⁴⁰ “‘But if they will confess^(CO) their sins^(CP) and the sins of their ancestors^(CQ)—their unfaithfulness and their hostility toward me, ⁴¹ which made me hostile^(CR) toward them so that I sent them into the land of their enemies—then when their uncircumcised hearts^(CS) are humbled^(CT) and they pay^(CU) for their sin, ⁴² I will remember my covenant with Jacob^(CV) and my covenant with Isaac^(CW) and my covenant with Abraham,^(CX) and I will remember the land. ⁴³ For the land will be deserted^(CY) by them and will enjoy its sabbaths while it lies desolate without them. They will pay for their sins because they rejected^(CZ) my laws and abhorred my decrees.^{(DA) 44} Yet in spite of this, when they are in the land of their enemies,^(DB) I will not reject them or abhor^(DC) them so as to destroy them completely,^(DD) breaking my covenant^(DE) with them. I am the Lord their God. ⁴⁵ But for their sake I will remember^(DF) the covenant with their ancestors whom I brought out of Egypt^(DG) in the sight of the nations to be their God. I am the Lord.’”

⁴⁶ These are the decrees, the laws and the regulations that the Lord established at Mount Sinai^(DH) between himself and the Israelites through Moses.^(DI)

Jesus Is Lord of the Sabbath^(A)

6 One Sabbath Jesus was going through the grainfields, and his disciples began to pick some heads of grain, rub them in their hands and eat the kernels.^{(B) 2} Some of the Pharisees asked, “Why are you doing what is unlawful on the Sabbath?”^(C)

³ Jesus answered them, “Have you never read what David did when he and his companions were hungry?^{(D) 4} He entered the house of God, and taking the consecrated bread, he ate what is lawful only for priests to eat.^(E) And he also gave some to his companions.” ⁵ Then Jesus said to them, “The Son of Man^(F) is Lord of the Sabbath.”

⁶ On another Sabbath^(G) he went into the synagogue and was teaching, and a man was there whose right hand was shriveled. ⁷ The Pharisees and the teachers of the law were looking for a reason to accuse Jesus, so they watched him closely^(H) to see if he would heal on the Sabbath.^{(I) 8} But Jesus knew what they were thinking^(J) and said to the man with the shriveled hand, “Get up and stand in front of everyone.” So he got up and stood there.

⁹ Then Jesus said to them, “I ask you, which is lawful on the Sabbath: to do good or to do evil, to save life or to destroy it?”

¹⁰ He looked around at them all, and then said to the man, “Stretch out your hand.” He did so, and his hand was completely restored. ¹¹ But the Pharisees and the teachers of the law were furious^(K) and began to discuss with one another what they might do to Jesus.

The Twelve Apostles^(L)

¹² One of those days Jesus went out to a mountainside to pray, and spent the night praying to God.^{(M) 13} When morning came, he called his disciples to him and chose twelve of them, whom he also designated apostles:^{(N) 14} Simon (whom he named Peter), his brother Andrew, James, John, Philip, Bartholomew, ¹⁵ Matthew,^(O) Thomas, James son of Alphaeus, Simon who was called the Zealot, ¹⁶ Judas son of James, and Judas Iscariot, who became a traitor.

Blessings and Woes^(P)

¹⁷ He went down with them and stood on a level place. A large crowd of his disciples was there and a great number of people from all over Judea, from Jerusalem, and from the coastal region around Tyre and Sidon,^{(Q) 18} who had come to hear him and to be healed of their diseases. Those troubled by impure spirits were cured, ¹⁹ and the people all tried to touch him,^(R) because power was coming from him and healing them all.^(S)

²⁰ Looking at his disciples, he said:

²³ “Rejoice in that day and leap for joy,^(Z) because great is your reward in heaven. For that is how their ancestors treated the prophets.^(AA)

Love for Enemies^(AG)

²⁷ “But to you who are listening I say: Love your enemies, do good to those who hate you,^{(AH) 28} bless those who curse you, pray for those who mistreat you.^{(AI) 29} If someone slaps you on one cheek, turn to them the other also. If someone takes your coat, do not withhold your shirt from them. ³⁰ Give to everyone who asks you, and if anyone takes what belongs to you, do not demand it back.^{(AJ) 31} Do to others as you would have them do to you.^(AK)

³² “If you love those who love you, what credit is that to you?^(AL) Even sinners love those who love them. ³³ And if you do good to those who are good to you, what credit is that to you? Even sinners do that. ³⁴ And if you lend to those from whom you expect repayment, what credit is that to you?^(AM) Even sinners lend to sinners, expecting to be repaid in full. ³⁵ But love your enemies, do good to them,^(AN) and lend to them without expecting to get anything back. Then your reward will be great, and you will be children^(AO) of the Most High,^(AP) because he is kind to the ungrateful and wicked. ³⁶ Be merciful,^(AQ) just as your Father^(AR) is merciful.

Judging Others^(AS)

³⁷ “Do not judge, and you will not be judged.^(AT) Do not condemn, and you will not be condemned. Forgive, and you will be forgiven.^{(AU) 38} Give, and it will be given to you. A good measure, pressed down, shaken together and running over, will be poured into your lap.^(AV) For with the measure you use, it will be measured to you.”^(AW)

³⁹ He also told them this parable: “Can the blind lead the blind? Will they not both fall into a pit?^{(AX) 40} The student is not above the teacher, but everyone who is fully trained will be like their teacher.^(AY)

⁴¹ “Why do you look at the speck of sawdust in your brother’s eye and pay no attention to the plank in your own eye? ⁴² How can you say to your brother, ‘Brother, let me take the speck out of your eye,’ when you yourself fail to see the plank in your own eye? You hypocrite, first take the plank out of your eye, and then you will see clearly to remove the speck from your brother’s eye.

A Tree and Its Fruit^(AZ)

⁴³ “No good tree bears bad fruit, nor does a bad tree bear good fruit. ⁴⁴ Each tree is recognized by its own fruit.^(BA) People do not pick figs from thornbushes, or grapes from briers. ⁴⁵ A good man brings good things out of the good stored up in his heart, and an evil man brings evil things out of the evil stored up in his heart. For the mouth speaks what the heart is full of.^(BB)

The Wise and Foolish Builders^(BC)

⁴⁶ “Why do you call me, ‘Lord, Lord,’^(BD) and do not do what I say?^{(BE) 47} As for everyone who comes to me and hears my words and puts them into practice,^(BF) I will show you what they are like. ⁴⁸ They are like a man building a house, who dug down deep and laid the foundation on rock. When a flood came, the torrent struck that house but could not shake it, because it was well built. ⁴⁹ But the one who hears my words and does not put them into practice is like a man who built a house on the ground without a foundation. The moment the torrent struck that house, it collapsed and its destruction was complete.”