Revised Common Lectionary (Semicontinuous)

To the director: Use the mahalath.^[a] A maskil of David.

A Time of Rest for the Land

25 The Lord spoke to Moses at Mount Sinai. He said, ² “Tell the Israelites: When you enter the land that I am giving to you, you must let the land have a special time of rest. This will be a special time of rest to honor the Lord. ³ You will plant seed in your field for six years. You will trim your vineyards for six years and bring in its fruits. ⁴ But during the seventh year, you will let the land rest. This will be a special time of rest to honor the Lord. You must not plant seed in your field or trim your vineyards. ⁵ You must not cut the crops that grow by themselves after your harvest. You must not gather the grapes from your vines that are not trimmed. The land will have a year of rest.

⁶ “The land will have a year of rest, but you will still have enough food. There will be enough food for your men and women servants. There will be food for your hired workers and for the foreigners living in your country. ⁷ And there will be enough food for your cattle and other animals to eat.

Jubilee—the Year of Release

⁸ “You will also count seven groups of seven years. This will be 49 years. During that time there will be seven years of rest for the land. ⁹ On the Day of Atonement, you must blow a ram’s horn. That will be on the tenth day of the seventh month. You must blow the ram’s horn through the whole country. ¹⁰ You will make the 50th year a special year. You will announce freedom for everyone living in your country. This time will be called ‘Jubilee.’ Each of you will go back to your own property.^[a] And each of you will go back to your own family. ¹¹ The 50th year will be a special celebration^[b] for you. Don’t plant seeds, don’t harvest the crops that grow by themselves, and don’t gather grapes from the vines that are not trimmed. ¹² That year is Jubilee. It will be a holy time for you. You will eat the crops that come from the field. ¹³ In the year of Jubilee, you will go back to your own property.

¹⁴ “Don’t cheat your neighbors when you sell your land to them. Don’t cheat one another when you buy or sell land. ¹⁵ If you want to buy your neighbor’s land, count the number of years since the last Jubilee, and use that number to decide the right price. You are only buying the rights for harvesting crops until the next Jubilee. ¹⁶ If there are many years before the next Jubilee, the price will be high. If the years are few, the price will be lower. So your neighbor is really only selling a number of crops to you. At the next Jubilee, the land will again belong to that family. ¹⁷ You must not cheat each other. You must honor your God. I am the Lord your God.

¹⁸ “Remember my laws and rules. Obey them and you will live safely in your country. ¹⁹ And the land will produce good crops for you. Then you will have plenty of food, and you will live safely on the land.

⁹ Then the angel said to me, “Write this: Great blessings belong to those who are invited to the wedding meal of the Lamb!” Then the angel said, “These are the true words of God.”

¹⁰ Then I bowed down before the angel’s feet to worship him. But the angel said to me, “Don’t worship me! I am a servant like you and your brothers and sisters who have the truth of Jesus. So worship God! Because the truth of Jesus is the spirit of prophecy.”