Revised Common Lectionary (Semicontinuous)

The Unbelieving Fool

For the director of music. By mahalath. A maskil of David.

The Time of Rest for the Land

25 The Lord said to Moses at Mount Sinai, ² “Tell the people of Israel this: ‘When you enter the land I will give you, let it have a special time of rest, to honor the Lord. ³ You may plant seed in your field for six years, and you may trim your vineyards for six years and bring in their fruits. ⁴ But during the seventh year, you must let the land rest. This will be a special time 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 harvest, or gather the grapes from your vines that are not trimmed. The land will have a year of rest.

⁶ “‘You may eat whatever the land produces during that year of rest. It will be food for your men and women servants, for your hired workers, and for the foreigners living in your country. ⁷ It will also be food for your cattle and the wild animals of your land. Whatever the land produces may be eaten.

The Year of Jubilee

⁸ “‘Count off seven groups of seven years, or forty-nine years. During that time there will be seven years of rest for the land. ⁹ On the Day of Cleansing, you must blow the horn of a male sheep; this will be on the tenth day of the seventh month. You must blow the horn through the whole country. ¹⁰ Make the fiftieth year a special year, and announce freedom for all the people living in your country. This time will be called Jubilee.^[a] You will each go back to your own property, each to your own family and family group. ¹¹ The fiftieth year will be a special time for you to celebrate. Don’t plant seeds, or harvest the crops that grow by themselves, or gather grapes from the vines that are not trimmed. ¹² That year is Jubilee; it will be a holy time for you. You may eat only the crops that come from the field. ¹³ In the year of Jubilee you each must go back to your own property.

¹⁴ “‘If you sell your land to your neighbor, or if you buy land from your neighbor, don’t cheat each other. 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. If your neighbor 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 each other, but you must respect your God. I am the Lord your God.

¹⁸ “‘Remember my laws and rules, and obey them so that you will live safely in the land. ¹⁹ The land will give good crops to you, and you will eat as much as you want and live safely in the land.

⁹ And the angel said to me, “Write this: Blessed are those who have been invited to the wedding meal of the Lamb!” And the angel said, “These are the true words of God.”

¹⁰ Then I bowed down at the angel’s feet to worship him, but he said to me, “Do not worship me! I am a servant like you and your brothers and sisters who have the message of Jesus. Worship God, because the message about Jesus is the spirit that gives all prophecy.”