13 “‘In this Year of Jubilee(A) 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.(B) 15 You are to buy from your own people on the basis of the number of years(C) 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,(D) because what is really being sold to you is the number of crops. 17 Do not take advantage of each other,(E) but fear your God.(F) I am the Lord your God.(G)

18 “‘Follow my decrees and be careful to obey my laws,(H) and you will live safely in the land.(I) 19 Then the land will yield its fruit,(J) and you will eat your fill and live there in safety.(K) 20 You may ask, “What will we eat in the seventh year(L) if we do not plant or harvest our crops?” 21 I will send you such a blessing(M) in the sixth year that the land will yield enough for three years.(N) 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.(O)

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

25 “‘If one of your fellow Israelites becomes poor and sells some of their property, their nearest relative(T) is to come and redeem(U) what they have sold. 26 If, however, there is no one to redeem it for them but later on they prosper(V) and acquire sufficient means to redeem it themselves, 27 they are to determine the value for the years(W) 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.(X) 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(Y) in the Jubilee, and they can then go back to their property.(Z)

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13 In the Year of Jubilee each of you may return to the land that belonged to your ancestors.

14 “When you make an agreement with your neighbor to buy or sell property, you must not take advantage of each other. 15 When you buy land from your neighbor, the price you pay must be based on the number of years since the last jubilee. The seller must set the price by taking into account the number of years remaining until the next Year of Jubilee. 16 The more years until the next jubilee, the higher the price; the fewer years, the lower the price. After all, the person selling the land is actually selling you a certain number of harvests. 17 Show your fear of God by not taking advantage of each other. I am the Lord your God.

18 “If you want to live securely in the land, follow my decrees and obey my regulations. 19 Then the land will yield large crops, and you will eat your fill and live securely in it. 20 But you might ask, ‘What will we eat during the seventh year, since we are not allowed to plant or harvest crops that year?’ 21 Be assured that I will send my blessing for you in the sixth year, so the land will produce a crop large enough for three years. 22 When you plant your fields in the eighth year, you will still be eating from the large crop of the sixth year. In fact, you will still be eating from that large crop when the new crop is harvested in the ninth year.

Redemption of Property

23 “The land must never be sold on a permanent basis, for the land belongs to me. You are only foreigners and tenant farmers working for me.

24 “With every purchase of land you must grant the seller the right to buy it back. 25 If one of your fellow Israelites falls into poverty and is forced to sell some family land, then a close relative should buy it back for him. 26 If there is no close relative to buy the land, but the person who sold it gets enough money to buy it back, 27 he then has the right to redeem it from the one who bought it. The price of the land will be discounted according to the number of years until the next Year of Jubilee. In this way the original owner can then return to the land. 28 But if the original owner cannot afford to buy back the land, it will remain with the new owner until the next Year of Jubilee. In the jubilee year, the land must be returned to the original owners so they can return to their family land.

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