Leviticus 25
1 Then the LORD said to Moses on Mount Sinai,
And the Lord spoke unto Moses on mount Sinai, saying,
2 “Speak to the Israelites and say to them: When you enter the land that I am giving you, the land itself must observe a Sabbath to the LORD.
Speak unto the children of Israel, and say unto them, When ye come into the land which I give unto you; then shall the land keep a sabbath unto the Lord.
3 For six years you may sow your field and prune your vineyard and gather its crops.
Six years shalt thou sow thy field, and six years shalt thou prune thy vineyard, and gather in the fruit thereof;
4 But in the seventh year there shall be a Sabbath of complete rest for the land—a Sabbath to the LORD. You are not to sow your field or prune your vineyard.
But in the seventh year there shall be a sabbath of rest unto the land, a sabbath [in honor] of the Lord: thy field shalt thou not sow, and thy vineyard shalt thou not prune.
5 You are not to reap the aftergrowth of your harvest or gather the grapes of your untended vines. The land must have a year of complete rest.
That which groweth of its own accord of thy harvest shalt thou not reap, and the grapes of thy undressed vine shalt thou not gather: a year of rest shall it be unto the land.
6 Whatever the land yields during the Sabbath year shall be food for you—for yourself, your manservant and maidservant, the hired hand or foreigner who stays with you,
And [the product of] the sabbath of the land shall be unto you for food, for thee, and for thy man-servant, and for thy maid-servant, and for thy hired laborer, and for thy stranger, that sojourn with thee;
7 and for your livestock and the wild animals in your land. All its growth may serve as food.
And for thy cattle, and for the beasts that are in thy land, shall all its products be [left] for food.
8 And you shall count off seven Sabbaths of years—seven times seven years—so that the seven Sabbaths of years amount to forty-nine years.
And thou shalt number unto thee seven sabbaths of years, seven years seven times; and the space of the seven sabbaths of years shall be unto thee forty and nine years.
9 Then you are to sound the horn far and wide on the tenth day of the seventh month, the Day of Atonement. You shall sound it throughout your land.
And then shalt thou cause the sound of the cornet to be heard, in the seventh month, on the tenth day of the month: on the day of atonement shall ye sound the cornet throughout all your land.
10 So you are to consecrate the fiftieth year and proclaim liberty in the land for all its inhabitants. It shall be your Jubilee, when each of you is to return to his property and to his clan.
And ye shall hallow the fiftieth year, and proclaim freedom throughout the land unto all the inhabitants thereof; it shall be a jubilee unto you; and ye shall return, every man, unto his possession, and ye shall return, every man, unto his family.
11 The fiftieth year will be a Jubilee for you; you are not to sow the land or reap its aftergrowth or harvest the untended vines.
A jubilee shall this, the fiftieth year, be unto you: ye shall not sow, nor reap that which groweth of itself in it, nor gather in it the fruit of the undressed vines.
12 For it is a Jubilee; it shall be holy to you. You may eat only the crops taken directly from the field.
For it is the jubilee; holy shall it be unto you: from the field shall ye eat the products thereof.
13 In this Year of Jubilee, each of you shall return to his own property.
In this year of the jubilee shall ye return, every man, unto his possession.
14 If you make a sale to your neighbor or a purchase from him, you must not take advantage of each other.
And if thou sell aught unto thy neighbor, or buy aught of thy neighbor's hand, ye shall not overreach one the other;
15 You are to buy from your neighbor according to the number of years since the last Jubilee; he is to sell to you according to the number of harvest years remaining.
According to the number of years after the jubilee shalt thou buy of thy neighbor, according unto the number of harvest-years shall he sell unto thee;
16 You shall increase the price in proportion to a greater number of years, or decrease it in proportion to a lesser number of years; for he is selling you a given number of harvests.
According to the multitude of years shalt thou increase the price thereof, and according to the fewness of years shalt thou diminish the price thereof; for a number of harvests doth he sell unto thee.
17 Do not take advantage of each other, but fear your God; for I am the LORD your God.
And ye shall not overreach one the other; but thou shalt be afraid of thy God; for I am the Lord your God.
18 You are to keep My statutes and carefully observe My judgments, so that you may dwell securely in the land.
And ye shall do my statutes, and my ordinances shall ye keep and do them; and then shall ye dwell in the land in safety.
