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Sabbatical Years

25 The Lord spoke to Moses at Mount Sinai, “Speak to the Israelites and say this to them.”

When you enter the land that I am giving to you, the land shall observe a sabbath rest for the Lord. For six years you may sow your field, and for six years you may prune your vineyard and gather its produce. 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, and you shall not prune your vineyard. You shall not reap the produce that grows by itself from your harvest or gather the grapes from your unpruned vine. It shall be a year of complete rest for the land. The sabbath of the land will, however, provide food for you—for you, for your male slaves and for your female slaves, for your hired workers and for your servants who are living with you temporarily as aliens working for you, for your livestock and for the wild animals which are in your land. You may eat all its produce.[a]

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Footnotes

  1. Leviticus 25:7 Verses 4-7 seem to forbid harvesting, storing, or selling the natural produce of the land but to allow everyone to eat it freely.

The Sabbath Year

25 Then[a] Yahweh spoke to Moses on Mount Sinai,[b] saying, “Speak to the Israelites,[c] and say to them, ‘When you[d] come into the land that I am about to give to you,[e] then[f] the land shall observe a Sabbath for Yahweh. Six years you[g] shall sow your field, and six years you shall prune your vineyard, and you shall gather its yield. But[h] in the seventh year it shall be a Sabbath of complete rest[i] for the land—a Sabbath for Yahweh; you[j] must not sow your field, and you must not prune your vineyard. You[k] must not reap your harvest’s aftergrowth, and you must not harvest the grapes of your unpruned vines—it shall be a year of complete rest[l] for the land. And a Sabbath of the land shall be for food for you:[m] for you[n] and for your slave and for your slave woman and for your hired worker and for your temporary residents[o] who are dwelling as aliens with you; and all its yield shall be for your[p] domestic animal and for the wild animal, which are in your land to eat.

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Footnotes

  1. Leviticus 25:1 Or “And”
  2. Leviticus 25:1 Literally “the mountain of Sinai”
  3. Leviticus 25:2 Literally “sons/children of Israel”
  4. Leviticus 25:2 Plural
  5. Leviticus 25:2 Plural
  6. Leviticus 25:2 Or “and”
  7. Leviticus 25:3 Singular throughout this verse
  8. Leviticus 25:4 Or “And”
  9. Leviticus 25:4 Literally “a Sabbath of ‘Sabbathation.’” “Sabbathation” is not a real word, but it is devised as an attempt to convey the sounds of the related nouns in the Hebrew phrase
  10. Leviticus 25:4 Singular throughout this verse
  11. Leviticus 25:5 Singular throughout this verse
  12. Leviticus 25:5 Literally “a year of a rest period”
  13. Leviticus 25:6 Plural
  14. Leviticus 25:6 Singular here and through the rest of this verse
  15. Leviticus 25:6 Collective singular; Hebrew “temporary resident”
  16. Leviticus 25:7 Singular throughout this verse