Leviticus 25:13-28

International Children’s Bible

¹³ In the year of Jubilee each person will go back to his own property.

¹⁴ “‘Don’t cheat your neighbor when you sell your land to him. And don’t let him cheat you when you buy land from him. ¹⁵ You might want to buy your neighbor’s land. If you do, count the number of years since the last Jubilee. Use that number to decide the right price. If he sells the land to you, count the number of years left for harvesting crops. Use that number to decide the right price. ¹⁶ If there are many years, the price will be high. If there are only a few years, lower the price. This is because your neighbor is really selling only a few crops to you. At the next Jubilee the land will again belong to his family. ¹⁷ You must not cheat each other. You respect your God. I am the Lord your God.

¹⁸ “‘Remember my laws and rules, and obey them. Then you will live safely in the land. ¹⁹ The land will give good crops to you. You will eat as much as you want. And you will live safely 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 Don’t worry. I will send you a great blessing during the sixth year. That year the land will produce enough crops for 3 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 forever. You are only foreigners and travelers living for a time on my land. ²⁴ People might sell their land. But the family will always get its land back. ²⁵ A person in your country might become very poor. He might be so poor that he must sell his land. So his close relatives must come and buy it back for him. ²⁶ A person might not have a close relative to buy back his land for him. But he might get enough money to buy it back himself. ²⁷ He must count the years since the land was sold. He must use that number to decide how much to pay for the land. Then he may buy it back. And the land will be his again. ²⁸ But he might not find enough money to buy it back for himself. Then the one who bought it will keep it until the year of Jubilee. But during that celebration, the land will go back to the first owner’s family.