19 Then the land will yield its fruit, so that you can eat your fill and dwell in safety in the land.
And the land shall yield its fruit, and ye shall eat your fill, and dwell in safety therein.
20 Now you may wonder, ‘What will we eat in the seventh year if we do not sow or gather our produce?’
And if ye should say, What shall we eat in the seventh year? behold, we are not permitted to sow, and we cannot gather in our harvest:
21 But I will send My blessing upon you in the sixth year, so that the land will yield a crop sufficient for three years.
Then will I command my blessing unto you in the sixth year, and it shall bring forth a harvest for three years.
22 While you are sowing in the eighth year, you will be eating from the previous harvest, until the ninth year’s harvest comes in.
And when ye sow in the eighth year, then shall ye eat yet of the old harvest; until the ninth year, until its harvest come in, shall ye eat of the old store.
23 The land must not be sold permanently, because it is Mine, and you are but foreigners and residents with Me.
And the land shall not be sold for a permanence [to the purchaser]; for the land is mine; for strangers and sojourners are ye with me.
24 Thus for every piece of property you possess, you must provide for the redemption of the land.
And in all the land of your possession ye shall grant a redemption for the land.
25 If your brother becomes impoverished and sells some of his property, his nearest of kin may come and redeem what his brother has sold.
If thy brother become poor, and sell away some of his possession: then may his nearest of kin come and redeem what his brother hath sold.
26 Or if a man has no one to redeem it for him, but he prospers and acquires enough to redeem his land,
And if the man have none to redeem it, and he acquire the means, sufficient to be able to redeem it himself:
27 he shall calculate the years since its sale, repay the balance to the man to whom he sold it, and return to his property.
Then let him reckon the years since his sale, and restore the overplus unto the man to whom he sold it; and so shall he return unto his possession.
28 But if he cannot obtain enough to repay him, what he sold will remain in possession of the buyer until the Year of Jubilee. In the Jubilee, however, it is to be released, so that he may return to his property.
But if his means do not suffice to enable him to restore it to him: then shall that which he hath sold remain in the hand of him that hath bought it until the year of the jubilee; and it shall be freed in the jubilee, and he shall return unto his possession.
29 If a man sells a house in a walled city, he retains his right of redemption until a full year after its sale; during that year it may be redeemed.
And if a man sell a dwelling-house in a walled city: then shall the time of redemption last till the end of the year of his sale; a full year shall his time of redemption last.
30 If it is not redeemed by the end of a full year, then the house in the walled city is permanently transferred to its buyer and his descendants. It is not to be released in the Jubilee.
And if it be not redeemed within the expiration of a full year: then shall the house which is in the walled city remain as a permanence to him that bought it throughout his generations; it shall not become freed in the jubilee.
31 But houses in villages with no walls around them are to be considered as open fields. They may be redeemed, and they shall be released in the Jubilee.
But the houses of the villages which have no wall round about them shall be counted as the fields of the country: they shall have the right of redemption, and they shall become freed in the jubilee.
32 As for the cities of the Levites, the Levites always have the right to redeem their houses in the cities they possess.
And [respecting] the cities of the Levites, the houses of the cities of their possession, a perpetual right of redemption shall belong to the Levites.
33 So whatever belongs to the Levites may be redeemed—a house sold in a city they possess—and must be released in the Jubilee, because the houses in the cities of the Levites are their possession among the Israelites.
And if a man of the Levites redeem something: then shall the house that was sold, and the city of his possession, become freed in the jubilee; for the houses of the cities of the Levites are their possession among the children of Israel.
34 But the open pastureland around their cities may not be sold, for this is their permanent possession.
And a field of the suburbs of their cities shall not be sold; for a perpetual possession is it unto them.
35 Now if your countryman becomes destitute and cannot support himself among you, then you are to help him as you would a foreigner or stranger, so that he can continue to live among you.
And if thy brother become poor, and fall in decay with thee: then shalt thou assist him, [yea] a stranger, or a sojourner, that he may live with thee.
36 Do not take any interest or profit from him, but fear your God, that your countryman may live among you.
Thou shalt not take of him any usury or increase; but thou shalt be afraid of thy God: that thy brother may live with thee.
