Leviticus 25:13-28

Expanded Bible

¹³ In the year of Jubilee you each must go back to your own property.

¹⁴ “‘If you sell your land to your ·neighbor [countryman], or if you buy land from your ·neighbor [countryman], don’t ·cheat [mistreat; exploit] each other. ¹⁵ If you want to buy your ·neighbor’s [countryman’s] land, count the number of years since the last Jubilee, and use that number to decide the right price. If your ·neighbor [countryman] sells the land to you, count the number of years left for harvesting crops, and use that number to decide the right price. ¹⁶ If there are many years, the price will be high. But if there are only a few years, lower the price, because your neighbor is really selling only a few crops to you. ¹⁷ You must not ·cheat [mistreat; exploit] ·each other [^Lyour neighbor/countryman], but you must ·respect [fear] your God. I am the Lord your God.

¹⁸ “‘·Remember [^LObserve] my ·laws [statutes; ordinances; requirements] and ·rules [regulations], and ·obey [keep; guard] them so that you will live ·safely [securely] in the land. ¹⁹ The land will give ·good crops [its fruit] to you, and you will eat as much as you want and live ·safely [securely] in the land.

²⁰ “‘But you might ask, “If we don’t plant seeds or gather crops, what will we eat the seventh year?” ²¹ I will ·send [^Lcommand for] you such a great blessing during the sixth year that the land will produce enough crops for three years. ²² When you plant in the eighth year, you will still be eating from the old crop; you will eat the old crop until the harvest of the ninth year.

Property Laws

²³ “‘The land really belongs to me, so you can’t sell it ·for all time [in perpetuity]. You are only ·foreigners [sojourners; wanderers; resident aliens] and ·travelers living for a while on my land [^Ltenants with me]. ²⁴ ·People might sell their land, but it must always be possible for the family to get its land back [^LThroughout all the land of your possession, you must allow for redemption of the land]. ²⁵ If ·a person in your country [your brother/kinsman] becomes very poor and sells some land, then close relatives ·must [or can] come and ·buy it back [redeem what his brother/kinsman has sold]. ²⁶ If there is not a ·close relative to buy the land back [redeemer], but if the person ·makes enough money to be able to buy it back [prospers and he is able to redeem it], ²⁷ the years must be ·counted [calculated] since the land was sold. That number must be used to decide how much the first owner should pay back the one who bought it. Then the land will belong to the first owner again. ²⁸ But if there is not enough money to buy it back, the one who bought it will keep it until the year of Jubilee. During that celebration, the land will go back to the first owner’s family.