37 You must not lend him your silver at interest or sell him your food for profit.
Thy money shalt thou not give him upon usury, nor lend him thy victuals for increase.
38 I am the LORD your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt to give you the land of Canaan and to be your God.
I am the Lord your God, who have brought you forth out of the land of Egypt, to give unto you the land of Canaan, to be unto you a God.
39 If a countryman among you becomes destitute and sells himself to you, then you must not force him into slave labor.
And if thy brother become poor near thee, and be sold unto thee: thou shalt not compel him to work as a bond-servant.
40 Let him stay with you as a hired worker or temporary resident; he is to work for you until the Year of Jubilee.
But as a hired laborer, as a sojourner, shall he be with thee; until the year of the jubilee shall he serve with thee:
41 Then he and his children are to be released, and he may return to his clan and to the property of his fathers.
And then shall he depart from thee, he and his children with him; and he shall return unto his own family, and unto the possession of his fathers shall he return.
42 Because the Israelites are My servants, whom I brought out of the land of Egypt, they are not to be sold as slaves.
For my servants are they, whom I brought forth out of the land of Egypt: they shall not be sold as bond-men are sold.
43 You are not to rule over them harshly, but you shall fear your God.
Thou shalt not rule over him with rigor; but thou shalt have fear of thy God.
44 Your menservants and maidservants shall come from the nations around you, from whom you may purchase them.
But thy bond-man, and thy bond-woman that shall remain thine, shall be of the nations that are round about you; of them may ye buy bond-man and bond-woman.
45 You may also purchase them from the foreigners residing among you or their clans living among you who are born in your land. These may become your property.
And also of the children of the strangers that sojourn with you, of them may ye buy, and of their families that are with you, which they have begotten in your land; and they shall remain to you as a possession.
46 You may leave them to your sons after you to inherit as property; you can make them slaves for life. But as for your brothers, the Israelites, no man may rule harshly over his brother.
And ye may transfer them as an inheritance for your children after you, to inherit them for a possession; you may hold them to service for ever; but over your brethren the children of Israel, one over the other, ye shall not rule with rigor.
47 If a foreigner residing among you prospers, but your countryman dwelling near him becomes destitute and sells himself to the foreigner or to a member of his clan,
And if a stranger or sojourner wax rich near thee, and thy brother become poor near him, and he sell himself unto the sojourning stranger near thee, or to a descendant of a stranger's family:
48 he retains the right of redemption after he has sold himself. One of his brothers may redeem him:
After he hath sold himself shall he have the right of redemption; one of his brethren may redeem him.
49 either his uncle or cousin or any close relative from his clan may redeem him. Or if he prospers, he may redeem himself.
Either his uncle, or his uncle's son, may redeem him, or any that is near of kin unto him of his family may redeem him; or if he obtain the means, he may redeem himself.
50 He and his purchaser will then count the time from the year he sold himself up to the Year of Jubilee. The price of his sale will be determined by the number of years, based on the daily wages of a hired hand.
And he shall reckon with him that bought him from the year that he sold himself to him unto the year of the jubilee: and the price of his sale shall be according to the number of years, as the time of a hired laborer shall he have been with him.
51 If many years remain, he must pay for his redemption in proportion to his purchase price.
If there be yet many years, according to them shall he return the price of his redemption out of his purchase-money.
52 If only a few years remain until the Year of Jubilee, he is to calculate and pay his redemption according to his remaining years.
And if there remain but few years unto the year of the jubilee: then shall he reckon with him; according to his years shall he return the price of his redemption.
53 He shall be treated like a man hired from year to year, but a foreign owner must not rule over him harshly in your sight.
As a laborer hired from year to year shall he be with him; he shall not rule over him with rigor before thy eyes.
54 Even if he is not redeemed in any of these ways, he and his children shall be released in the Year of Jubilee.
And if he be not redeemed by [one of] these means: then shall he go out in the year of the jubilee, both he, and his children with him.
55 For the Israelites are My servants. They are My servants, whom I brought out of the land of Egypt. I am the LORD your God.
For unto me are the children of Israel servants, my servants are they, whom I have brought forth out of the land of Egypt: I am the Eternal your God.
